Inmusik- Global Music Economy On Blockchain

Introduction

Music has been a form of entertainment for us human beings for a very very long period of time.
More than a thousand centuries perhaps. Or let me say for millions of centuries.
Music is considered to feed and bring some sort of satisfaction to our inner selves. It has been proven to bring a piece of mind, hope, encouragement, inspiration, and comfort to listeners.

Although this highly depends on the type of music and the listeners' taste in music which basically is to say different people react to different types of music in totally different ways

Music is a way to vent out and express our inner emotional feelings. It is in some way connected to our hearts, minds, and souls. That is why its considered sacred. Some say music is life and life is music. I totally agree with that. Music is life and life is music. Well, a good scientific point to back this statement is how our hearts are always beating in a specific special rhythm. That heartbeat symbolizes life and at the same time is music. So now you know.

The Problem

Did you know as sacred and as valuable as music is considered to be, to the point of comparing it to life, most of its creators don't really get the right amount of appreciation and compensation they deserve from their work?
Creating music does take a significant amount of time, resources, and energy. It's so unfortunate that the value creators of music or rather creators, in general, get back from their work compared to the time, energy and resources spent is very little. That is just the reality of how the creative universe currently is.

I am saying this from a music creator's point of view since I am a musician and a creator of music myself.

The main reason for this is simply because the music, art, and entertainment industries have been dominated and are run by centralized companies/middlemen who only care about themselves and not the artists or supporters of the artists' work. Their main agenda has always been to profit from and exploit both creators and listeners.

The Solution

Despite the challenges mentioned above, there is good news for both creators and supporters of art(music). This good news lays inside the new blockchain technology and smart contracts. When it comes to blockchain tech, there is no need for middlemen or a specific centralized entity controlling/holding too much power. Blockchain ensures both creators and supporters are not exploited in any way and get real value back for adding value. It brings real empowerment and therefore its time to kiss unfairness and exploitation goodbye.
Apart from being used in the music/entertainment industry, It can be applied to a wide variety of industries that we'll look into some other day.
In this article, we are going to take a brief look into a project called Inmusik that is already applying blockchain in the music industry to ensure that both listeners and creators of music are empowered and get value back for contributing value.

What is Inmusik

Inmusik is a project whose main goal is to build a music ecosystem on the blockchain that brings musicians, record labels and listeners together.
Inmusik also aims to create a music ecosystem with a rewarding system for users who contribute by adding value to the platform. Rewarding of users on the platform will be possible using a token called $OUND which is also the main token that powers the Inmusik ecosystem.

See the Inmusik youtube explanation video below.



Who is Inmusik for?

The Inmusik platform has been created specifically for:

• Musicians

• Listeners

• Record labels

Let us look at how it works.

Inmusik for Musicians

The Inmusik platform has been created for both signed and independent artists.
Music creators and artists who post their music/content on the Inmusik platform will get rewarded in $OUND tokens everytime their music is streamed by fans.
They will also get rewarded for attracting new fans and when fans bet on their success.
These reward payouts will be fast, secure, transparent and instant.
Musicians will, therefore, be able to get compensated for their hard work fairly and in the right manner.

Inmusik for Listeners

Listeners and fans will get incentives and rewards for their active contribution to the Inmusik streaming app. They will earn tokens for:

• Supporting their favorite artists and helping them succeed
• Discovering new songs
• Curating and Voting on new music

Basically, listeners and fans will be rewarded for their general interaction on the platform and the rewards will obviously be in $OUND tokens.

Inmusik for Record Labels

Inmusik will have a copyright management system for the entire music industry which will all be created on the blockchain.
The platform will also allow real-time tracking and monitoring of earnings and also offer an automated distribution of payouts.

