How data ownership redefines the relationship between artists and fans
Episode 76 of Season 4 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with The Block's Frank Chaparro, Audius Co-Founder Roneil Rumburg and Grammy award winning DJ and Audius Advisor, RAC.
Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Email feedback and revision requests to [email protected].
Over the course of the past two decades, Grammy Award-winning DJ, André Allen Anjos (also known as RAC) has noticed a growing trend.
"There's been a trend since 2005 in the MySpace era, and all of that has been a trend towards sovereignty of an artist, of putting the artists on top," he says.
RAC is an advisor to Audius — a decentralized music streaming platform that raised $5 million last September from big names including Coinbase Ventures and Pantera Capital, along with popular artists such as Jason Derulo and Katy Perry.
In this episode of The Scoop, RAC and Audius Co-Founder and CEO Roneil Rumburg examine the limitations of centralized music streaming platforms and explain how data ownership in web3 allows artists to redefine their relationship to their fans.
Rumburg argues that centralized streaming platforms prevent artists from establishing a direct connection with their fanbase.
"There shouldn't be this sense of 'platform lock-in' that we have today on Spotify or places like that where, as a creator, you don't really know who your fans are, and you don't have the ability to port that fan base between experiences."
RAC has first-hand experience with this problem: while the DJ has 5.5 million followers on SoundCloud, his fanbase is "locked" into the platform. Artists "don't own that connection in any way," he says.
Audius is designed to avoid that, according to Rumburg.
"Our company could go away tomorrow, and all of this would keep working… From the artist's perspective, there's no lock in here. You can take your following and your data that you have here and use it anywhere else."
During this episode, Chaparro, RAC, and Rumburg also discuss:
- How token price affects user growth
- Recovering from the $AUDIO hack
- RAC's personal crypto journey
This episode is brought to you by our sponsors Chainalysis & IWC Schaffhausen
About Chainalysis
Chainalysis is the leading blockchain data platform. We provide data, software, services, and research to government agencies, exchanges, financial institutions, and insurance and cybersecurity companies in over 60 countries. Backed by Accel, Addition, Benchmark, Coatue, Paradigm, Ribbit, and other leading firms in venture capital, Chainalysis builds trust in blockchains to promote more financial freedom with less risk. For more information, visit www.chainalysis.com.
About IWC Schaffhausen
IWC Schaffhausen is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Known for its unique engineering approach to watchmaking, IWC combines the best of human craftsmanship and creativity with cutting-edge technology and processes. With collections like the Portugieser and the Pilot’s Watches, the brand covers the whole spectrum from elegant timepieces to sports watches. For more information, visit IWC.com
© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
