‘That’s just going to crash and burn’…. Says Verge report.
New startup Audius says its blockchain-based music streaming service is the solution that finally pays attention to indie artists’ needs. It’s also full of pirated material.
Audius’ website says “music platforms were at their best when they listened to what artists and fans wanted – not corporations or major labels” and that uploaded tracks can “never be censored or removed.” TechCrunch called Audius’ blockchain move its “secret sauce,” while Yahoo finance said it is “adequately addressing the most pressing needs within the industry.” But one of the most pressing problems in music right now is copyright. Audius contains infringing material — such as an unlicensed version of Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea’s “Problem” — that, if its promotional materials are right, the company cannot remove.
Audius is directly competing for SoundCloud’s audience, which may explain its problems. Once SoundCloud was a haven for up-and-coming artists, hosting then-unknowns such as The Chainsmokers and Lorde, but it also hosted a lot of infringing material: remixes, mashups, and often entire songs. Although SoundCloud had a content ID system in place since 2011, it began more rigorously enforcing copyright complaints after inking deals with labels, often with haphazard results, so hardcore users started looking elsewhere. In trying to appeal to these users, Audius is running into the same problems.
“They say ‘We don’t have the ability to deplatform you or censor you.’ What I hear when I read that is, ‘It’s going to be real difficult for us to take down anything that you put up,’” says Kevin Casini, a professor of entertainment law at the Quinnipiac School of Law in Connecticut. “They’re trying to speak as if they’re talking to people who are afraid of this bogeyman intermediary. And they’re also saying, ‘Hey, this is a new spot where you can, at least for a brief amount of time, upload something, and we’re not going to look at it and see what it is.’ It seems that they know this is something that is going to happen quickly for them, and they’re signaling and advertising to the people that actually know what they’re saying, which is: ‘You can come here and do it.’”
Audius says it’s aiming at the up-and-comers who once would have used SoundCloud. “We really see ourselves getting into the same niche as SoundCloud right now,” Audius CEO Roneil Rumburg tells The Verge. Audius might even have a shot at it. Indie artists’ hackles were raised by a self-monetization contract rolled out by SoundCloud that allowed it to change payment terms without notification and blocked artists from ever suing the company.
