A crypto-themed techno song featuring Cardano's branding

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

[GENERAL] Co-proposers and additional applicants

Jorge Alfonzo Arteaga (Jaxxtone)

STRAAW

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

A web3-themed song, which appears on main search engines (Google, Youtube, Spotify, etc.) when searching for blockchain-related words boosting Cardano's visibility.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

It doesn't apply.

[METADATA] SDG rating

It doesn't apply.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Thousands of new solutions are popping up in our ecosystem, tooling is improving, and so is the number of devs building on Cardano. The missing piece is to onboard more users, and music is a universal language to reach new audiences through their hearts.

Music is an influential communication channel that has the power to evoke positive emotions and create a sense of connection with its listeners. Web3 terms might be boring or scary for non-technical users. However, introduced through enjoyable and high-quality songs it's easier to make blockchain-related words look more familiar and even cool. Crypto and non-crypto listeners will associate a particular song with Cardano, helping to reinforce key messages and create a lasting positive impression.

After extensive market research, I concluded that the SEO of blockchain-related keywords is wide open for first movers. This means that it's fairly easy to come up as the leader media content result in all searches.

Leveraging the metric-tracking features provided by various media platforms such as YouTube, Spotify, and others, enables a straightforward demonstration and validation of the song's impact.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

A popular song means a very powerful marketing launchpad. Also, music has the power to reinforce a sense of identity and belonging among its members. It's a common ground that facilitates social bonds and strengthens the Cardano community's unique identity.

The goal of the song is also to showcase the power of all music-related projects, protocols, and dapps building on the Cardano ecosystem.

By analyzing the streaming data on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube and tracking the song's mentions, shares, and engagement on social media platforms will allow us to determine the song's popularity and reach. Furthermore, creating a song might catch the attention of big artists beyond the crypto community, increasing the chances of reaching a wider audience and leading to greater media exposure.

Finally, if the song makes enough revenue in streams to pay back the funds for this proposal I will gladly return them to Catalyst to reinvest it in the growth of the ecosystem.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

My social media engagement metrics serve as tangible evidence of my ability to connect with crypto and non-crypto audiences through guerilla marketing campaigns. I successfully produced and released an original crypto-themed single (electronic music) in collaboration with one of Diplo's producers.

I also collected valuable experience when I recorded a Christmas Cover and produced a music video last year, which will be key to delivering high-quality content. I am committed to leveraging my resources, marketing knowledge, connections, strategic planning, and active community engagement to ensure the success of this project.

The decision to feature non-crypto-related artists aligns with a broader strategic goal of expanding Cardano's reach to wider audiences.

As a social media influencer, SPO, and Co-Founder of VAULT3, failing to fulfill my commitments brings a substantial risk: this would compromise the reputation, efforts, and credibility I have cultivated within the community in one and a half years.

[PROJECT MILESTONES] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Kickstart Phase:

• Timeline planning.
• Song Drafting: Concept, Main Beat, Structure, Melody, Lyrics.

Song Recording Phase:

• Main voice recordings.
• Song improvements: Main Beat, Melody, Lyrics.
• Secondary voice recordings.

Mixing and Mastering Phase:

• Mixing
• Mastering: voices and beat

Marketing and Release Phase:

• Pre-release marketing campaign (Teasers on different social media platforms, including extra media content)
• Song release with a marketing campaign (in different social media platforms, including extra media content)

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Carolina Isler (La Petite ADA): Artist, Singer, Songwriter, Concept Creator, and Marketeer.

Jorge Alfonzo Arteaga (Jaxxtone): Producer, Mixing engineer, Master engineer.

STRAAW: Producer, Mixing engineer, Master engineer.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Total of ADA: 16’250

Budget breakdown:

Music Production: ADA 12’500 (€5,000)

Mixing and Mastering: ADA 2'500 (€1,000)

Marketing Campaign on X (1-2 weeks): ADA 1’250 (€500)

A song production needs at least 2-4 hours of work per week until its release (all participants involved).

These 2-4 hours include: (a total of 48-96 working hours)

• Organization
• Brainstorming (Conceptualising)
• Lyrics writing
• Lyrics adaptions
• Melody production
• Melody adaptations
• Beat Production
• Beat adaptations
• Vocal warm-ups
• Vocal Practicing
• Vocal Recordings (main vocal 2-3 recordings)
• Second Vocal recordings (Different Pitches: each Pitch needs 2-3 recordings)
• adlibs (2-3 recordings)
• Vocals mastering and mixing
• Beat mastering and mixing

This does NOT include the working hours for the marketing campaign and content creation on social media. If you break down the hours against the production's cost, you'll find the hourly rate is less than €20 per person.

I calculated the costs based on my last song production, and considering the amount of hours worked by all the participants.

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The aim of this initiative is to put Cardano on the map in the music industry. By showcasing an example to musicians worldwide and encouraging them to explore the music protocols being developed on Cardano (NEWM). Showing musicians that they can still follow their passion while diving into cutting-edge tech.

The song is projected to reach hundreds of thousands of people (millions in the best-case scenario). For this production price, it would be impossible to reach this amount of people organically using paid social media ads, which are often ineffective and usually a waste of money.

This proposal is a guerilla marketing approach, and I hypothesize that it will give Cardano a strategic advantage by becoming one of the first Blockchains featured on a song. Furthermore, this initiative could spark the interest of renowned artists and musicians, giving Cardano an advantage over other blockchains.

I am collaborating with Jaxxtone, an experienced and well-connected music producer who directly works with world-class DJs like Diplo and Major Lazer, and STRAAW a talented and experienced music producer with an Instagram community of more than 7k non-crypto followers and approximately 22k monthly listeners on Spotify.