Groupmuse is proud to announce that we’re participating in the launch of a new decentralized autonomous community called MUSE DAO which runs on a blockchain currency called Muse Token — a social token.
The purpose of MUSE DAO is to use blockchain technology to transform arts patronage — to create a simple and revolutionary economic structure that allows classical, historical, and roots musics to thrive. When artists create culture in intimate and community-centered ways, they’re remunerated with $MUSE. When people want to support a thriving community of artists — transparently, immediately, and regeneratively, they purchase and hold Muse Token, building wealth for an entire generation of musicians. Like any asset, when people buy and hold the token, its value increases — directly benefitting the thousands of musicians who also hold Muse Token.
To be clear: Groupmuse is an entirely separate entity from MUSE DAO. Groupmuse will continue to be what it has always been: a centralized — though cooperative — social network. Doing the delicate, relational, culturally sensitive work of real-world community building that we do requires a degree of central authority to keep everyone feeling safe and respected. Groupmuse brings music to people’s living rooms and backyards, after all.
If Groupmuse is doing high-touch community and cultural work, MUSE DAO is exclusively concerned with the economic infrastructure that’ll make thriving cultural community possible in the 21st century. On that economic level, a layer more fundamental than culture, decentralization in the arts industry is sorely needed and the Pandemic has made that heartbreakingly clear. As the small handful of concert halls and performance venues in every city have been forced to shut down, as major institutions have furloughed their players, hundreds of thousands of musicians have been left out to dry, and some are leaving the industry forever.
If, for the last decade, arts lovers had been buying and holding annual allotments of $MUSE token in addition to making tax-deductible contributions to their local symphony orchestras, musicians and this entire art form wouldn’t be facing such precarity. This next decade will be different. There’s never been a more opportune moment for this transformational approach than right now, in the bleak heart of a second COVID winter.
Because Groupmuse is one of the most expansive and sustained efforts at building a grassroots community of music lovers and creators, we make an ideal launch pad for MUSE DAO. Like any asset, in order for a social token to build in value, it needs a large enough community of actors to care about its purpose. Even gold only holds its value because there’s a global community of actors who care enough about it to buy and hold.
At the launch of MUSE DAO, the Groupmuse community will be airdropped a large portion of the $MUSE Token asset pool. That means anyone who has ever played, hosted, or attended (and is registered on our site) will receive an allotment of $MUSE token, proportional to their level of involvement. The current and former staff of Groupmuse will also receive an allotment of $MUSE proportional to how much work they’ve put into the project. Lastly, an additional 15% of the entire asset pool will be given just to musicians — with each musician receiving the same amount (not proportionally like the aforementioned allotments). Every one of the thousands of musicians in the Groupmuse roster will have a substantial stack of $MUSE token at launch. In one fell swoop, we’ll uplift a sizable fraction of this entire rising generation of classical musicians.
In return for making our dataset available, Groupmuse itself will receive 15% of the asset pool, so we can invest in our own work in a way that hasn’t been possible before.
The separation between the two entities is crucial: Groupmuse does not control MUSE DAO — $MUSE token holders do. MUSE DAO does not control Groupmuse — our worker-ownership and musician-ownership control Groupmuse. The two are mutually invested in one another’s success, but if MUSE DAO falters, Groupmuse will continue unabated, doing what we’ve always done: Supporting artists through building real, grassroots cultural community.
By the same measure, MUSE DAO is not exclusive to Groupmuse — it’s here to support arts culture being created by any values-aligned curator or organization. As a matter of fact, Groupmuse is one of two launching partners, the other being the Autumn Salon out of Boston, MA. The MUSE DAO roadmap includes expanding partnerships with many more arts organizations.
As a launch pad for MUSE DAO, we’re going to learn a lot as a community around this. It’s crucial that our musician-community be blockchain-literate, so they can make maximal use of this asset.
Forthwith, we’re starting weekly info sessions on Wednesday afternoons at 3pm ET so that anyone can come and upskill in preparation for launch.
The launch of the token is tentatively planned for mid-February 2022, and it’ll begin with a Fair Launch Auction to establish a trading price before being listed on a decentralized exchange. Once it is listed, anyone can buy it at any time — and we encourage each and every lover of the art form to do just that. However: This is NOT about a quick return. It’s about staking the long-term future of this art form — so we’re strongly encouraging patrons to never sell. Doing so would diminish the fortunes of the artist community. Musicians should sell as life needs arise — to pay for rent, buy groceries, perhaps purchase a new instrument — but this project is the exact opposite of a get-rich-quick, pump and dump crypto scheme. MUSE DAO is about ensuring that centuries-old modes of musicmaking continue for centuries more.
If you want to participate in the Fair Launch Auction to help establish the floor of the token’s value, you’re welcome to — it’ll last for three days. Join the MUSE DAO Discord Server and follow on Twitter to keep updated on the Auction and everything else MUSE DAO! The Discord will also host weekly audio-only live-stream concerts, so stay for that.
We’ll be distributing $MUSE token to everyone who has ever participated in our cultural ecosystem (well over 100,000 folks) via Polygon — a proof of stake protocol. That sounds technical, but it’s important to mention because the most common criticism of blockchain we’ve heard from our community regards its environmental impact, and we take those matters very seriously. Proof of work currencies, like Bitcoin are extremely energy intensive. As a proof of stake currency, Polygon is 99.5% more energy efficient than Bitcoin, so we’ll be able to run the entire airdrop using less energy than we do to run Groupmuse’s website.
Again, if you want to keep up with the day-to-day on MUSE DAO, join the MUSE DAO discord or follow on Twitter. Otherwise, Groupmuse will be sending occasional email updates around launch, and you’ll certainly be hearing when you receive your airdrop.
Humbled to serve, humbled to be on this journey with all of you.
Best,
Team Groupmuse
