Designed by @zeebhutta Using Canva
Greeting Everyone,
This is my first homework for the intermediate Steemit Crypto Academy S5 in which I have learned a lot of things about the decentralized music platform, Audius. The professor @wahyunahrul had put a lot of effort in teaching the community about this amazing project. I would like to show my respect to him for his hard work and aims to make sure that it pays off my giving the best and detailed answer to the required questions.
1). What do you think about the presence of the Audius platform in the music industry?
1). What do you think about the presence of the Audius platform in the music industry?
Audius is one of its kind decentralized music streaming platforms where people can freely share music and listen to their favorite ones. The renowned platform was established by Roneil Ramburg and co-founder Forrest Browning in 2018. Since its establishment, it has brought a great change in the music industry and provided unmatched benefits to the stars all around the world.
The core reason to create such a music platform is that a lot of musicians have composed their own tracks but couldn’t get the recognition they deserved in terms of both fame and money. There have been countless cases, but Audius have completely solved it once and for all. Now musicians can easily upload their music on the platform and get the deserving paid according to the number of users who streamed their music.
With Audius, there won’t be any issue relating to copyright or payment as there won’t be any third party between composer and audience. The income that musicians earn is paid in the form of the crypto coin called “AUDIO”. As for the copyright claim, Audius is a decentralized platform which means that it leverages blockchains to record the musician’s work and everyone knows that no one can make alterations in blocks. Thus, giving complete ownership to the rightful composer.
Audius is the perfect example of taking complete benefits of blockchain technology. Already a great number of esteemed artists have made a name for themselves with the help of a decentralized music platform. Now, it is much easier for artists to claim ownership of their music without the need of any label. Further, they will get the deserving pay and musicians from all around the world can easily share their talent with great ease.
So, the bottom line is that I believe it’s a great platform that will provide valuable assistance to musicians.
1)2). With the governance system used by Audius, do you think that system has made Audius a fair and fully decentralized platform? If not, please provide your personal suggestions for the system that Audius uses to make it more fair and decentralized.
1)2). With the governance system used by Audius, do you think that system has made Audius a fair and fully decentralized platform? If not, please provide your personal suggestions for the system that Audius uses to make it more fair and decentralized.
Audius is a decentralized platform where artists can upload their work and get fair ownership with no help from any third party. It also uses a governance system so that node operators, artists, and fans can get the power to make changes and upgrade the platform. It is important to read the [whitepaper](https://whitepaper.audius.co/AudiusWhitepaper.pdf) of Audius to understand more about the governance system.
After reading the entire whitepaper, I have deduced that Audius might be decentralized and use a governance system, but it doesn’t give a fair share to everyone. There are several facts that support my statement.
For instance, Audius gives everyone the chance to participate in the governance, but the users must stake AUDIO to get the voting right, and that too depends on the number of tokens. So, if a person stakes 500 AUDIO, then it will be equal to 500 votes. Thus, only the members with the highest number of staked tokens will dominate others.
Another issue is that minimum of 200,000 nodes and high-end PC are required in order to become discover node or content node, as per the blog from the [website](https://blog.audius.co/posts/a-primer-on-audio-staking). It is quite a huge amount, and it simply indicates that users with a strong financial background can become nodes and verify transactions. Therefore, it won’t be possible for the majority of users to raise their voices.
Audius should come up with such tactics that will provide equal power to every user. So, eliminating the bias system can make a complete governance system environment as everyone will be able to take part in decision.
3). Explain how to do 2 types of staking on Audius, complete with illustrations. (Image Required)
3). Explain how to do 2 types of staking on Audius, complete with illustrations. (Image Required)
Not only Audius is a beneficial platform for musicians, but it has also become a great source of earnings for investors as it provides staking opportunities as well. Users can stake AUDIO tokens and earn rewards in return. However, there are 2 types of staking, the first one is to become the Node Operator, and the second one is to participate with the node operator and share the rewards through delegation. Let’s see how both can be done but don’t forget that the MetaMask wallet must be connected with the website to execute the staking.
Staking AUDIO As a Node Operator
You can easily stake AUDIO and become Node Operator but it takes a lot of investment and a high-end PC. If you have what it takes to become a node operator, then follow the below-mentioned steps to stake your tokens and become node operator:
- Visit Audius.org and click on “Explore The Dashboard”.
- You will arrive at the dashboard, now click on “Services”.
- Click on “Register New Service” to proceed with the staking procedure.
- Now you get the option to choose from Discovery Node and Content Node. Both required a minimum of 200,000 tokens and varying maximum tokens. Choose your preferred, then click on “Register Service”.
- Once clicked, the website will ask you for the confirmation of the transaction, so click on “Confirm With MetaMask” to confirm the staking.
- Now your MetaMask wallet will ask you for the confirmation, including the gas fees that can be changed according to the time interval of transaction that you prefer.
- That’s all it takes to stake tokens and become a node operator.
Staking As Delegation
The second option to stake AUDIO tokens is through delegation. You can select one of the nodes from the available options and delegate your tokens to get rewards. Let’s see how it can be done in a step-by-step manner:
- Open Audius.org and click on “Explore The Dashboard”.
- You will be taken to the dashboard. Now click on “Services”.
- Select your preferred node and click on it. I have chosen the second one.
