Cryptocurrencies

Podcasting 2.0: Disctopia Partners With Alby to Help Podcasters Earn Crypto

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The podcast hosting platform Disctopia will allow podcasters to connect their Bitcoin wallets via Alby’s in-browser extension to stream payments via the Lightning Network.

The podcast industry is set to be worth a whopping $4 billion in 2024. Yet, this impressive growth doesn’t reflect its hesitancy to embrace new technologies and revenue models. Popular platforms like Spotify and Apple Music have taken over podcasting streaming, leaving creators with little to no say in monetizing and distributing their content.

However, shaking this status quo are Podcasting 2.0 initiatives. Put simply, this movement seeks to revolutionize the podcasting industry by decentralizing it and putting it back in the hands of creators via open-source technology. 

Currently, it counts with four endeavors: The Podcast Index, Podcasting Namespace, PodPing, and Value 4 Value (V4V), each fulfilling needs such as indexing, creating new tagging systems in RSS feeds, and leveraging crypto to decentralize earnings for artists. This signifies a new era of podcasting where creators take the reigns in monetizing their content.

Headlining these initiatives are podcast streaming platform Disctopia and the Lightning Network app Alby, who recently partnered to bring crypto closer to podcasters and fans.

The Lightning Network Is the New Frontier For Scoring Big in the Podcasting Market

The Lightning Network is a transaction mechanism between two parties—and it has brought much-needed scalable solutions for Bitcoin. This layer 2 payment protocol built on Bitcoin has helped grow the network by enabling faster instant micropayments.

Earlier this year, CashApp integrated the Bitcoin payment option, dramatically increasing its usage. Stemming from this integration and other Bitcoin trading platforms adopting the service, the Lightning Network’s use grew by 400% between 2021 and 2022. Arcane Research reported the Network jumped to 80 million users in March 2022 from just over 100 thousand in the summer of 2021. 

Alby—an open-source solution that simplifies Bitcoin streaming through web browsers—is helping the Network grow even more through podcasting. The service promotes the V4V model on its website, defined as a pay-what-you-want system where listeners pay creators in Bitcoin after listening to their content. With the model, Alby is helping platforms and independent podcasters easily monetize their podcasts with their in-browser extension. 

Alby has just secured a partnership with Disctopia, a podcast hosting and streaming service for independent creators, to help the platform’s podcasters earn crypto. The Alby extension will let Disctopia users link their Bitcoin wallets so artists can get micropayments from their fans. Podcasters can also create their own wallet with Alby simply by using an email address if they want to dive into the crypto world and up their earnings.

This initiative builds bridges between creators and their listeners, allowing them to show appreciation and support creators directly while strengthening the use of Bitcoin.

A Partnership to Level the Podcasting Field

Disctopia will leverage Alby’s services to apply the V4V model. This dynamic allows everyone to participate in the global online economy as a consumer and seller of digital content, helping fund artists based on their output and listenership.

To make it more engaging on both sides, the V4V model lets fans attach messages to payments, called ‘boostagrams’, that artists can read once they receive the transaction. 

“We are very excited about partnering with Alby and integrating V4V. With this partnership, we will remain committed to paying creators for their content. Through V4V, Disctopia enables creators worldwide to gain profits for their work regardless of where they live or how their content is consumed,” said Patrick Hill, founder and CEO of Disctopia, “Our platform will be one of the first to pay musicians and podcasters fairly per stream, download, and play.”

Building the Future of the Lightning Network

The podcasting industry needs straightforward and seamless alternatives to shake up the current stale reward model for creators. This makes the Lightning Network the perfect vessel for this digital content revolution. With Alby, podcasters can effortlessly integrate the payment protocol, and users can easily install the extension and connect their wallets to start streaming and receiving value.

“Alby is a project devoted to building Bitcoin and Lightning Network infrastructure, and podcasting is one of the first industries to benefit. Disctopia and Alby’s collaboration to bring instant and direct micropayment monetization to new content formats, such as video, music, and audiobooks, is another promising sign for the Lightning and V4V movement,” said the co-founders at Alby.

In the long term, Disctopia will embed the Alby wallet payment API to show account balances and other in-app features directly on creators’ dashboards. The streaming platform will also integrate the API into its mobile app, allowing users to send payments to their favorite artists from the comfort of their mobile devices.

Partnerships like these boost the Podcasting 2.0 movement and bring change to a roaring community of creators and listeners. Furthermore, it expands the reach of Bitcoin and bolsters the coin, helping it become the preferred cryptocurrency for content creators and beyond.