Licensing Remixed Music On-Chain

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Paradime Economics

Non-Fungitibal-Token Digital Audio Tracks

Paradime allows for owners of music to sell the commercial rights to remix and sample their music in the form of a Non Fungible Token (NFT). Consumers who purchase these NFT tokens, will gain access to various audio components to the song which can consist of; the instrumental, vocal acapella, stem layers, and audio samples.

During the token creation process, owners will be able to define attribution splits between multiple artists/ owners, and define action royalties, that specify a percentage of revenue for usage such as remixing, sampling and reselling. Those who own the Digital Audio Track NFT’s will be legally bound to the terms and conditions and access to these audio files is limited to approved formats. NFTs and containing audio files will only be consumable in the context of Paradime Audio’s web based digital audio workshop & Virtual Studio Technology (VST). These two delivery forms add an extra layer of protection for music owners by preventing leakage of audio files outside the context of the Paradime Platform.

A key part of ensuring that artists are not taken advantage of is by providing them with high quality data about the usage of their audio tracks. Everytime a track is used, transactional data will be written to the blockchain. This data can be used by the original artist to settle legal disputes and collect unclaimed royalties. In addition to the legal support transactional data can provide, it allows for artists to have a deep understanding of how and where their tracks are being used. This data can be used to make key music and business decisions.

To enable the seamless transfer and listing of Digital Audio Track NFTs, Paradime will allow for users to select the blockchain they wish to Mint tokens for. While minting, artists will have the option to create NFTs on the Cardano, Polygon, and eventually other chains such as Ethereum once scalability setbacks are addressed. This allows for users to take advantage of the various blockchain features in each chain and leverage blockchain specific wallets. Once tokens are minted, owners will have the option to list the tokens in the Paradime Audio marketplace or move them to a wallet which will enable them to be listed in any NFT Marketplace such as OpenSea & Mintable.

Publishing and Minting Remixes

Consumers of Digital Audio Track NFTs will be able to seamlessly publish remixes as either a stand alone NFT audio track or publish their music to various streaming platforms. During the publishing process, the Paradime Audio platform will reference any Digital Audio Track NFTs used in the remix to apply any defined attribution splits to the remix automatically. For example if a DJ remixes two Digital Audio Track NFTs that both have a 25% royalty fee defined for remixes, the DJs profit margin will be decreased by 50%, and every music owner/ artists defined in the two Digital Audio Track NFTs will be given their calculated portion of any revenue generated. This allows for a frictionless experience for every party involved in the remixing publishing process.

The nature of Digital Audio Tracks also allows for the seamless distribution of payments to the original creators of the song. This architecture allows for integrations into 3rd party audio providers such as decentralized streaming platforms. Integrations with streaming platforms would further accelerate the utility of Digitial Audio Track NFTs and provide a lucrative revenue stream for token holders and their original creators.

Blockchain Hosted Remix Contests

Web 3.0 + the Paradime Audio enables the possibility of seamless remix contests hosted on the blockchain. Using the Paradime Platform users can easily create remixes and save them to the cloud, this in combination with web 3.0 allows for users to get paid instantly if they win a contest. Each contest will consist of an audio asset that it presents to users, this audio asset can be an Instrumental or Acapella recording and users who wish to participate can either select a track that is in their collection or upload a track to be remixed. While entering the contest the user will need to select a 16 bar sample (Usually about 30 seconds in duration) that will be visible to anyone who views/ judges the contest. They will also be required to connect a compatible wallet to Paradime, this will allow for seamless payments to the winner of the Contest. To optimize the potential and earning pot for these remix contest, Paradime Audio will be partnering with companies to create high quality branded remix contests featuring a custom design.

Transactional Data

A key part of ensuring that artists are not taken advantage of is by providing them with high quality data about the usage of their audio tracks. Everytime a track is used a transactional data will be written to the blockchain. This data can be used by the original artist to settle legal disputes and collect unclaimed royalties. In addition to the legal support transactional data can provide, it allows for artists to have a deep understanding of how and where their tracks are being used. This data can be used to make key music and business decisions.

Automate Charitable Donations

Artists and their fans often want to contribute to good causes through the sale of music but doing so can require manual steps. The current model does not ensure transparency about the funds being allocated, where the funds are being distributed and how they are being used. Issuers of tokens can designate a Non-Profit initiative to donate to, leveraging the same smart contract that will be used to distribute revenue based on attributions. Non Profit organizations will be able to register with Paradime and to list a “verified cause” that NFT token issuers can select and allocate revenue to. Once the verification process is complete, and non-profits agree to submit public audit records quarterly, their cause will be listed amongst others with a clear description of how a contribution will be used, that token issuers can select. When these NFT tokens are published in market places, they will have special attributes letting the buyer know what cause they are supporting, and the percentage of revenue being donated to the specified cause.

                                   Creative Platform

Remixing

The platform takes care of the complexities of BPM matching and timing synchronization (and eventually mixing) so that anyone can remix tracks freely. For example, if a given Music Producer distributes their instrumental, they can search for vocal recordings and preview remixes of their instrumental. All remixes can be rendered in under 5 seconds, the user has the ability to create an instant download of the remix, and the owners of the audio files can monetize the remixing experience as a stream. As a tool this allows Music Producers and Recording Artists to preview how a potential collaboration could sound, it also extends the “Playtime life” of a given song by allowing fans to experience that song in multiple ways via remixing, and create an additional revenue pipeline for artists trying to monetize their songs.

