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Opus Aims to Disrupt the Music Streaming Industry through Ethereum and IPFS

Last Updated April 26, 2023 8:54 AM
Francisco Memoria
Last Updated April 26, 2023 8:54 AM

The music industry has evolved in various ways, but the way artists are compensated hasn’t. Music labels and streaming platform such as YouTube, Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, and Deezer can take up to 80% of the revenue  and while well-known artists can get rich off their cut, smaller artists can barely put food on the table. This forces a lot of talented people out of the market.

Moreover, music fans who actually pay for music also get ripped off, as platform competition for exclusive deals forces them to use, and even pay, for multiple platforms to listen to their favorite songs. These platforms are centralized, which means they can alter their algorithms and affect artists’ lives at any time, be censored, or even shut down.

The solution to these problems has arrived. Opus, the world’s first truly decentralized music platform, aims to compensate artists with 100% of the revenue, while making the streaming environment significantly fairer. Even playlist makers are to be compensated. Opus’ COO Mateusz Mach stated:

“I’m disappointed with how musicians are treated nowadays in the music industry, that is exactly why I decided to invest in the Opus foundation [and join the team]”

Opus, Music Decentralized

Opus is a solution to the above-mentioned problems thanks to the technology it uses, and its simple goal of helping artists monetize their music without having to rely on third-party intermediaries.

Opus is based on Ethereum as a logic layer, and uses an Interplanetary File System (IPFS), a peer-to-peer storage layer that connects computing devices with the same file system, to store songs. This means there is no centralized server. Its structure, as such, essentially means that no organization can attempt to censor artists on the Opus platform, while the two layer solution simultaneously reduces gas costs significantly and increases scalability.

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Music files are encrypted and uploaded to the IPFS swarm, and the decryption keys are stored on a smart contract and referenced on a Universal Music Registry Number (UMRN) registry. The system annexes individual music tracks and effectively ensures permanent ownership.

Moreover, the system was made to be permanently available to anyone in the world. As such, a third-party API was developed to allow anyone in the world to build a music player that can access all the songs available on the Opus platform, with minimal latency.

To ensure the platform is democratically developed, an OpusDAO, a Decentralized Autonomous Organization that allows people to vote on proposals on a monthly basis, is also in the works.

beta version of the platform  is already available to users who would like to experience its true potential. Opus has a detailed roadmap  culminating in the Mainnet release. Bokang Jia, the project’s co-founder and CEO, stated:

“While there are some music-related blockchain solutions, none of them have a working Beta that demonstrates blockchain based music-sharing, or a solid business plan that can capture the mainstream music listener.”

The Upcoming Token Sale

The Opus Foundation has a token sale coming in order to raise some money to develop and promote the platform. The presale will start on July 14, at 23:00 GMT. Early adopters are going to be able to receive a token bonus on their purchases, although each address is limited to a maximum of 1,000 Ether, with an added 1% of the total contributions received, to ensure decentralization.

A hard cap of $20 million has been implemented. Part of the funds will be used to further develop the platform (45%), to market and promote it (25%), and to pay for artists (13%) and operations (10%). A small amount will also be used for legal fees (7%).

Because of the interesting nature of their market, strong business plan, a transparent team, and a open-sourced public beta, the crowdsale is a definite must for people who are looking to diversify their crowdsale interests.

Opus advises users to thoroughly read its whitepaper , Should any questions arise, users are welcomed on Slack  and if you would like to contribute, you can do so on Github .

This is a sponsored story.