Endlesss Marketplace Beta is live

Create Collectible Jams — and collect live music as it’s made

The Endlesss Marketplace beta has launched! Our Marketplace has been in alpha testing for a couple of months with a small number of artists, but today we open it up to everyone on our Beta waiting list before 7th September 2022.

Introduction
What is a collectible jam?
How does collecting on Endlesss work?
Where do my collected Rifffs go?
Can I resell Rifffs I have collected?
How do you create a collectible jam?
What are collectibles on Endlesss?
Who gets what when a sale is made?
Do I own the copyright if I purchase a collectible?
Why would someone want a digital collectible?
Aren’t NFTs bad for the environment?
How do I create a wallet?
How do I use my wallet as a collector?
How do I use my wallet as a creator?
What kind of price should I set for my Rifffs?
What is the future for NFTs on Endlesss?

Introduction

If you’re on the list, you will have received an email, and you will be able to create Collectible Jams in the Endlesss app.

Please note: you will need to log out and in again in order to be assigned the Beta testing role.

Anyone can also view these jams online on endlesss.fm, where each Rifff created can be purchased as a 1/1 NFT on the NEAR blockchain. Participation requires a NEAR wallet which can be created here. We also have some guidance on this below.

If you are not on the list, there’s still time to sign up. We will be admitting more people in waves before the final public release.

Using the Endlesss marketplace is completely optional, and anyone who does not wish to participate is welcome to keep using Endlesss as usual, completely free of charge, with no NFT interaction necessary.

This page aims to give an overview of the current state of collectible Jams, how they work and how to get started. For further information, please visit our Discord where our team will be happy to help you out.

What is a collectible jam?

Endlesss is built on ‘jams’, essentially online spaces where multiple people using our apps can create music together by building loops, that we call Rifffs. Every time anyone in the jam adds something, a new Rifff is created. With collectible jams, every Rifff becomes available to collect as an NFT.

Each jam will have a public listen link, like this one, which will take you to a page like the one below:

In a collectible jam, Rifffs are available to collect for 24 hours after they are made. This time bound feature is set to encourage people to be present around the time that jamming occurs, and creates a natural limit to the supply of Rifffs in a jam.

Currently Collectible Jams can have a maximum of 5 members. This is a limitation of NEAR contracts, meaning there is no way for us to split the royalties between a higher number of parties. In future we may be able to increase this number. For now, while we have tried to prevent it, if somehow a 6th person gets into the jam it will not be possible to collect Rifffs, so please keep it to 5 and under!

How does collecting on Endlesss work?

To collect a Rifff, hit the ‘Collect for X’ button. Endlesss will create your token:

Once created you will be redirected to your wallet to sign the transaction:

Where do my collected Rifffs go?

If you hover over your wallet in the navigation bar you will see a link to your Collection. Here you can view all your collected Rifffs:

Can I resell Rifffs I have collected?

Endlesss has a secondary market. From your collection, you can select ‘List’ to place Rifffs for sale on the secondary market:

Note that Rifffs for sale on the secondary market have no time limit!

On the jam page, you can see the different status of Rifffs at a glance, for example below we have:

left: for sale on the secondary market (pink indicator)
middle: owned by ‘levelcodes’
right: for sale on the primary market (green).

How do you create a collectible jam?

As long as you are in the Marketplace Beta, you will be able to link a wallet (see how below). You will then need to make sure you have the latest Endlesss Beta, which you should have a link to in your email, or can get access to via Discord in #open-channels. The option will be available when you create a jam in the app.

Creators can also configure the jam name and image as usual, and set their desired price, which will apply to all the Rifffs created in the jam. You will also be asked to agree to the Marketplace Terms.

See more information on pricing and how the money is split below.

What are collectibles on Endlesss?

On Endlesss, digital collectibles are attached to NFTs on the carbon neutral NEAR blockchain. An NFT is like a digital certificate of authenticity that is tied to a specific file, or in our case a set of files. Each Endlesss collectible links to a file package stored on Arweave, a system designed for permanent storage. That means the files are not stored on our servers, and therefore can be used outside of our ecosystem.

The package contains each individual stem or layer of the loop, as well as a graphical representation of the Rifff that we call a Splat, and a version of our Rifff player, which allows the different layers to be played in sync with each other.

In this initial release, all of our digital collectibles are 1/1 — meaning there can only be one owner of each Rifff. If you collect a Rifff it will be publicly viewable that you own it, and you will be able to browse all the Rifffs you have collected in your collection.

Endlesss NFTs are purchased with NEAR, the token for value exchange on NEAR protocol. Learn how to create a NEAR wallet below.

Who gets what when a sale is made?

When any purchase is made, Endlesss Ltd takes a 2.5% Marketplace fee. The remaining 97.5% is then divided as follows:

Primary market purchase:

The full 97.5% is defined as ‘Royalties’, which are split between the toolmaker (Endlesss Studio), which takes 10%, and the jammers, who split the remainder evenly.

In the example below, a primary market riff from a Collectible Jam with 5 Jammers sells for 10 NEAR:

Secondary market purchase:

The seller takes 90% of the remaining 97.5%. The other 10% left over is the Royalty pot this time, and is again split in the same way as before, so Endlesss studio takes 10% of that 10%, i.e. 1%, and the remaining 9% is split evenly between the jammers.

Let’s take the same example as before, with the Rifff from 5 jammers again being sold for 10 NEAR, but this time on the secondary market:

Do I own the copyright if I purchase a collectible?

At present, collectibles on Endlesss do not come with any Copyright licensing by default, and as such the creators retain all Copyright and ownership of the material they create on Endlesss. In future, we may consider introducing licensing options.

