Introducing [Lightstreams](http://lightstreams.network/) a publishing network for digital content.

> A peer-to-peer network where artists can sell music, video and documents directly to fans.

The music streaming industry is a $16Bn market, on-demand video is $24Bn and the e-Books industry is $15Bn. These are healthy growing markets with growth rates between 6% to 15%

![](https://hackernoon.com/hn-images/1*4WufpDvW0dhB0r4hRhLxNg.png)

Industry size for eBooks, music & video streaming

### **Open to Disruption.**

However we believe that these markets are open to disruption by the intersection of peer-to-peer file sharing and blockchain technology. This combination opens up the possibility for people to buy and sell content directly between one another.

> No need for Spotify, Netflix or Amazon.

![](https://hackernoon.com/hn-images/1*VACLGDJgH2vDTYZkSBgT-A.png)

Peer-to-peer file sharing with blockchain / smart contract payments

### Artists are currently not happy.

Most artists are fundamentally not happy with how the online digital content industry has evolved to leave them with a bad deal and with very little control to do anything about it.

By artists I mean musicians, authors, directors and any other content creator.

![](https://hackernoon.com/hn-images/1*u4qatKh3uCFSIsCisC0ZPg.png)

Taylor Swift refused to publish on Spotify

#### Problems

*   **High Fees** — Intermediaries take 70% or more of sales.
*   **Lack of Transparency & Trust** —No access to raw sales figures. Intermediaries have been shown to incorrectly pay attribution and royalties fees.
*   **Restricted Access** — Not everyone can upload content. You are required to go through a recognised record label, production or publishing house.
*   **Closed Channel** — Artists are unable to connect directly with those fans who purchased content to then promote other content or activities.

### Our mission.

[Lightstreams](http://lightstreams.network/) mission is to give freedom back to artists so that they are ultimately in control of their content and not at the mercy of record labels, production companies, publishing houses and other intermediaries.

> A network that is owned and regulated by the community, where artists and fans can connect in a low cost, fair and open marketplace.

### Solution

Using blockchain technology, when digital content is consumed, a smart contract automatically distributes the sales revenue to the artist and whoever else has part ownership rights.

In the case of a streaming music this could be to:

*   Artist
*   Song writers
*   Label & publishers

And since there are no centralised streaming service (Spotify, iTunes etc) in the value chain:

*   A significant reduction in cost.
*   Full access to the raw sale data.
*   Any new artist can upload content.
*   Using the raw sales data, artists can connect with those that purchased content.

### So what progress have we made?

*   In October we launched our blockchain test network and a working prototype that developers can install and test right now.

![](https://hackernoon.com/hn-images/1*tOTcD3BL74Bom5yOWQQLUQ.png)

Demo [video](https://youtu.be/d4MTxEp7ESQ) of prototype.

*   We have a growing community of supporters and an active Telegram group that I encourage you to join to learn more and ask questions.

[Telegram Group](https://t.me/joinchat/DZfAhw2IZSYcQchG3DPWaQ)

*   We have been invited to TechCrunch in Berlin this December to showcase Lightstreams.

Our goal is to launch the Main Network in Q1 2018.

### How will the network grow?

We believe that by incentivising community members to participate will promote a healthy feedback cycle that will promote further network growth.

> Community members are incentivised to promote growth.

Members will be rewarded with cryptocurrency tokens called Photons (PHT) via a smart contract.

#### Artists are rewarded by:

Adding quality content to new subscription categories. (Extra Photons are awarded in addition to their sales).

#### Fans are rewarded by:

Recommending content they have bought to others.

#### Everyone is reward by:

Providing the infrastructure to support greater network bandwidth.

This reward system is controlled at the smart contract level where revenue is allocated to the artist and the community via transparent rules. More details can be found in our [white paper](https://github.com/lightstreams/lightstreams/blob/master/white-paper.md).

### How will we make money?

To support the continuing development of the network a transaction fee will be charged on the sales. This will be a fraction of the fees that artists give up today using traditional platforms.

### What is unique about our solution?

We have developed an award winning authorisation protocol for decentralised networks. It is call [Permissioned Blocks](https://github.com/autocontracts/permissioned-blocks/blob/master/whitepaper.md) and allows for digital content to be attached to a smart contract and only shared with those parties that have been authorised. That is, they have purchased the content.

### Do we have the right team?

We are a talented team of engineers that have already been involved in successful blockchain and software projects.

I will be leading the development team. My experience includes being the solution architect of a $1Bn online payment system, I also wrote the white paper for the [Open Mobility System](https://www.omos.io/), a high profile European project backed by leading energy companies with the input of [Slock.It](https://slock.it/) for the [Share & Charge](https://shareandcharge.com/en/) project.

I also believe what sets us apart from most other blockchain projects is that we have actually built a working prototype before raising money. This demonstrates the ability, skill and the passion of our team.

![](https://hackernoon.com/hn-images/1*7BFnmQdBllTvq_n3oVB1Rg.jpeg)

We will also be announcing key advisory roles from the blockchain community that we know personally.

### What do we need? — Angels.

In order to fund our Token Sale campaign beginning in Q1 2018, we are looking for the right Angel Investors to help kickstart our campaign. They should ideally have experience in Token Sale campaigns and a good reputation within the blockchain community.

The seed investment will be used for:

*   Legal procedures and advisory, including compliance and incorporation.
*   PR Agency fees.
*   Advertising.
*   Up-front operational costs.
*   Travel costs for presentations at universities, meetups and tradeshows.

If you are an angel or can give us a warm introduction to one, please email:  
michael@lightstreams.io

![](https://hackernoon.com/hn-images/1*10spxdb4PacoY7-Y6iwm5Q.jpeg)

### Thanks.

If you believe we are onto a noble cause, please show your support by clapping! Thanks for reading.

Join our Telegram group for any questions:

[Telegram Group](https://t.me/joinchat/DZfAhw2IZSYcQchG3DPWaQ)

[Website](http://lightstreams.network/)

[White paper](https://github.com/lightstreams/lightstreams/blob/master/white-paper.md)

[Technical paper](https://github.com/autocontracts/permissioned-blocks/blob/master/whitepaper.md)

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