The following op/ed comes from Forrest brownCo-Founder & Product Manager at Audiusa global decentralized music community and discovery platform.
Craigslist is the basis for everything, for everyone, all at once. Whether it’s searching for a used car, renting a house, buying concert tickets, finding a job, getting legal advice or joining discussion forums, Craigslist, founded in 1995, was (and still is) a place where users can can find anything they want, connected with buyers in a two-sided marketplace.
Now, nearly 30 years later, almost every link from Craigslist’s homepage has turned into a multi-billion dollar independent business.
We’ve seen companies like AirBnB and Zillow grow multi-billion dollar businesses from Craigslist’s residential buying and rental verticals, platforms like Reddit born out of the need for forum discussion. and StubHub for concerts and sporting events.
The “decoupling” of these services is a natural progression in business.
As the burgeoning creator economy takes off, a similar scenario is playing out for Patreon.
Patreon is a membership platform that provides subscription service tools to businesses and content creators. Deeply engaged fans can pay to support their favorites YouTuber, podcasters, comics, artists, etc., on Patreon, and in doing so you’ll receive exclusive content, rewards, and live interaction in return.
This isn’t the first time Patreon has faced “split pressure” in its history – in 2017, when Patreon pulled back from supporting NSFW/adult content, OnlyFans almost overnight have emerged as a giant, with their purposeful user interface features built specifically for their use cases and demographics.
Features like “tips” to unlock, native in-app direct messages, and multi-tier subscription clubs allow creators to join and earn in novel ways that were previously impossible Okay.
At the same time, Substack was also launched, with the intention of “decoupling” Patreon once again, this time focusing on the independent writer and journalist market. They offer an extremely simple newsletter writing experience with advanced editing tools and simple sharing.
Audius, a music community that helps bridge the gap between fans and artists, also aspires to be another “detached” service. Born from the shared desire of musicians and their fans to engage more deeply with each other, Audius empowers artists to invite fans to unlock content and access new experiences. Through remix competitions and other innovations, some artists are even tapping into their fan communities to create new music that they can share on Audius.
To be sure, there are other “decoupled” music platforms – Splice, the online music sampling market is a prime example. Then there’s Royal, who is building the NFT music marketplace to allow fans to invest in individual songs. Consumers’ desire to drive great music “separates”.
“Teaming” drives innovation, whether it’s Reddit bringing people from all over the world together on chat forums or platforms like Audius bridging the gap between artists and fans. their graves. That’s why it’s an exciting time to be an artist and work in the music business.
We’re seeing music fans embracing Web3’s innovations, early adopters of the metaverse, and we’re seeing the lines between artist and fan continue to blur. .
Our job, which we take very seriously at Audius, is to foster these deeper connections by building tools that support this deeper interaction between artists and people. their fans. We can’t wait to see what’s next.Global Music Business
