Audius is here to disrupt the multi-billion dollar music industry with its community-governed decentralized blockchain technology. Each one of us loves to hear music created by our favourite artists. Artists who spent days and nights working on creating a mix of content using their creative minds.
Although their music is heard by billion of ears every day, most of them are rarely compensated for the value they bring to the marketplace. Dubbed as “Soundcloud on the blockchain“Audius wants to fill this gap and empower artists in a fair way by cutting the middle man involved between the creator and the listener.
The project is already challenging traditional players in the market. But can it claim the number one spot in the music industry which is currently ruled by Spotify? Does the Audius Coin i.e AUDIO hold enough potential to attract investors and users? If you’re looking to get an answer, then keep on reading this post as I uncover the in-depth details and future analysis of Auduis –
What is Audius Music?
Audius is a decentralized, community-owned, blockchain project that focuses on empowering artists by connecting them directly to the end-user. It helps music artists build a monetization platform, share & stream their music and get a fair value for their work. This includes cutting the interaction with the middle man or music agencies that takes a big share of revenue at the time of music distribution using traditional marketing methods.
Audius was founded in the year 2018 by Roneil Rumburg and Forrest Browning, both happen to be early adopters of Bitcoin and an investor in Lightning Labs that powers the Bitcoin lightning network. The project has successfully raised multiple funding rounds before launching its mainnet in 2019.
Unlike other blockchain projects, Audius is simple and easy to understand. It has an interactive UI and a DAPP that works just like an app. It is user-friendly, especially for listeners who like to access technology in plug-and-play mode.
Audius is a free platform. Anyone can create an account on the app and listen to music or podcast. On the other hand, Artists can upload an unlimited number of songs without worrying about upload charges. It doesn’t run on a subscription-based model.
How will the artist earn?
The artist is paid per stream basis ($0.35/stream approx.). The system allows the artist to keep the majority of their earnings (90%), only part of it is paid to the node operators running the network(10%).
Audius registered over 6.6 million unique users and over 100K artists on its platform in the month of October 2021
What is Audius Coin $AUDIO?
Audius Coin $AUDIO is the native currency of the Audius network. It is an ERC20 token that was created on the Ethereum blockchain in the year 2020. Just like any other crypto-token, $AUDIO has an important role to play in its blockchain network, shared below –
Governance:
Audius is a decentralized community-owned platform. The holders need to stake coins on the network in order to participate in the key decision-making processes involving voting on proposals. This is only possible by staking AUDIO tokens that allow network governance.
Staking Rewards:
Users who stake coins on the network are eligible to receive staking rewards with an annual reward rate of 22%. The reward is paid back in AUDIO tokens. A minimum of 100 AUDIO tokens are required to be eligible for staking and earning rewards.
Network Security:
Node operators power the network and stake AUDIO tokens to secure and run the Audius protocol. In return, they become eligible to receive staking rewards as part of staking the AUDIO coins.
Node operators are required to stake a minimum of 200,000 AUDIO tokens.
Exclusive Features:
Artists can unlock exclusive features by holding AUDIO tokens and staking them on the network. These are premium features like offering limited-edition music collectibles as NFT, offering artist badges to fans and much more. You can learn more about NFT in the post covering Enjin Coin
The AUDIO tokens were pre-minted with the following distribution model –
- 5.5% AUDIO coins were airdropped to ealry adopters of the platform (10,000 artists approx.)
- 17.8% to the treasury as a reserve for staking rewards and governance votes
- 40.6% allocated to the Audius founders, team members and advisors. This includes selected artists on the platform.
- 36% to early investors who participated in the seed funding.
Audius Coin has a total supply of 1.06 billion AUDIO tokens
How does Audius work?
On the surface, there’re three key players driving the Audius system i.e artists, fans and node operators. Artists create content, fans listen and the node operator manages the whole process, providing seamless uploading and streaming services.
On the inside Audius architecture consists of three layers –
- App Layer
- Node Layer
- Blockchain Layer
App Layer:
The App layer is the front end of the Audius ecosystem. It takes care of the user interaction on the Audius website and Audius Android & iOS apps. Audius has created an open-source, client-side Ethereum wallet called Hedgehog for web3 login that works like a usual plugin with username and password entry fields.
Node Layer:
The Audius node layer is layer 2 in the Audius architecture. It keeps the system scalable and compatible with the Ethereum blockchain, something similar to Polygon MATIC chain that provides scalability solution to the Ethereum blockchain.
There are two types of Node layers involved in the storage and retrieval of the content in the system:
- Content Nodes
- Discovery Nodes
1. Content Nodes:
The content nodes host the content on the Audius network using IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) which I will cover in my post on FileCoin. Audius developed AudSP which is a decentralized storage solution built on IPFS (Something similar to Torrent files).
To ensure the accessibility and availability of files stored through AudSP protocol, the system offers staking based incentives for the users that host the content on the network.
The Content Ledger contain all data accessible within the Audius protocol
2. Discovery Nodes:
In order to find relevant content for the given search query on the network, there has to be a way to index metadata for easy retrieval (like Google search). Discovery nodes do this job by indexing the metadata that is easily queryable by the users on the platform.
Audius is actively working to replace layer 2 with Solana Crypto blockchain to improve the scalability and efficiency of the whole system.
Blockchain Layer:
The blockchain layer is the Ethereum blockchain which is the third and final layer in the Audius architecture. All the staking activities take place on the Ethereum blockchain and it also helps to run DAPPS on the network. The content nodes and discovery nodes stake tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.
Audius Funding:
Audius is one of the top projects that are able to attract healthy investments. Audius received $5 million in the year 2018 from Venture Capital firms Lightspeed, Pantera and General Catalyst.
