Tag Archives: Russia

Musicon Ambassador Joel “DJ Deadly Buda” Bevacqua addressed the Intellectual Property and Blockchain discussion panel: “Creating Globally Applicable Best Practices in Blockchain Technology in Russia for IP Management: from Patents and Inventions to Books, Paintings, Photos, Music and Films” held at the VI St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum. Below is the video of the address, the text of the speech, displayed slides, and the hand-out text mentioned in the address.

Here is the text from the speech:

“Hello, my name is Joel Bevacqua. Some know me as DJ Deadly Buda. I am the Musician Ambassador for Musicoin. We are honored to be invited to the Cultural Forum and especially by IPChain, which we believe could not only benefit Russia, but might shine as an example worldwide about the possibilities of blockchain and its utilization to aid human creativity.

We sincerely hope that one day, younger people in the audience will look back to this panel as a day that the world took a step in a good direction.

So, what is Musicoin?

Musicoin is a digital currency for the listening and compensation of music. On February 11, 2017, artists could upload their songs to Musicoin.org . When listeners played a song, they paid the artist 1 Musicoin. This payment happened in seconds. 1 Musicoin was worth at the time between 1 and 4 cents in US dollars. The artist could save that Musicoin in hopes it would rise in value, or sell it on and exchange for the currency of his or her choice. This was all achieved with the Musicoin blockchain.

This was a success, but we noticed a problem. As Musicoins rose in value, people played less music. So, we made a change to the Musicoin blockchain which we code-named “U.B.I.” for “Universal Basic Income.”

In this change, the artist still receives 100% of the income, but now 1 play is equivalent to an amount of Musicoin equal to about 2 cents in US dollars.

Also, listening for the public is now free. It is paid for by Musicoin miners. Miners are people with computers that process Musicoin transactions and mint the coins. A part of their mining reward creates the fund for free listening. The miners hope this leads to greater adoption and the Musicoins they retain becoming more valuable.

Through UBI, free listening become the human intelligence of the system and makes many traditional concerns about music piracy irrelevant.

Some might call what we’ve done, “disruptive”, but we feel it is constructive and ultimately an aid to the human imagination. In that spirit, a forthcoming update will allow consent-based location data to be entered in the Musicoin blockchain. This way, an artist might indicate where their payments may go.

If their song is played in Russia, RAO may process some funds, if played in Canada, SOCAN could process certain payments. Theoretically, public domain works could pay its citizen in near real-time.

The possibilities are many and are being realized now. Mobile and software players are expected soon, and even dedicated hardware players are expected within the next year.

I am having a fact sheet about Musicoin passed out. Please contact me after the panel if you are interested in interfacing with the Musicoin blockchain and I will help facilitate it.”

Below is the text from the hand-out mentioned in the speech.

Important Facts:

February 11, 2017, Musicoin becomes the first blockchain-enabled streaming music system in which artists can upload music, the global public can listen, and when they do, the artists are paid in seconds.

You can listen to streaming music at http://musicoin.org . The rights-holder is rewarded with Musicoin.

Musicoin has over 19,000 registered users. 1,500+ are musicians who have uploaded over 7000 tracks.

The price of a Musicoin has gone as high as 4.6 cents USD each. Musicoin’s exchange symbol is: MUSIC.

How it Works:

Every time a song is played the copyright holder is paid an amount of Musicoin equivalent to about $0.02 USD. This amount can fluctuate based on market demand and can be raised or lowered to compete with other online streaming services. The copyright holder receives Musicoin seconds after a listener presses “play” anywhere in the Musicoin system. Once the copyright holder receives the Musicoin, he, she, or it can elect to split the payment with others if needed.

Musicoins are created by people all over the world with personal computers. The process is called “mining.” The computers validate and process Musicoin transactions and are rewarded with Musicoins. 15% of Musicoins mined are allocated to fund the playing of music by the public. Musicians, miners and the public can sell their Musicoin on exchanges for the currency of their choice or use them to transact with one another.

Future Plans:

Easy purchase of Musicoins for the public (a cryptocurrency exchange will no longer be necessary).

Consent-based location data will be available from the Musicoin blockchain.

Mobile apps will be available soon. Embedded hardware platform expected late 2018.

FAQ

What kind of blockchain is Musicoin? Musicoin is its own blockchain, based on Ethereum code. By using its own blockchain, Musicoin can better scale with the increasing demands of music consumption.

