Can you outline the basic functionality of imusify?

As a platform, imusify.com is a music sharing and discovery platform. In contrast with currently existing platforms, content on imusify is organized in Slack-like channels that can be easily and instantly created by the users.

imusify solves the main problem with Soundcloud and competing platforms, which is that artists currently must pay the platform for the right to use it. ímusify will take the opposite approach. Uploading, sharing and upvoting (curating) content is rewarded with imusify’s native currency $IMU, running as a smart contract on the NEO blockchain. Furthermore, over time imusify will become a place where users can buy and sell content using $IMU.

The basic workflow is as follows. When users enter imusify.com, they can currently register, sign up and sign in via email. Soon also via Facebook and Soundcloud. All new users receive an initial reward in $IMU. Users will be able to import all their existing content from Soundcloud to facilitate an easy transition to a next level platform. Once registered, the user can fill out profile relevant information and upload a profile picture. All users will automatically see all content in the public channel #general where they can curate content by up and downvoting or also soon via commenting. Users can upload their own content, such as recordings, given they have all necessary rights to upload to the platform. Users can drag and drop music into the browser thus uploading it to the platform. During the upload, user is asked multiple questions in order to determine relevant Metadata. For every upvote, both the upvoter and uploader receive rewards in $IMU. For every downvote, the uploader loses $IMU. Content can be shared to other users, channels and external platforms. It can be curated by up or downvoting to ensure quality.

Our MVP is the first version of a free voting system to curate the best content. It is very limited in functionality at this point as we developed this in a very short time specifically for the CoZ competition. The magic is hidden in the background, the Smart Contract: Events on the Web user interface (see below) are signaled to the Python middleware designed for this project, which then triggers a return. And indeed, the awarded amount is not determined by imusify but by the contract and the users level alone. Beyond the NEP5 compliant method calls (which always enables users to freely exchange IMU tokens) the main chain of new methods of the imusify contract logic are as follows:

BigInteger LevelUp(byte[] account)
BigInteger RewardFunction(BigInteger level)
BigInteger Reward(byte[] account)
This is accompanied by the query
BigInteger LevelOf(byte[] account)

Before the final release, anybody can test the reward trigger and the reward scheme is designed so that the curious developer can test the functionality and quickly witness the effect of a level raise. At a later point, the scheme will be scaled for long term incentification of users.

You can find an in depth explanation video of the imusify incentify smart contract here and further information on our Github repo.

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Who will use imusify and how will they benefit?

Put short: People who make music and people who love music. Any user can use imusify.com. Any user can benefit from imusify. Also, any user can get rewarded for contributions to the platform.

Users benefit in four main ways:

1. From having a new social music sharing and discovery platform, which takes the best features from phase-out models, improves them and combines them into a Smart music platform 2.0.

2. Thanks to the integrated imusify token artists can immediately monetize their content through the smart contract “incentify” and spend their $IMU to further boost their reach and distribute to fans, friends and family for more exposure.

3. imusify harnesses the security and immutability features of blockchain to improve copyright protection for content owners and to securely transact and keep track of content licenses.This gives artists control over their content and disrupts the big record companies ironclad control over artist’s revenue streams.

4. imusify provides a Network-Market effect for all aspiring entrepreneurs and industry professionals to connect, communicate, share and do business.

Further users include:

Content Creators:
Music Producers, Beatmakers, DJs, Turntablists, Curators, Singers, Rappers, Vocalists, Speakers, Beatboxers, Composers, Songwriters, Instrumentalists and Bands

Executives:
A&Rs, Labels, Publishers, Managers, Bookers, Distributors, Recording Studios, Film Producers, Advertising Agencies, Music Supervisors, Film Cutters, Lawyers, Event Managers and Game Developers

Fans:
Music nerds, “mixtape” makers, Indie music lovers, Music discovery gurus, Playlist curators

Use case example:
DJ/Producer:
Online music platforms have been an integral part of any DJ/producer’s rise to fame. There have previously been problems with rightful owners of music getting their content taken down by their own record labels, which will be solved with imusify’s blockchain powered rights management system.

