Talib Kweli released his album \"Indie 500\" on ZapChain, a Bitcoin-focused community platform. The DRM-free MP3 album costs $12 in Bitcoin or $1.29 per track. The collaboration with producer 9th Wonder
Talib Kweli released his album "Indie 500" on ZapChain, a Bitcoin-focused community platform. The DRM-free MP3 album costs $12 in Bitcoin or $1.29 per track. The collaboration with producer 9th Wonder follows his 2013 album "Gravitas," which he sold from his own website.
Kweli also received his own ZapChain community, where fans can interact with him. This marks ZapChain's biggest play into the mainstream music market after spending most of its early years as a niche hub for Bitcoin enthusiasts, virtual reality developers, and 3D printing pioneers.
The platform lets users tip each other in Bitcoin and runs micro-contests with rewards. Daniel Cawrey, ZapChain's COO, told us the Kweli deal signals broader ambitions. "We want to be more mainstream. We want to bring tipping to a much larger audience. In order to do that, we have to expand out of just emerging technology, which is what most of our current communities consist of. Allowing people to create their own communities, as well as letting people sell digital goods in these communities, is certainly a step towards being more all encompassing."
ZapChain had talked about becoming a marketplace for artists, but the strategy remained unclear. The Kweli deal represents their first major move in that direction.
One friction point: buyers must use ZapChain accounts to purchase, not their own Bitcoin wallets. Cawrey said that might change. "This is the first time we've done this. We're committed to improving the experience, and a QR code is something we'll think about adding in as we improve the product. We plan to make the process of buying digital goods for bitcoin really easy, and you'll see some innovations included along the way."
The Brooklyn rapper has experimented with distribution before. In 2013, he released "Gravitas" on his website. He also ran a radio station on Radionomy around the same time, though that station is no longer active. That same year, he told HipHopDX what he wanted from direct distribution: "The first thing that they can expect from Gravitas is to have a direct relationship with me. Gravitas is direct to fans. It's only available at kweliclub.com. I want your e-mail. You can expect that I'll have your e-mail and I'll be e-mailing you things. When you buy with all these different corporations, they have your e-mail, but the artist never gets it."
ZapChain may deliver what Kweli asked for years ago: direct access to his audience. The platform gives existing fans a way to reach him. The question is whether it can attract new listeners.
