Pitbull Launches Music-Focused Blockchain Competition

Armando “Pitbull” Perez is trying to disrupt the music industry by launching an international blockchain coding competition.

According to CNBC, people from around the world can participate in “Smackathon,” using Ethereum to try to solve some of music’s biggest issues, such as artist royalty agreements and curated playlists.

The musician and entrepreneur is working on the event in tandem with the eMerge Americas conference, an annual two-day tech conference in Miami Beach.

“I’ve always wanted to integrate a music component into eMerge,” said eMerge Americas executive vice president Melissa Medina. “Having [Pitbull] as a partner in this project, I really think this is going to be something big and special.”

Developers have one month — from April 24 to May 25 — to create a blockchain-based solution using Zeppelin’s open-source smart contract platform. A group of finalists will be flown to Miami to pitch their idea to Pitbull and three other judges.

“I’ve had a lot of conversations with [Pitbull], and he has a lot of frustrations,” Medina noted. “He’s Mr. Worldwide, he’s wildly successful, but he’s thinking about the artists of the future and the roadblocks they hit.”

Submissions will be evaluated based on criteria, including originality, usefulness, comprehensiveness, design and technology. Developers will be given extra points if they utilize the OpenZeppelin platform.

“At Zeppelin, we try and make it easy and secure for any developer or individual to participate,” said Zeppelin founder and CEO Demian Brener. “Doing Smackathon and leveraging Pitbull’s brand is a great way to push our goals even farther forward.”

The winning team will take home $6,000, and Pitbull is even willing to personally finance an idea he really likes to help further its development. Zeppelin, eMerge Americas and Medina Capital — founded by eMerge Americas creator Manny Medina — are also planning to invest in the best ideas.

“We’re not only looking to invest, but we’re interested in helping bring the ideas to market, grow them and make them a reality, if possible,” said Medina.