SoundCrate
Whitepaper
How listening is rewarded, and what points are for.
01
What SoundCrate is
SoundCrate is where an artist gets found, then gets paid by the people who found them. Listening comes first. Points are how that attention can turn into support inside the platform. They are not a replacement for the song.
02
Points
Points are a thank-you for finishing a preview. Fans and artists earn them and spend them inside SoundCrate. They are not cash, and they are not for sale. More ways to use them will be announced when they are real.
03
The listen
A preview is 30 seconds. It counts only if it plays all the way through, only once per song per day, and only for a signed-in account. A guest can listen. A guest earns nothing. Twenty different songs is the most a fan can earn from in a day.
04
Who gets the points
The listener and the artist both earn from that finished preview. The artist earns only when a different person finishes it. Playing your own song pays you nothing. The artist has to have a SoundCrate account tied to that page. Your balance is visible only to you.
05
How the reward changes
The listening budget shrinks on purpose, because more people show up later. Month one, from September 26, 2026: a fan earns 8 points a preview, up to 167 a day, and an artist earns 32 a listen, up to 667 a day. Month two: 5 and 20, capped at 100 and 400. Month three: 3 and 12, capped at 67 and 267. Unused points go back. They do not spill into the next month. After day 90 this early rate ends.
06
Where this is going
Now, a short preview and a follow. Next, points spent on the artist: a subscription, a gated post, and a ticket when there is a show. Later, once an artist has a crowd here, their name can become a market. They earn when people trade it. Not before.
07
Artists
Anyone can sign up as a listener. An artist connects the Spotify page they actually own. Until that page is verified, the profile can exist, but the tip jar stays locked. A stranger cannot collect for someone else’s name.
08
Tip jars
A fan can open a tip jar for an artist they want to support. The jar shows on that artist’s page and on the jars list. The artist claims it only after verification. A tip asks the fan’s wallet to sign. That signature confirms who sent it. A tip is money. It is not points.