Tag Archives: Universal Basic Income

Deadly Buda’s Musicoin address to VI St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum

Musicon Ambassador Joel “DJ Deadly Buda” Bevacqua addressed the Intellectual Property and Blockchain discussion panel: “Creating Globally Applicable Best Practices in Blockchain Technology in Russia for IP Management: from Patents and Inventions to Books, Paintings, Photos, Music and Films” held at the VI St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum. Below is the video of the address, the text of the speech, displayed slides, and the hand-out text mentioned in the address.

Here is the text from the speech:

“Hello, my name is Joel Bevacqua. Some know me as DJ Deadly Buda. I am the Musician Ambassador for Musicoin. We are honored to be invited to the Cultural Forum and especially by IPChain, which we believe could not only benefit Russia, but might shine as an example worldwide about the possibilities of blockchain and its utilization to aid human creativity.

We sincerely hope that one day, younger people in the audience will look back to this panel as a day that the world took a step in a good direction.

So, what is Musicoin?

Musicoin is a digital currency for the listening and compensation of music. On February 11, 2017, artists could upload their songs to Musicoin.org . When listeners played a song, they paid the artist 1 Musicoin. This payment happened in seconds. 1 Musicoin was worth at the time between 1 and 4 cents in US dollars. The artist could save that Musicoin in hopes it would rise in value, or sell it on and exchange for the currency of his or her choice. This was all achieved with the Musicoin blockchain.

Musicoin Presentation Slide 1
Musicoin Presentation Slide 1

This was a success, but we noticed a problem. As Musicoins rose in value, people played less music. So, we made a change to the Musicoin blockchain which we code-named “U.B.I.” for “Universal Basic Income.”

In this change, the artist still receives 100% of the income, but now 1 play is equivalent to an amount of Musicoin equal to about 2 cents in US dollars.

Musicoin Presentation Slide 2
Musicoin Presentation Slide 2

Also, listening for the public is now free. It is paid for by Musicoin miners. Miners are people with computers that process Musicoin transactions and mint the coins. A part of their mining reward creates the fund for free listening. The miners hope this leads to greater adoption and the Musicoins they retain becoming more valuable.

Through UBI, free listening become the human intelligence of the system and makes many traditional concerns about music piracy irrelevant.

Some might call what we’ve done, “disruptive”, but we feel it is constructive and ultimately an aid to the human imagination. In that spirit, a forthcoming update will allow consent-based location data to be entered in the Musicoin blockchain. This way, an artist might indicate where their payments may go.

Musicoin Presentation Slide 3
Musicoin Presentation Slide 3

If their song is played in Russia, RAO may process some funds, if played in Canada, SOCAN could process certain payments. Theoretically, public domain works could pay its citizen in near real-time.

The possibilities are many and are being realized now. Mobile and software players are expected soon, and even dedicated hardware players are expected within the next year.

I am having a fact sheet about Musicoin passed out. Please contact me after the panel if you are interested in interfacing with the Musicoin blockchain and I will help facilitate it.”

Below is the text from the hand-out mentioned in the speech.


Musicoin Logo With Tagline

Important Facts:

February 11, 2017, Musicoin becomes the first blockchain-enabled streaming music system in which artists can upload music, the global public can listen, and when they do, the artists are paid in seconds.

You can listen to streaming music at http://musicoin.org . The rights-holder is rewarded with Musicoin.

Musicoin has over 19,000 registered users. 1,500+ are musicians who have uploaded over 7000 tracks.

The price of a Musicoin has gone as high as 4.6 cents USD each. Musicoin’s exchange symbol is: MUSIC.

How it Works:

Every time a song is played the copyright holder is paid an amount of Musicoin equivalent to about $0.02 USD. This amount can fluctuate based on market demand and can be raised or lowered to compete with other online streaming services. The copyright holder receives Musicoin seconds after a listener presses “play” anywhere in the Musicoin system. Once the copyright holder receives the Musicoin, he, she, or it can elect to split the payment with others if needed.

Musicoins are created by people all over the world with personal computers. The process is called “mining.” The computers validate and process Musicoin transactions and are rewarded with Musicoins. 15% of Musicoins mined are allocated to fund the playing of music by the public. Musicians, miners and the public can sell their Musicoin on exchanges for the currency of their choice or use them to transact with one another.

