Tag Archives: featured

The Musicoin Alliance

The Musicoin Project announces the Musicoin Alliance.

Musicoin Alliance Logo

The primary goal of the Musicoin Alliance (also known as the $MUSIC Alliance) is to push forward decentralized technology for the music industry regardless of platform. The seven strategic partners include The Hard Data magazine, producer & audio engineer Hank Kalleen, The Polish Ambassador’s Jumpsuit Records, San Francisco’s Knock Knock Recording Studio, mobile music app maker MiQ, direct license music distributor Noisehive, & decentralized music platform OPUS Foundation, with more to come.

The Hard Data Logo

The Hard Data – America’s leading online and print magazine dedicated to hard electronic dance music, now uses Musicoin for contributor payments and accepts Musicoin for its printed magazine subscriptions. “Musicon has the potential to create a music ecosystem that producers have only dreamed of, and if realized, might trigger a new, worldwide, creative Renaissance,” said Joel Bevacqua, The Hard Data’s editor and head writer.

Hank Keller Logo

Hank Kalleen Audio Production – Gold record producing audio engineer based in Hollywood, California. Hank has worked with Paul Oakenfold, Ceelo, Eve, The Knocks, Miguel, Frenship, and more. Hank now takes Musicoin for music production services and said “This project is doing something brand new and different for the music industry. I’m excited to start taking Musicoin for production services to see where this rabbit hole goes.”

Knock Knock Studios logoKnock Knock Recording Studio – An analog 24 track to 2” tape studio in San Francisco, California, specializing in hip-hop and smooth analog sounds is now open for booking recording time with Musicoin. “Now with the ability to use what you’ve earned on Musicoin to record a brand new record, it changes the game. Musicoin now closes the loop on what we see as a new Musicoin economy. We’re glad to be a part of that,” said Ari Sandoval, Knock Knock Audio Engineer.

Jumpsuit Recordings Logo

Jumpsuit Records – Record label and music curation project of The Polish Ambassador and his cohort of scientists, spirit animals and vibe consultants, is releasing their entire 450 song catalog on Musicoin. Jumpsuit aims to offer a steady supply of nutritious auditory vitamins in digital music format.  “What Musicoin is doing is very cool. Jumpsuit Records plans on uploading a track a day, so we can wrap our minds around how it all works.” said The Polish Ambassador, Jumpsuit Records.

Noisehive Logo
Noisehive – An independent, worldwide music distributor out of Melbourne, Australia offering premium digital distribution to all major platforms including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Beatport, Deezer, Google Play, iTunes, Pandora, Spotify, and Tidal. Noisehive will add Musicoin as a standard release channel for independent artists doing direct licensing. “Noisehive is very interested to work together to help with the growth of Musicoin, and bring our roster of independent artists to play,” said Ashley Gay, Founder at Noisehive.

MiQ LogoMiQ – will leverage the Musicoin library and offer free plays in a new mobile streaming app. “Musicoin and its creator Isaac Mao have truly brought something valuable to the world. Thanks to blockchain and cryptocurrency  technology  we  have  arrived  at  the  new  Internet  age  –  now  any  form  of  content  shared  on  the Internet  can  be  recognized  as  having  a  tangible  monetary  value;  while  intrinsically  connecting  everyone  in  that social network. MiQ’s highly dedicated and international team sees joining with Musicoin as a great opportunity to play a contributing role in shaping the next generation of music Apps.” Said Johnny Quattro, Founder CEO of MiQ Group.

Opus Foundation Logo
OPUS Foundation – The streaming music platform being built on Ethereum & IPFS has grand plans for a completely decentralized music streaming service. Musicoin will work with OPUS to test lower transaction costs and different scaling methods than Ethereum can offer. “There are still some things to overcome before going mainstream, including scaling gas costs associated with millions of track purchases per day on Ethereum. We’re open to every possibility of potential for partnership with Musicoin to help solve these issues.” said Mateusz Mach, COO at OPUS Foundation.

Musicoin Alliance strengthens the long-term effort to build a worldwide Musicoin economy. Musicoin has grown a community of thousands of musicians, fans, and miners with the music streaming platform at Musicoin.org. The Musicoin Alliance builds even more avenues for them to connect and share.

Musicoin (MUSIC) is a smart cryptocurrency & music licensing platform built upon the Musicoin blockchain. Artists, industry associates, and music listeners worldwide are encouraged to visit Musicoin’s official website at www.musicoin.org

For all media, interview and other inquiries, please contact:

Dylan Tarre, Chief Evangelist, Musicoin Project
E: press@musicoin.org

The Hard Data and Musicoin Pilot Program

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.

