WTF is Value-for-Value Anyway?

Everything is changing. Good. Change how you earn money & what money you earn to fight inflation.

I considered naming this, “What I’ve Learned From 4 Months of Podcasting 2.0.” But that doesn’t tell you anything, does it?

What I do know is that I *feel like* I know nothing about Value-for-value podcasting, music, live shows, and entertainment. The deeper I go, the more I want to know.

I also realized yesterday, after guesting on a mainstream podcast, that I will have to explain value-for-value repeatedly.

The title of this Substack is still Destiny Architecture® and it will remain that way. I’ve come to find a deeper meaning to being the architect of one’s own destiny. It’s more than just the personal development stuff I do like yoga, meditation, and Reiki.

To become the architect of your own destiny, you need to become sovereign over your work. That’s often referred to as your Meraki or your dharma in spiritual circles. Your work is why you’re here. It’s your purpose. Some of us are crazy enough to try and get paid for it.

Some never find their purpose. Others never bring it to light to share with the rest of the world, content somehow with working behind closed doors.

Often this comes down to fear. What will they say? How will my art be received? What if I fail? What happens if it takes off…?

Creators seeking audiences is one thing. Creators getting paid for their creations is another.

I’ll be honest. I’ve gone value-for-value this year and I’m making money doing it.

I’m making more than I did with Patreon, newsletters, Medium, YouTube, podcasting on Spotify, etc etc. (I tried all the things as a content creator. I even joined the Ship 30 marketing bros). I’m not paying the bills with value-for-value, aka #v4v. Not yet. I’m optimistic but have no expectations.

However, there’s something special happening here.

I’m getting paid directly, peer-to-peer in money I keep in my own version of a bank that I control 24/7. The money is so good, it’s risen 2x in value over the past year. Does your bank let you access your money 24/7? How’s that 1-4% interest you *may* get from the bank (depending on its rules) doing for you? How do you like waiting for payday due to weekends and holidays?

Stripe is cool and ubiquitous, but it takes a cut and often takes days to get paid. I know; it’s what I use with my accounting software. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Most don’t realize the money sucks yet…

What’s So Special About Value-for-Value?

Aside from perfect money you can access peer-to-peer without permission 24/7, let’s start with the principle. You give value; you receive value. You put out a song, you get paid what your fan thinks that song is worth.

You don’t have to go viral.

You don’t have to pierce the algorithm by making an ass of yourself online.

You don’t have to set up a website, a link tree, a subscription model, etc.

You release your song into the Valueverse. Fans hear it. They vote it up with their value. The cream rises. Fans discover new music, new music finds fans.

It’s a new concept. A new ecosystem. There are ~1,000+ artists or so doing it. There are quite a few of us watching live shows and paying the artists in real-time.

Does this sound cool yet?

Come see it live!

I believe in these artists on the bill. Ainsley Costello was the first artist to get paid 1M sats as a V4V artist. That’s equal today to $909 and more than she made having her catalog on Apple Music & Spotify for far longer. I know you haven’t made that as an independent artist on Spotify. I’m not even counting what she’s made doing live shows broadcast live on Tunestr.io. (Yes, the December 16 show in Austin will be live on Tunestr!)

Want to know what artists are making?

Frank Corva

wrote about it in Forbes.

We’re off to a solid start.

Ainsley and I have talked about this on my podcast, Radio Detox. The podcast has 28 #v4v supporters to date in its first 4.5 months of existence. It’s earned a total of $207.78 to date, not that this has gone to me as I share with artists and guests. By contrast, my previous podcast on Spotify earned a total of $30 over 300+ episodes and 5 years. Radio Detox has only nine episodes as of today.

Listen to the episode with Ainsley.

I’ll be here to write about this stuff much more often. I’ve come to the point where there’s more than enough to say about podcasting 2.0, independent music, value-for-value for online creators, and the expansion of decentralized options for both social media and money.

If you’re sick of big companies gatekeeping, you’re in the right place. More to come…

If you’re a musician, join us in Austin on Sunday, December 15 for the Independent Music Summit. We’ll lay it all out for you. This is doable. People are doing it. Come on down, we’ll share how it works.

We’ll onboard the hell out of you. It’s a lot of fun, too! 😉

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Want the yoga, Reiki, and meditation stuff? That’s over here.

I’ve been teaching yoga on Nostr #v4v, but I’ll post separately here about that! It’s one of many stories I have to tell. I’m the first person to use HiveTalk to teach a live yoga class on Nostr…

Curious about this Nostr thing? Find me on Primal. Know what an npub is? Here’s mine: npub1nl8r463jkdtr0qu0k3dht03jt9t59cttk0j8gtxg9wea2russlnq2zf9d0

Wanna meet IRL? I’ll see you in Austin on December 15 & 16 for the Independent Music Summit and Boostagram Ball LIVE! ⭐️ 🎸 🤘

Thanks for reading. Please comment with questions! Thank you! 🙏