Podcrypt: automatic, fair, peer-to-peer podcast donations with Ether

Next article

UPDATE 2/20/2019: We did it! We reached the goal of 100 Telegram group members. The MVP commences in haste. Join the group and stay tuned if you’re interested in following.

The purpose of this blog post is to introduce an idea and gather feedback. I value your precious insights, and this is for posterity, so be honest.

To participate with Podcrypt from validation to MVP to release, join the Telegram group. I won’t be building the MVP until 100 people join, so if you want to see this happen, please join.

The basic idea

Podcrypt is a podcasting application. It allows you to listen to podcasts. It also allows you to load up a balance of Ether and set an interval for disbursal of some of that Ether. At the end of the interval (say 30 days), your predetermined amount of Ether is disbursed to all of your podcasts based on how much time you have listened to each podcast, and how much you value each unit of time per podcast. 10% of your total disbursement goes back to Podcrypt.

The why

Podcasts and their creators provide an enormous service to their listeners. I have personally benefited immensely from the many many hours of podcasts that I have listened to over the years. In fact, according to the podcast app that I currently use (shout out to Podcast Addict!), in the last few years I have listened to over 37 days of podcasts. That’s over 800 hours of content. As far as I know, I haven’t paid a penny for any of it. Maybe those advertisers have gotten me somewhere, not sure, but wouldn’t it be nice for podcast creators to receive some kind of monetary compensation directly from their listeners? And wouldn’t it be great for us podcast listeners to give back?

I think it’s amazing that podcast creators offer us so much content for free. I also know that podcasting brings a host of commercial benefits to many podcast creators. It’s not like no one is making money from podcasting. But I would venture to say that a vast majority of podcasters do not make a significant amount of money from their podcasting efforts, and those that do put in quite a lot of work outside of their podcast to make that money. What I’m proposing is a better way, a way that is automatic, fair, and peer-to-peer.

The numbers

Let’s contemplate some market numbers, shall we?

Conservative estimates (USA only)

• Number of avid podcast listeners in the USA: ~16 million
• Number of active podcast shows: ~500,000
• Average monthly disbursement through Podcrypt: ~$5
• Average monthly flow from listeners to creators: ~$80,000,000
• Average yearly flow from listeners to creators: ~$960,000,000
• Average monthly revenue per show: ~$160
• Average yearly revenue per show: ~$1,920

Liberal estimates (USA only)

• Number of avid podcast listeners in the USA: ~46 million
• Number of active podcast shows: ~500,000
• Average monthly disbursement through Podcrypt: ~$10
• Average monthly flow from listeners to creators: ~$460,000,000
• Average yearly flow from listeners to creators: ~$5,520,000,000
• Average monthly revenue per show: $920
• Average yearly revenue per show: $11,040

I’m not saying Podcrypt is going to do this alone, but based on those numbers this idea realistically has the potential to voluntarily bring 5 billion dollars into the podcasting ecosystem. I think this is a future worth fighting for.

For podcast listeners

To use Podcrypt, go to podcrypt.app. It is a progressive web app, meaning you can first engage with it entirely within your web browser, and add it to your home screen like a native app at any time. It’s a dapp because it will be completely open source and have most if not all of its backend running on the Ethereum network.

Once you’ve loaded Podcrypt into your browser, you’ll do the following:

• Send Ether to your Podcrypt wallet using Coinbase (here’s my referral link if you’d like) or any other Ethereum wallet
• Set an interval for disbursement (i.e. 1 day, 7 days, 30 days)
• Set a dollar amount for disbursement (i.e. $1, $5, $10, $50)
• Start listening to podcasts

Then you go on with your life. At the end of each interval, Podcrypt will split up your disbursement amount between each podcast based on how much time you have listened to each podcast. For example, imagine at the end of a 30 day interval your listening times are as follows:

• Podcast 1: 5 hours
• Podcast 2: 3 hours
• Podcast 3: 1 hour

If your disbursement amount is set to $10, disbursement will be as follows (see disclaimer below):

• Podcast 1: $5.00
• Podcast 2: $3.00
• Podcast 3: $1.00
• Podcrypt: $1.00

If you ever run out of funds, you will be prompted to add more before being able to listen to any more podcasts. The amount can be virtually anything, but must be greater than 0 (how much greater than 0 will be a matter of technical limits). These restrictions are designed to keep the money flowing, while allowing everyone the opportunity to decide based on their own circumstances how much they can currently afford to give.

If you like the idea and want to see it come to life, please join the Telegram group. Remember, work will not start on this until 100 people join.

For podcast creators

To use Podcrypt, simply add your Ethereum wallet address to the description of your podcast. If you don’t have a wallet or Ether yet, I highly recommend Coinbase (here’s my referral link if you’d like). You can add your address anywhere in the description, just format it like so:

Ethereum address: 0xyour-ethereum-wallet-address

Then it’s up to you. The more you promote Podcrypt to your users, the more donations you’ll receive.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading! Please reach out, I do need your help, ideas, and inspiration:

Telegram: https://t.me/podcrypt

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @lastmjs

Disclaimer: Exact disbursement amounts will vary because of Ethereum gas fees per transaction.