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Nas, Pusha T Invest in $5M Audius Streaming Service 

Thanks to its blockchain functionality, 90% of earnings from monetized streams move to the artists

Some American music power players such as Nas and Pusha T have invested in a new streaming platform looking to rival Spotify, Apple Music, and TIDAL.

The platform is known as Audius. It is a streaming service set up in 2018 and built on blockchain that allows artists to get paid quicker when people play their music.

Rolling Stone revealed that Audius will announce a $5 million round of strategic funding later today September 16, 2021. In addition to Nas and Pusha T, A-listers such as Katy Perry, Jason Derulo, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, Steve Aoki, The Chainsmokers and Disclosure are those putting in their money first.

This was made known in a short Twitter post.

Audius has also received backing from a host of veteran music executives Martin Bandier, Madonna and U2’s Guy Oseary, Frank Ocean and Calvin Harris’ manager Mark Gillespie.

The power of this investment matches that of JAY-Z’s TIDAL, which launched in 2015 with over a dozen artist stakeholders including Beyoncé, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and J. Cole.

Like TIDAL, Audius offers artists increased ownership opportunities in the platform. But what sets the up-and-coming service apart from competitors is its expedited payment process. 

Thanks to its blockchain functionality, 90% of earnings from monetized streams move to the artist in real-time with 10% going to the community that keeps the streaming service running.

According to analysts, it is the blockchain technology attached to Audius that keeps the elite investors attracted to it.