Introduction
Right now the Steem blockchain has one publicly available app - Steemit. Soon we will have two more in the form of Busy and SteemConnect.
The more apps that we have utilising the Steem ecosystem the greater the potential utility will be for Steem and the more our Steem and Steem Power will be worth.
I am not a programmer or developer but I did think of an idea which I would love community input on as per my old Ideasfactory post. Please let me know what you think.
The Idea: "STREEM" - A Music Streaming App on the Steem Blockchain
Possible alternative names: STREEMPLAY, STEEMPLAY, STREEMER
This is how it could work:
Listening to more than 10% of a song for "free" upvotes it by the percentage you listened too.
There would be a minimum threshold of vote value for you to listen for free e.g. one Steem cent per full song - this is more than the maximum Spotify pays on their subscription royalties ( a max of about $0.0084 per song SOURCE).
When your vote falls below the threshold your "free" listening runs out. You could also set personal limits or timers on this so as not to deplete your voting power beyond a certain point.
Alternatively you can buy timed credits or a monthly subscription with Steem Dollars which are then distributed to the artists according to how much you listen to their music.
The app could be created/developed by the Steemit team/they could pay for a 3rd party to develop it, or alternatively someone in the community with the appropriate skills could take it on as a project which they could fund through donations and post upvotes (obviously that would be more difficult).
Why it Adds value to Steem:
- People like listening to music.
- This would allow them to pay for music using Steem/Steem Dollars.
- They could also listen for free and the more SP they have the more they could listen to for free. This could be considered a perk of powering up and encourage people to do so hence increasing the demand for Steem.
Why it helps Artists:
- Even the minimum 1 cent threshold for upvote based "free" listening is more than top artists get per track on services like Spotify. In theory they could earn significantly more than on such services.
- Further there is the potential to earn a lot more either via subscriptions or upvotes.
- The money goes straight to the artists with no middleman.
Why it helps me as the listener :
- The money goes to the artist rather than a middleman.
- I get a new way of using my Steem and Steem Dollars.
- One less thing to pay for with fiat currency.
- As a Steem Power holder this increases the value of my SP.
Conclusions
What do you think? Would you use a service like this? Would you modify it in someway?
Are you a musician who is fed up of the current streaming royalties?
Are you a developer who would be interested in making something like this?
Please give me your opinions in the comments below.