Official Statement On Choon’s Dissolvement
Some of you may know, others don’t. Last week the Choon streaming platform was taken down. Only this Friday the announcement was made that Choon ceased to exist. As many of you followed me or listened to my music on Choon, I felt an official statement was necessary.
Scroll to the Bold blocks to read just the summaries. Scroll to the end of the article for my personal official statement.
What Happened?
In short, Choon had liquidity trouble. In their final statement they announced that there were talks with investors, who pulled the plug only last week. With Choon not having the resources to continue, they decided to close the platform. A decision that has been received with disbelief and disappointment. Especially as there never have been signs upfront, that Choon was in a position this bad. Choon paid revenue in their crypto token NOTES. But it was impossible to withdraw NOTES from the platform for quite some time already, so nobody could prevent losing at least part of their funds before exchanging it into other crypto or real money.
Saviour Emanate
Together with this news, Choon announced they partnered with Emanate, to provide a new home for Choon-artists. In the first announcements, Emanate also offered to swap the NOTES for their own cryptocurrency EMT, which already is listed on some exchanges. This would mean Choon artists could continue their journey on Emanate, while also recovering part of their revenue and/or investments. All relatively good news so far.
Nothing Is What It Seems
During the day, additional news came out from the Emanate team. Choon-artists would be able to sign up to the token swap, through a form. Additionally, (no details have been announced yet), they should purchase 5000 EMT (market value around $50) and stake this on a newly created Emanate account, to take part in the swap. Staking means you don’t lose the funds or pay with them. You just put them away for some time in order to receive benefits or use a network. What makes it complicated is that Choon was using an Ethereum token. Emanate is on the EOS blockchain. This means you need to downloaded other wallets and add-ons in order to use their EMT token. With many Choon-artists not even knowing how to exchange Ethereum-tokens, this could make it very difficult for them to apply for the swap.
It also feels a bit unfair to ask this contribution. Emanate first reaches out to help Choon-artists who lost any revenue or investment they made, but in order to do so, these artists need to buy another crypto token, one that’s on the market for just half a year, to receive back any of their funds. Funds not accessible for at least 8 months so they wouldn’t flood the market. While there is some logic behind all this, it’s still a risk. The EMT token declined in value from $0,07 and $0,08 (ICO price) to a low point of $0,005 in only 5 months time. A further decline could mean the $50 worth of staked EMT as well as the value during the swap, could be seriously lower after that 8 months.
Additionally, Emanate communicated in quite an arrogant way, as they mentioned they didn’t have any obligation to offer anything, and everyone should be glad they came by. While not acknowledging they have a very easy influx of new artists on their platform, with good music, which increases the value and appeal of Emanate a lot. Let alone, the listeners and social marketing a lot of these artists bring along.
Another statement made was that offering the swap for free would be unfair to their investors who bought EMT at $0,08 during ICO (current value around $0,009). Apparently investors are worth more than artists bringing music and engagement and free promo. Despite Emanate’s public statement (see their white paper) to put artists first. While it might be true Emanate doesn’t have to do anything, an announcement of a, sort of, partnership, appears to many as an exchange of value. Artists and their music+marketing on their platform, in exchange for some sort of refund on the lost revenue in Choon NOTES.
Moving further up that Friday, in further communication, Emanate has stated there is no partnership. Choon wasn’t bought, nor merged with Emanate. They just seem to provide refuge for artists of Choon, on their demands. However, Emanate is in alpha stage, a very early development stage. So, no artist profiles can be created manually yet, and no tracks uploaded either. They work on that, but I assume they work on a beta product already, not incentivised by hosting these new Choon-artists.
Long story short: Choon is bankrupt. Choon-artists are given the opportunity to sign up to Emanate. In addition they need to buy around $50 of their EMT cryptocurrency, to take part in the Emanate ecosystem. Both is needed to have a chance of receiving any revenue/investment on Choon NOTES back in EMT. It’s unknown what Choon-artists will receive in EMT, or when they can use an artist profile on Emanate.
