印象中最令我欣喜的第一款互联网应用是Napster(网景浏览器)。当时是1999年,它下载歌曲的速度快达惊人的2.96KB/秒。情况好一点的时候,下载速度甚至还可以到3.13KB/秒。
在过去二十多年间,音乐一直是西方互联网审查最严格的内容。审查的浪潮在不同平台间一次次地上演。这些服务按照时间顺序大致为:Napster、Morpheus、Kazaa、Limewire、Piratebay、YouTube、SoundCloud、Spotify、Turntable.fm、8tracks、Apple Music等。
很有趣的一点是,随着时间推移,你能看到一个明显的趋势,这些服务从不受监管(Napster、Torrent)转变到被严格控制的围城(Spotify、Apple Music)。
目前,绝大多数音乐都在这些围墙花园中消费,这些围城的决定性特征或许是它们通过 ContentID 和 Gracenote 等工具进行积极的审查(参照 这里 和 这里)。虽然这类工具开发的初衷是好的,但这些权利滥用于扼制创新,因此版权所有者也变得臭名昭著。
Union Square Ventures(披露:Multicoin Capital的投资者之一)在2011年领投了对SoundCloud的一轮融资。Fred Wilson当时也写了一篇文章,他在文中恰如其分地阐明了其中的投资理论(加黑强调部分则是我的投资理论):
“关于SoundCloud,最重要的一点为,它是一个开放平台。你不用到SoundCloud体验所有的音频。只要音频存在于SoundCloud,它就存在于互联网的任何角落和移动设备。”
9年后,现在看来SoundCloud的愿景显然是正确的:开放性音频已经存在于互联网的任何地方。但是就像之前的很多服务,随着SoundCloud的发展,它逐渐为中间商所控制,最终他们都会挟持服务本身。在2013-2015年间,海量音乐(几乎所有的混音)从SoundCloud中删除了。像Kaskade和Martin Garrix这样知名艺术家的内容被误删。更有甚者,SoundCloud在2018年关闭了公共API的申请。现在试着注册一个SoundCloud的新API,你会跳到这个页面:
现在有一点是众所周知的,出于版权方面的考虑,很多艺术家选择不将某些音乐放到唱片上。因为他们希望别人对其作品进行混音,他们想激发创造力和自我表达,尽可能广泛地分享其劳动成果。这就是他们在音乐会现场演奏如此多最好作品的原因。
比特币是互联网上第一个抵抗审查的媒介,原因是它的去中心化。但其用途仅限于以下形式的抗审查内容传输:将金钱从A点转移到B点。
在过去的几年间,我们见证了去中心化服务的爆炸式增长,它们推动互联网各种形式的媒介。同时我们也进行了数项投资,包括The Graph(利用GraphQL查询公共数据)、Livepeer(视频转码)、Arweave(永久数据存储)、Helium(去中心化无线网络)以及Torus(通过Web2登录的去中心化身份)。
今天我非常激动地分享,Multicoin Capital以及Blockchange Ventures的合作伙伴领投,对Audius进行了310万美元的A轮融资,其他参与者包括Pantera Capital、Collab+Currency以及Coinbase Ventures。
Audius一个去中心化、抵抗审查的音频流平台。它上线已经将近一年,建立了一个狂热、有机的社区,月活用户达数十万。他们还邀请了包括deadmau5、Lido、Mr. Carmack、RAC、3LAU、ZEDS DEAD以及REZZ等在内的多位知名艺术家进驻。目前每个月有超过25万粉丝使用Audius来发掘新音乐,直接与艺术家联系,使得Audius成为使用最广(非交易或金融相关)的去中心化应用。
随着艺术家逐渐发现他们可以通过Audius直接与粉丝联系,Audius迅速增长。它是一个点对点(P2P)网络,消除了中间商:艺术家直接接触他们的粉丝。即使构建Audius的团队现在就停止开发,该服务还是能够继续正常运行。
在一年前的某次社区活动中,我结识了Audius的联合创始人Roneil Rumberg。当时我们畅谈了Web3应用基础架构的未来,那次谈话让我对该主题的理解越发明确。在过去的几个月间,我花了大量时间与Roneil及其联合创始人Forrest Browning共事,他们的表现非常优秀。期间,他们解决了大量棘手的技术问题,组建了一支强大的团队,吸引了一批投资者和艺术家,并开发出一款深受乐迷喜爱的出色产品。
得益于去中心化特性,Audius是开放的。十多年来,音乐第一次变成免费的,并且该模式会越来越好。
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