The team was also successful in raising $1.25 million from Binance backed Binance Labs which created a buzz among the crypto investors.
Recently, the platform also raised a sum of $5 million from top artists including Katy Perry, Nas, The Chainsmokers, Pusha T and Jason Derulo.
As of 2022, Audius has raised a total of $13.6 million from various funding rounds
Audius TikTok Partnership:
Audius partnership with TikTok is one of the hottest deals in the crypto space. In August 2021, TikTok chose Audius as one of the partners for its sound kit functionality (sharing songs on TikTok powered by Audius).
This can be a turning point in the global adoption of Audius as a music sharing and streaming platform. The partnership will provide much-needed visibility to Audius in the artist community and subsequently help in growing its user base.
Audius Benefits:
Stablecoin Payments:
Soon Audius coin will include stablecoin payments on its network. These coins are stable and less volatile than any other crypto. It will provide artists with a stable source of revenue by participating in the Audius economy. Terra LUNA UST is one such example of a stablecoin.
Artist Tokens:
Audius is working on a system where the artists can offer unique tokens that can be sold to the fanbase. Holders of these tokens are allowed to access exclusive and premium content created by the artist. Yet another form of revenue stream for the creators.
Enjoying flexin' that your an artist's #1 supporter? 🤔
— Audius 🎧 (@AudiusProject) August 18, 2022
NOW you get notified when you've been dethroned by another $AUDIO tipper! 👑
Let the race begin 🏇https://t.co/HPYEsKY7sg
The use case can be expanded to exclusive interaction between the token holder and the artists, a live chat or a live stream interaction (that’s my personal take).
High Margin:
Audius has literally changed the revenue model of the online music industry in the sharing and streaming space. It remained true to its promise of creating a decentralized platform that connects artists directly to the fans.
Following this model, it was able to attract a lot of musicians and listeners in a very short period of time by offering an efficient rewarding model that gives a majority of the revenue to the artists as compared to the traditional platforms.
Financially Stable:
Backed by top VC firms and leading artists like Katy Perry. Audius has raised over $13 million in various funding rounds. Making the project financially stable and operational for a longer period of time.
The money is used to make strategic partnerships like TikTok, improving platform dynamics and marketing purposes that can ultimately bring more equity into the system.
Audius Drawbacks:
No Copyright Protection:
Since the platform is decentralized, it cannot stop copyright infringements. Any artist can use the creation of any other artist and republish it without the owner’s consent. As per reports, Audius is already working on resolving this issue and hopefully it will be addressed within the next few months.
Lack of Transparency:
Audius is not very vocal when it comes to announcing important updates, project roadmap and recent developments within the platform. Audius blog seems to be somewhat active since the frequency of posts is quite low compared to other crypto projects like Chiliz Coin, Enjin etc
Replicable Model:
Audius business model can be replicated very easily by any other player in the crypto space including traditional players like Spotify. This is not an immediate threat but it can give rise to better applications that can give Audius a run for its money considering the blockchain industry is just about to enter into the growth phase.
Audius Coin Price:
Please check the latest Audius Coin $AUDIO price, shared below –
Audius Coin Price Prediction:
Audius quickly emerged as a user-friendly blockchain platform that successfully addressed the concerning problems of the artists and helped them with better reach and monetization. Powered by VC firms, the project is disrupting the online music industry by challenging the established players in the market.
AUDIO token was launched in October 2020 and traded around $0.50 before declining to the level below $0.10 in the initial months. It saw parabolic growth in the bull run of 2021, raising its value beyond $4 and hitting a peak at around $5 before crashing back to $0.60.
Given the volatility and platform demand, it’s not difficult to forecast, the coin has real potential to surpass its previous high and end up in the range between $7-$10 in the next bull market. After the investment round by leading artists like Katy Perry and The Chainsmokers, AUDIO is all set to leap ahead and attain new records.
Satori built on NEAR Protocol is the emerging competitor of Audius
Where to Buy Audius Coin?
Audius coin is available for purchase on the top cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and Gate.io. It’s an ERC20 token, but it’s not available on the Uniswap exchange at the time of writing this post due to the unavailability of liquidity pools in the UNI DEX.
Wazirx Exchange which is a subsidiary of Binance is another platform where you can purchase AUDIO tokens in USDT. This is an Indian based platform and supports INR deposits.
Is Audius Coin a Good Investment?
Audius is a platform for everyone. From artists to listeners, anyone can create an account and start listening to music or podcast for free. Moreover, if you’re an artist reading the post, I encourage you to experience the platform by uploading your content and understanding the nuances.
The project is financially stable and has a growing user base. With a little over 100K registered artists, the platform has already surpassed the milestone of 5 million unique users per month and now heading towards 10 million, which is going to be a cakewalk for the platform.
After deploying new features like stablecoin payments and artist tokens, the demand of the platform can shoot off the roof. Indeed, Audius is a safe bet and a potential token to invest. However, before you think of investing in it, I suggest going through the platform by downloading the app or browsing the website. Get yourself familiar with the platform and then decide.
This completes my review of Audius Coin with price prediction. In the next post, I will cover SushiSwap crypto DEX with huge potential. If you’re a fan of blockchain technology then please do share this post on your social handles and educate everyone around you. Do remember to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more informative content, released every week.
DISCLAIMER:
Cryptocurrency is a highly volatile market. All the information shared in the post is for knowledge purpose only. By no means, it’s financial or investment advice. Readers are responsible for their own investment decisions and should only invest in cryptocurrency after proper research.
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Paras is a blockchain writer & video creator at Katoch Tubes. In his free time, he loves watching space exploration documentaries & Hollywood movies.