Music NFT Investment Engine:

• What It Does: Enables users to easily invest in fractional ownership of music NFTs, turning fan support into financial gain.
• Stellar Integration: Soroban smart contracts will be used to manage ownership rights and automate payouts to investors based on the performance of the music (e.g., streams, downloads).
• Impact: This will empower both artists and fans, making it simple for anyone to invest in music and earn passive income while artists raise money with their work.

Global On/Off Ramps:

• What It Does: Allows users to cash in and out of their earnings through crypto and fiat transactions, accessible worldwide.
• Stellar Integration: Stellar’s payment network will be utilized for fast and low-cost cross-border transactions, ensuring users can convert their revenue into local currencies seamlessly.
• Impact: This will make it easy for users to access their earnings globally, breaking down barriers to entry for music investors around the world.

Faster Music Streaming Speeds:

• What It Does: Ensures that users experience fast and high-quality streaming when previewing or consuming music NFTs.
• Stellar Integration: The blockchain technology will track engagement metrics (streams, likes, etc.), while the streaming infrastructure will be enhanced through Cloudflare.
• Impact: Improved streaming performance will increase engagement, benefiting both artists and investors by boosting revenue opportunities.

Automated Royalty Distribution:

• What It Does: Ensures artists and collaborators receive their share of revenue automatically through smart contracts.
• Stellar Integration: Soroban smart contracts will handle the automated distribution of royalties to multiple stakeholders, based on predefined splits.
• Impact: This eliminates manual intervention, ensuring transparency and daily payouts, building trust with artists and investors.

Yes

$75.0K

• User Growth:
  • Onboard over 10,000 active users within the first 6 months after the Mainnet launch.
  • Expand our beta testing program to include 1,000 selected users, allowing for continuous feedback and improvements before scaling further.
    • This growth will create a vibrant ecosystem where fans and investors can support their favorite artists, empowering musicians to take control of their revenue streams without relying on traditional intermediaries like labels. This increases financial inclusion for artists, especially independent musicians, and provides new earning opportunities for users.
• Music NFT Sales:
  • Facilitate the investment in 5,000+ music NFTs within the first year, allowing artists to generate direct income from their music.
    • This democratizes access to music funding and monetization, giving artists more control over their careers. For users, it opens the door to invest in music, turning fans into stakeholders who can financially benefit from the success of their favorite music NFTs.
• Soroban Smart Contract Usage:
  • Execute 100,000+ transactions on Stellar’s Soroban network, including automated payouts, equity share distributions, and investments.
    • This drives adoption of Stellar's blockchain technology while offering a transparent, decentralized system for handling music royalties, reducing fraud, and ensuring fair and timely payments to artists and investors.
• Global On/Off Ramp Integration:
  • Implement seamless on/off ramps worldwide, enabling users to cash out earnings in local currencies.
    • Expanding global financial access, particularly in regions where traditional banking infrastructure may be weak or expensive. This allows artists from all over the world to participate and earn from the platform, fostering a truly global music economy.
• Partnerships and Collaborations:
  • Establish 5+ strategic partnerships with music industry players, Web3 platforms, and NFT communities to drive adoption.
    • These partnerships will integrate Skyhitz into larger ecosystems, spreading the platform’s reach and allowing us to scale rapidly. This creates a wider network effect, benefiting both artists and users by increasing platform visibility and trust. Impact:
• Financial Empowerment for Artists: Skyhitz offers a revolutionary way for independent and emerging artists to monetize their work directly from fans, cutting out intermediaries that traditionally take a large cut. This levels the playing field, especially for musicians in underserved regions or those not backed by major labels.
• New Investment Opportunities for Fans: Skyhitz turns music lovers into investors. Fans can financially support and share in the success of the music they love, which creates a new form of engagement and loyalty within music communities.
• Blockchain Adoption in Music: By integrating Soroban smart contracts, Skyhitz will be a leading example of how blockchain technology can be applied to the creative industries, inspiring other platforms to adopt decentralized solutions for transparency, trust, and fairness.
• Expansion of Financial Access: With our global on/off ramps, Skyhitz will provide access to decentralized financial tools for artists and fans in regions with limited banking infrastructure, helping break down financial barriers and democratizing access to the music economy.

