Why I’m Joining Audius
The future of audio streaming is one I’ve always been deeply fascinated with.
My first entry into crypto was through the vision of smart contracts and the ability to expedite the way in which royalties are issued, accounted, and collected in real-time.
One of the biggest problems facing streaming is the concept of ‘black box royalties’ or payments which accrue to siloed third parties. These royalties are commonly paid out only when requested, oftentimes months after the stream has occurred.
As we transcend into a digital world, artists are becoming more and more reliant on streaming as their base income in the absence of touring. But, with popular platforms like Spotify and Apple Music paying out fractions of a cent before labels, distributors and managers take their cut, even the most successful artists are earning negligible payouts for seemingly viral followings.
As an artist manager, I’ve seen this first hand. Graduating with a degree in music business opened my eyes to how cut-throat the music industry can be, and how different the conversations become when creative expression is treated as a product, rather than a novelty.
I’ve long searched for a platform that is truly built for its users — one in which fans, curators, and artists alike can collectively share in the upside both financially and socially.
To this end, I’m excited to be joining Audius — an unstoppable streaming protocol leveraging web3 for transparent, value-aligned wealth creation.
A New Wave of Streaming
Commonly touted as the ‘Soundcloud killer’, Audius is built on Ethereum, giving it a web3 twist with creative ways for artists to better engage their fans while being paid in real-time thanks to the advent of micropayments.
Outside of top audio quality, download gates, and remix contests, Audius is reshaping the way grassroots artists can build a dedicated following. But, what’s more exciting is how those fans can share in their upside.
As someone who prides himself on curation, Audius is built to reward those who drive streams back to artists — creating a direct incentive for playlisters to earn a secondary income stream without having to deal with payola or under the table gatekeeping.
My Role
I’ll be leading the crypto community and tokenomics at Audius — namely the AUDIO governance token, stablecoin payments, and the standardization of social tokens for top creators.
I’ll be working closely with artists to distill the power of web3 by refining how tokenization fits into an unstoppable streaming protocol.
Working closely with token projects has shown how governance can be effective within an entirely crypto-native audience. With Audius, this process becomes even more challenging (and exciting!) when thinking about how to effectively communicate the value of governance to creators who have never heard of crypto before, let alone DeFi, yield farming, or DAOs.
With the rollout of the AUDIO governance token, I’ll be taking point on the communication, narrative, and strategy around making new users aware of its potential while adhering to the core DeFi blueprint I’ve come to know and love.
In tandem, I’ll be working on a blueprint for musicians to create their own social tokens, mapping out token-permissioned features to better engage their followers by distributing tokens to fans and curators driving the most value back to their brand.
My goal is to develop a sound Audius token economy that not only excites crypto power users but is digestible and attractive for those diving into the beautiful world of Ethereum for the first time.
Why Audius?
Over the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the most talented teams in DeFi. My work as a journalist for leading DeFi outlets has given me a front-row seat into the evolution of governance, liquidity mining, and fair launches in a way that simply would not be possible as a mere spectator.
While I’ll continue to be active in those endeavors, I’m excited to use this opportunity to take a step back and refocus on the creative ways in which crypto can cross the chasm.
I’ve largely been infatuated with helping to foster in the Ownership Economy, and my love for DeFi and music simply could not be better paired than working alongside the visionaries at Audius.
In fact, Audius is one of the most well versed web3 teams I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. As a fellow member of MetaCartel Ventures, my discussions with CEO Roneil Rumburg gave me the confidence that Audius can scale an Ethereum-based product in the proper fashion, rather than trying to slap the word ‘blockchain’ onto the project as a buzzword.
Many of the team members, advisors, and community contributors are well aware of all that’s happening in DeFi, giving me a platform to speak openly about use-cases and strategies that will not fall on deaf ears.
The forthcoming Audius mainnet launch is an event that will drastically change the way in which streaming protocols are owned and operated by its very users.
If you’re interested in learning more about Audius, or the upcoming AUDIO governance token, please reach out!
For my fellow musicians and degens, please hear me when I say that Audius is not a platform that you want to be sleeping on.
