With imminent threats to net neutrality and talk of Soundcloud’s demise, relationships between artists and streaming platforms gain more attention now than ever. Portuguese producer RAC takes a stand for fair artist compensation by releasing his new album EGO via the blockchain project Ujo Music.

According to product lead Jack Spallone, Ujo Music is able to allocate “10-30% more money into the pockets of the artist” by way of its decentralized system. He elaborates, “By creating a store for André [RAC], we are able to leverage decentralized technology and the Ethereum network to mitigate a lot of the overhead costs that a standard DSP faces.”

EGO is the first full-length album to be distributed on the Ethereum blockchain, making RAC the first of many artists to set up a personalized artist portal on the platform. As his first contribution to Ujo Music, RAC delivers a high-brow electro pop album via Counter Records. In a similar fashion to his 2014 album Strangers, the former figurehead of Remix Artist Collective enlists not one, but 13 featured vocalists on EGO. The album’s delicately constructed outros on “I Still Wanna Know” featuring Weezer‘s Rivers Cuomo and “The Beautiful Game” featuring St. Lucia guide the work into a cohesive whole.

The fourteen-track album features RAC’s songwriting and production efforts. As the first Portuguese artist to win a Grammy and the pioneer of Ujo Music’s artist portal, RAC has seen exponential growth since the remixes that originally gave him traction.

RAC comments on his relationship with Ujo Music, stating:

“Despite ending up in a musical career I’ve always been extremely interested in computer science, decentralization and new tech in general. In light of recent attacks on net neutrality it’s more important than ever to maintain an even playing field. I think the Ethereum network will be the backbone of the web3.0 and it has the potential and ambition to pull it off. I’m thrilled to release my album on this network. This is all very early but I want to show that it’s possible and pave the way for the future I see ahead.”

Check out how to download EGO via Ujo Music by following this link. RAC will soon embark on a North American tour to support EGO, with these as well as additional tour dates listed below. Check out his new album and the Ujo Music platform today.

North American Tour Dates:

September 15 — Seattle, WA — Neumos
September 16 — Portland, OR — Wonder Ballroom
September 17 — Vancouver, BC — The Imperial
September 20 — Los Angeles, CA — The Fonda Theatre
September 24 — Denver, CO — Bluebird Theater
September 26 — Dallas, TX — Trees
September 27 — Austin, TX — Mohawk
September 29 — New Orleans, LA — The Republic
September 30 — Nashville, TN — The Basement East
October 1 — Atlanta, GA — Terminal West
October 2 — Carrboro, NC — Cat’s Cradle
October 4 — Boston, MA — Paradise Rock Club
October 5 — Washington, DC — Black Cat
October 7 — Philadelphia, PA — Coda
October 8 — Brooklyn, NY — Brooklyn Steel
October 11 — Toronto, ON — Mod Club
October 12 — Columbus, OH — Newport Music Hall
October 13 — Chicago, IL — Metro

Additional Tour Dates:

July 12 — Los Angeles, CA — Echo *SOLD OUT*
July 14 — Brooklyn, NY — Rough Trade *SOLD OUT*
July 21 — London, UK — KOKO
July 22 — Paris, FR — Wanderlust
July 23 — Ibiza, Spain — Ushuaia
August 11-13 — San Francisco, CA — Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival
September 22 & 23 — Las Vegas, NV — Life Is Beautiful Festival

Read More:

Joe Goddard – Ordinary Madness (RAC Mix)

RAC ‘s new album, ‘EGO,’ will arrive July 14

RAC wins Grammy for his remix of ‘Tearing Me Up’ by Bob Moses

Categories: Music