Vibravid, a decentralized music, video and NFT platform, has joined the ICON community. They successfully completed a Contribution Proposal System (CPS)-funded project at the end of August, and as a result, now have an ICX wallet available as the default option for all of their users.
The platform is something of a YouTube competitor, with streaming videos and music, except it rewards its content creators and their audiences with a proprietary token called BeatzCoin ($BTZC). An on-site NFT marketplace is also in the works.
Changing chains
Originally having built their platform on the TRON blockchain, the Vibravid team quickly grew disheartened by the centralized nature of the TRON network and, to quote their COO Alex Guerre, “shady stuff” that was going on in TRON in the early stages of their project.
“The Super Reps in TRON are bought out, giving just an illusion of decentralization,” Guerre says. “We got some blowback for pointing this out. So we started looking around and became instantly impressed when we discovered ICON. There is a whole air of inclusivity in this community, which has opened up so many conversations and exciting opportunities.”
The underlying infrastructure for Vibravid is scalable to be made compatible with multiple blockchains. Currently, it is compatible with TRON and ICON, but the team insists they are with ICON now for the long haul.
“We’re committed to ICON because their goals align very well with ours. We wouldn’t be here without the CPS and ICON’s supportive community, which is important to us: we want our project to excel,” Guerre says.
Going up against the big boys
Being positioned as a YouTube competitor, Vibravid is up against some of the toughest competition in the world. But do they have what it takes to stand up to that kind of pressure?
“Within the ongoing evolution of the Metaverse, we believe we can be a niche platform,” Guerre explains. “We don’t have to be a platform that has a billion users. We can be a very profitable app by staying community-centric.”
The platform is also more about the rewards, Guerre is quick to point out. “We can become a bit like Brave browser.”
Regardless, the competition did force the team’s hand a bit when they were first starting up, as they couldn’t attract many users at all for their beta launch and initial exchange offering. Instead, they took a step back and focused on creating a very strong minimum viable product (MVP), which is part of what led them to ICON. They’re also focusing on creating a solid multichain infrastructure and scoping out ways to connect with the wider Metaverse via games, NFTs, etc.
Bring the bounties
Vibravid’s new ICX wallet features encrypted keys and multiple use features that make it great for cryptocurrency beginners.
The wallet can be used by audience members to tip content creators, pay for access to premium content or purchase merchandise. While there’s not a lot of content (and no merch) available yet, one can easily imagine a grand platform where you can subscribe to channels like on YouTube, but also buy some swag directly from them without removing to an external site. Likewise, you wouldn’t have to watch a video podcast clip only to be told to sign up on the artist’s Patreon to see the rest of the interview. (Seriously, how many times has this happened to you?)
Similarly, content creators can use the wallet to set a premium price for their content, or opt to make it free. They can also offer bounties through the wallet, which gives content creators a unique way to market themselves.
“Bounties are one of our biggest proofs of concept so far, by far,” Guerre says. “Content creators can create a pool of however much cryptocurrency they wish and spread it out to as many people as they want to give rewards to.”
“For example, say you have a new single. You could reward every listener with 1 ICX. It’s a great way to draw attention to your content.”
On maintaining neutrality
It will be interesting to see what kind of community Vibravid does attract, once their product is ready for public re-launch and a push for user adoption. With their focus on remaining community-centric to fill out a YouTube-safe niche, identifying that community seems like it could be an important factor to their success.
This remains to be seen. But at the end of the day, Guerre stresses the importance of fairness and neutrality for the platform.
“We will never sell user data — that goes against our goals and integrity,” Guerre insists. “Our core team is big on free speech. If you want to talk about conspiracies or Trump, whatever, we won’t censor you. We want Vibravid to be all-inclusive.”
