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Relaunched music sharing platform, ‘Resonate’, operates “stream to own” model

The platform uses blockchain technology to more equitably distribute streaming revenue among artists...

The music-sharing service Resonate has been relaunched, now operating on a "stream to own" model.

The Berlin-based platform, established to more equitably distribute streaming revenue, has restarted with a "new framework for future growth". The changes include a comprehensive site redesign, a single and unified music player, and the commitment to open sourcing its codebase. New features include a new upload tool for artists, shareable and curatable playlists, direct linking to singles and albums, and desktop and mobile apps on top of browser players. It will also allow embeddable links, meaning we can do this:

Resonate last year received $1 million funding from investment fund Reflective Ventures, which enabled the relaunch and rebranding of the site which originally launched in 2015. The blog post advertising the relaunch clarified: "marks the beginning of a fundamental shift towards scalability and sustainability, as this event opens the third distinct stage in our collective efforts to bring a meaningful, fair-trade streaming alternative to life."

The #stream2own model divides the cost of a digital download into nine separate streams. The initial stream is relatively cheap, but the price increases with each subsequent play, until the ninth stream when you then own the track and have paid the full cost of an average digital download.

With streaming accounting for 75% of music industry revenue in 2018, and US officials submitting a 44% increase in artist streaming royalties, the distribution of streaming revenue is a topic of much fierce debate right now.