The Hard Data Wizard and Musicoin
The Hard Data Wizard and Musicoin

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

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

Mindcontroller Track Reviews

Cover - noizeNoize Suppressor Ft. Angerfist – Back with the Hard Street Sh*t

This is an absolute smasher!! What else can you expect from two of the biggest players in the Hardcore scene… This track is all of what good in hardcore.  In my opinion this is the top track on the Legacy of Noize album CD 1, followed by Appetite for destruction and The Outside Agency remix of The return of Bikes drum.  CD 2 is filled with all the classics including Pole postion, Nobody likes, and Bassdrum B*tch to name a few.  SO TELL ME HOW THE F*CK DO WE FEEL… TO GET HIT WITH THE MUTHA F*CKING REAL!!

Purchase track here

Cover, mdLinkin Park – One Step Closer (DJ Mad Dog Bootleg)

I thought this review would be fitting giving the recent death of Chester Charles Bennington.  Despite your thoughts on the incident you should enjoy the musical legacy which Chester is leaving behind… One Step Closer is no exception and when you throw in DJ Mad Dog the combination is nothing short of magical. This has gone off every time I’ve dropped it and sadly will even more so now with Chester’s passing.

Purchase track here

Cover - JBJavi Boss – Get F*cked

The newest EP titled Impact available now on the Masters of Hardcore label.  My favorite of the two is Get Fu*ked.  It’s a hard hitting track with a great melody and catchy samples… Simply what you come to expect from Javi Boss. The second track titled God of War features MC Diesel and is full of energy…. definitely worth checking out.

Purchase track here

Cover - thorThorax – Policy of Evil

Dark melodies, female choir vocals, dark male voice overs, and hard hitting distorted kicks!  All the good stuff we’ve come to expect from Thorax.  This is Thorax’s first release on the Master’s of Hardcore label.  His previous label Thorax Productions was barely on its third installment before getting picked up by MOH.,. That’s a massive accomplishment!  I honestly cannot get enough of Thorax’s style.  WELCOME TO HELL!!

Purchase track here

Cover - fightMindcontroller – Fight!

Free release by yours truly!  This song was inspired by what is being dubbed as the fight of the century.  I was watching the press conference and thought to myself, wow! This would be great to sample and use for a Hardcore track!  Doesn’t matter if you’re on Mayweather’s or McGregor’s team I think you will enjoy this track.  Check it out!

Download here

Cover -thrThe Stunned Guys and DJ Paul – Thrillseeka (Wild Motherfuckers remix)

Technically this is a Rawstyle remix of a classic Hardcore track, but if you like building up a Hardcore set as I do this will flow perfectly into the mix.  There’s not much to say other than this is a wicked update of a classic.  Get while it’s hot, you won’t regret it.  Thrillseeka!… put your hands against the Godd*mned speaker!!!

Purchase track here

Thorax – Doom of Humanity

I was so excited when I saw an email in my inbox from Mr. Julian, Thorax himself!!  He had graced me with a copy of his latest and greatest!  In true Thorax fashion this track is a hard hitting dark and aggressive track!  A must for your collection and number four on Thorax Productions.  ANYONE ELSE WANT SOME?

Purchase track here

Cover - CryoCryogenic – First Rebirth

This was kindly shared with me by the homie CIK… Although this is an older track I feel it deserves the exposure.  This is a killer rework of the 1993 classic by Jones & Stephenson.  This track is truly ageless… I remember dropping the original on my debut mix tape release on Biohazard “Hyperdelic”.  There has been other awesome renditions throughout the years and this is no exception.  I got to say this the fastest one yet… but it works.  Make sure to check out this 200 BPM monster!!

Download here

Download The Hard Data Issue 9!

Download your free copy of The Hard Data issue 9 featuring Minus Militia, Angerfist, The Hard Data DJ Team and Deadly Buda Comix part 2!
Download your free copy of The Hard Data issue 9 featuring Minus Militia, Angerfist, The Hard Data DJ Team and Deadly Buda Comix part 2!

Download your free copy of  The Hard Data issue 9 featuring Minus Militia, Angerfist, The Hard Data DJ Team and Deadly Buda Comix part 2! Click the link below.

Download Issue 9 of The HARD DATA!

Download The Hard Data Issue 10!

The Hard Data issue 10 featuring Angerfist, Atmozfears, DJ Thera, and Deadly Buda Comix part 3.
The Hard Data issue 10 featuring Angerfist, Atmozfears, DJ Thera, and Deadly Buda Comix part 3.

Download The Hard Data issue 10 featuring Angerfist, Atmozfears, DJ Thera, and Deadly Buda Comix part 3. Click the link below.

Download Issue 10 of The HARD DATA!