Future Plans:

Easy purchase of Musicoins for the public (a cryptocurrency exchange will no longer be necessary).

Consent-based location data will be available from the Musicoin blockchain.

Mobile apps will be available soon. Embedded hardware platform expected late 2018.

FAQ

What kind of blockchain is Musicoin? Musicoin is its own blockchain, based on Ethereum code. By using its own blockchain, Musicoin can better scale with the increasing demands of music consumption.

How would my blockchain system communicate with Musicoin? Like Ethereum, ERC-20 tokens can be utilized to easily communicate with other blockchains.

Что такое Musicoin?

Musicoin – это цифровая валюта, созданная для получения вознаграждения за прослушивание музыки. Каждый раз, когда слушатель проигрывает песню в глобальной экосистеме Musicoin, создатель песни получает заработок практически в реальном времени. В то же время это ничего не стоит слушателю. Статья, которую вы читаете, призвана объяснить, как такое возможно и содержит размышления о возможном развитии системы для артистов, фанатов и предпринимателей со всего мира. Musicoin начался как способ высветить проблемы современной глобальной музыкальной индустрии. Всего три корпорации владеют 80% музыкального рынка: Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group и Universal Music Group. Из-за своего влияния они имеют тенденцию диктовать, кто будет побеждать, а кто проиграет в мировой экосистеме. Новички и даже состоявшиеся музыканты могут пострадать от сложившейся ситуации. К примеру, множество артистов жалуются на низкие выплаты роялти, которые они получают от стриминговых веб-сервисов вроде Spotify и Pandora. Более того, авторские права и лицензии настолько сложны, что средний артист едва может отследить те суммы, которые он может получить.

Musicoin-ppp
PPP контракт (Pay Per Play) системы Musicoin позволяет осуществлять мгновенные платежи артисту, и эти платежи могут быть легко разделены между всеми участниками группы и другими важными для музыкальной экосистемы людьми.

Такое решение проблемы в системе Musicoin возможно благодаря использованию технологии блокчейн и смарт-контрактов. Компьютеры всего мира связываются друг с другом для создания цифровой валюты Musicoins (далее MC) и отслеживания каждой транзакции. Создание валюты и системы реестра последовательно и называется “блокчейн”, так как все компьютеры вместе генерируют “блоки” транзакций один за другим. Внутри этих транзакций записаны ордера на проведение одного или нескольких платежей. Эти платёжные ордера называются смарт-контракты или умные контракты, так как они логически исполняют выплату согласно программному коду, который в них заложен.

Если говорить простым языком, как только музыкант загружает песню в систему Musicoin, за каждое прослушивание он получает 1 MC. И если это группа музыкантов, с которыми надо поделиться наградой, система разделяет 1 MC соответственно контракту. Всё это происходит за считанные секунды с помощью блокчейна Musicoin.

Musicoin PPP 2
Схематическое изображение PPP системы Musicoin.

Так сколько же стоит MC? Есть зависимость. Как и у других цифровых валют, MC торгуется на открытых рынках и его стоимость постоянно меняется. Временами 1 MC стоил больше 4-х центов (в долларах США). На этом уровне Musicoin выплачивал артисту за прослушивание гораздо больше, чем любой другой мейнстримовый веб-сайт. Но с любым успехом приходят и трудности. Стало ясно, что если цена MC будет продолжать расти, то никто попросту не будет слушать музыку. Люди будут копить MC в надежде на будущий рост. В действительности так и происходило при цене в 3 цента. После этого основатель Musicoin Исаак Мао (Isaac Mao) начал разрабатывать инновационную стратегию для будущего.

Исаак приобрёл известность в Китае как один из первых сетевых блоггеров и защитник свободы в Интернете. В начале 21-го века он придумал теорию и назвал её “Sharism” (суть заключается в девизе «чем больше вы делитесь, тем больше получаете»), подчеркнув важность и необходимость делиться информацией в информационную эпоху.

