Welcome
Welcome to open source streaming. Giving the listeners and artists their ownership.
The Problem That Started Everything
By 2022, music NFTs were everywhere. Artists were minting their tracks, collectors were buying them, but there was nowhere to actually listen to them properly.
Sure, you could go to OpenSea and click through your collection one by one. But try building a playlist. Try discovering new music. Try having anything resembling a normal music listening experience.
It was like owning a record collection but only being able to play one song at a time in a pawn shop.
I had released my own music as NFTs and realized I couldn't even create a decent listening experience for my friends. They'd mint a token, then... what? Go back to SoundCloud to actually enjoy music? That seemed insane.
People were creating incredible music NFTs with rich metadata. But there was no music player designed to unlock any of that potential. No way to browse collections like albums. No playlists. No discovery beyond scrolling through marketplace grids.
So I built one. Started with a simple player for my own contract, then realized: what if any artist could create their own contract just as easily? What if we had real playlists? Real discovery tools?
One tool led to another. A player led to playlist creation. Individual contracts led to a factory that makes contracts. Small steps, each solving the next obvious problem, until something bigger emerged.
What We Built
Listen is the universal music player for web3. Instantly stream music from any NFT collection, wallet address, or Arweave file. Finally, a proper music interface for the music that already exists.
The Contract Wizard lets any artist create their own record label smart contract in one click. No coding required, full ownership retained. Think of it as your personal music NFT factory - create originals, mint copies, set up fan rewards, whatever your project needs.
Together, they're building what we call a Decentralized Autonomous Music Network (D.A.M.N.) - a growing ecosystem where artists own their distribution and listeners curate the experience.
What You Can Do Here
As a Listener:
Stream music from any Ethereum wallet, NFT contract, or Arweave file
Search collections by contract address, ENS name, or Arweave transaction ID
Create permanent, serverless playlists that work across platforms
Discover music through the time machine and curation feeds
Support artists by minting copies directly
As an Artist:
Upload music to permanent decentralized storage
Create your own record label contract in minutes
Release 1/1 originals with mintable copies at different rarity levels
Set up token-gated promotions and fan rewards
Keep 100% ownership and control
The Tools
The Audio Uploader properly tags all files for maximum discoverability.
The Metadata Maker transforms basic audio files into rich, interactive music NFTs complete with artwork, tags, and more.
The Manifest Maker helps you organize large collections efficiently.
The Contract Wizard creates smart contracts that let artists mint digital masters and manage their entire catalog on-chain.
All these tools work independently or together. Use just the player to listen, or follow the full pathway from audio upload to contract deployment. The Hat Helper guides you through every step.
The Wizard's Library
Every contract created through The Contract Wizard joins The Wizard's Library - a growing collection of independently owned record labels. What makes this powerful is interoperability: any feature built for one contract works for all contracts in the library.
This creates network effects where artists benefit from each other's success and the tools get stronger as more people use them.
721J: Beyond Standard NFTs
The 721J is our enhanced version of the ERC721 standard, designed specifically for music. Key features include:
Digital Masters: Artists hold 1/1 originals, mint copies at increasing rarity levels
Curation & Referral Points: Stake tracks to show your stamp of approval, enabling others to mint copies while you earn referral points for spreading music you love
Flexible Promotions: Token-gated rewards, discounts, and special editions
Payment Flexibility & Splits: Accept ETH or any ERC-20 token, with built-in royalty sharing for collaborators
The Contract Wizard uses this enhanced standard to create contracts that give artists more creative and financial flexibility than standard NFT drops.
What This Gitbook Covers
These docs detail every aspect of the Listen player, Contract Wizard tools, and 721J smart contract system. Whether you're a listener wanting to create playlists, an artist ready to launch your own label, or a developer building on top of our infrastructure, you'll find the guidance you need here.
Once you're done reading this site, go back to ar://listen and enjoy some music!
Welcome to the future of music ownership.
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