p/audius
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Nick Abouzeid
Audius (Closed Beta) — The future of music streaming on the blockchain
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Audius wants to cut the middlemen out of music streaming so artists get paid their fair share. Coming out of stealth today led by serial entrepreneur and DJ Ranidu Lankage, Audius is building a blockchain-based alternative to Spotify or SoundCloud.

Replies
Ryan Hoover
Taking it back to your days building Drop and Artist Union, 3-4 years ago! I love music and appreciate those building tools for makers and creators. As with any marketplace, the cold start challenge is always super tough. How are you onboarding artists initially, @ranidu and team?
Ranidu Lankage
@rrhoover The DROP!!! Thanks for all the support along my journey Ryan. On the question of how we bootstrap this, we have an awesome advisory board in the works with both music Artists and high profile industry executives. We also plan on using token incentives for artists to sign up.
Raman Ksaitor
@ranidu why did you guys stopped working on AskWhale 🐳 ? Did the redesign kill it? It was gaining good traction and engagement. I loved it! Made new friends there. …before redesign 😒
Sasha Eslami
How does it work on the listener side? Do they need to pay, if so in what ways (e.g. crypto vs fiat?)
Forrest Browning
@sashaeversnap On the listener side, we'll have 2 standard options that people are used to - Both ad supported, and monthly subscription!
Jesse Leimgruber
There is considerable noise in the Blockchain space. Companies promise the world but often lack the technical chops to execute on their "grand" ideas. Audius is the exact opposite of these types of teams. The Audius team has considerable industry expertise, relationships, and the technical chops to pull this off in a BIG way. I'm incredibly bullish on the project, team and idea and believe that is going to transform the way the industry thinks about music.
Forrest Browning
@jesserank Thanks Jesse!! Know it's a rarity, but we're looking forward to being a product-centric crypto company
Jesse Leimgruber

Brilliant

Pros:

Much needed in the industry. Talented team.

Cons:

Not yet launched.

Forrest Browning
Thanks! Stay tuned for a beta later this year!
Benjamin Lupton
Wait, is this for podcasts or songs?
Benjamin Lupton
Why is there no button or anything about being notified when it goes live? All the website is, is a link to the whitepaper.
Nick Abouzeid
Was lucky enough to interview Ranidu, Roneil, and Forrest earlier this week about their plans to decentralize the entire music industry. I was initially skeptical of any attempt to bust up the entertainment industry, but their model is well-thought out and helps every player (except the pesky middlemen). Pumped to see their network go live and give it a shot!
Keyul
@nickabouzeid where is the interview link?
Ranidu Lankage
@nickabouzeid Thanks for taking the time Nick and for posting Audius! Loved chatting with you.
Nick Abouzeid
@keyul We didn't end up recording it, sorry about that!
Rohit Goyal
@roneilr @ranidu @forrest_browning Great stuff! Having explored and read a lot on this space myself i absolutely believe the need of something like this. And felt really excited to see the Audius post as someone is building it. Since the white paper is not live yet here are the few questions i have... 1) What kind of hosting solutions are you considering to serve the streaming peer-to-peer? 2) How are you ensuring the payment on basis of per stream? Are you guys building your own blockchain or are you using an already built blockchain(in that case which one) 3) Have you guys given thought to piracy as well? In terms of original creator of any file uploaded on your platform.
Roneil Rumburg
@ranidu @forrest_browning @imrgoyal hey Rohit, these are great questions—we'll be addressing them in our whitepaper soon but aren't ready to share that just yet. Thanks for your interest in Audius!
Rohit Goyal
@ranidu @forrest_browning @roneilr Great! Looking forward. :) Also would be happy to help in anyway. :)
PJ Leimgruber
This is a perfect example of where the blockchain can be properly disruptive. Huge supporter.
Sheep Capital
As a producer myself, I am very excited to see this come together. My main question is why would listeners use this platform over spotify, soundcloud or any other big player? I don't see success unless that issue is solved.
Usama Khalid
Great project! hope people will adopt this new platform. Btw how you are storing the content? e.g using IPFS or any other decentralized storage system.
Roneil Rumburg
@usama_khalid hey Usama, great question! We will be publishing a whitepaper soon with more details on this and other parts of the Audius protocol
Guillaume Bardet
This is fantastic. Really looking forward seeing how the project will improve over time, it sure looks like it is in good hands :) I am always curious to know if and how licensing would work? I think it can be a great way for creators to increase their revenue.
James (Sunny) Vista
Really exciting stuff! I think this really could be the first mainstream application of Blockchain technology. Excited to see a quality team on this vision too. What sort of advisors are you looping in? Do you have any actual artists that you've spoken to yet? Any news about timeline?
Forrest Browning
@jamesvista12 Thanks for the kind words, those are great questions!! We currently have 6 great advisors publicly listed on the site, with a handful of even more high-profile music & tech advisors being announced in the coming weeks. Product Timeline - Whitepaper will be released within a few weeks (signup for newsletter on site). Hoping to have a beta by end of year, with a full network launch next year! Artists - We've been speaking nonstop with artists across all genres, including 3LAU who's come onboard as an outspoken advocate & advisor. Few more headliners will be announced soon, stay tuned!!
Shannon Wu

Really excited about Audius

Pros:

Fantastic team solving some big market inefficiencies

Cons:

N/A - hasn't launched yet

Jaime Grau
This project 'sounds' great! But I want to try it now! haha I hope it launches soon.
Ranidu Lankage
@manganxet We plan on launching a beta later this year. Stay tuned!
Martin Mali
How is this different from Decent?
Celian Riboulet
I have discovered Audius a few month ago, and from a developer stand point, it is a great app, the public API is not perfect yet but it does the job! The platform is and it a pleasure to see it grow up!