И хотя Sharism изначально был основной идеей первого воплощения Musicoin в феврале 2017-го, теперь он будет ещё больше, чем прежде, влиять на систему Musicoin в ответ на возникающие проблемы. Так было предложено новое, хоть и довольно спорное дополнение к блокчейну: UBI или “Универсальный Базовый Доход” (“Universal Basic Income”).

Изначально спорность UBI заключалась в том, что всё выглядело как социалистическая программа, прикрученная к блокчейну. Многие сторонники криптовалют по сути либертарианцы, а потому всё, что создаёт систему всеобщего благосостояния, например UBI, вызывало немало удивления. Тем не менее если присмотреться, оказывается, что это гораздо более изобретательно, чем устаревшие монетарные политики.

Во-первых, UBI решило проблему удержания людьми монет MC путём изменения способа вознаграждения для артистов. Отныне одно проигрывание стоит не 1 MC, а то количество MC, которое по стоимости равно 2-м центам USD (хотя данное количество может меняться, это всё равно больше, чем предлагают другие стриминг сервисы). Таким образом, прослушивание музыки будет приносить стабильный доход, а сторонники MC будут наблюдать увеличение капитала вместе с расширением и ростом всей системы.

Musicoin UBI
Эта схема UBI показывает как поток MC решит возникающие проблемы с глобальной музыкальной индустрией.

Во-вторых, любое прослушивание в системе Musicoin становится безплатным для слушателя. Музыканты получают вознаграждение из фонда, выделенного компьютерными вычислениями, как это было описано выше. Компьютеры проводят транзакции и одновременно создают новые монеты, это называется “майнингом”. Теперь майнеры платят артистам, тогда как для слушателя всё остаётся безплатным. Больше, чем просто социальная программа, система UBI делает майнеров Musicoin прямыми конкурентами Universal, Sony и Warner. Но кто все эти майнеры? Майнером может быть любой, у кого есть компьютер и современная видеокарта. Фактически любой геймер легко может “копать” MC. Так, обычные люди со всего мира майнят MC и таким образом помогают строить систему, которая поощряет артистов и слушателей совершенно новым способом. Если вы хотите узнать больше про майнинг MC – посмотрите это хорошее видео (здесь и далее на англ.).

Немного больше про майнинг рассказано в этом видео.

Тем не менее система UBI – это лишь начало. На конец 2018-го намечен новый поворот: Proof of Sharing (Доказательство распространения. Хотя оно возможно будет переименовано в Proof of Play – Доказательство прослушивания, об этом можно посмотреть здесь). В этой системе те пользователи, которые активно делятся контентом, помогают майнить MC. Если хотите узнать, как всё устроено в деталях, можете прочитать их “Белую бумагу” – в этом документе полностью обрисовано устройство платформы и все её параметры. Будущее платформы в долгосрочной перспективе описано в “Дорожной карте”.

Существуют и другие цифровые валюты, нацеленные на решение проблем глобальной музыкальной индустрии, но Musicoin значительно отличается от них. В первую очередь Musicoin работает на собственном блокчейне, тогда как остальные используют разработки других криптовалют, которые проводят массу прочих транзакций помимо собственно музыки. Потенциально это делает Musicoin более быстрым и способным к охвату многочисленных пользователей в будущем. Другой важный факт – это первая стриминговая система на технологии блокчейн, используемая одинаковым образом как артистом, так и слушателем. Будучи таковой, она первой успешно справится как с реальными мировыми проблемами, так и с модными тенденциями. По сути, Musicoin уже проверен в бою и протестирован в приложении к реальному миру.

Вот несколько ранних этапов развития Musicoin, которые помогли сформировать его эволюцию и адаптацию:

  1. Musicoin стал первым стриминговым сервисом на блокчейне, который смог публично привлечь музыкантов и слушателей.
  2. Musicoin присоединяется к Enterprise Ethereum Alliance – организации, состоящей из почти 500 компаний.
  3. Формируется The Musicoin Alliance: к нему присоединяются поставщики товаров и сервисов для помощи в промоушене и утверждении Musicoin.
  4. The Hard Data и Musicoin Pilot Program успешно раздают MC среди активных пользователей за музыкально-ориентированные продукты и сервисы: авторские статьи, фотографии, возможность приобретать футболки и подписки на журнал с помощью MC.
  5. Первый в мире блокчейн DJ-микс “Rock the Blockchain” был выпущен на Musioin.org.