Another benefit is for DJ mixes. The rights situation for mixes is fairly complicated, where the rights to play a song in front of a live audience, does not necessarily imply the right to share it online. With music detection software a DJ can instantly pay the appropriate licenses for the tracks in the mix. Moreover, with the user curated channels and instant buying options, finding music while preparing sets has never been easier. Currently, many DJs discover music on Soundcloud, Spotify and other channels, and then have to find a way to buy this music in ultrahigh quality digital formats for use on large soundsystems. With imusify this could all be done on one platform.

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What are your plans for ongoing development?

We are currently moving full throttle towards an ITO in order to raise funds for our development roadmap. Our first main focus is on the smart contract “incentify”. Besides “incentify” and standard social networking features such as following, search, browse, playlists and exploring we plan to make imusify a platform where users can make a decent source of income. We plan to achieve this by developing the following additional features features:

Webapp, Desktop and Mobile apps
For better collaboration and music discovery experience

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
By implementing AI we will be able to understand user preferences better which enables us to curate and deliver a very unique user experience. AI will also help us determine rewards and loyalty points when integrated into our smart contract “incentify”.

Tools for copyright management
By utilizing NEO´s “Digital Assets”, which are programmable assets, the digitization of assets can be decentralized, trustful, traceable, highly transparent, and free of intermediaries. On the imusify platform users will be able to register their assets, such as music recordings or midi files, thus obtaining immutable proof of copyright. Proving the connection between digital and physical assets is possible through ”Smart ID”. Assets, in this case music, registered through a validated digital identity are protected by law.

Smart ID
Users will have the option to verify their identification. This will happen via NEO Smart ID which enables trustful verification:

- Facial features
- Fingerprints
- Voice
- SMS
- Other multi-factor methods

Marketplace
Copyright holders will be able to sell their digital goods, such as music, as single or album. We have plans for enabling copyright holders to sell 1-click commercial use and sync-licenses for audio-visuals such as movies, corporate image videos or online videos like youtube etc. We will provide the opportunity for the following licensing cases:

- Film / TV Shows
- Music production
- Documentary / Indie / Student Film
- Corporate / Commercial Film
- Internet Video
- Websites
- Audiobooks
- Advertising
- Music on hold
- Games & Software
- Live Events
- Podcasts
- Non Profit

Collecting Income from the marketplace will no longer be the responsibility of copyright collecting societies (PRO) such as BMI, ASCAP or GEMA. As of now, the amount of royalties collected and paid out is only a fraction of what the artists actually earn. A good amount of money, again, remains with an intermediary, the PROs. With imusify the income will be transferred directly to the users wallets. No more collecting from collecting societies or searching and waiting years on royalties!

Distributed Storage
Utilizing Distributed Hash Table technology imusify will provide distributed storage for audio hosting at a fraction of normal hosting costs. Thanks to NeoFS, data is indexed through file content (Hash) rather than file path (URI). Large files are divided into fixed-size data blocks that are distributed and stored in many different nodes. This enables super fast p2p transactions while increasing security.

dApps launching tools
Developers creating music related dApps will be able to launch their products on the imusify platform. We plan to educate and support upcoming content creators, artists and entrepreneurs which plan to disrupt the music industry by providing both virtual and real world workshops. Long term vision is to form incubator and accelerator programs for all imusify members.

Multiple payment methods
imusify will generally accept fiat, bank-transfer and most cryptos as payment method for all of its services.

ITO / Crowdfunding for artists and bands
imusify will develop tools to launch crowdfunding events. We will accept $IMU, cash, bank-transfer and all cryptos worth mentioning.

Tools for collaboration
Users will be able to upload recordings, stems and stem packages with which users will be able to jam in realtime on a global basis while producing the next track.

Design mockups can be found here.

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What language did you use for development?

IMU Token: C#
Smart Contract: C#
https://github.com/imusify/smart-contract-incentify
Middleware: Python
https://github.com/imusify/blockchain-middleware
Backend: Golang (GIN)
Frontend: Angular 4, Bootstrap, HTML5
Database: MariaDB, Cassandra, Elastic Search
Proxy and Load Balancer: nginx web server
Server: AWS EC2

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What SDKs, APIs or frameworks did you use to develop imusify?

Angular 4, Golang GIN, NEO Debugger

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How would you describe your experience developing on the NEO platform?

Our experience was great. We ran into technical challenges but had immediate support from CoZ. The NEO Debugger also really came in handy. Our experience with NEO and CoZ has been flawless and we look forward to future cooperation.