Why LBRY?
Have you ever felt frustrated about low payouts on Spotify, YouTube, and other music platforms? Do you want to sell digital records and keep all of the money? LBRY is the place to do it.
On LBRY, you don’t need anybody’s permission to upload and monetize your music. You are in total control of your own art.
Setting Up LBRY
LBRY is in closed beta right now. The fastest way to get access (as of May 2017) is to join the Slack channel and request an invite.
When you run the program for the first time, it will take a minute to sync up to the blockchain. You will be prompted to enter your invitation code. After that, you are whisked off to the main screen.
How to List Your Music Video / Live Video on LBRY
In the left-side navigation toolbar, click on “Publish.”
At the top of the screen, you can select the file you want to upload. Choose your video, which should be in the form of a .mp4 file.
Beneath that, you can choose the price and the license for the content. The price can be set in LBRY credits or in USD. If you choose USD, the software automatically converts that to a LBRY price after you upload.
The identity box is below. You have to deposit some LBC to claim your name.
That LBC isn’t gone, it’s only a deposit. You can get it back at any time.
Finally, choose your address. This is the URL on the LBRY blockchain, in the format of LBRY:// [yourname]
You will leave a deposit to secure your address for the content. The higher the deposit, the more secure your content is. You can always rebid to take back an address if somebody wins it from you.
It’s important to stress that you are not paying this money to LBRY or anybody. You get the full deposit back whenever you lose the address, or if you choose to withdraw it.
See more on LBRY’s address-claiming policy here: https://lbry.io/faq/naming
When you’ve filled out your entire form, check off the LBRY Terms of Use box and click “Publish.” Oh boy! Your content is now headed into the blockchain.
It may take a few minutes for your content to finish processing. Before too long, you should be able to see your final upload in the “My Files” tab.
How to List Your Album or Single on LBRY
You need to use a .zip file when uploading a full album for download. Here’s a ultra-condensed version of the above section, using a .zip file instead of a video.
Step #1: Compress your songs into a .zip
Step #2: Visit LBRY Publishing Tab, Select File, Fill Out Fields
Step #3: Click Publish and Wait
Step #4: That’s It:
Pricing on LBRY
What to charge on LBRY? Well, there are a few factors to consider:
• You don’t have to host it forever (your first buyers will become seeds in the network)
• Some uploads are album downloads (.zip), others are streams (video). It’s important to know
the difference.
• LBRY credits may change value over time
There is no standard for what to charge on LBRY yet. The right number could vary from app to app as the ecosystem develops. You can talk with fellow artists on our slack channel to get advice on pricing your music.
Give It a Try
The best way to understand the LBRY platform is to try it out. You can upload your first music video in minutes.
Have questions? Don’t let a small problem keep you away from the LBRY platform. Join our large community in Slack to get the answer: http://slack.lbry.io/
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