Будущее Musicoin стремительно реализуется. В будущем мы сможем увидеть систему Muscoin, встроенную в коммерческие продукты, такие как колонки или наушники. Интернет-радиостанции начнут транслировать Musicoin, так что артист получит вознаграждение за каждого слушателя. Веб-приложения будут легко использовать ссылки и трансляции на Musicoin. Вскоре вы будете иметь возможность купить билеты на мероприятия с Musicoin, футболки групп и весь спектр товаров и услуг, которые обычно считаются частью музыкального мира. В целом система повлияет таким образом, что артисты смогут вести достойную жизнь вместе со своими фанатами по всему миру, наслаждаясь своим творчеством. Становлению этого по-настоящему способствует Musicoin.

Взгляд Musicoin на будущее и важные этапы развития. С 1-го квартала 2017 до 3-го квартала 2019.

Постскриптум: пара вещей, о которых стоит упомянуть – у Musicoin есть эксклюзивный “укорачиватель” ссылок для Musicoin.org, http://jam.dj; также запущен новый веб-сайт, администрирующий политику dj-миксов: http://musicoin.dj.

Справедливости ради надо признаться (если это ещё не стало очевидным) – The Hard Data являются большими фанатами Musicoin. Мы пользуемся им для оплаты труда авторов и принимаем для продажи футболок и подписок на журнал. Musicoin помогает нам финансировать создание контента на theharddata.com. Так что мы действительно заинтересованы, когда речь заходит о Musicoin. В общем, вряд ли вы найдёте лучшую музыкально-ориентированную цифровую валюту. Призываем вас убедится в этом самим, если вы нам не верите.

Перевод: Harhor

Ред. : Cikada

What is Musicoin?

Musicoin is a digital currency designed for the compensation and consumption of music. Every time a listener plays a song anywhere in the global Musicoin ecosystem, the song’s creators are paid in near real-time. The listening however, does not cost listeners anything. This article will explain how this is possible and speculate on Musicoin’s possible ramifications for music artists, fans and business people around the world.

Musicoin began as a way to address the problems associated with the current global music industry. Three corporations, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group own over 80% of the global market. Because of their power, they tend to dictate who the winners and losers are – and will be – in the global music ecosystem. New and even established musicians can suffer because of this situation. For example, many artists have complained about low royalty payments they received from streaming websites such as Spotify and Pandora. Furthermore, music copyrights and licensing are so complicated that it is difficult for the average artist to keep track of what monies they might be entitled to.

The Musicoin PPP Contract
The Musicoin PPP Contract enables quick payments to artists and can be easily split with band members and other important people in the music ecosystem.

The Musicoin solution to this problem is achieved primarily with the use of blockchain technology and smart contracts. Computers around the world communicate with each other to create a digital currency called Musicoins, and then keeps track of all their transactions. This currency creation and ledger system is sequential and often referred to as a “blockchain” because the computers are processing “blocks” of transactions one after the other. Within those transactions are orders to distribute payments to one or several entities. Those payment orders are called “smart contracts” because they logically execute payment orders based on how they are programmed.

So in plain English, once a musician uploaded their song into the Musicoin system, every time their song got played they were paid 1 Musicoin. And if the musician had band members he or she needed to split the profits with, the Musicoin would get split accordingly. This all happened in seconds via the Musicoin blockchain.

An elaborated view of the Musicoin PPP pay-per-play system.
An elaborated view of the Musicoin PPP pay-per-play system.

So how much is a Musicoin worth? It depends. Like other digital currencies, Musicoins are traded on the open market and its value fluctuates by the minute. At times, Musicoins have been worth over 4 cents (in United States Dollars). At over 4 cents per play, Musicoin was paying artists a much higher per-stream rate than any mainstream music websites.

But with any success comes challenges. It was quickly realized that if the price of Musicoins kept climbing, no one would play music. People would hoard Musicoins hoping they would be more valuable. In fact, some were already doing that when they were worth 3 cents. So, Musicoin’s primary founder, Isaac Mao, started developing innovative strategies for the future.

