StevenB

I make shitty apps, like LNBeats, Music Side Project, The Split Kit, Sovereign Feeds, CurioCaster and Transcript Search Tool

Public Key

npub1yvgrrzf4dnmu30qfhw95x87ruu0g2kpv3a64h8hpvqsre8qeuspsgd6pv9

NIP-57 Address

steven@getalby.com

Profile Code

nprofile1qqszxyp33y6kea7ghsymhz6rrlp7w859tqkg7a2mnmskqgpunsv7gqcpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgqg5waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxgctdw4eju6t0kcxx3m

Publishing to

relay.nostr.band

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1yvgrrzf4dnmu30qfhw95x87ruu0g2kpv3a64h8hpvqsre8qeuspsgd6pv9

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Last Notes

2024-11-20 17:14:14

Some people putting and infinitely reproducible digital commodity (song, audiobook, pdf, podcast) and expecting their audience to pay for it are practicing v4v. I would argue they're actually practicing a form of Marxism. Maybe I'm wrong in my assessment of what it is they're saying, but it sounds a whole lot like "Labor is the fundamental source of economic value." There seems to be this idea that "I made an album or podcast, and my listeners should support me." Maybe... if what you're providing is valuable enough to them.
Maybe giving some of their very precious time to understand your ideas is all the value they derive from your work. Maybe it's no more valuable than that to them, and they owe you nothing else. They've already given you their most precious resource, which is their time. Anything else is icing.
If I was to make a mud pie and an apple pie, I could've spent the same amount of time and energy creating both. It could be the most impressive mud pie in the world, the best ever created. I could've spent hours crafting it, many more hours than I spent on my apple pie. I can value my time at $50/hr, and spent 4 hours on this pie, and say it's worth $200. But that doesn't mean the mud pie is more valuable than the apple pie. Only you, the consumer gets to decide it's actual value. Only you get to decide if that mud pie is worth $200, or $2, or nothing.
So what do we do with infinitely reproducible digital commodities that I build once and put out in the world. I give it away for free. I expect nothing in return and I ask people to pay me what they think it's worth, which may just be a listen and nothing more. And I hone my craft to a point that people want what it is I'm building, and would be sad to see me stop creating, and are willing to pay me to continue doing what it is I'm doing because they value my creations. My creations enrich their lives in a way that their day would be less bright if I wasn't creating, they love being part of the community I'm part of and want to grow that community, so they contribute their time, talent, and treasure.
v4v requires faith. Faith that want I'm building is valuable (and for me, my creations are like the Velveteen rabbit. They're real because I love them, it doesn't matter if someone else does, ultimately, they're for me and my enjoyment, your enjoyment is icing), and faith that you'll value what it is I'm putting in the world enough to freely give me some of your very precious time, talent, and treasure. v4v is not for the faint of heart, it's for those with a tremendous amount of faith and courage.

2024-11-20 15:46:55

You think someone pulling up your song on LNBeats and playing it for a friend is somehow less valuable than them sending you a 21 sat zap. That exposure is infinitely more valuable. Value is way more than sats.

2024-11-20 15:45:37

v4v isn't Field of Dreams. Shoeless Joe ain't going to rescue your farm. If you think putting your song on Wavlake is going to mean automatic passive riches, you're a damn fool, and lazy. v4v is proof of work, and you have to put in the work. That means creating something that's valuable to others, then asking for them to return value; time, talent, treasure. v4v is a grind, and you have to put in the continual work of connecting with your fans.

2024-11-20 13:55:06

The LN in LNBeats stands for Lightning Network.
lnbeats.com
Or for you DeGeneres degenerates
ellenbeats.com

2024-11-20 13:52:19

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You can also set a minimum amount to boost each song after the song ends. Just set it... and forget it. Just like Ron Popeil.

2024-11-20 13:47:15

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‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
By not doing the ask, you are denying your audience the blessing of giving. And many are more than happy to share their abundance with you.

2024-11-20 13:42:14

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It seems like Adam Curry helps create something, like podcasting or v4v, then people start redefining it to mean something other than what he had intended. Let's put audio behind a paywall and call it podcasting, let's redefine v4v to only mean giving money (and enough for the person getting the money to make a living).

2024-11-20 13:35:17

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You have to take her to a really fancy dinner for that one. Or be her drug dealer.

2024-11-19 21:24:43

You're not stupid, you're lazy. Creating and hosting your own RSS feed is no more difficult doing it yourself than it is doing it with a host. You think it's complicated and that you need to outsource it, but there are tools available that do all the heavy lifting for you, you just don't want to take the 30 minutes to learn how to use them... maybe you are stupid... and lazy.

