Artists from all corners of the music industry have long expressed their dissatisfaction with the present music streaming economic model. In short, musicians want a larger portion of the revenue generated by streams, which is something that Audius, a new streaming platform, is seeking to achieve.
As the company just revealed, this ambition appears to have persuaded Nas and Pusha T to join as investors. According to a press statement, the rappers join a roster of artists that have invested in the company, which includes Katy Perry, Jason Derulo, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, Steve Aoki, Chainsmokers, and Disclosure.
“I believe [blockchains] might be the most important technology to ever hit the music industry,” Nas said in a statement. “Everyone who uploads to Audius can be an owner. You can’t say that about any other platform.” The company launched back in 2018 as a streaming service based on blockchain technology, which is also used to support NFTs and cryptocurrency. Audius also announced a $5 million round of strategic funding that would begin today.
Audius also boasts a sizable cast of investors that are music executives. They include Sony/ATV Music Publishing CEO Martin Bandier, Madonna and U2’s longtime manager Guy Oseary, and manager Mark Gillespie, whose clients include Frank Ocean and Calvin Harris. Speaking about Audius, Bandier said, “The blockchain is enabling entirely new revenue streams for artists and creators, like NFTs, social currency, and curation.” He added, “Audius is not only using the blockchain to add potentially significant revenue streams for artists, but it also allows them to cooperatively own the platform itself.”
The company’s most notable feature is that, thanks to blockchain technology, 90% of earnings from monetized broadcasts will go to the artists, with the remaining 10% going to the community that keeps Audius going.