How would my blockchain system communicate with Musicoin? Like Ethereum, ERC-20 tokens can be utilized to easily communicate with other blockchains.

Articles, Events, Interviews

Acidcorecrew Interview

December 7, 2016 Tuomas Kinnunen

Acidcorecrew are a Russian underground hardcore and breakcore crew organizing parties in St. Petersburg and most recently in Moscow. After visiting Acidcorefest.Moscowedition I decided to interview Igor (Shotgun Orchestra) to ask more about the crew and the local scene.

Who are the Acidcorecrew and how did Acidcorefest start?

Party people @ Acidcorefest 10 in St. Peterburg

ACIDCOREFEST and ACIDCORECREW appeared in 2007-2008 and the idea and was implemented in late 2008 as a festival of heavy electronic music. In fact, at the time we first focused on breakcore and gabba styles, but over time other styles were added as well. During the period of 2008-2016 we have organized 10 Acidcorefests in Saint-Petersburg, 1 in Moscow this year, as well as some other parties. Acidcorefest was on hiatus from 2011 until this year.
First members of ACIDCORECREW were me and Anton DistoNN. When we revived the festival in 2016 few people also joined us to help with the organization. Now ACIDCORECREW are Anton DistoNN, Mila, Slava, me and other guys who took photos, made promos and video.

The name does not seem to refer to the hardcore techno subgenre acidcore. Is there a story behind the name?

The name of the festival is not associated with the name of the style of music, it was more likely due to the fact that in the breakcore and gabba music there were a lot of acid riffs at that time.

How did the Acidcorefest.Moscowedition go in your opinion?

I think it was not quite bad. Perhaps one of the biggest festivals in recent years. However, there were some negative aspects, but these errors are considered in the future.

What has been the most memorable Acidcorefest event for you?

All. Literally. I remember every one of them, they were all unique and unforgettable.

Which international artists have visited your parties?

Techdiff (UK), Rotator (FR), Klitorix (FR/ES), M1dlet (LT), Xäcksecks (SE), Belladonnakillz (CA), C64 (CA), Kodek (LV), Gabba Front Berlin (DE), Bonehead (NL), Jensen (DE), Passenger of Shit (AU), Ars Dada (NO), Zutsuu / Teknoaidi (FI), Zeuge (BY), Gexider (BY), CJClip (BY) and Airborne Drumz (RU/DE).

How was the Russian scene before Acidcorefest started? And how did Acidcorefest influence the scene?

Party people enjoying speedcore @ Acidcorefest 9

Before Acidcorefest there were many other organizers in Russia like Breakcore.ru, IDM-group, Soundclash, Gromov and his parties. Almost all of these promoters either do not exist anymore or are not active. I think we can assume that ACIDCOREFEST is the biggest regular breakcore/hardcore festival in Saint P from 00’s that returned today.

What plans do you have for the future?

We always have plans, unfortunately more than opportunities, but I think in the near future we are waiting to do the next ACIDCOREFESTs in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities of Europe.

Tell us a bit about your hardcore/breakcore projects Shotgun Orchestra, Action Agenda and the label SickBrokenBrothers.

Shotgun Orchestra is probably my longest project and perhaps the most important to date, when viewed in the context of time. The project was started in 2003, when I made a few tracks, which became the basis of the first albums published later. Then had quite a long break until 2007, related to my service in the Russian army, and in 2007 I started to perfom with this project. At the moment I don’t give much time to this project anymore, mainly due to the activities with Action Agenda, but I promise to create a full-length album in 2017 and noisily celebrate the 10 years of the project.

Action Agenda is a new page in my music life. We are doing this project with Vyacheslav Vincent Nine. We started it in 2015, but I have great hopes for it.
SickBrokenBrothers Records is a young Russian independent record label focusing on hardcore, breakcore and crossbreed stuff. We try to publish the highest quality materials from the area of the former Soviet Union and neighboring countries, but the history of the label has only just begun.

What do you think about the Russian core scene?

Unfortunately the Russian scene is not as great as we would like it to be, but it is now in the stage of regeneration, and what it will be in a few years is difficult to predict.

What are the challenges in organizing parties in Russia?