Conclusion

In my opinion, this is a project that will most definitely empower Fans, Musicians, and Record labels and also unite them in a unique way. I think it will make it so easy for Musicians to make a reasonably decent earning out of their music. The same applies to listeners and record labels too.
Inmusik does prove that the art of creating music/music, in general, is valuable and does truly pay.
I believe this project will positively impact and revolutionize the music industry in a huge interesting way. As a musician, I am so excited about the project and can't wait to use the platform.
Inmusik was recently listed among the top 15 tokensales to watch out for in summer 2018 on Entrepreneur.
You can view the post here
For more information on the Inmusik tokensale, head over to the official Inmusik Website.

Thank you for your time.

Universal Reward Protocol - A New Rewarding System

Introduction

We all like and enjoy being rewarded for the services and activities we do right?
Getting some value back for giving value to someone or a company!

This brings us to blockchain technology.
It is so evident that blockchain technology has positively impacted and transformed the rewarding industry in a huge way.

How exactly has blockchain done this?

• Well, with blockchain technology, companies and startups are able to reward their users/customers with their special issued token for being loyal and also for using their services.
• Users can now get rewarded for using and performing actions in Apps/Dapps.
• Blockchain technology has made it much easier for users to tip each other through the press of a button (tip button).
• Content creators such as musicians and writers can get rewarded easily by their fans for creating content.

I could go on with the list but those are some of the ways how blockchain technology has transformed and revolutionized rewarding and gifting.

I am pretty sure you are now beginning to wonder where I am heading with this and so I will go straight to the point.
Recently came across a new unique rewarding blockchain project. The name of the project is Universal Reward Protocol 

What is Universal Reward Protocol

Universal Reward Protocol  is a blockchain project that rewards users for:

• Visiting stores
• Buying products
• Browsing online

All thanks to blockchain and the Universal Reward Protocol team.

The Universal Reward Protocol network is powered by URP tokens.

How it works

Shoppers Earn Rewards

The shopper is rewarded with URP tokens for sharing his or her data with retailers. He/She can share the fact that he/she visited a point of sale, his/her geolocation indoor, his/her purchases and many more.

Token Redemption

Retailers can retrieve their URP tokens by making exclusive and personalized offers based on the data a specific shopper decides to share with them

Data Security & Transparency

Universal Reward Protocol provides a blockchain-based ecosystem where shoppers regain full control of their data while enjoying personalized offers made by retailers

Solution

Reward Smart Contract

Each reward operation will be handled by a Reward Smart Contract. Retailers can create new reward campaigns by filling the Reward Smart Contract form.
For example, retailers can reward a shopper for visiting one of their stores twice in the same week. IoT sensors can act as an oracle to certify the transaction.

Universal Digital Wallet

This digital wallet will allow shoppers to query the loyalty network for rewards and redemption contracts at any time. It will also enable users to check the balance of their wallet in URP tokens and edit their privacy settings.

Retailers redeem tokens through personalized offers

URP tokens can be exchanged for goods and services, coupons, and improved shopper experience with all retailers in the Universal Reward Protocol network.
These redemption offers are tailored to match each shopper’s needs and desires using the data they chose to share with the network.

Technology

There is an existing decentralized App called Occi which will be integrated with Universal Reward Protocol.

Occi is able to produce Proof-of-Behavior regarding in-store activity, using IoT and AI technologies.
Retailers such as Carrefour, Auchan, and Galeries Lafayette are utilizing this solution.

Some of the technologies that are being used by Universal Reward Protocol include :

IoT sensor

IoT sensors powered by Occi using geolocation technology, already covering more than 100,000 square meters of top retailers space, publish the data securely on the blockchain. They are deployed inside a mesh network to make setup simpler and the data capture more robust.

Distributed Data Storage on a hybrid blockchain architecture.

This enables shoppers to give consent to each data capture to guarantee data transparency. Sensitive receipt data is isolated between retailers, while navigation data is publicly available to all nodes.

Neural Net

All data is fed to a deep-learning layer for further profiling and analysis, allowing the deployment of custom redemption offers tailored to individual needs.

