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

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.”