• Beta User Expansion & Community Building:
  • Leverage the 100 selected beta users to gather testimonials, case studies, and feedback. These users will act as early ambassadors and evangelists for the platform.
  • Expand the beta program by inviting more users through targeted marketing campaigns on platforms like TikTok, Twitter, and Discord, where music and crypto communities are already active.
  • Engage artists directly through partnerships and exclusive NFT drops, creating buzz within their fanbases and driving user growth organically.
• Partnerships with Music Communities:
  • Form partnerships with music collectives, indie artist communities, and Web3 platforms to integrate Skyhitz as the go-to platform for music NFT investments.
  • Tap into Stellar’s network of partners and Soroban smart contract adopters, aligning with ecosystem initiatives that help build credibility and visibility.
  • Engage with crypto influencers and NFT advocates to promote Skyhitz within relevant Web3 and music tech circles.
• Content Marketing & Education:
  • Launch educational content (blog posts, tutorials, webinars) that explains how fans can invest in music NFTs and earn revenue, simplifying the process for non-crypto-savvy users.
  • Use real-world success stories from the beta testers to create compelling case studies and social proof that will resonate with potential users.
  • Explainer videos and TikTok ads can highlight the simplicity of investing in music and how Skyhitz makes it possible for anyone to participate.
• Paid Advertising Campaigns:
  • Paid ads on TikTok and Instagram targeting both music lovers and crypto enthusiasts with short, engaging videos that explain how Skyhitz allows them to invest in music NFTs.
  • Focus on geographies with a strong interest in music and crypto, such as the U.S., Latin America, and parts of Europe, to drive early adopters.
• Influencer and Artist Collaborations:
  • Partner with up-and-coming music artists to release exclusive music NFT drops on Skyhitz. The artists’ fanbases will help drive initial users to the platform, with incentives like early access or exclusive rewards.
  • Work with crypto and NFT influencers to promote the platform, using their reach to build credibility in the Web3 space.
• Launch Events & Web3 Conferences:
  • Attend and present at Web3 conferences, such as Stellar’s Meridian and crypto-focused music events, to showcase the platform and onboard artists and investors directly.
  • Organize virtual launch events where artists can perform and release their music NFTs live, driving immediate engagement from the community.
• Referral Programs and Incentives:
  • Implement a referral program that rewards users for bringing in new artists and investors, increasing the platform's network effect.
  • Offer exclusive rewards or bonus NFTs to early adopters who actively promote the platform or contribute valuable feedback during the beta phase.

Skyhitz Project Traction and Validation

• User Numbers:

  • Our platform currently has 7,000 monthly unique visitors actively exploring music NFTs, a clear indicator of growing interest and user adoption.
  • Beta Testers: We launched a beta program for our music NFT marketplace, where 100 selected users have signed up to test the new features. Feedback from these users is driving further development.

• On-Chain Transaction History:

  • We’ve successfully implemented and tested Stellar’s Soroban smart contracts for automatic music NFT payouts. You can view our on-chain transactions on Stellar’s public ledger.

• User Discovery Interviews:

  • We conducted over 20 user interviews with artists and fans to understand their needs. This feedback is already shaping our development roadmap, with specific focus on streaming efficiency, ease of cashing out, and NFT ownership.

• Beta Program Sign-Up:

  • 100+ beta testers have signed up for the latest version of Skyhitz, helping us refine features such as fractional ownership, NFT submissions, and payout distributions.
  • Promo video

• Community Engagement (+114.0% Month over month):

  • We’ve garnered attention on TikTok with our recent promotional campaign, resulting in a steady increase in sign-ups and engagement from music fans and crypto enthusiasts.
  • Our posts on Twitter and Discord about new features have led to meaningful interactions with artists who are eager to onboard their music to the platform.

Brief Description:

• Build the core features of the Skyhitz platform, enabling users to submit and purchase music NFTs, with the initial implementation of Soroban smart contracts for automated payouts.
• Launch the beta program with 100 selected users to gather feedback and iterate on the core functionality.

How to Measure Completion:

• Successfully deploy the MVP platform with all core functionality (music NFT submission, investment, payout system) and onboard the first batch of users.
• Collect user feedback from the beta testers.

Estimated Date of Completion:

• 3 months after funding approval.

Budget Breakdown:

• Developer salaries: $25,000
• Smart contract development and integration: $5,000
• User testing and feedback iteration: $2,500
• Total for MVP Tranche: $32,500 in XLM

Brief Description:

• Integrate Soroban smart contracts on the testnet, allowing users to interact with test assets and enabling simulated payouts, fractional ownership, and the investment engine.
• Conduct audits and further testing to ensure security and scalability of the platform on Stellar’s testnet.

How to Measure Completion:

• Successfully deploy Skyhitz on the Stellar testnet, allowing internal and user testing of all contract features.
• Pass security audit and receive feedback from the Stellar ecosystem.

Estimated Date of Completion:

• 5 months after funding approval

Budget Breakdown:

• Smart contract testing on testnet: $2,500
• Security audits: $5,000 (with access to Stellar LaunchKit credits)
• Infrastructure testing and scaling: $2,500
• Total for Testnet Tranche: Non-XLM tranche, supported by Stellar LaunchKit.

Brief Description:

• Full launch of Skyhitz on the Stellar mainnet, allowing artists and users to buy, sell, and invest in music NFTs with real assets and fully functioning smart contracts.
• Add on/off ramps to allow global users to cash out earnings seamlessly and expand marketing efforts for full-scale adoption.

How to Measure Completion:

• Launch Skyhitz on the Stellar mainnet with all features live, including NFT investments, automated payouts, and fiat conversion options.
• Achieve user growth, with at least 1,000 users onboarded in the first month of the mainnet launch.

Estimated Date of Completion:

• 6 months after funding approval.

Budget Breakdown:

• Developer salaries: $20,000
• Mainnet deployment and final audit: $7,500
• On/off ramps integration and global payments: $5,000
• Marketing for mainnet launch: $5,000
• Total for Mainnet Tranche: $32,500 in XLM

Alejo Mendoza is the founder of Skyhitz, a platform empowering artists to monetize their music directly through smart contracts and stablecoins. With a background as a founding engineer at Splice, he combines his expertise in music and technology to create innovative solutions for artists and fans. Alejo is focused on leveraging Stellar’s Soroban smart contracts to revolutionize music investment, offering artists low fees and fans unique opportunities to engage with music assets. Passionate about user-centric design and open-minded communities, he’s actively building Skyhitz to bridge the gap between music and Web3 technology.