Abstract

Audius (AUDIO) is a decentralized music streaming platform based on the blockchain. The project aims to give artists and curators more control over music creation. After artists upload content to Audius, they can leave a permanent record of their work, which will be protected by a decentralized network of nodes.

Audius connects artists and fans directly, skipping the middlemen in the traditional music industry. Artists have sole ownership of their music and can decide how to make money on the platform. They can release music for free, or set custom fees for fans to unlock exclusive content.

Unlike other music streaming services, Audius does not take a cut of artists' earnings. Music curators receive 90% of revenue, paid in Audius’ native cryptocurrency AUDIO. The remaining 10% is reserved for stakers who support the Audius network.

AUDIO is an ERC-20 token and the governance token of Audius. Holders can stake AUDIO to help secure the network, participate in Audius’ governance, and gain access to exclusive content. They can also receive AUDIO staking rewards.

Introduction

With the rise of music streaming platforms, listening to music is more convenient than ever . However, artists have always faced challenges in the traditional music industry, such as low income and transparency, and little control over how content is published or sold. Audius aims to solve these challenges by empowering music creators to monetize their content with the native cryptocurrency AUDIO.

What is Audius?

Audius is a fully decentralized music streaming platform that allows listeners to support artists directly through the native cryptocurrency AUDIO. As of December 2021, Audius has nearly 6 million dedicated monthly users and more than 100,000 artists.

Co-founded in 2018 by Forrest Browning and Roneil Rumburg, Audius has revolutionized the traditional music industry model by removing middlemen and record label barriers. Unlike other streaming platforms, an artist's income is not determined by how many plays a song gets. Audius gives artists exclusive ownership of their music and the ability to decide how their works are monetized. According to the Audius platform regulations, music curators will receive 90% of the AUDIO token revenue, and the remaining 10% will be reserved for node operators (stakeholders) that support the Audius network.

Audius is a Layer 2 blockchain protocol originally built on an Ethereum sidechain called a POA (Proof of Address) network. Audius faced scaling issues due to growing user demand for streaming content. In order to improve performance, the platform decided to move the content management system to the Solana blockchain in 2020. But the native cryptocurrency AUDIO remains on the Ethereum blockchain. AUDIO is an ERC-20 governance token that allows stakers to vote for proposals related to network changes and upgrades. They can also unlock exclusive features by staking AUDIO tokens.

Picture from Audius website

Audius How does it work?

Audius aims to solve the problems faced by artists in the music industry, including music copyright, royalties and ownership, so that everyone can freely publish, listen to and profit from music. The platform removes the middleman between artists and listeners, allowing them to interact directly on the platform.

Unlike traditional channels in the music industry, Audius does not pay artists solely based on the number of times their tracks are played. It also considers the activities artists engage in on the platform, how they interact with fans, and overall user engagement.

Artists can upload and distribute their songs through decentralized nodes on Audius. There are many ways for artists to monetize their personal audio content without sacrificing ownership. They can earn AUDIO by entering the top five weekly trending tracks, the top five weekly trending playlists, the top ten monthly API apps, and by uploading a track for the first time after verifying their social media account.

Audius also supports artists to interact with their communities through artist tokens. Artist Tokens give holders access to token-restricted exclusive content such as unreleased tracks, remix competitions, and more. From time to time, Audius plans to airdrop AUDIO tokens to artists based on their social engagement with their fan base and number of listeners.

In the future, Audius plans to increase support for fans on USDT and other stable coins to unlock paid content.

What is AUDIO?

Audius token (AUDIO) is the native cryptocurrency that powers the Audius protocol. In the Audius ecosystem, it has three major functions:

• Ensuring network security.
• Used as a governance token.
• Get exclusive features and content.

AUDIO is an ERC-20 token with an initial total supply of 1 billion and no supply cap. As of December 2021, the circulation of AUDIO has exceeded 500 million.

Security

Decentralized nodes provide security for the Audius network. Anyone can become a node operator by holding and staking AUDIO tokens. The more staked, the greater the chance that the node will be used by fans to search for music content. They can earn AUDIO from the ongoing token issuance and total fee pool by assisting in running protocol operations.

There are two types of nodes on Audius: content nodes and discovery nodes. Content nodes hold, protect and manage content on behalf of artists. Artists are also free to choose to run as content nodes and hold their own content. Discovery nodes index metadata and music uploaded to the Audius content ledger, allowing fans to quickly search for artists or songs.  

Nodes on the network will continuously submit snapshots of the artist’s work to the blockchain. This produces a permanent, time-stamped record of the content.

Governance

AUDIO can also be used as a governance token. As mentioned before, AUDIO stakers can participate in network operations as content nodes or discovery nodes. If users want to participate in voting for network update proposals, they can win governance rights by continuously creating value for the network.

At Audius, stakers do not necessarily need to run a node to express their opinions. We encourage community members to share their thoughts on the agreement. One AUDIO token can earn one vote. AUDIO rewards are consistent with the incentive mechanism for artists, fans and node operators, allowing them to enjoy a decentralized music streaming experience.

Function usage

AUDIO tokens allow fans and artists to unlock exclusive features on the platform. Artists can leverage AUDIO to grow their fan base and better engage with them. By staking audio, artists can use content publishing tools to distribute artist tokens to fans. Fans who hold artist tokens can unlock access to exclusive content and unique experiences, such as listening to unreleased tracks, participating in remix competitions, and more.

Users only need to hold a certain amount of AUDIO in the Audius wallet to unlock 4 VIP levels and enjoy additional benefits. The more AUDIO, the higher the VIP level. After reaching the minimum threshold of VIP level, users can obtain a profile badge, and users can use new features immediately as soon as they are released. The requirements and benefits of each level can be changed through community governance.

How is Audius different from other streaming platforms?

A big difference between Audius and other streaming platforms such as Spotify is that it uses blockchain technology to operate in a decentralized manner. This gives artists and content creators more control over their content when sharing their music.

According to the co-founders, 90% of the platform’s revenue will go directly to artists. In the traditional music industry, only 12% of the revenue goes to artists. Compared with the general figures, the royalties provided by Audius are more reasonable.

Another difference is that Audius allows AUDIO token holders to participate in the network decision-making process, whether they are artists or fans. By holding an AUDIO token, you can participate in protocol governance and cast a vote. They can vote for or against any proposed changes to the platform, a feature we don't find on other music streaming services.

Audius also demonstrates the platform’s ability to help artists cultivate fan bases and communities. It is the first music streaming platform to partner with video streaming social media platform TikTok. This partnership enables Douyin users to add songs from the Audius platform directly to their videos. In addition to Douyin, Audius has also integrated with the blockchain game DeFi Land and appears as an FM broadcast tower in the game metaverse to help artists promote.

Picture from Audius website

 How to buy on Binance Enter AUDIO?

You can buy Audius (AUDIO) on cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance.  

1. Log in to your personal Binance account, click [Trade], and select classic or advanced trading mode to start trading. In this tutorial, we choose [Classic].

2. Next, enter "AUDIO" in the search bar to view the available trading pairs. Here we take AUDIO/BUSD as an example. Click to open the AUDIO/BUSD transaction page.

3. Scroll down to the [Spot] area. Enter the quantity of AUDIO you want to purchase. In this example we will use a market order. Click [Buy AUDIO] to confirm the order. You will see the purchased AUDIO in your spot wallet.

Summary

Audius may seem similar to another music streaming service, but it brings new possibilities to the music industry and artists. It also shows how blockchain applications can be used in all aspects of real life and the metaverse.