A few updates on development...
We're proud to add
Grammy-nominated Mr. John Ellis to the team as A&R Director. John worked with the greats of R&B, such as James Brown and Bobby Byrd. John brings with him a lifetime of experience in the music industry from all facets of the business and we are honored and humbled to have him on the team. Rumor has it John has been nominated for a Grammy again this year!
Last week we secured and streamed our first content using the Tao system. The Tao system creates several key pieces of data required to legally protect content and we leverage the full power of blockchain technology towards the securing of creative rights for artists! This creates a decentralized repository of music rights and royalties. We're currently refining the prototype system and are looking forward to releasing it for public view in the coming weeks!
We have also obtained our first music catalog. This is music that is owned by Tao and the synch and mechanical royalties are ours, alone. I physically picked up the material last week and we are currently working digitizing and remastering the catalog. I can't say what's in it yet, but there's some real gems in there. We are looking forward to sharing these vintage R&B tunes with the community!
Most are already aware of our partnership with Boogie Shack Music Group, but fewer may be aware that we are receiving 2.5% royalties from their artists in return for first crack at using Tao automation. Our first artist in this partnership is G Battles and his premier album "The Fresh Collection".
https://play.spotify.com/album/0ibIAVSxmehTNtcsqN2pDaWe're looking forward to the alpha release of our platform and letting folks see just how far we've come!
Yes, there are other projects in the space that get more press and attention, but they don't have a fully developed, operating business model nor do they enjoy the support of the music community at large.
I'll be attending the SF Music Tech Summit on Monday to show off what we haven't yet released to the public. If you're going to be in attendance, flag me down and I'd be happy to provide a peek behind the curtain.
This is real stuff and the competition and politics surrounding blockchain-based solutions for the music industry is very intense. We are protecting our development in a way that may not please the crypto-community short-term, but it will guarantee that our solution is brought to fruition and artists will have the tools they need to stay profitable in this changing landscape.