Conclusion
It seems there is absolutely no deal between Choon and Emanate. It appears as a bit of a marketing trick that Emanate said they offered a home for Choon-artists. To make this switch worthwhile, they use a fund (probably already reserved for some kind of acquisition, according to their white paper) to lure artists in, who are desperate to get back some of their earnings and/or investments. But, in order to do so, they all need to invest $50 in their EMT token. This obviously inflates the price of EMT, as the token is listed on just a few small exchanges, with thin order books.
Daily volume on the biggest centralised exchange (Bancor) yesterday was $170 (15,000–17,000 EMT). On Newdex, a decentralised EOS exchange it was around $270 (about 24,000 EMT). Currently around 200 artists signed up for the token swap. They need a total investment at current EMT price of $10,000, or 1 million EMT. With those low daily volumes, what would this mean for the token price you think? And who are the ones selling these EMT-tokens? The team? Probably not. The investors who paid $0,08 in ICO? More likely. So, if they would sell, it’s their choice really. Why would the token needs to be locked away for 8 months for Choon-artists in that case? Heavy bagholders offloading to the next fool, similar to people who bought Bitcoin at $20,000, and after 2 years, they still wait until they can take some profit. Also, be aware that all these artists need 5000 EMT. Early buyers might get it for $50. People late to the party could already be facing an inflated price.
There is absolutely no reason to switch to Emanate, as a former Choon-artist. Just because Choon and Emanate communicated it’s possible, doesn’t mean you have to. Just because you might get some revenue back, doesn’t mean you should take the risk of investing in a new platform and token for granted. Do your own research. Plenty of other blockchain music platforms out there. Emanate doesn’t even offer basic functions yet, like track search or uploads. Sure, they promise they develop this. Didn’t Choon do the same, with a mobile app, download portal etc.? I am not saying you shouldn’t switch to Emanate, or take part in the token swap. I just say, keep thinking. Research them. Read their white paper. Check what EOS(IO) is. Not just what they promise, but what they are now.
Summarized: DYOR. Emanate isn’t the new Choon. It’s a complete different platform. Read up first before you decide to make the switch. Just because Choon and Emanate offered this switch, doesn’t mean you have to do it.
Why I Never Left Choon
Choon, for me, was a platform with a clear vision and a good idea. Another factor to join was the involvement of DJ Gareth Emery, who I follow for his music quite some time already, and always appeared as someone with a good working pair of brains. In recent years, Gareth pulled off most of the stuff he focused on, or at least it appeared to me that way. One example is the Laserface concept, which brought him to venues who declined him in earlier stages of his career. Gareth doesn’t appear to give up very easily. To saw him involved in the Choon-platform, was a major factor for me to put trust in it, and that they might actually be able to pull this off.
Unfortunately, Gareth left the team this summer. In hindsight, that could have been a warning to me. But as I invested quite some money in ads and trading NOTES already, and felt the new management still pursued the same ideals, combined with the fact that I really liked the community around Choon, and the platform itself, it didn’t occur to me to leave. Instead, I worked on launching my own label, which I wanted to put on Choon as well, to help with the influx of new quality music, so the platform itself would become more interesting for listeners too. Meanwhile, communication from Choon was that new investments were secured:
After that very article, there has been no further announcements about the state of Choon. And again, this could have been a warning, but unofficial messages from the Choon-team indicated that in the background, a lot was going on and that a bright future was on the horizon. Until the announcement of last Friday, which meant there is no future at all. Investment was secured, but apparently, not signed on paper yet, as the investor pulled out last minute and Choon is done for.
Looking back: Maybe I should have seen the warning signs, with Gareth Emery leaving Choon and the lack of communication. But believing in the idea of Choon, investing some serious money (ads) and time in the platform, and the fact that I liked it in general made me blind for any red flags.