Conclusion

Rewarding has always been a way to show appreciation and also a way to encourage/motivate people to continue working hard/using a certain service.
It has been a part of us for centuries and will definitely be there for the rest of the coming years.

It is always nice to know that the services you provide are appreciated and the activities you take part are capable of giving value back.

I am very curious to find out how far the Universal Reward Protocol project will go and definitely looking forward to using their services.

Thank you for your time.

THE NEXT GENERATION SOCIAL MEDIA APPLICATION

Introduction

Crypto!! Crypto!! Crypto!!
The crypto universe keeps getting more and more awesome each passing day.

Every single time I get to surf the internet, I always bump into new good stuff.
You might have noticed there are very many interesting blockchain projects and ideas coming up.
Some of these projects have recently launched, some are still in the process of being developed while others are already up and running.
A good example of a blockchain project that launched a few years back and is doing extremely well is Steem or Steemit as I like to call it.
Credits will always go to steem for revolutionizing how social media works.

Have you heard of Appics?

Today, I come to you with yet another useful information about an interesting project I discovered.

Thanks to my curious mind.

There is a wonderful amazing project that I bumped into some weeks ago called Appics

I have to say this before I continue

I am totally in love with the APPICS website. Brown and black is a really unique combination. Pardon me if i mistake brown for gold. If i did,it might probably be because i am colour blind !!!Hahah!! A story for another day. The web interface is also great and i personally found so much life in there. Even though i know too little about web designing, I have to give a round of applause to the Appics team for a job well done. It is surely a golden website.

Guess after giving my thought on the website I can now pick up from where I left.

So I read the Appics whitepaper and watched a video explaining what Appics is and how it works.
After checking out the whitepaper and video, I never hesitated neither did I have second thoughts about signing up an account on their website.

What is Appics

APPICS is another awesome great project that has grabbed a significant amount of my attention.

I am quite sure it will grab your attention too.I mean....after reading the Appics whitepaper why shouldn't it

APPICS is the next generation social media application rewarding its users for their contribution by issuing them Smart Media Tokens (SMTs)

I know many steemians are farmiliar with and know what SMT is. If at all you have no idea what Smart Media Tokens are, check out the SMT whitepaper and more information here .

Rewarding passion

The first words that stand out once you open the Appics website are "Passion Rewarded".
This means anybody who is passionate will get to be rewarded.
It enables people to socialize, interact, share content and at the same time allow them to have a source of income.

Mobile app built on Steem blockchain

Appics is built and works on top of the steem blockchain and the users are the main network engine.
It is a mobile app that allows any average/ordinary social media user to easily enter the cryptocurrency world just like steemit does.
However, the main mobile app isn't out yet but will launch soon on google playstore for android users and App store for IOS users according to the Appics website.

Sharing Videos and Pictures

APPICS app will enable content creators post and share pictures and videos which in turn allows them to earn monetary rewards from likes.
Liking, commenting and curating content will also earn Appic users rewards.
Verified users will be able to live stream using the app.
Appics states that verified Appic users are the only ones who will be able to live stream in order to minimize live streaming abuse.

Post payout

A post will earn rewards for seven days which is equivalent to one week. Posts will also payout after the seven days are complete.
If anybody happens to like your post after a post has paid out, the like will be visible but the post won't earn any more rewards.
The reward system is closely similar or rather similar to that of steemit. You may choose a 50% Appics tokens and 50% Appics power payout or 100% Appics power payout.

Tags and Categories

There will be 15 main categories to post in which include:

• Make-Up
• Music
• Dance
• Charity
• Fitness
• Gaming
• Lifestyle
• Sports
• Food
• Tech
• News
• Art
• Fashion
• Comedy
• Travel

Business and entrepreneurship

If you are a business/salesperson or advertiser this is
a good app for you to grow your business network.
Appics app will have a shop feature that allows integration of your business into your profile. You will be able to upload your product which people can purchase using Appics tokens (XAP).