- Now you will get details about the node like the minimum and the maximum number of tokens that can be staked, annual and weekly rewards, etc. However, you have to click on “Delegate”.
- Select the number of AUDIO tokens and click on the delegate. You have to choose a minimum of 1000.
- Now you have to confirm the transaction by clicking on “Confirm with MetaMask”
- Your MetaMask wallet will ask you to grant access to the available AUDIO tokens for delegation. It will also show you the fees that will be charged for this transaction.
- After a few more steps, you will successfully stake your TOKEN and get a lot of rewards.
4). Show the steps to create an account on Audius. (Screenshot Required)
4). Show the steps to create an account on Audius. (Screenshot Required)
Creating a profile on Audius is very easy as all you need is to follow a series of easy steps and you will end up creating a profile. I will demonstrate how to make a profile on their website in a step-by-step manner. So, have a look at the following steps:
- Visit their official website by typing Audius.co in the search bar and click on “Sign Up FREE”.
- Enter your email address and click on continue to proceed further.
- Now select the password and click on continue.
- The next step requires to complete the profile by providing details like name, profile picture, cover photo, etc. You can also connect your social media account directly. I have decided to do it manually.
- Once the details have been provided, you have to follow a minimum of 3 artists to get started.
- That’s how you create a profile at Audius.
5). Explore and explain the features available on the Audius application or website. (Screenshot Required)
5). Explore and explain the features available on the Audius application or website. (Screenshot Required)
There are several features that you will find by exploring the Audius website and mobile application. As a beginner, it can be daunting to understand them, but I will deliberately explain the most important features in the following sections:
YOUR FEED
This is the main section of the Audius website, where you will get access to the songs uploaded by artists. You can enjoy your preferred one and even like, share, and repost songs. On the left side of the page, you will notice that there’s a section named “Discover” with 3 sub section which includes Feed, Trending, and Explore.
By clicking on “Trending”, you can find weekly, monthly, and all-time best music that are widely acclaimed on the platform. You can further choose your favorite genre to access relevant songs.
As for the explore section, Audius will make a series of playlists of various genres. However, the content is not provided on a random basis, but it is based on your activities such as reposts, comments, and likes.
USER PROFILE
As you can see that I have marked the name of my profile and DP. Once you click it, you will be taken to the main profile page, where you can get further useful functions. The most important one is that you can upload new music from here by clicking on “Upload Track”. You can also find out how many artists you are following and how many users are following you. It also shows the number of playlists.
SEARCH BAR
Audius has provided a search bar so that users can easily search the song or name of the artist to access their music. From the below-mentioned screenshot, you can see that I have searched an artist's name and got the relevant profiles, tracks, playlists, and albums. You can also click on “View More Results” to search more deeply.
SETTINGS
There’s also a setting section at Audius where you can change the appearance of the website or mobile app from light mode to dark mode and verify your account by connecting your social media accounts to your Audius profile. It also provides the option to change the password and get an account recovery email in case you forgot your password. You can also download the mobile app by clicking on “Get App” and make changes to your notification’s preferences.
NOTIFICATIONS
You can also find out every notification by clicking on the ring bell as highlighted in the below-mentioned image. Whether the artist uploads a new track or a user has shared your post, you can find out everything from here. Plus, there’s also “Mark All Read” facility provided by the developers.
6). Explain in detail how the mechanism of uploading music content on Audius.
6). Explain in detail how the mechanism of uploading music content on Audius.
As we have learned from the course that the Audius revolves around 2 nodes; Content Nodes and Discovery Nodes. They both have their own applications when it comes to uploading music on the blockchain.
You might have uploaded a song on Soundcloud. It is pretty much the same as the procedure is very easy. Once the artist opens his profile and clicks on uploading a song, it will be processed to content nodes. The purpose of this specific node is to store the music on the blockchain and validate it by sharing it with other nodes. Thus, that’s how the music is stored in the blockchain.
Once the Content Nodes have done their work, Discovery Nodes come into play. Its main purpose is to index and hash data relating to the artist. So, when the music is approved by the discovery node, the artist will be notified that the content has been successfully uploaded and is legally owned.
You can also refer to the below-mentioned chart that I have copied from the Whitepaper of Audius. It shows the roadmap of how content uploading works.
7). Upload your original music to Audius and show the proof using a block explorer. (Screenshot Required)
7). Upload your original music to Audius and show the proof using a block explorer. (Screenshot Required)
There are a lot of science behind uploading music to Audius, but the procedure is very easy for artists. I will show you how the music can be easily uploaded from its website in just a few clicks:
- Open your profile and click on Upload Track.
- Now drop the music file or click on “Browse to Upload”.
- After uploading the file, click on continue.
- Now select the artwork, genre of the song, track name, mood, description, and some tags. After doing so, click on continue once again.
- After a few seconds, the song will be finally uploaded, and you can click on the “View Track Page” to see the overall music page.
That’s easily you can upload your song at Audius.
https://audius.co/zeebhutta/miss-you
8). Conclusion.
Audius has brought a great change in the music industry and soon we will see that it will be one of the top music streaming platforms. Further, the benefits that it has provided to artists and investors are next to none so we will see a time when the world’s best artist will be opting for this platform to upload their tracks. I would like to thanks the professor @wahyunahrul for introducing this amazing platform and know-how about it.
Thanks For Visiting My Post And Your Appreciation
Cc:
@wahyunahrul
