The biggest challenge so far stems from the way I originally set up Wavlake, which was to enable artists running Lightning nodes to register that node with the site and receive Lightning payments directly to their node from fans. I quickly realized this created a pretty high barrier to entry for lots of people who were interested in using a service like this to share their music but had little to no experience in running a server or managing channels. This is why moving forward we are focused on making the process of onboarding content and receiving payments as simple as possible with some out-of-the-box tooling. I think this will allow for not only hardcore Bitcoiner artists to get started quickly but also those who are less familiar with Bitcoin.

Also, the alpha version of Wavlake stored all the music in a site-specific content management system, not an open standard like most podcasts are distributed today. That's another big change -- implementing music on Podcasting 2.0 instead of a closed system. I think this approach will be what brings about massive adoption and innovation in the digital music space.

Wavlake does not take or alter any music owner's copyrights. We plan to keep it that way moving forward. We also want to make sure that every song shared on Wavlake is intended to be shared on the platform, so we will take down any tracks if they shouldn't be there.

I think there are multiple benefits for music listeners. Before I list them off, let's just use Stacker News as an example of how users can interact with content by using a simple financial instrument: sats. We've seen how this can enable things like giving visibility to the best content, incentivizing great posts/comments, allowing for users to earn... all these mechanics can also apply to a music platform.

So, some advantages for listeners:

I love Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo". And then I wanted something with an Old West feel. Hence, the name

Over the next few months we're focused on building better tools for artists so we can have more music available on v4v. We also want to build a great listening experience for fans that showcases all the amazing possibilities with this kind of music streaming.

Thanks! Gosh, if I were to pick one I would say the Mona Lisa, because it somehow, magically, manages to look different depending on the context and time in which you're viewing it.

For organization's sake, I'll have to categorize this.

Singer/Songwriters: Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, Tom Petty Bands: The Beatles, Spoon, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Rappers: Jay-Z, Kanye West, Little Brother Producers: Rick Rubin, Nigel Godrich, Jeff Lynne Composers: Tchaikovsky, Bach, Beethoven

I totally agree that we need better ways for people to curate and recommend content to others. What really excites me about the open content model (e.g. in podcasting) is we can create all different kinds of ways to consume and share that content.

Basically, yes, we see some version of v4v as the future. There is lots of evidence showing that a very small percentage of devoted fans tend to contribute to the majority of an artist's revenue. Most artists, especially those not in the top 1%, actually end up missing out on a lot of potential earnings because streaming platforms don't give fans the optionality to send more than the standard rate to an artist for streaming a song.

We also see a lot of opportunity in the v4v model enabling more direct connection between artists and their biggest fans via distributed online communities and platforms that incentivize fan support. As online media continues to fragment I believe we will see more niche-specific platforms grow in popularity, and people will need to have ways to financially support that content moving forward. We've seen this kind of innovation happen in podcasting over the last decade and I think the same can happen for music. We just need to get out of the mindset that paywalls protect artists' best interests.

Much of this has been influenced by people like Gigi and Sam, so hats off to them for cracking open my mind.

This is great to hear, thank you! We are in the middle of building a newly revamped site and experience that I think you'll be pleased with. A platform-specific app is still on the back burner but I also would like to see one as soon as we have the time and resources to do it.

Platform-specific apps would be great but we don't have the resources to support that just yet.

Awesome. Thanks!

Same with me.

I think a system where the metadata for content is public and includes payment details for that content by default has enormous potential. This could simplify royalty accounting and collection in many ways, as well as the licensing use case you described. In some ways I think of it as a kind of universal API for content payments.

That's easy: Supa Hot

Good to know, I'll look into those. Thanks. We want music and audio from all over the world.

Off the top of my head, I'm only familiar with Seu Jorge and Anton Carlos Jobim, and I love them. Would love to learn about and hear more.

I have spoken with a few artists from Brazil. That's been one of my favorite parts of running the site -- meeting people from all over the world and hearing music I never would have found otherwise!

I think you described the trade-off perfectly. Ultimately I think users have to decide which trade-offs are worth the trouble and which aren't. As tools continue to evolve the differences might narrow, but I think there will always be some form of this tension b/w UX and custody.