To stand out from competitors such as Serato and Traktor, the remixing experience has unique sub-features such as remixing automation, which allows users of any technical expertise to instantly create DJ-like mash-up effects and perfectly timed loops in a simplified point and click UI. Users can also remix multiple tracks simultaneously using an experimental tool called Remix Sequence Builder. This allows users of any technical expertise to select up to 25 instrumentals and vocal recordings and create “Super Remixes” with an easy to use user interface and given that the product is cloud-based, bringing remixing abilities to a vast amount of devices.

Digital Experiences: Because of the advancements made within the Paradime creative platform that allow for quick remixing and manipulation of music, new avenues of digital music engagement are possible. Digital experiences are new ways for token consumers to engage with the music they like.

1. Blockchain Hosted Remix Contests: Web 3.0 + the Paradime Audio enables the possibility of seamless remix contests hosted on the blockchain. Using the Paradime Platform users can easily create remixes and save them to the cloud, this in combination with web 3.0 allows for users to get paid instantly if they win a contest. Each contest will consist of an audio asset that it presents to users, this audio asset can be an Instrumental or Acapella recording and users who wish to participate can either select a track that is in their collection or upload a track to be remixed. While entering the contest the user will need to select a 16 bar sample (Usually about 30 seconds in duration) that will be visible to anyone who views/ judges the contest. They will also be required to connect a compatible wallet to Paradime, this will allow for seamless payments to the winner of the Contest. To optimize the potential and earning pot for these remix contest, Paradime Audio will be partnering with companies to create high quality branded remix contests featuring a custom design.
2. Guided Vocals (Karaoke): Sign along to your favorite songs with real time animated lyrics. Once the recording is complete, your recording will be dubbed over the song’s instrumental and users can see how they sound in comparison to their favorite artists. High performing users are tracked on leaderboards accessible to anyone who has access to the Digital audio NFT and the original artists / issuers.

                                   Partnerships

Decentralized Streaming Platforms: While Paradime Audio does not intend on directly focusing on creating a streaming service, but has the framework and architecture to support integrations with approved partners. Decentralized streaming services are giving artists a new way to monetize their music with higher payments based on native tokens created by streaming platforms, and allowing for token holders to publish remixes while honoring the existing royalty structure of track, allows for a win-win scenario and incentivizes collaboration. Partnering with such streaming services could help provide the music industry with a complete end to end decentralized music platform.

Defi Platforms: Making sure that artists are compensated but also giving them easy access to blockchain based investing tools can accelerate the adoption of Defi and bring awareness to the various investment opportunities these tools can provide. Since a lot of Defi investment tools are associated with specific wallets, providing liquidity to these defi protocols can be as easy as a wallet transfer.

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

While many decentralized music solutions are being introduced to the market, none focus on music from the angle that Paradime does. We allow for artists and token issuers to give their fans unique value through the sale of commercial remixing rights in addition to exclusive access to stems and a platform that enables for the easy use of those stems. The goal of Paradime is not to be a dominating market force similiar to the conglomerates that control the music industry, but to be a fair, easy to use, and highly innovative platform that focuses on delivering the next generation of music consumption experiences.

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

Identity Theft: This risk involved an unauthorized 3rd party that publishes a Digital Audio Track NFT without the permission of the creators.

• Paradime Audio plans to address this risk by requiring token issuers to go through a verification process and provide proof of ownership prior to releasing on the platform.
• As more streamlined methods of verification are implemented, Paradime will move away from a manual verification approach and decentralize the process as much as possible.

Unauthorized Remixes & Samples via Content Leakage: The risk of a token holder with the malicious intent to leak music or a malware compromised token holder.

• To address these concerns Paradime will implement a transactional data service that can provide creators with an audit trail they could use to prove unauthorized usage.
• Allowing for creators to disable the exporting of audio files from the platform, this will add an extra layer of protection to ensure that users can only use the provided audio files within the platform or approved tools such as the planned VST plugin.

Smart Contract Security loopholes through third party stream provider: By nature, allowing for 3rd party Smart Contracts and DAPPS to interact with Paradime Audio's Smart Contracts could enable a security loophole

• Before a Stream Provider is approved they will be manually vetted to help prevent any loopholes or issues that my arise
• For artist to receive payments, Paradime only needs to expose a single payment address. By paying this single address, payments are automatically split between creators based on their allocation percentage.

