Rythmeet:P2P music network platform

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem.

Creating the most complete music platform for musicians where they can network, find instruments, receive scholarships, discover Cardano

[GENERAL] Summarize your relevant experience.

Proposer: 2 PhDs, 8 years in research and international project management

Team: More than 40 years cumulated in software development and project management

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Cryptocurrency in general, and so Cardano, is at the beginning of its expenditure, but it lacks attractivity from people that are not familiar with new technologies. The race of expenditure represents the key for success at this stage. New tools and platforms need to be created to bring these people into the cryptocurrency wave, especially into the Cardano ecosystem.

On the other hand, music is universal and one of the oldest ways of communication and expression that ever existed. As with every artistic expression, everyone has his/her own style and skillset. Yet, not everyone has access to musical instruments, classes or rooms where to practice. The actual tools to connect with one another to learn, exchange, practice and develop their skills are very limited. Also, musical instruments can represent a big expense. Currently, people mainly connect with each other by word of mouth but it has its limitations.

Our platform will be the meeting point of these 2 entities and consequently, will drastically expand the Cardano community. People need only a smartphone or a computer to jump onto the Cardano community, therefore the expenditure has no real limit.

The global musical instruments market size was valued at almost $10 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $11.5 billion by 2030. The problem is that not everyone can afford musical instruments. On the other hand, the global Peer-to-Peer market was valued at approximately 68 billion in 2019 and is increasing every year.

Our solution

The first part of our platform detailed here will bring people from outside of the cryptocurrency bubble into this new technology, allowing them to connect and develop their music skills and network. Therefor, our project focuses on key features:

 -Giving access to music instruments to all: Buying a new instrument can be expensive, especially when we are not sure whether we would really enjoy it. With our platform, users will be able to find people at proximity owning instruments/materials they would be willing to rent or sell.

-Easily finding music teachers at proximity: People will be able to propose music classes.

-Finding crew: People will be able to find specific musicians (guitarists, saxophonists, singers, pianists…) at proximity and connect with them to build a band or just expand the group they already have. To have an idea on the musical capacities of others before connecting, people will be able to upload a few short videos on their own profile.

-Finding a place where to practice or give concerts: When living in an apartment for example, practicing music can be challenging. Moreover, finding a place where to give a concert often requires a lot of time going to bars or restaurants asking owners for this opportunity. That is why on the Rythmeet platform, people will be able to propose a place for musicians to practice or give a concert.

-Funding music scholarships for kids: Our vision through this platform is to help musicians to have access to everything they need to develop their hobby/career. That's why we will create a fundraising feature. The money will be used to pay scholarships for kids/students who cannot afford registration fees for music schools. Also, when the revenue of the platform will allow it, Rythmeet will participate in funding scholarships as well.

Since our goal is to bring people who are not aware or comfortable with cryptocurrencies, we will allow people to pay using their own money or Cardano to make people discover this cryptocurrency and become more familiar with it. We do not want to affray them with crypto and that's why our strategy is to familiarize them slowly with this part of the platform. Simple tutorials will be created to explain how to buy Cardano for those who do not already have. To encourage people to use Cardano, fees will be lower for transactions using Cardano (6% VS 10% using other currencies). Music is present in every single country on the planet, heard in most houses and cars, therefore linking the Rythmeet platform to the Cardano ecosystem will drastically expand the network and number of transactions of this cryptocurrency.

For the rental part, people willing to rent their instrument or place will be allowed to indicate how much security deposit they would like Rythmeet to keep on hold in case anything happens to the instrument, material or place. This part will be completed later with the integration of smart contracts to handle any problem happening between users. Other people from project catalyst are already developing smart contracts integrated to the Cardano blockchain and we plan to collaborate with them for this part. 

For people proposing a place for musicians to give concerts, they will have the possibility to pay artists for their performance directly on the platform.

***Execution steps***

Stage 1: Project Definition

The first stage of the process will revolve mostly in taking the time to formally define the legal components and every option/feature of the platform. The process and approach are easy to define, with integration of a CDN for content management requirements and development of a .NET or SQL Database for all required on-site functions. At this stage, we will have a clear understanding of what we are setting out to achieve, including:

Target audience: Defining our online target market will help the designers understand target users' preferences, study their online habits and develop wireframes and interfaces that are most likely to result in great user experience.

Competition: This is one of the key elements for the research phase and it will allow us to analyze the competitor's strengths and weaknesses and develop a strategy that will result in a market-leading website.

