imusify, BIG IN JAPAN
Post 2. JAPAN BLOCKCHAIN WEEK — TOKYO
The glass walls of a magnificent conference complex reflected in the morning sun. It was already 32 degrees Celsius outside, and the crowded streets of Tokyo felt like a sauna as we approached the building of the Tokyo International Forum, crossing a large concrete square. The automatic sliding doors opened silently, and then the building swallowed us. It was huge, and the glass balconies reminded me of the movie iRobot. The conference space was right below us. Countless booths of various blockchain ventures and crypto-businesses covered the ground in the middle while two main-stages covered the left and right flank of a giant hall.
Miki, the head of NEO Japan, led the way as we descended to the conference floor and picked up our passes for the Japan Blockchain Conference. It was show time. More than 100 experts in cryptocurrency, blockchain companies, and organizations from all over the world gathered in Tokyo, and organizers expected as much as 10,000 visitors. The crowd was already gathering, and the whole floor was buzzing with excitement. We made our way through the crowd and proceeded towards the right stage to test the set-up before our presentation.
Marco, the Product Designer of the imusify platform, joined us just before we were about to step on the stage. It was the first time I met him in person, though we must have spent more than 100s of hours on team conference calls by then.
I was excited. It has been a while since I stood in front of such crowd. Test. Test. Ok, the mic works. The slides work. It’s time to rock the stage. David winked at me: “are you ready?”, he asked with an encouraging tone. “I am”, I replied.
We followed Miki on stage. I suddenly felt my heart beating faster as she closed her part of the presentation and invited me to take the center of the stage. The familiar feeling of excitement, anxiousness, and joy suddenly rushed through my body, reminding me of the days when I used to play in a rock band. I put the mike closer to my face and began.
I opened by explaining the problems musicians face on their way from the garage to the billboards. Lack of funding, access to the right people, generating revenue, and rights management. I could hear the chirp of portable translation devices as I spoke. The crowd followed with interest. I found a couple of guys in the crowd who followed with particular attention, and focused on them. It was as if we were friends for a lifetime. Soon the adrenaline rush was gone, and I felt great. I closed my part, and David took over to explain the vision of imusify and introduce our prototype.
I have seen some of David’s music videos, and knew that he used to be an established musician, but seeing him perform in this setting was a new experience. He rocked. In the industry, where projects rarely show anything beyond a nicely designed whitepaper, we were proud to be able to showcase the prototype of our platform. The crowd was excited as well, and a few people quickly gathered around us as we left the backstage after our presentation.
More people approached us next to the lockers. David took over the conversation with a producer who was interested in the particularities of music distribution through our platform as Marco and I conversed with a marketing manager of Crypto Girls — a media outlet for blockchain & crypto projects and businesses. The Crypto Girls gathered around us, scanning the QR codes on our imusify t-shirts. I couldn’t help but feel like I’m a part of a rock band once again. The first round was behind us, and we did good. Ready for whatever is coming next…
…TO BE CONTINUED…
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