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

Current Milestones

• Production ready platform awaiting Cardano implementation
• Remixing and audio editing experience
• Uploading and preparing audio for release to include: regions, lyrics, markers, and versions    
• Saving and compiling remixes
• Lyric animation generator
• Multi Wallet integration
• Multi device and browser support: Desktop, Ipad / Tablet, (Even works in Tesla Model 3 Browser), Mobile coming soon.
• Commitment for projects from at least 8 large scale recording artists  and dozens of emerging artists.      
• The implementation of Remix Contests Smart Contracts (Solidity)
• The Implementation of Digital Audio Track NFT Smart Contract (Solidity)

Phase Two (July-November 2022):

• Migrate / Rewrite smart contracts to Haskell
• Full system and smart contract audit
• Production Go Live: NFT as a Service, Remix Contests
• Optimization of the current web platform, by fixing known bugs and implementation of key web features, such as full midi support for DJ devices, audio effects (such as reverb, equalizer, etc.)

                                  Phase Two (November -March 2023)

• The first iteration of a VST plugin that will allow for owners of Paradime Digital Audio Tracks to use them within the context of any Digital Audio Workshop software.
• Introduction of first mobile application

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

Cardano Blockchain / Haskell Developer(s):

Cost: 30,000-40,000 USD

Duration 3 Months

Web Services & Servers and supporting cloud infrastructure:

Cost: 3,500-5,000 USD

Duration: Continuous

User Experience / Design Engineers (Mobile Focused)

Cost: 5,000-8,000 USD

Duration: 3 Months

Legal Services & Blockchain Compliance

Cost: 5,000 - 10,000 USD

Duration: 2- 6 Months

Marketing and Promotion

Cost: 5,000- 7,000 USD

Duration: 1 year

Smart Contract and System Audit

Cost: 7,000- 10,000 USD

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

Please provide details of your team members required to complete the project.

1. Partnering with Canucks Publishing, a development workshop with a high reputation for delivering quality products and who are actively engaged in Cardano community: https://canucks-publishing.com/about-us/
2. Vivek Nankissoor (Product Management): With 15+ years of experience in database requirements, design and development, Vivek has established and grown web analytics, marketing automation and QA practices across multiple organizations. His deep understanding of marketing, data and analytics strategy has been an asset to various companies in the enterprise retail, cpg, banking, automotive, pharma and fintech industries among others. More recently, Vivek is a co-founder of the Cardano Canucks stake pool, Canucks Staking and Canucks Publishing. With the creation of the Canucks Publishing NFT minting platform and refinement via the successful launch of Canuckz NFTs, Vivek has since helped to onboard many projects. He has helped to develop Canucks Publishing into a productive conduit through which creators can bring their projects to life. His passion extends to giving back to the community and taking a leadership role around organizing groups such as the CCSPA (Canadian Cardano Stake Pool Association), as well as raising awareness/knowledge surrounding financial literacy with at-risk youth and various investment groups.
3. Michael Stewart (Technical Architect): Michael brings 17+ years of experience in software development and architecture for fortune 500 companies.Michael has been an active participant in cryptocurrency for several years and has been a passionate member of the Cardano community since 2017. As a co-founder of the Cardano Canucks stake pool, Canucks Staking and Canucks Publishing, he is trying to bring together his passion for technology and cryptocurrency with his desire to teach and enable others.Michael is also an active member of the CCSPA (Canadian Cardano Stake Pool Association), establishing best practices, contributing thought leadership and sharing knowledge with others in the Cardano community.
4. Internal Team:
5. Dubem Okoye (Head of Operations Africa): International Business Lawyer who has deep understanding of business law and its applications within the music industry. He works with several large name Afro-pop and Afro-beat artists that have large followings.
6. Nhan Trieu (Product Management): A former musician with unique background in analytics and process optimization.

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

With the progress of the platform thus far and the traction made within the music industry with artists already, I will not need additional funding. The primary concerns right now are auditing, QA, and general product optimization. This funding will allow us to hire high quality developers and smart contract auditors to ensure we are delivering a safe and effective product.

[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?

1. Releasing one new major feature every quarter: Since our launch in 2021 for beta, we have been able to add various new features and optimizations based on user feedback, a big part of this is the feedback loop that we have within the application that allows for users to reach out directly with feedback or questions. Since our 2021 beta launch we were able to add the follow features on top of our core offering: Lyric Animation Video generator, Multi Version Support, Audio Automation, Remix Stations, and continuous UI improvements. All new features are always backwards compatible for anyone who may have minted a Digital Audio Track before the feature was released.
2. Surfacing Emerging Talent Early: True success for Paradime Audio is enabling emerging artists to expand their outreach via remixing. Paradime will help accelerate the growth of artists by continuously searching for hidden talent and promoting those projects. Emerging artist will also be able to opt in to official mixtapes (curated collection of tracks) hosted by Paradime Audio and leverage our marketing efforts.
3. Number of Remixes Created and Published: A big component of the remix economy is allowing for token holders to monetize their creations in a meaningful way, within the next few months we will be meeting with various streaming platforms to establish partnerships so remixers can take advantage of the various benefits of certain platforms. We do not aim to be a streaming platform and are open to any decentralized streaming platform that is willing to have a conversation.

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

The amount of success and revenue that I can help artists generate with the use of the platform and Digital Audio Track NFT framework. Each artists will bring along their own dedicated fanbase which will grow the overall ecosystem.

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

No, this project has not been funded.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating

SDG goals:

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

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

SDG subgoals:

Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels

Key Performance Indicator (KPI):

Universal Human Rights Index (UHRI):

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