2024-11-19 21:24:43

2024-11-19 21:07:45

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Nice. My initial impression, reminds of a band I really liked called Tuesday. Was also a big fan of The Alkaline Trio on Asian Man Records, so yeah, you could say pop punk was my thing.
Here's a link to promote all of his stuff.
https://lnbeats.com/artist/big_awesome

2024-11-19 20:59:07

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This is real value. As an app dev, I'm looking at a new feature for weeks. I know all the little gotchas and can get myopic because I'm so familiar with the app. Input from a fresh set of eyes or someone that understands UI/UX better is immensely valuable. And it doesn't cost you a buck o' five.

2024-11-19 20:50:44

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I think @npub1yvs…wzdu may have heard of me.

2024-11-19 20:36:40

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I'm not exactly sure what you're looking for with non-proprietary, open source artist music building platforms... maybe these two fit your bill. If not, they're open source, so you can definitely help make them fit your bill.
https://musicsideproject.com/
https://github.com/thebells1111/msp-studio
https://lnbeats.com/
https://github.com/thebells1111/lnbeats

2024-11-19 20:32:26

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Dude, he had guy play the ocarina on the last Skirmish. It was hands down the best ocarina performance I've ever seen. You don't know how amazing these skirmishes are.

2024-11-19 20:21:42

https://bunny.net?ref=pnx450l5qr
BunnyCDN lets you pay your hosting in Bitcoin. Use https://musicsideproject.com/ to create your RSS feed, add your value block to get paid in BTC, host it on Bunny and pay your hosting bill in BTC. It comes out to around $1 a month. No host gets to take their 10% cut of your sats, and you're not paying a host $6 - $20 per month to do something you're perfectly capable of it. Stop being a digital cuck and start taking responsibility for your own content.
https://image.nostr.build/48ea022bf7cb39b11d6733bb0fc3299e922685a0839c851b8dc52f2bdbd20098.jpg

2024-11-19 20:14:29

Any musicians looking to self host your own Decentralized Music 2.0 feed, I've updated MSP to make it as easy as any hosting company. Walk through the tutorial for integrating Bunny CDN, and uploading your mp3s and art work is as easy as drag and drop.
I chose Bunny because it's cheap. I've been using it for a year, and I've never spent more than $1.10 a month.
Save yourself some money, and take sovereign control of distributing your own music.
musicsideproject.com
Once your on MSP, in the main menu, Log In.
Register a new account if you don't have one.
Once you're logged in, you'll see Bunny Credentials in the Main Menu. Click on that, and there's a tutorial for integrating Bunny for serving your files.
If anyone decides to try it out, let me know if there's any confusion in the tutorial.
And because I care about self-hosting and sovereignty, all of my code is open source. If you know what you're doing, you can just as easily run this on your own machine instead of relying on my website. This should hopefully lower any barriers to taking control of your own music feed.
github.com/thebells1111/msp-studio

2024-11-19 20:03:46

Freedom isn't free
It costs folks like you and me
And if we don't all chip in
We'll never pay that bill
Freedom isn't free
No, there's a hefty fuckin' fee
And if you don't throw in your buck o' five
Who will?

2024-11-19 19:57:20

https://lnbeats.com/
LNBeats is for the people, ALL the people. Unlike some other lightning enabled music players, we don't believe in segregation. EVERYONE is allowed to swim in our pool.
Open Source Decentralized Music Player for EVERYONE
https://github.com/thebells1111/lnbeats

2024-11-19 19:51:24

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Here's an even better link for LNBeats, the only real OPEN bitcoin music player. No walled gardens, everyone is allowed to swim in this pool.
https://lnbeats.com/artist/longy
#nevent1q…ehat

2024-11-19 16:38:15

One of the things that pisses me off is a lot of people seem like they don't actually want to disrupt the system, they just want to be the ones running the system. Disrupting the system means an actual change in mindset, not a change in who the slaver is. "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss"
The people that see v4v as all about money are basically prostitutes. I'll give you a service, but I'm expecting some money in exchange. A girl has to eat you know.
I see v4v as a friendship. I help her move, she makes me dinner, I change her tire, she drives me to my surgery. We're providing valuable things to each other that we would normally have to pay for, we're exchanging value, but we're not worried about who's providing more or what's fair because we actually like each other.
I'd rather have sex with a lover than a hooker.

2024-11-19 16:38:15

2024-11-19 16:30:18

v4v is transactional, but not in the same way of setting prices and telling the person "take it or leave it". That's the transactional nature of something like an employee/employer relationship, "Here's some work, now pay me my agreed upon wage". No, it's transactional like a marriage. A husband takes care of his wife because he loves her, not because he gets something out of her, and she returns the love in kind. It's an exchange of value, but one built on love, not negotiation.