So, a few days before New Years I got some new tattoos. Posted a picture of them on Twitter and ofc got some different responses, one was in the lines of "There it is, the most stupid thing i've seen all year"
That person must have been living under a rock for the whole 2018 if those tattoos was the most stupid thing he seen all year, but then again everyone is entitled to their opinions.
Which tattoo? Let me get back to that in a lil while
For as long as I remember music has played a big role in my life and ceratin songs are connected to certain memories, forever. Music has that affect on people and is one thing that connects every single being on this planet.
I remember the first vinyl single I bought with my own money, Kiss - Heavens On Fire, and I played it so much it eventually was more or less broken. I have many more memories like that. Where I was when hearing a certain song for the first time or in which store I bought which album etc etc
When vinyl and cassettes was pushed out by CD's I made a switch and bought even more albums.
CD's had its era and in the late 90-s /early 2000 Napster changed the map forever
With Napster a whole new world opened, you could find virtually everything you ever wanted to listen to and then some. Another network broke in during and came to, in a way, replace Napster. This was DC++ and the rules and map was rewritten again.
During this time artists was actively trying to shut down Napster and sue the persons behind it. Metallica was one of the bands who cried out the highest.
Many people, like myself, was answering back that the times have changed. Albums are too expensive. New technology is there, you just need to adapt. When you do we will get back to paying for content, you just need to find a good and fair means of distribution.
It was harder to shut down DC++ since you could be very anonymous in that network
DC++ had its flaws and limitations so it didn't take long before a new player arouse. A player that would totally change it all, again.
A player that to to this date is still growing.
Im talking about Bittorrent, peer2peer networks.
I found my place in that community and helped managing sites, forums and groups. I wrote subtitles to movies and series and did a few releases. But mostly I took an active part in the community, because of ease of access, speed of transactions and never ending supply of music, books, movies and TV series.
This was my home for a few years until something happened...
Spotify made an entry! This was what many of us "pirates" actually was asking for and killed our excuses to download illegal material. All of a sudden there was a legal way to access music and to have it right at the tip of your finger, at all time. Some artists refused to have their material there, since the payout was too low. Im happy to say they came around eventually.
Other services surfaced as you all know: Wimp, Deezer, Amazon, Itunes and Google music to name a few.
Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime etc for movies and TV series also made a huge difference
And ofc the giant YouTube, but it goes without saying
Other services like Twitch and Mixer has created an ease of use and accessible platform for streamers of all sorts of media
All this made me step out of piracy and go legit. I pay for the content I use again, and have been doing so for many years
There are other platforms for original content today.
My absolute favourite is Bandcamp:
Good content, lots of material, easy to purchase, add in wishlists etc.
BUT Bandcamp most certainly has its flaws.
Soundcloud is similar and has solved some of the issues Bandcamp hasnt
Still far from perfect though...
And one crucial thing is connecting them all:
The money has to pass through many layers before reaching the pocket of the content creator. Music artitsts are still not "payed in full", theres soo many mouths to feed
Here's where I see an upcoming gamechanger and I have borrowed some text from them:
"What are VibraVid and BeatzCoin?
VibraVid is here to change the way consumers interact with digital content, while increasing the revenue potential of content creators. It is a platform to view or listen to content created by artists on your desktop or mobile wherein creators and users are able to earn and spend revenue in a fair system that is user and creator centric.
VibraVid will provide a platform for creators to upload, store, market, rent and sell their content to users with the added benefits of being able to crowdfund and sell merchandise and event tickets directly to their subscribers and fans.
BeatzCoin is a cryptocurrency which will fuel the platform by allowing creators and users to exchange them, peer-to-peer, for goods and services, prizes and bounties."
Sounds good, doesn't it??
That's because it is...
VibraVid is a platform with endless possibilities and I'm certain it will be a gamechanger, once in for all
There's just soo much you could do with a platform like that:
Upload your music without middlemen and interact with your fans
Your fans can tip you directly on the platform or pay for content.
Planning on recording an album but lack funds? No probs, just activate a crowdfunding camapign right on the platform!
Have an upcoming show and you want to sell tickets? Sure thing, just do it!
Want to invite your fans "behind the scenes"? Awesome, im sure theyll love that! Set up a live stream from the rehersal room and let people see the magic happen. Sure, you can charge them for watching or just let them tip if they appreciate the content
Oh, so your'e a DJ? Stream you gigs, let your fans in other places join the party!
New merch? Set up a store, its that easy
Need to market yourself or your material? Get the community to help you and give them some BeatzCoin as reward
As said, the oppurtunities are endless if you do it right
There are many things im loking forward to with VibraVid:
One place to follow and show appreciation to artists I like, without middlemen taking a chunk of the earnings
As said I love Bandcamp, but I know lots of the money I pay for tracks/albums or merch gets lost on the way. PayPal and Bandcamp takes their share and in many cases a label or manager does too.
This can all be avoided on VibraVid
I can pay or tip with BeatzCoin and the artist can take said token and trade for Fiat (regular boring currency)
When streamig content, I will get payed too, even more if I am ok with watching commercials
A win win situation if I ever saw one!
Check out their website and social medias for more info:
https://www.beatzcoin.io/
You can also join their Telegram:
https://t.me/beatzcoin
And follow their Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BeatzCoin
Now back to the tattoos... Yeah, I decided to tattoo BeatzCoin and VibraVid logos on my fingers
Why? Because I like the logos and projects, that's why
Not every tattoo has a deep meaning, sometimes a tattoo is just a tattoo ;)
I saw a real cool T-shirt many many years ago on a bad ass dude, and the statement was pretty clear:
"The only difference between tattooed peolpe and people who are not tattooed, is that tattooed people dont care why youre not tattooed"
Thanks for reading and feel free to spread it!
Donations are always appreciated too ofc...
TRX wallet: TUmKFHk4oweatTSURYNMHSoGHbD6L1LmQ7
NOTE: All thoughts and opinions are my own. I am in now way connected to or affiliated with BeatzCoin
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