Music-Sharing Startup Audius Gives New Details on Twin Crypto Tokens

Soon after closing a $5.5 million funding round, music-focused blockchain startup Audius is revealing just how its network will operate when it launches in roughly a year.

The startup plans to release two tokens: "Loud," to be used for conducting transactions, and "Audius," which will act as a governance token.

Both creators and listeners can use loud tokens to "Interact with the protocol," according to the paper.

" used by service providers to participate in staking protocols and earn proceeds from the minting of loud tokens," it continues.

"This separates the mechanism for price-stable value transfer from the mechanism for value capture and accrual, better serving the needs of users of each token."

Under the proposed scheme, creators who receive loud tokens would be "Compensated in proportion to how much value they create." Meanwhile, users who specifically contribute to the protocol itself would receive governance tokens.

The startup also intends to ensure that the protocol is accessible to all, the white paper notes, provided users follow the protocol's rules.

Audius intends to maintain a stable price for the loud token algorithmically, and tokens will be created or burned as needed to ensure that there is a consistent supply and demand, according to the document.

In addition to the two tokens, the protocol is underpinned by several components, including a decentralized storage protocol, an upload manager, a payment and revenue sharing protocol, and a "Discovery protocol" to help listeners find new music.

The first will establish a community of paid arbitrators tasked with resolving disputes, while the other will allow community members holding audius tokens to propose or vote on improvements to the system.