Why would someone want a digital collectible?

There are multiple to reasons to purchase digital collectibles on Endlesss:

  • To support artists — our primary motivation is to allow artists to support each other through our marketplace. If you like the music someone is making, why not purchase a collectible to demonstrate this? If artists are able to make even a small amount of money through Endlesss, this will help them to progress with their music career and produce more music for you to enjoy.
  • As an investment — While there are no guarantees of increase in value, it is possible for collectibles to be resold on our secondary market. Over time, some NFTs on Endless may gain popularity and value, especially as new developments take place, however you invest at your own risk. We strongly recommend that in these early stages of our platform you do not spend more than you can afford, and that you collect things that you truly enjoy and want to hear more of.
  • For future utility — We do not want to make specific promises at this stage about the utility of Endlesss NFTs, however our long term plans are to enable both creators and collectors of Rifffs to use them for further music making. Endlesss Rifffs are like atoms that could be configured in many ways, and we believe the possibilities are, well… endless!
  • To support the platform — In December 2021 we got rid of our subscription model and made Endlesss free to use. That means anyone can download and use our apps completely free. We believe this empowers creators everywhere to make music without the traditional barriers to entry created by expensive software. We are however still a business. We take a small percentage of all sales on the marketplace, which allows us to keep working to make Endlesss the best it can be. In progress, you also support artists, which aligns with our values: we do not want to monetise the content created on our platform via data sales and advertising as many Web 2.0 businesses have. This way, when you support artists, you support us too. We hope that those who have the means to pay for Endlesss will enjoy doing so via this mechanism.

Aren’t NFTs bad for the environment?

Endlesss is built on the NEAR protocol which is a carbon neutral blockchain — you can read about it here. At its foundation, NEAR protocol uses a Proof of Stake mechanism, as opposed to Proof of Work, which is the method used by some popular blockchains such as Bitcoin which is several orders of magnitude more energy intensive.

You can view our initial energy usage calculations here — as a rough comparison, minting an NFT on Endlesss uses less than half the energy of sending an email.

How do I create a wallet?

You can create a wallet here — you will be asked to generate and store a secure passphrase which it is very important to keep safe as this can be used to recover your account. Generally it should not be used for anything else and you should never share your passphrase with anyone. Ideally store it offline in a safe place.

Once you have created your wallet you will need to send some NEAR to it in order to use it. NEAR can be purchased with a credit card using services such as Moonpay, which are linked within your NEAR wallet, or via major exchanges such as Coinbase or Binance, but availability may vary depending on your location. Read more here

Once your wallet is funded, we recommend you create an account ID, (a human readable address that looks something like ‘yourname.near’) — this acts like your username on the NEAR protocol, and will show up against your collected Rifffs on Endlesss.

For more information please read NEAR's advice on getting started.

How do I use my wallet as a collector?

Once you have a funded wallet, head to endlesss.fm and you will see a ‘Connect’ button in the top right corner:

This will take you to your NEAR wallet to sign a request that will connect you to Endlesss. Your NEAR wallet is independent of your Endlesss account at this stage, and multiple different wallets can be connected or disconnected should you wish.

How do I use my wallet as a creator?

Make sure you are logged into your Endlesss account on endlesss.fm, click and your avatar and select ‘My account’:

If you do not have a wallet connected yet it will look like this:

Step 1: Connect a wallet — this will not enable you to create immediately, as connected wallets are just for collecting and are not associated with your account.

Step 2: Link a wallet — if you have a wallet connected the screen will look like this:

Choose ‘Make this your Creator Wallet’ to associate this wallet with your Endlesss account. This will be the wallet that you join and create collectible jams with, and will receive all royalties when Rifffs are collected from collectible jams you are part of.

Note: It is possible to now disconnect your wallet and even connect a different wallet for collecting purposes, but your linked wallet will remain linked to your account. At this stage, to unlink your Creator Wallet or replace it with a different one, please contact our team on support@endlesss.fm.

What kind of price should I set for my Rifffs?

Pricing is a tricky thing and there is no right or wrong answer, it is completely up to you how you price your Rifffs, however we recommend that if you are just starting out you set the price low.

Our minimum amount is 0.1 NEAR, and this is a popular price with our community that will also make your Rifffs accessible to collect. There are however be a number of factors to consider in pricing:

  • How popular or well known are you? Do you have a large social media following or marketing presence? If so you may be able to set the price higher.
  • How frequently will you be posting Rifffs? If you have lower overall supply, you may be able to sell at a higher price.
  • Do you feel that your Rifffs are worth more? There is no pressure for you to set a low price, and you are welcome to charge more!

How can I gain more collectors?

In the long term we will be building more opportunities for jammers to get discovered within our platform, but right now there are a few ways to find your jam:

  • The Listen page — jams with the most recent activity will show up at the top of the Listen page. Jamming frequently will make you more visible here.
  • Share your listen link on our Discord in the #rifffs-n-jams channel!
  • Sharing the link to your jam page — share your direct link with people so that they can listen and collect as you jam! You can find the link in the app under Jam details > Listen link

What is the future for NFTs on Endlesss?

We have a number of plans to extend how NFTs are used within the Endlesss ecosystem, and the marketplace will likely undergo significant changes over the next few months. The current implementation is very much a beta. Expect to see a lot more features, and new ways to use NFTs that are collected. We would love to hear your feedback and suggestions on our Discord.

Even though we know there is much more to come, we can’t wait to see what people do with the Marketplace now that the initial version is out, see you in the Collectible Jams!