Isaac had gained notoriety in China for being one of its first web-bloggers, and an advocate of internet freedom. In the early 21st century he had developed a theory called “Sharism” that emphasized the importance and necessity of sharing information in the information age. Though Sharism was already an idea that underlined Musicoin’s early incarnation of February 2017, it would now influence the Musicoin system more so than before in response to the new challenges. A controversial new implementation to the blockchain was proposed: UBI or “Universal Basic Income.”

UBI was initially controversial as it sounded like a Socialist program implemented on the blockchain. Many proponents of digital currencies are very Libertarian in outlook, and anything that resembles a welfare system, or a “Universal Basic Income” for everyone raised a lot of eyebrows. However, a closer look at UBI revealed it was far more ingenious than out-dated monetary policies.

UBI solved the problem of Musicoin hoarding first by changing the reward to the artist. One play of their song was no longer 1 Musicoin, but an amount of Musicoin equal to roughly 2 cents USD (however, that amount can fluctuate so that it would always be more than what other music streaming services pay). In this way, music plays would emit a stable reward, and people holding onto Musicoins will likely see their investment grow as the system gains wider adoption.

Musicoin's UBI schematic demonstrates how the flow of Musicoins will be set to solve ongoing problems with the global music industry.
Musicoin’s UBI schematic demonstrates how the flow of Musicoins will be set to solve ongoing problems with the global music industry.

Next, all plays on the Musicoin system became free for the listener. The musicians are paid from a fund allocated by the computers processing the Musicoin transactions as described earlier in this article. When the computers process Musicoin transactions and make new Musicoins it is referred to as “mining”. So now, the miners of Musicoin pay the artists while the public listens for free. Far from being a social program, the UBI system arguably makes the Musicoin miners direct competitors with Universal, Sony and Warner. And who are those miners? They could be anyone with a computer and a modern graphics card. Virtually any gamer could easily mine Musicoin. So, normal people all over the world mining Musicoin are helping build a system that rewards artists and listeners in a whole new fashion. If you want to learn more about Musicoin mining, here is a good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5-6PXfH7gw

I speak a little bit about the wider implications of UBI in this video:

The UBI system is only the beginning though. Slated for late 2018, Musicoin will introduce a new wrinkle: Proof of Sharing (though it may be renamed to “Proof of Play” as seen in this video). In this system, users actively sharing content will help mine Musicoins. For the nuts and bolts about how the Musicoin system works, read their “White Paper” which is a document outlining Musicoin’s platform design and specifications. Musicoin’s long-term vision can be found in its Roadmap document.

There are other digital currencies aimed at addressing the problems of the global music industry, but Musicoin differs from them in significant ways. Most notably is that Musicoin runs its own blockchain system, whereas other solutions ride on top of other digital currency solutions that process many different types of transactions besides just music. This makes Musicoin potentially faster and able to scale easier to a larger population of users.  The other important fact is that Musicoin was the first functioning music streaming service powered by blockchain technology that could be used by artist and listener alike. Being such, it has been the first to successfully deal with real world problems and fashion solutions. In essence, Musicoin is battle tested in real-world applications.

Here are some early Musicoin milestones that have helped shape its evolution and adoption:

  1. Musicoin becomes the first functioning music streaming service powered by blockchain technology that can publicly accommodate musicians and listeners.
  2. Musicoin joins the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, an organization made up of Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, start-ups, and academics dedicated to smart contract technology.
  3. The Musicoin Alliance forms, as providers of goods and services join in an effort to promote the adoption of Musicoin.
  4. The Hard Data and Musicoin Pilot Program successfully put Musicoin in the hands of active users for music-related goods and services, namely article writing, photography, and the ability to purchase t-shirts and printed magazine subscriptions with Musicoin.
  5. The world’s first DJ mix powered with blockchain technology, “Rock the Blockchain” is released on Musicoin.org.

The future of Musicoin is rapidly coming to fruition. In the future we could see the Musicoin system embedded in commercial products such as speakers and headphones. Internet radio stations could stream Musicoin so that artists are paid for each listener. Web applications would easily allow the implementation of Musicoin links and streams. Soon, you may be able to buy tickets to events with Musicoin, band t-shirts, and a whole raft of goods and services normally associated with the music world. The overall effect of the Musicoin system could be artists making a decent living from fans the world over enjoying their music, and this is the world that Musicoin is helping to make.