Secure digital wallet

The application will definitely have a secure digital wallet to store Appics tokens (XAP). Every transaction on the Appics network will be open and visible as it is on steemit.
Users will be able to transfer their tokens across wallets instantly within seconds and also send direct messages to each other.
There will be a donation button underneath posts in the app to enable a user support other users through donations.

Appics tokens

Appics tokens (XAP) are the main network tokens that Appics users are rewarded with. These tokens are generated through contribution by users to the network.
The tokens can be traded and exchanged on exchanges just like any other digital currency.

Appics power

This is a representation of the influence a user has on the Appics network. It also represents Appics tokens.
The more appics power a user's account will have, the more influence on the network.

Appics power will encourage long-term commitment to the Appics network since there will be different milestones of Appics power to be archived which will in turn allow a user to unlock more features within the app.
Appics power cannot be traded directly or transferred across accounts. However, you are able to convert it back to liquid Appics tokens by powering down.It also more like on steemit.

ICO and Bounty

There was an initial coin offering that already took place.
Participate in the bounty programme by signing up an account.
Visit the Appics website for more info.
You can also follow @appics on steemit.

Conclusion

I personally think and believe that Appics is huge and has a very promising future.
Since I am currently not a whale on a platform like steemit and I am not sure whether I am going to be one in the near future let alone a dolphin, this might just be a good opportunity for me to be a whale on Appics.

Check it out, guys.

Many thanks for your time.

THE NEW AGE SOCIAL MEDIA- SOCIAL PLATFORMS THAT EARN YOU CRYPTO

INTRODUCTION

Social media has become a part of our day to day life. It is now our lifestyle and something we can't live without. 

It is where we get the latest news from, entertainment and other important information. 

Social platforms have become a powerful tool that influences how we live, relate and view things. 

It has made it so easy for people across the globe to interact and hence played a part in making the world a small global village.

I became familiar with Social media when I first joined Facebook a few years ago.

 I think Facebook was among the first few social media platforms. I am not so sure though. Later on twitter Instagram and the rest popular social media platforms were introduced. 

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are owned by a central entity and therefore are fully centralized. 

However, since the birth of cryptocurrency and the blockchain technology back in 2009, a lot of new interesting stuff has come into existence. 

Developers just found awesome brilliant ways to perfectly utilize the blockchain technology and implement the idea of decentralization brought by crypto. 

This blockchain technology that I speak of is now being utilized in a wide variety of fields such as gaming and recreation, health, transport, elections, social media and the app development world in general.

Actually, most of the mobile and computer Applications currently being built or rather developed are decentralized applications normally known as DAPPS. 

Most of these DAPPS are open source and aren't owned by a specific central entity. In few years time, I am pretty sure they will have taken over the world like nobody's business. 

They will actually replace all the rest of the centralized popular applications known to us.

SOCIAL MEDIA  BUILT ON THE BLOCKCHAIN

These are basically Social Media platforms utilizing the blockchain technology and are fully decentralized. They have zero user censorship and have enough user freedom compared to centralized social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

 They are open source and any interested party can modify and make contributions towards improving them. Users data and information is also safe and secure. 

You can also earn from some of these social media platforms by sharing your photos, videos, articles and liking other users' posts. 

Some of the platforms you can earn from are :

• Steemit
• Golos
• Yours
• Synereo
• Sola

Most of these decentralized social platforms use the idea of turning likes into a paycheck/money. 

There are many other similar platforms but the ones below are the main platforms you can earn monetary rewards from.

 STEEMIT

Steemit had to be on the top of the list since I am publishing this article on Steemit .

I personally joined steemit approximately 7 months ago while researching about crypto. I had no idea that such an amazing platform exists. 

It is basically a social network built on the steem blockchain. 

Steemit users earn rewards in form of cryptocurrency by creating and curating content. 

It is powered by network tokens known as STEEM. It is the fundamental unit of account on the Steem blockchain. All other tokens on the steem blockchain derive their value from the value of STEEM. It is a liquid currency and can be bought or sold on exchanges. 

