Want to share in the success of your favorite artists? Now you can

It's an all-too-common problem: artists have brilliant ideas for albums that take them in a new creative direction, but record labels stand in their way. 

But now, a blockchain-based music platform is promising to give creatives complete control over their works — all while allowing devoted fans to get involved in the production process.

Corite says it eliminates the need for record labels and managers altogether by enabling artists to secure funding directly from the public integrated with BNB Chain.

Musicians can now make key decisions — determining how much they need to raise in order to release an album or a song, with their backers getting a share of the royalties.

Making the most of Corite

Corite leverages blockchain-based crowdfunding to give artists full control over their content and access to new models of interacting with fans via NFTs. Users can also support the musicians with fiat money, and there is a crypto payment option available.

Furthermore, its native token CO will exist as a BEP-20 token. BEP-20 is a token standard on BNB Smart Chain.

With BNB Chain integration, fans will have access to a variety of trusted and liquid assets provided by the BNB Chain ecosystem.

Corite currently supports BNB, BUSD, USDT, and USDC — with BNB Chain offering significantly lower gas fees for users when compared with Ethereum. It's critical to keep transaction costs under control on a platform that runs on contributions from the community, users, and fans of all portfolio sizes.

The integration with BNB Chain means fans who make a financial contribution will receive part of the proceeds when songs are streamed on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube — with the blockchain used to track how frequently songs are played.

Corite's concept goes far beyond delivering fairer terms for artists. When fans find a musician they love, they'd often move mountains in order to access special experiences such as backstage passes and signed LPs. Now, they can get closer to their favorite artists by supporting them directly.

Gaining momentum

A significant milestone for Corite's ambitions came in June, right in the heart of Times Square at the NFT.NYC conference.

DJ Alan Walker, who has won praise for his single Faded, kickstarted a promotion to raise $75,000 for his new EP — with his name in lights on a major building.

He said he was overwhelmed by the support he had received — and wanted fans "to own a part of our shared history." 

Backers are going to receive a chunk of Walker's streaming revenues on Spotify for the next five years — and one song, Unity, has already amassed 1.6 million streams on the platform. Crucially, artists are able to decide the terms for any planned revenue shares with their fans.

Statistics provided by the project suggest Corite now has more than 80,000 registered users — and artists have now run over 100 fan campaigns since an integration with the BEP-20 standard. There have already been millions of streams too, with the likes of King Charles, Kid Travis, Danny Saucedo and Sabina Ddumba getting involved. 

And the success stories seen so far show that this can be a potent business model that turns the music world on its head — democratizing the industry and ensuring that anyone with raw talent can get their songs, albums and careers off the ground.

Top tips for artists

So… what are the top tips for success if you're an artist who is determined to make it big through Corite? Well, it includes utilizing the freedom that comes from bypassing strict, exploitative contracts with established labels.

You should aggressively promote your music on social media — and remind fans that they'll play an instrumental role in your success. It also helps to explain why you're funding upcoming songs and albums, and how it'll be used. Regular updates — and expressing your gratitude — can also go a long way. And it doesn't hurt to create an aura of excitement about an imminent release. Every play on a radio station (and blasting a song loud from the top of a 10-storey building!) can go a long way to gaining momentum… especially if it becomes the soundtrack of a viral TikTok video.

Industries come and go, technologies thrive and then become obsolete. But there's one thing that has endured for centuries: music. Through Corite, gifted artists are finding a new way to ensure their voices are heard — without all of the hurdles and common pitfalls that have long been associated with this cutthroat industry.