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I like this take and agree both systems will work alongside each other for years. For new artists this should be the first place they should publish their stuff.

We want new original music, music devoid of legacy contracts, labels and lawyers. (although I welcome any act crossing the rubicon to publish to the DeMu network)

Another point re the success of the Radiohead experiment was that the band were already massive because of the labels. Which made their pay what you want model a success.

The labels existed to create an audience for the band Radiohead had a huge fan base.

So it will be fascinating to see how the v4v model creates new audiences and what level of support a band can achieve, going down this road.

I"d love @joemartins take on this.

Henrik Flyman 1w ago

I agree that it would be great if this became the preferred option for newcomers. In the end, I think it comes down to two factors.

1. The size of the potential audience.

2. The possibility of earning some income.

If income is not really there, then audience size becomes the deciding factor. If income is there, then audience size matters less.

I’m in a somewhat unique position. I have a long background in the legacy music world, which I chose to step away from over a decade ago by going independent, while still co-existing within the legacy space. Because I own all my music and masters, I have the freedom to make whatever decisions I want. Most of my existing supporters are still in the legacy ecosystem, so I’ll continue to maintain a presence there. At the same time, over the past few months I’ve been exploring the v4v space out of curiosity, to see whether I can find a new audience here. I’d really love to see that happen, since I never fully resonated with the old model.

By doing it this way, I can follow first-hand how the old model keeps breaking down, while simultaneously being part of building whatever comes next.

PS. I intend to explore the DeMu network more closely in 2026.

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Hash Power Music 1w ago 💬 1

After running the numbers for several artists over a handful of years, from a percentage perspective the income is magnitude higher. Not even the same sport much less same ballpark.

However, in pure current value, its absolutely not there yet. No one is going demu only right now for music and earning a living wage on that alone.

All that said, we just need to scale up for this to be sustainable. The potential audience for streaming is massive. In the bitcoin space alone, if we could snap our fingers and make every bitcoiner demu only, it would be sustainable for all.

I believe in a stairstepped approach. The past 2-3 years I have been focused on bringing awareness to artists. We now have a robust growing library but content outpaced fans now. My focus for the coming year is going to shift to user experience and attracting paying fans.

Its a flywheel approach in which artists and new music attract fans. Paying fans in turn attract more artists and new music.

Henrik Flyman 1w ago

Many good points, and I think your approach is pretty solid. I have a good feeling about 2026. Like you, I’m playing the long game. I’ll definitely continue to explore and add to this space. I’m learning a lot and appreciate what you and others are doing to move the needle.