The Musicoin view of the future and important milestones towards which it is headed.
The Musicoin view of the future and important milestones towards which it is headed.

Post script: a couple things worth mentioning is that Musicoin has an exlusive URL-shortener for Musicoin.org links, http://jam.dj and a new website administering dj mix policy for the Musicoin system has been launched, http://musicoin.dj

Also, fair disclosure in case its not obvious, The Hard Data is a big fan of Musicoin. We use it to pay our contributors, and accept it for t-shirts and magazine subscriptions. Musicoin helps fund content creation on theharddata.com. So, we are really biased when it comes to the topic of Musicoin. That said, we don’t think you will find a better music-focused digital currency and urge you to look for yourself if you don’t believe us.

Musicoin Snags Top Hard EDM Artists

Musicoin just increased its lead in the music-blockchain race, as several well-known artists on the harder side of the electronic dance music world made their music available on musicoin.org. Most notably, famed South African drum and bass producers, Counterstrike, made available three of their high-energy, metal-infused epics of rolling percussion.

Click the photo to visit Counterstrike's Musicoin profile.
Click the photo to visit Counterstrike’s Musicoin profile.
Click here to visit Satroniq's Musicoin profile.
Click here to visit Satroniq’s Musicoin profile.

Not far behind in the upload race was Satroniq, aka Satronica, one of America’s top hardcore techno DJs, whose hard EDM label, Kontaminated Recordings, submitted their hardstyle infused “Egyptian Cougar” track by Satroniq and DJ Delirium.

Musicoin.org’s hard bass catalog got a nice upgrade courtesy of Pittsburgh, PA’s rising young talent, Subterranean. His four tracks of glitchy trap and dubstep are just the sounds that have been crushing the EDM festivals this summer, and anyone on the lookout for fresh ear-candy should take note.

Click the photo to visit Subterranean's Musicoin profile.
Click the photo to visit Subterranean’s Musicoin profile.
Click here to visit Deadly Buda's Musicoin profile.
Click here to visit Deadly Buda’s Musicoin profile.

Hardcore techno luminaries Deadly Buda and Cap also verified their profiles on the Musicoin system. Included in Deadly Buda’s upload pack was an alternative version of “King of Style”, his track that famously samples the world’s first hip-hop documentary Style Wars, and released by the world’s first hardcore techno record label, Industrial Strength Records.  In addition, his “Congress of the Kickdrum” (the official anthem for America’s annual meetup for the harder styles, American Gabberfest) successfully utilizes Musicoin’s royalty pay-out function, automatically issuing payments to the vocalist and scratch-DJ featured on the track, The Gabber Cowboy and DJ Mindcontroller.

Click the photo to visit Cap's Musicoin profile.
Click the photo to visit Cap’s Musicoin profile.

A spot for the Industrial Hardcore genre was blasted into existence on Musicoin by none other than Cap, best known for his work with the Arizona Hardcore Junkies, Industrial Strength Records, Important Corestyle, Hard Kryptic Records, Dark Like Hell Records, Six Feet Underground Records, and No Sleep Till Bedtime. Now throttling the Musicoin catalog is his classic “The Plan” as well as the anthem for Phoenix’s annual festival of the harder styles, Hard Asylum.

The recent sign-ups on musicoin.org came hot on the heels of the August 1st announcement of the Musicoin Alliance, which brought together The Hard Data magazine, Hear For You mixing & mastering studio, Jumpsuit Records, Knock Knock Recording Studio, mobile app maker MiQ, direct music distributor Noisehive, & OPUS Foundation’s decentralized music platform.

Musicoin’s brisk development pace shows no signs of slowing, either. Besides a plethora of new artist sign-ups, the platform is gearing up to implement the next significant stop on its development roadmap, “Universal Basic Income”. Touted as a new concept in cryptoeconomics, the system promises to guarantee a fair and steady source of revenue for musicians while make streaming content on the platform free for listeners. Universal Basic Income implementation is slated to commence in Quarter Three of 2017.

You can sign-up for Musicoin here.