Stage 2: Planning

Based on the data we collect during Stage 1, we will be able to create:

A sitemap: This bird's eye view of our site is a map that determines the list of pages, their placement and relationship on the website. It includes both the user-facing elements and those intended for web crawlers only (e.g. Google). A site map helps define and organize web content, allowing our strategist and designer to go deeper into planning the look, feel and functionality for each page.

A wireframe: This, on the other hand, is the layout of each individual page of the site. It outlines and maps out the elements on the website and how the website will function.

Stage 3: Design

The user interface design stage will introduce our branding and complete the look and feel of our website. This is where we put our creative minds together to come up with a visual representation of our project. By the end of this, we will have a clear idea of what the look of the website in its entirety will be. From the home page to the inner pages, and what users will see when navigating through different sections of the website. For our consumers, this will show how they travel through different product categories, what they would see on individual product pages, and what the buying journey will look like.

Stage 4: Content Creation

By this stage, we will have entered the early stages of the actual development cycle. Once the designs and layouts of the website have been finalized, we will begin the content creation process which encompasses planning, writing and editing various forms of website content, including:

• Landing pages    • Product/service description

• Testimonials     • Case studies

• Blog posts      • Videos

• Images

This makes use of our skilled writers who will create assets that grab attention and help our pages rank on search engines. Much like design itself, content is an important element of our user's experience. Quality web copy and resources will give them the information they need to make their purchasing decisions, while a strategic keyword optimization will place our web content on the path of searchers with high purchase intent.

Stage 5: Development

This stage includes coding and our developer's job is to make the site function properly. Our developer will create the homepage followed by the other landing pages, based on the website hierarchy. The process also includes combining all the previously designed elements and building an actual website. The front-end development of the website will be a nominal task. The back-end development will consume more time and will be built carefully and methodically.

Stage 6: Testing

Testing is one of the most significant phases. At this point, our developers will check the functionality of all the elements on our website. The aim is to detect any issues, such as broken links and compatibility with different devices to ensure everything works properly. They will use validators to check the code making sure it follows the current standards, test the site's speed as well as test for mobile responsiveness. Once they finish the manual and automated testing, our website will be ready to go into a live server and launch.

Stage 7: Maintenance

The last - and the never-ending - phase of the website development timeline is maintenance. As our project grows, we will need to increase the number of pages and add more functionalities and features. We will need to carry out certain tasks on a regular basis, including:

• Editing existing content      • Adding blog posts

• Fixing bugs and issues      • Dosing site backups

• Installing plugins

Since digital and web design trends constantly change, we will also need to keep our site up-to-date both UX and SEO-wise.

***Revenue Model***

The Rythmeet revenue model has been constructed to be sustainable, durable and self-sufficient.

For the music classes, instrument/material rental, instrument/material sales and places to rent, the teacher/renter/seller will obtain 100% of the price they want. Fees will be added on a base of 6% if the purchaser pays using Cardano or 10% if the purchaser uses another currency. Both prices will be indicated on the platform to push people to use Cardano.

An option to put the announcement on the top of the list will be available for a fee of 2$ or the equivalent of 1.50$ in Cardano per week.

For people looking for a music group to give a private concert for remuneration, there will be 6% fees using Cardano or 10% using other currencies on the total amount paid.

For the fundraising part, no commission will be taken by the platform and the full amount will be used to pay scholarships for music schools.

Once our platform reaches a high enough level of activity (minimum 15,000 users per month), it will host advertisements that will generate complementary revenue.

The money generated will go towards website development and marketing, funding prize pools to encourage people to join the Rythmeet community and be active on it, and ultimately, funding Scholarships.

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

Being part of the Cardano community, we are very open to link and bridge our platform with other projects from the community to help each other develop. For example, we plan to use Atala Prism for this project.

Developing our platform to help every single musician and giving them access to a crypto wallet will significantly expand cardano’s use-case. Music being present in every country in the world, our platform will create utility for otherwise locked Cardano and consequently reduce its price volatility.

More than just targeting people already using crypto, the Rythmeet project seeks to bring thousands of people from outside the crypto bubble into the Cardano community. We believe that the number of Cardano new users brought by our platform will increase exponentially in the next few years and has no real limit since music is present in every single country.

Our fundraising feature will give kids with low incomes the opportunity to have access to education and a decent job later.

We also believe that giving access to a place where to practice, music instruments and music classes to everyone through our platform will allow people with low incomes to discover new hobbies and consequently a new way to increase their incomes with music.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

People coming on our platform might not be comfortable using cryptocurrencies, even with lower fees. We could propose some rewards for people using cardano for the first time. Once they will use it for the first time, they will understand how easy it is and we are confident they will continue to use it after.

