The Hard Data readers may have recently noticed the addition of banners and price trackers for “Musicoin – The World’s first smart cryptocurrency for music” on theharddata.com. Recently, The Hard Data and the Musicoin Foundation agreed to conduct an experiment to see how Musicoin might interact with The Hard Data’s readers and contributors, in essence: to see how its cryptocurrency would be used by real people, in a real market. Most cryptocurrencies are pure speculation at this point, but Musicoin has the distinction of being the first operating blockchain platform for music streaming. Think of it as Spotify combined with Bitcoin.

At the heart of the Musicoin system, each time someone plays a track on its platform the artist receives (almost instantly), 1 Musicoin, which he or she can split with other people that contributed to the track’s production. As of my writing of this article, 1 Musicoin or “MC” is worth about $00.02. Artists can opt to hold on to the Musicoin, or sell it on a cryptocurrency exchange should they want to sell the MC in exchange for US Dollars.

For the Musicoin system to work, it is thought that perhaps MC should be used for other purposes in the music world, such as event tickets, t-shirts, and other goods and services. So, a plan was drawn up where The Hard Data would catalyze this agenda item by trading MC to its work-for-hire contractors such as writers, photographers, social media experts and artists for their services. As online contributors to websites are often paid nothing at all, it is thought that the MC contributors receive would at least be some compensation for their efforts.

A schedule of tasks and compensation was then drawn up for a pilot program that will be in-effect until August 31, 2017.

Tasks and Compensation

Online (http://www.theharddata.com) :

Writing an at-least 500 word online article = 500 MC compensation

Sharing an article at least 30 different times (for example linking to the article in Facebook Groups, forums and other online gather places) = 500 MC compensation

Photographs (published) = 10 MC each compensation (most photographers upload a lot of photos)

Editorial overview of web article = 100 MC compensation

Share Checker = 100 MC compensation (this person would coordinate shares and check that the Share Reward links were valid).

Web coding/development = 1000 MC per hour

Print (The HARD DATA magazine):

Written Pages = 500 MC per page (or roughly 500 words)

Artwork or Photo (full page) = 500 MC per page

Content Photos/Artwork = 500 MC per page (half and quarter sizes are divided by that amount, so a half page photo is worth 250 MC for example).

Magazine Layout = 5000 MC

Editing Magazine = 100 MC per written page.

Proofing = 100 MC per written page.

Using Musicoin

So after a contributor receives Musicoin for what they did, what do they do with it? Here are the options:

1. Hold onto it, hoping that it will become more valuable. Musicoins have traded for as high as $00.041. So, a 500 word article written and shared would be worth $41.00 at that exchange rate. Today, 1 MC is worth about $00.02, so the same article traded or shared is worth approximately $20 if the MC was exchanged for US Dollars.
2. Should the contributor want to exchange their MC for US Dollars, the following process is currently necessary.
3. The contributor sells their MC in exchange for Bitcoin on either Bittrex.com or Cryptopia.co.nz.
4. The Bitcoin is then traded for US Dollars on Coinbase.com which will deposit the USD into your Paypal or bank account.

There will be small fees associated with each transaction, but if your Paypal account is connected to your Coinbase account, you can receive US Dollars instantly.

3. Use the MC to buy things or trade with friends and associates. For example, The Hard Data offers subscriptions and T-shirts in exchange for Musicoin. Soon other goods and service providers will too.
4. Simple use it for listening to music, tipping artists, or sending to your friends to enjoy the Musicoin platform.

Sign-up

1. In order to take part in The Hard Data-Musicoin Pilot Program, you first need to sign-up to Musicoin. Use this link: https://musicoin.org/accept/bd71b3b7
2. Send an email to writers@theharddata.com and tell me what you want to do for the magazine, i.e. Writing, Vidoe/Audio stories/interviews, Photography, Art, Editing, Layout, Web development, Social Media Sharing, and or checking.

Those are the basics. For transferring Musicoin to US Dollars, you will need to do the following.

3. Download and install the Musicoin Wallet: https://musicoin.org/wallet.html
4. Sign-up for an account on Bittrex or Cryptopia. https://bittrex.com/ or https://www.cryptopia.co.nz/
5. Sign-up for an account on Coinbase. https://www.coinbase.com/

Conclusion

We hope that you find this pilot program intriguing and an opportunity to take a more active part, and to gain some compensation, from something that you are truly interested in. The Hard Data is honored that the Musicoin Foundation believed in it and its readers to undertake this musical journey.