The low attendance and low ticket prices. There are of course also really small parties for friends where you know all the visitors. We’ve done similar parties for many years and wanted some progress, so we wanted to make Acidcorefest something bigger and more interesting. The main challenge right now, with music in general, is that people are more interested in the image, the brands and the atmosphere. There is a real revival going on in the flourishing Russian gabba, but young gabbers are more interested in how they are dressed than what they listen to. This used to be secondary. Earlier people went to parties for the music (like to listen to good foreign visitors).

What subgenres are popular in the Russian core underground now? Are there any specific influences from abroad or interesting local developments?

As a whole I think I will not be mistaken if I say that the Russian scene is developing in parallel with the European, but with some delay. It doesn’t have some distinct differences. Only the style of dress that has appeared in recent years – many dress up as at parties in Holland in the 90’s.

Which Russian core artists would you recommend for the readers to check out?

Would not want to leave anyone out, many musicians in Russia are worthy of paying attention to, many you already know now. Those of you who are paying attention, let me draw your attention to the duo (RI) and Doc and DJ QuintaEssentia.

Thanks for the interview!

As a bonus here’s an aftermovie from Acidcorefest.Moscowedition made by Hardcore Russia TV:

Articles, Events, Reviews

Acidcorefest.Moscowedition – Report by Teknoaidi

October 8, 2016 Tuomas Kinnunen 1 Comment

Living in Finland, on the north-east edge of the EU, I have the chance to travel to my eastern neighbour Russia easily and I have been doing so since 2010 playing gigs there in various places. Acidcorefest.Moscowedition was held between 23rd and 24th of September and it was my second gig in Moscow. Acidcorefest has its roots in Russia’s culture capital St. Petersburg and the concept was now visiting in the country’s business capital.

Contrary to what the name suggests, these fests have very little to do with the acidcore subgenre itself. The fests are more like a celebration of the diverse underground hardcore techno styles and breakcore and speedcore representing both local talents as well as interesting international artists. The mainstream hardcore scene hasn’t been completely excluded from the equation either, but what became clear to me from the very beginning was that this party was not going to limit itself in terms of speed and intensity.

The party venue was Aglomerat Club, a building that used to be a cinema in the Soviet times and had been recently refurbished into a techno club. The interior was like an abandoned warehouse, so the event definitely had the feel of a proper underground rave. I initially thought that the event would be split between 2 nights, but it was actually a 15 hour party from 9PM till 1PM! 46 artists and dj’s were on the lineup for 2 dancefloors: Acid Blood, which was the main stage, and Acid Jam, the “chillout”.

Since my first visits in the country I have noticed that Russians like their core music fast and this night was no exception as people went totally mad from the chaotic distorted breaks and bassdrums starting to run around the dancefloor. Mashup style hardcore and breakcore seemed to be especially popular, but many dj’s also played more darker tones of crossbreed, dnb as well as more minimal, but very effective oldschool sounding hardcore. So I said that the Acid Jam dancefloor was the chillout, and it kind of was when jungle and hardtek dj’s were playing, but many times I would enter there and intense as fuck breakcore and hardcore comparable to the main stage was blasted there as well.

Definite crowd favorites of the evening were the hardcore/breakcore artists Klitorix from Spain and M1dlet from Lithuania, whom I especially remember of his speedcore releases in the past. Local favorites were especially the Action Agenda duo and the metal, core and dnb fusing Sa†an, who has received wider international fame in recent years for his music and shows. A more bizarre local speciality and exception of the night was XS Project, a duo producing pumping house and hard bass – styles popular among squatting Slavs in tracksuits. For me personally, the most interesting set of the night was by Quinta Essentia who delivered straightforward, relentless and at times quite hypnotic hardcore beats. After her Extremest, a touring artist from Scotland, played some mashupcore madness of varying tempos. There were still survivors left when it was my turn to play my shamancore music as Teknoaidi before 8 in the morning. The shamancore shaking rituals went down very well and the crowd demanded me to play some extra.

It was a pleasure meeting many old and new people, fellow international artists from Europe and I was also surprised to meet Jüps from as far away as Seattle who was travelling and visiting parties in Europe and Russia. It was unfortunate that the party could have had more visitors.. Gotta give the organizers lots of respect for taking the risk to put this party together! In a time where the powers that be are creating apparent divisions between people, music is a great way to step out of the geopolitical games and bond us together.