People might find complicated the fact to use an external wallet to pay with Cardano on the Rythmeet platform. We might need to develop later a wallet directly integrated into our platform, maybe through collaboration with other members of the project catalyst community. Nevertheless, that is a complex task that will require some time before being operational and secured. We prefer to make some tutorials to explain our users where and how to create their own wallet and then linking to their own Rythmeet account using a QR code for example.

People might be afraid to rent music materials or places in case of problems happening to the material or place. This is the reason we would like to develop smart contracts integrated into Cardano blockchain on the platform.

People often do not give to fundraising because they do not trust companies about how their money will be used. We plan to be totally transparent about the money collected and its use to pay scholarships. Information about the total amount collected and spent for specific scholar projects will be retransmitted on the platform and on social media to encourage people to give. Also, information about money allocated to scholarships may be stored into the Cardano blockchain to make it accessible to all. We also plan to use this feature to promote the Rythmeet platform through influencers and known artists.

As the number of users and the traffic increase on our platform, we will need at some point to move our platform from a basic cloud storage to a more powerful web hosting platform.

Shinetech company is a Chinese company. What if the Chinese government forbids development of cryptocurrency platforms? Luckily, Shinetech company is also based in other countries like US, Australia or Canada and the Rythmeet platform will be based in France, so it won't be a problem for us.

Our answer to previous reviews:

The team has not enough experience in blockchain: We recruited 2 new members, Jeff Junwei Chen, expert in blockchain and digital currency and Albert Feghali, blockchain developer and Plutus Pioneers Program Alumni.

The proposed time frame is too short: Platform frameworks are already available in Shinetech which will save us time and money. Also, we added a few weeks to the timeframe to be sure to deliver a functional platform. Nevertheless, the platform will endlessly continue to improve and develop using its own funds.

Github and social media accounts from Rythmeet are new/empty: Yes, before sharing Rythmeet activity and attracting artists and people in general, we need to develop the platform.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

Week 1 and 2: Setup the website with initial ecommerce platform frameworks available at Shinetech, install plugins and spread project documents to the development team members and discuss for comprehension.

Week 3 to 5: Design the whole platform and develop the processes which enable rent and trade of physical items (Checkpoint 1: $20,000 for this part).

Week 6-7: Develop features for payment and to allow web users to trade with Cardano (ADA).

Week 8-9: Develop features for each account, like changing profile, sharing information through social media and integration into blockchain (Checkpoint 2: $20,000 for this part).

Week 10-12: Develop features between accounts, like rating, review, text chatting and beginning of integration into blockchain.

Week 13 to 15: System test for receiving and inspection, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), solve problems found through system tests (Checkpoint 3: $20,000 for this part).

Week 16 to 17: Launch, solve issues found by users. This will be the end of the MVP phase (Checkpoint 4: $13,000 for this part)

Next months: Further business analysis and add features based on users' needs.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

2 Developers (Back-End and Front-End): 45$/hour: (2x $1,575/week x 8 weeks = $25,200)

2 Developers (Cardano Blockchain): 55$/hour: (2x 1,925/week x 8 weeks = 30,800)

1 Technical Project Manager: 45$/hour ($1,500/week x 4 weeks = $6,000)

1 Content Writer: 35$/hour ($1,250/week x 4 weeks = $5,000)

1 Designer: 45$/hour ($1,500/week x 4 weeks = $6,000)

Total: $73,000

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

My name is Alan Hegron (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-hegron-09648154/). I am the proposer and have been passionate about music and art in general since I was a kid. I lived in different countries like France (where I am from), Canada or US and I have often thought "How musicians/singers with so much talent and hard work can struggle with money?". I began to think of and build this project to help musicians, around 6 years ago in my head, on papers and through connections, and I am confident Cardano's Project Catalyst will allow me to finally develop it.

I received 2 PhDs from France and from Canada in research and then went to work at Columbia University in the US and now at New-York University. It has now been more than 7 years I am managing projects involving international collaborations and am consequently well trained in managing many projects at a time and to always find a solution to problems occurring. Over the time I have contacted many developers and finally built a team of experts who, altogether, will allow us to create the Rythmeet platform.

