Nas, Pusha T and More Invest in Spotify's Rival Platform, Audius

The young streaming service is built on blockchain and promises artists new ways to earn revenue.

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Nas and Pusha T are just two of the new investors in Audius, a startup streaming platform that Rolling Stone has billed as a rival to Spotify.

A three-year-old San Francisco-based company, Audius is built on blockchain and promises a new way for artists and creators to earn revenue. “Audius is not only using the blockchain to add potentially significant revenue streams for artists, but it also allows them to cooperatively own the platform itself,” investor and music exec Martin Bandier said.

“I believe [blockchains] might be the most important technology to ever hit the music industry,” Nas shared in a statement. “Everyone who uploads to Audius can be an owner. You can’t say that about any other platform.” Bandier agreed, “Historically, the music business has tended to be slow on the uptake to technological shifts, often fighting rather than embracing them. I do think blockchain is likely to be a commanding force in further empowering creators and more deeply engaging direct artist fan-relationships.”

Elsewhere in music, watch Nas’ visual for “Brunch on Sundays.”

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Sophie Caraan
Sophie Caraan Managing Editor

Sophie Caraan is the Managing Editor at Hypebeast, where she sets the editorial direction, standards, and output strategy for the HQ team. With a decade of editorial experience, she brings both a storyteller's instinct and a strategist's eye — spotlighting the figures and movements that shape the culture across a multitude of lanes. Her tenure is marked by high-impact conversations with the likes of RZA, Mads Mikkelsen, CORTIS, Erling Haaland, Kasing Lung, NIGO, and more.

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