What is Audius?
The Audius token or AUDIO is the native token of the decentralized music streaming service - Audius. It’s running on the Solana blockchain.
AUDIO is an ERC-20 token serving as a governance token. This means that AUDIO holders have inherent voting rights. They can cast their vote on whether to accept or reject a proposal that could change the future of the entire Audius crypto project. However, not all AUDIO holders have the same voting powers. To put it simply, the extent of voting power depends on the number of AUDIO tokens staked.
Artists can obtain AUDIO through various methods. Their first upload rewards them with AUDIO. So do hosting and moderating music tracks. Moreover, if artists reach a top 5 ranking in weekly trending tracks or weekly trending playlists, they will be awarded 100 Audius coins.
Besides handling governance, AUDIO is a key to unlocking exclusive features on the Audius platform.
AUDIO serves an important role when it comes to securing the Audius platform. Node operators stake AUDIO to operate either a discovery or a content node. In return, they receive a share of fees in the form of AUDIO and governance rights.
Artists can also stake their Audius tokens to receive access to premium features and tools. By depositing their AUDIO as collateral, they can collect artist’s tokens, public profile badges, and many other features.
Moreover, staking Audius tokens enables users to receive 7% of them in return.
In total, there are 1,000,000,000 Audius tokens. This could mean that as the Audius tokens become more scarce, the AUDIO price will increase. The Audius tokens have been distributed in this manner:
- 41% - Core team of Audius;
- 36% - Investors;
- 23% - AUDIOdrop, Open Audio Foundation, and launch simulation.
Furthermore, Audius has set yearly inflation at 7%.
You can check the current Audius price on the graph above.
What are the Main Features of Audius?
As discussed in the What is Audius section, we’ve established that the Audius crypto project is a music streaming platform powered by blockchain technologies. It has the same capabilities that major music platforms such as Spotify have in terms of streaming music. However, Audius stands out since it’s completely decentralized. It’s important to keep in mind that due to decentralization, Audius does not have any copyright protection.
There are 3 main roles within the Audius ecosystem: artists, fans, and node operators.
Artists are responsible for uploading music to the platform. They don’t have to pay any fees to be an artist on Audius. In the future, Audius aims to introduce a new type of token called the artist token which will be exclusive to every artist.
Fans are the listeners. There is no subscription plan or hidden fees behind Audius. This means fans can listen to their favorite artists without spending a penny. In addition, Audius enables fans to show off their NFTs and earn profile badges in return.
Node operators run the smart contract protocol. They stake AUDIO to operate either a discovery node or a content node. Discovery nodes are responsible for content exploration while content nodes ensure the availability of both content and metadata on AudSP.
Don't forget to have a look at the current AUDIO price on the graph above if you're considering purchasing this token.
Who Developed Audius?
The Audius token was launched in October of 2020. It was initially deployed on the POA network but later migrated to Solana.
The Audius platform itself was founded by Californians Roneil Rumburg and Forrest Browning in 2018.
Roneil Rumburg went to Stanford University where he successfully completed his computer science studies and earned a bachelor’s degree. Audius is not the only project founded by Roneil, he has also co-founded Kleiner Perkins and Backslash. Prior to co-founding Audius, Roneil worked as an engineering partner at KPCB Edge. He has taken the role of CEO at Audius.
Forrest Browning also graduated from Stanford University and earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science. Besides Audius, he has also co-founded StacksWare At Audius, he has taken the role of CPO. In 2016, Forrest has secured a place on Forbes's “30 Under 30” list dedicated to Enterprise Technology.
Audio introduces 26 members of the core team on their website. This introduction includes EA Games co-founder Bing Gordon, Standard Crypto co-founder Adam Goldberg, Twitch co-founder Justin Kan, and many other experienced professionals.