Most members of the developing team work for Shinetech which is a leading software development provider founded in 2001 in Beijing, China, with additional global locations in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia. Shinetech collaborated with more than 1500 clients including world known companies like Coca-Cola, BMW, Ralph Lauren or HP. For HP, Shinetech developed its website and is still managing it worldwide, proving the seriousness and efficiency of the company (https://www.shinetechsoftware.com/).

Here is the development team:

Project manager, senior full-stack developer: Jason Hao Li

• Over 4 years of experience in full-stack web development. Expert in back-end development frameworks, front-end development, system design, business analysis and senior project manager. (CV attached)

Expert PHP developer: Finley Fei Ma

• Over 9 years of experience in PHP, Node, Front-end and 4 years project manager. Expert in PHP MVC framework, web development and CI/CD. (CV attached)

User interface designer: Keyon Keyang Du

• Over 7 years of experience in graphic design. Expert in UI and UX design and mobile app design. 4 years as UI team manager. (CV attached)

Expert PHP developer: Ranger Guan

• Over 9 years of experience in software development. Expert in front-end and multiple languages (PHP, javascript, TypeScript, Python…). Expert in web applications including E-commerce, in app creation and in Agile development methodologies. (CV attached)

Senior software engineer: Jeff Junwei Chen

• Over 7 years of experience in software engineering, proficient in both frontend and backend development. Expert in blockchains and digital currency. For example, he developed the website www.ddpurse.com which is a BCH wallet based on WeChat platform. Users can generate a wallet to manage their cryptocurrency(BCH), receive the BCH to the address generated in DDPurse, or send BCH to any other BCH address, and backup the mnemonic words etc.

Blockchain developer and Plutus Pioneers Program Alumni: Albert Feghaly

• Over 6 years in academia using Python, Javascript, big data, ML.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/albert-feghaly-28060a113/

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

Once the Rythmeet platform is at an advanced stage, we may request fundings for the marketing phase. We already know some artists who are interested in the project but with a functional platform, it will be easier to bring more artists, influencers and users onto it. At early stages, marketing will be very important and then, the money generated by the platform will be enough for its own development and marketing. For the marketing, we will continue to work with Shinetech which has an experienced team available for us.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

At the end of every step detailed in the timeline and even after the platform launch, we will update the community on the progress of our platform Rythmeet through: 

Twitter: @rythmeet

Github: https://github.com/alanhegron/Rythmeet

Telegram: @AlanHegron

Instagram: @Rythmeet

.

These accounts exist but are empty. We will load contents and develop them when the platform will be at an advanced stage.

If we share our successes, we will also share our struggles and we believe that being part of the Cardano community is a strength and we would be pleased to receive suggestions about Rythmeet.

Once the platform is launched, we will continuously inform our members on every news involving Rythmeet through publications on social media.

We also plan to participate in Town Halls to inform the catalyst community on the progression of the platform and to have feedback from it.

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

As explained earlier, the Rythmeet platform will contain 2 parts. The first one is described in this proposal and the second one consisting in an NFT marketplace (Proposal name: Perma-music rmNFT Marketplace). Both parts can be developed on their own independently if necessary, and then be fused later. If only this proposal receives its funding, here is what the success will look like:

Success after 6 months: All technical problems have been solved and the website works smoothly. We reach 5,000 users and 15% of them use Cardano currency. People begin to give for fundraising for scholarships. We may also begin to develop in parallel the NFT part of the platform if we receive funds in the Fund#10. We develop the marketing using the network of youtubers and musicians we already have.

Success after 12 months: We reach 20,000 users and 50% of them are using Cardano currency. We could then begin to host advertisement on our platform and become financially auto-sufficient. With money increasing, we will focus more and more on the marketing, contacting other influencers, music festivals and advertising on platforms like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for example. We already know people from Shinetech working in marketing and ready to work on this project. Hopefully, by then, we will have launched our platform Rythmeet 2.0 containing the NFT marketplace. and we will have received enough funds to begin to pay for scholarships.

At this time, we might have collected enough money to begin to fund the first scholarships.

If both funds for parts 1 and 2 are accepted within this Fund#9, we will save time and develop both parts at the same time. After 12 months, we should then reach much more than 20,000 users in targeting both artists and investors/buyers.

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

A new one

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating

SDG Goals

4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

8 - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

17 - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

SDG Subgoals

4.1 - By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes

4.2 - By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre‑primary education so that they are ready for primary education

4.3 - By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university

4.4 - By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship

4.5 - By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations

4.7 - By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

4.a - Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all

8.3 - Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

4.3.1 - Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex

4.4.1 - Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill

4.7.1 - Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment