Despite of giants like Google, Apple and Netflix working on DRM protection, content protection is still an issue and blockchain is the only possible way to solve the problem. Audius, solves the problem by using blockchain.
Audius, the decentralized music sharing platform recently announced that they’ve obtained $5.5 million in Series A. It’s owned by the community and is a competitor to services like SoundCloud. The funding round was backed by General Catalyst and Lightspeed. BlockPitch Team contacted them regarding this and also confirmed that Kleiner Perkins, Pantera Capital, 122West and Ascolta Ventures also participated.
Audius describes itself as a blockchain-based alternative to SoundCloud. Being powered by blockchain makes it more powerful and transparent than it’s non-blockchain competitive. Using blockchain would lead to storing of all data on a public ledger which can’t be modified by anyone.
Not only does it bring transparency, but it also protects their content. Protection of content is one of the biggest problems which giants like Google and Apple haven’t been able to fight, being on the decentralized technology would allow the platform to stop the user from downloading the content which is not permitted.
The platform also plans to reward the artists based on the performance of their albums using cryptocurrencies. Most of the Artist’s rely on third party companies to manage their payments which costs them a fee. However, since Audius is completely transparent, provides protection, Artists can trust it and not worry about their payments.
“Artists need decentralized models for music sharing, and a stake in the platforms they contribute content to. Blockchain allows Audius to do this with tokens and decentralized voting-based governance so artists have a say in how the platform evolves. It’s a very elegant model and one which, as an artist, I find immensely attractive.” said the company in their Press Release sent to BlockPitch
Using Audius, artists can connect directly with fans and distribute content to them without the involvement of middlemen or agencies. They could build and engage their fans on the platform. But the key difference between SoundCloud and Audius would be, It’s completely secure and powered by blockchain, which also protects their content. Using blockchain technology makes everything transparent, so even if the company plans to commit a fraud, they won’t be able to commit.
Audius currently has an advisory team made up of Augur cofounder Jeremy Gardner, EDM superstar 3LAU, Pantera Capital Partner Paul Veradittakit, EA founder Bing Gordon and BitTorrent chief architect Greg Hazel
