{"id":22442,"date":"2018-06-09T14:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-06-09T08:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ambcrypto.com\/?p=22442"},"modified":"2018-06-09T14:00:10","modified_gmt":"2018-06-09T08:30:10","slug":"how-edgar-allan-poe-inspired-a-composer-to-build-a-blockchain-platform-for-creatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ambcrypto.com\/how-edgar-allan-poe-inspired-a-composer-to-build-a-blockchain-platform-for-creatives\/","title":{"rendered":"How Edgar Allan Poe inspired a Composer to Build a Blockchain Platform for Creatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.<\/span><\/i>
\nLifestyles of the Poor & Famous<\/b>
\nOn January 29, 1845, Edgar Allan Poe became an overnight sensation with the New York Evening Mirror\u2019s publication of a poem that still thrills and haunts <\/span>readers<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>listeners<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>viewers<\/span><\/a> to this day. <\/span>
\nDespite the overwhelming popularity of The Raven, it netted Poe a total of $24; over half of that amount was a charity that he received for what may have been a draft. <\/span>Adjusted for inflation<\/span><\/a>, his literary masterpiece netted him a total of $754.91 in 2018.<\/span>
\nTo put this in a contemporary context, think about an international chart-topping single, say Taylor Swift\u2019s Shake it Off. It\u2019s hard to imagine Ms. Swift selling that track, rights and all, to a record label for a little over $750.<\/span>
\nThe Raven<\/span><\/a> went viral, first in the US, then in Europe. It has become so deeply ingrained in the contemporary culture that we\u2019re still reciting, remixing, and reimagining it in various media to this day.<\/span>
\nPoe\u2019s exquisitely crafted poem may have won him recognition, but his writing <\/span>failed to earn him superstar riches<\/span><\/a>. Poe\u2019s lifetime earnings for 20 years\u2019 worth of poetry, prose, and non-fiction amounted to $6,200, or $195,018 adjusted for inflation.<\/span>
\nThat\u2019s about $9,750 per year – probably the sum that Taylor Swift makes as she sings Shake it Off at one of her shows. That may be stretching the truth, but not by much.<\/span>
\nUnjust rewards – Nevermore!<\/b>
\nThe writer\u2019s financial distress had a profound effect on Austrian producer and composer <\/span>David Brandstaetter<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>
\nDavid says:<\/p>\n

\u201cPoe\u2019s work, especially The Raven and Annabel Lee, has always inspired me. He not only wrote some of the most famous poems of all time, he also established the foundations of the detective story and science fiction!\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

David was shocked when he first learned about the pittance the writer received for The Raven. It got him thinking about the hurdles that many of today\u2019s creatives must overcome in order to earn a living, such as copyright infringement and fair payment. <\/span>
\nExperience as a sound designer at Rockstar Games Vienna and as a producer at Sony DADC gave David a deep understanding of the wants and needs not only of content creators, but also of creative teams, project managers, and consumers. It became clear to him that the digital content industry needed a platform that facilitated the production and distribution processes.<\/span>
\nQravity\u2019s Rainbow<\/b>
\nIn February 2016, David founded <\/span>Qravity<\/span><\/a> to help bring original content to market. Soon, a working version of the Qravity platform was ready for testing. <\/span>
\nDavid quotes:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn July 2017, we had a unique collaboration and communication tool for creative teams. Qravity also tracks tasks in such a way that creative members receive stakes in the content they help make. For example, a person who writes lyrics for a song gets a share, say five percent, of the song\u2019s revenue. Every time someone buys that song, the lyricist gets five percent of that payment.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Qravity needed a secure and transparent means of keeping this process equitable. There was also the matter of protecting copyright and preventing piracy.<\/span>
\nHe continues to say:<\/p>\n

\u201cI was speaking with my friend and business partner <\/span>Sascha Dennstedt<\/span><\/a> [Qravity\u2019s Co-Founder and CFO] about Poe and how, in some ways, little has changed financially for artists. He said that we should integrate blockchain into Qravity. Some research convinced me that this made perfect sense.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Using smart contracts, Qravity<\/a> provides creatives with immutable and transparent records of their stakes in the projects they help complete. They receive these records in the form of digital tokens called QPT. Based on the amount of QPT they hold, Qravity sends creators a share of revenue earned whenever the content they helped make is purchased. They receive these payments in the form of Qravity\u2019s cryptocurrency, QCO.<\/span>
\nSo if our lyricist has a five percent stake in the song he penned, a 1 QCO song earns him 0.05 QCO, which he can then trade on crypto exchanges, or spend in the Qravity marketplace.<\/span>
\nDecentralization for Fair Payment<\/b>
\n“[The Raven] will stick to the memory of everybody who reads it.” –\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Nathaniel Parker Willis, Editor, Evening Mirror<\/span><\/i>
\nThe creation of art that transcends cultures and achieves a sort of immortality is one of the greatest achievements to which one can aspire. But such greatness does not pay the bills. <\/span>
\nQravity’s<\/a> decentralized content production and distribution platform is on the verge of helping creators own and profit from their work. In doing so, it aims to stimulate the continuous creation and consumption of premium digital content – forevermore.<\/span>
\nGet QCO during the Qravity token sale. <\/span><\/p>\n