STEEM can as well be transferred to other users as a form of payment. 

There is also another token on the steem blockchain known as STEEM DOLLARS. Steem Dollars were designed as an attempt to bring stability to the world of cryptocurrency and to the individuals who use the Steem network. They are created by a mechanism similar to convertible notes, which are often used to fund startups.

STEEM POWER is influence tokens which give you more control over post payouts and allow you to earn on curation rewards.

Below is the definition from the Steem Whitepaper:

 Steem is a blockchain database that supports community building and social interaction with cryptocurrency rewards. Steem combines concepts from social media with lessons learned from building cryptocurrencies and their communities. An important key to inspiring participation in any community, currency or free market economy is a fair accounting system that consistently reflects each person's contribution. Steem is the first cryptocurrency that attempts to accurately and transparently reward an unbounded number of individuals who make subjective contributions to its community 

GOLOS

Golos is the Russian version of Steemit that runs on its own side chain. It has its own tokens known as Golos.  To operate a Golos account, you need to have Golos power. 

Golos power helps you have more control over post payouts and allows you to earn on curation rewards. It is similar to how steemit works only that it is in Russian. 

I guess it was created because of language barrier. Most Russians couldn't really understand English on Steemit and so they decided to come up with their very own version of steemit. Isn't that amazing ?

I have tried signing up on Golos a number of times but it reaches a point where I get stuck in the middle because it doesn't seem to give me the next step to complete my sign up. 

YOURS

Yours.org is also another social media platform where users earn monetary rewards by creating and sharing content. It is a social network where you can earn BitcoinCash if you create value. 

Your.org says that their mission is to improve the quality of content on the internet and get people paid for doing work they love. 

Content creators and users are paid using Bitcoincash (BCH)  which is the main network currency.

One can post different articles using tags such as:

• general
• crypto
• fiction
• art
• music
• science
• funny
• photos
• meta

I recently signed up on this platform and I personally think it's pretty cool and solid.

 I can say i totally like it.

SYNEREO (WILDSPARK)

 Synereo allows direct and platform agnostic monetization of original content posted anywhere on the net. 

Synereo works with a tool known as wildspark.

WildSpark provides an entirely new way for original content to be monetized and lends to a freer and fairer Attention Economy.It works as a distributed meta-layer on top of existing media hubs and social networks, where users are incentivized to reward both creators and curators directly with AMP, without the media hub, social network – or Synereo – taking a cut. 

AMP is the main token that power the synereo network.

The AMPs Synereo holds are used to seed the new marketplace and forming economy. 

It works so easy. All you have to do is sign up, verify your account and start Amplifying YouTube videos and Medium posts. I have earned and even exchanged a couple of AMPS so far.

Create an account here If you want to earn AMPs.

SOLA

Have you checked out Sola ?

Sola stands for Social Layer. The main tokens that power the Solanetwork are known as SOL. 

Sola is built on the etherium blockchain .

Just like the rest of the decentralized social networks I mentioned above, Sola allows you to earn through sharing your content online. 

With Sola, information is spread like a viral disease.

Posts on sola are known as cards.

When you post a card on Sola, users choose whether it's worthy of being endorsed or not. Whenever a user endorses your card, you earn some SOL token. 

The more users endorse your card the more it continues to spread all around the world and the more SOL you earn.

You can actually monitor how far your card has reached by looking at the world map on the sola App. 

It's a pretty cool feature.

CONCLUSION

There are so many other decentralized social media that reward their users for creating and sharing content. More are still being developed. 

 It is great to know that someones' say is worth something and I personally think decentralized social media is the real deal. 

It is also amazing and very interesting to see how the blockchain technology is being used to bring value to people all around the world.

No doubt decentralized social platforms built on the blockchain are the future of social media. They are a new age or rather the next generation social networks.

Isn't it amazing that i will actually get rewarded for publishing this post?

Thank you for your time.