$ROOTS Whitepaper

$ROOTS ecosystem

Block Ark Studios is a dedicated music minting platform and marketplace tailored specifically for the reggae community. Our studio simplifies the process of uploading songs to web3, while our marketplace offers a streamlined way to collect and share songs. Importantly, we ensure that royalties are always returned to the musicians. Block Ark will be the central hub for collecting web3 reggae NFTs and set an example for directly supporting musicians through tokenomics.

Reggae has long been celebrated for its unique and collaborative sound, intended primarily for the enjoyment of listeners who often assume that musicians and producers are fairly compensated. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. We are committed to addressing this issue by ensuring fair compensation while still nurturing a thriving and collaborative environment.

The Studio offers a unique smart contract enabling minters to select their desired supply without impacting their cost. Each song incorporates the ERC-2981 NFT Royalty Standard for on-chain recording and immediate royalty payments. Additional options include on-chain ISRC and copyright.

The Marketplace encourages trading Records (NFTs) by rewarding both buyers and sellers with $ROOTs and directing ETH royalties back to the musicians. Also built utilizing the ERC-2981 Royalty Standard, it ensures that all standardized listings are processed correctly, regardless of the studio.

The Magazine provides a platform for musicians and fans to promote new releases, upcoming shows, or Record reviews. To write articles, authors must burn $ROOTS, with the required amount increasing with each article submitted by the same author.

The Library contains all your collected and minted Records (NFTs) and of course a playlist for easily organizing and setting up the vibe.

Block Ark Studios offers two distinct versions of its Studio: the Public Studio and the Curated Studio. The Public Studio is accessible to everyone and charges a minting fee of 0.001 ETH. In contrast, the Curated Studio is exclusive to musicians who have successfully applied and has a lower minting fee of 0.0001 ETH. Records produced under the Curated Studio contract will feature a checkmark when listed on the marketplace, making them easily distinguishable from those from the Public Studio.

Minting a Record through Block Ark Studios is like producing hundreds of LPs for a single. We have a custom ERC-1155 smart contract that assigns the same Token ID to each minted Record, functioning much like a Pressing Number. This system allows minters to control the total supply of their Records and the cost of minting remains the same, regardless of whether you produce one or one million copies. To mint a new Record, you will need the audio file, an image for cover art, artist name, song title, and the total number of Records you wish to create. Additionally, you have the option to include royalties, copyright, and an ISRC to be permanently embedded on the blockchain.

Collecting a Record through Block Ark Marketplace includes the benefit of receiving $ROOTS equivalent in denomination to the total ETH royalties sent back to the musician. This model encourages participation and collaboration among all parties and maximizes benefits for musicians.

Safeguarding the marketplace from spam mints, disputed songs, and unrelated content is a priority for our team. We utilize a mix of on-chain and off-chain features to ensure our marketplace moderators maintain a strictly reggae environment.

$ROOTS, the ERC-20 token of the Block Ark ecosystem, will have an initial supply of 420,000,069 tokens. All tokens are minted to a dispensary contract responsible for managing the distribution to all other contracts below.

  • 2.2% of the funds are stashed away in a reserve contract to provide financial security for unforeseen circumstances.

  • 2.4% is held in a reserve for the Block Ark team.

  • 3.6% is allocated to a contract specifically reserved for artist and musician signing bonuses.

  • 4.0% is directed to a contract ready to airdrop its supply to the community.

  • 16.8% is allocated to the marketplace and reserved for listings.

  • 23.6% is transferred to a pre sale contract that will accept ETH contributions for 30 days. After this period, it will establish a Liquidity Pool and distribute Liquidity Tokens proportionally to all contributors.

  • 47.4% is directed to a contract designed to drip approximately 1.69 $ROOTS every block. This amount is split proportionally among users who stake their Liquidity Tokens.

Pre Sale encompasses an initial 30-day contribution period. Following this, all Ethereum contributions are pooled together with the allocated 23.6% supply of $ROOTS held in the contract to establish a Liquidity Pool on UniSwap

No VC keeps us focused on building what we feel is most important for our space. Our obligation is to the musicians and to our community and not some predatory capitalist.

Charting A Course into the future of music distribution will be an epic journey. We have plans to implement the following features into the Block Ark:

  • Super Basic Features like a User Profile page and an option to save a playlist.

  • Exclusive Records behind a Tokengate to let musicians offer exclusive files to fans like dubplates or stems.

  • Mint Albums & Playlists while still ensuring royalties make it to the musicians.

  • OmniChain - We want our services to be available to everyone. We will not remain on one blockchain.

The Team consists of three members, each bringing varied expertise in web3 development, music production, and digital design, united by a shared passion for reggae music.

  • Jahhweh serves as the lead developer and dapp architect.

  • RootCee is the resident producer and a highly skilled, professional musician.

  • Wadada is a master designer and the creative mind behind the Block Ark style.

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