Sound Revenue
Castbox CEO Renee Wang has a new idea for funding digital content creators.
THE PROBLEM
When Renee Wang’s three-yearold podcast listening platform, Castbox, began producing original audio content last year, the former Google advertising executive was introduced to every podcaster’s struggle: Ad revenue alone usually isn’t enough to fund a show, even if it has millions of listeners. She set out to develop a seamless way for subscribers to fund their favorite shows, while rewarding them for their loyalty.
THE EPIPHANY
Wang considered using a service like Paypal to let consumers back their favorite creators directly, but she decided that the process of leaving the app and going through a middleman would be too cumbersome for users and would undercut the podcasters’ profits. But blockchain, she realized, is decentralized, meaning users could send and receive money directly in the app, without linking out or going through a third-party service.
THE EXECUTION
In June, Wang equipped Castbox, which now produces 25 original shows, including the popular truecrime documentary spoof This Sounds Serious, with a custombuilt payment system that allows consumers to purchase a premium subscription without leaving the app. She also hired four engineers to expand the payment system’s abilities by creating a blockchain ecosystem called Contentbox that’s now in beta.
THE RESULT
With Contentbox, users are able to send and receive tokens from their in-app digital wallet. Those coins, which they can purchase and, eventually, earn by consuming and sharing podcasts, can be donated to participating creators (who, in turn, can exchange coins for cash). “I want to incentivize and compensate creators who make great content, whether that’s podcasts, music, or videos,” says Wang. She hopes to eventually partner with digital media companies so that they can use Contentbox’s payment system on their own platforms.