My Current Outlook
Because of this, I now see red flags everywhere. Even if they maybe aren’t there. Maybe I am too harsh and suspicious on Emanate. Maybe their intentions are noble and are they able to actually create the best music platform on blockchain. It doesn’t convince me anymore. I see a lot of hardly realistic numbers on audiences and artists in a time-span of a few years. While the main issue with anything blockchain is: Adoption by the normal guy. And the normal guy will never buy crypto, stake it, use wallets and private keys etc. Especially not to just hear some music. The normal guy wants to click 2 times to find the music he likes and listen to it. Paid for by an occasionally appearing ad, or an automatic monthly payment. No hassle.
Choon actually envisioned to make their platform work that way. Blockchain would just be tech under the hood. Eventually, they never came to the point to develop a platform that could be mass-adopted. Emanate is different. Their tech is so involved in crypto, using nodes and staking and transactions and a stable coin on their own platform, the normal guy would never get that. And even if they would manage to keep this under the hood, artists would need to understand it. And one thing I learned from Choon, is that the majority of artists (myself included) only has a basic understanding (if any) of crypto and blockchain. Mass-adoption of crypto- or blockchain-based music platforms is years and years away. If any. And from a listener perspective, they aren’t needed either. They don’t fill a gap. Spotify has an incredible database of good music in over 1200(!) genres (whether they are made up or not). And there are plenty of alternatives for Spotify already as well, to give the listener a wide range of choices to find what he looks for.
Conclusion: A bright future for any blockchain-based music platform seems far away to me. Because the casual listener has no need for them. I don’t see any mass-adoption happening soon.
Personal Official Statement
With the downfall of Choon, I will leave the blockchain music space completely. Neither my aliases or label, Premier League Recordings, will switch to another blockchain-based music streaming platform. Main reasons: Too much work to direct fans to a niche platform. Too many flaws or shortcomings on the platforms itself as they are all in continuous development. Too much risk on investing in them, or getting out some revenue.
This also means, I don’t make the switch to Emanate. Not as an artist. Currently, I still look into the possibility to take part in the token swap to eventually make back some of the investments I made on Choon. But if taking part in that means it’s mandatory to sign up as an artist to their platform, I take my loss and go. We talk about a serious amount of money here, so it’s really a matter of principle. I am not stating that I will never return to any blockchain-based platform. Just not as long as those platforms aren’t fully developed.
Some of the tracks I had on Choon are available on Spotify, Deezer, Tidal and other platforms. Others will be released in a later stage. Remixes and collaborations from Choon won’t be available anywhere anymore, unless I can come to an agreement with the other artist(s) involved. Do also know, that I agreed upon some releases for the Premier League Recordings label, with a few talented trance producers from Choon. If you want to hear them back, make sure to follow the label. Exclusive releases and early previews are available through a unique label subscription on Patreon. That way, you support my work as an artist as well, and it would help me much more than signing up to Spotify and stream me all day, or download all my tracks from Beatport. Despite I appreciate that a lot as well!
I want to enjoy making music again. No side distractions. Music has always been about my passion and joy to create it. Not about money. So, any side distractions, like figuring out blockchains or managing communities, take away from the time I can actually have on creating and sharing music. That will be my main focus. I will be active in a few Trance-related Facebook communities, because I just enjoy to meet new producers and talk to like minded people. Other than that, I’m out.
I wish all the former Choon-artists the best with any future decisions. I also wish the Emanate team success with developing their platform. Maybe we meet again somewhere, who knows. Let the music guide you!
Cheers,
Marco
DISCLAIMER: This article isn’t neutral. It is not meant as advice to anyone. It expresses my personal opinion and views on the state of affairs around Choon, Emanate and blockchain-based music platforms in general. Despite trying to be factual, this article is based on my personal research and understanding of things. I cannot guarantee that it’s all 100% accurate. Read with interest, but make up your own mind.
