One significant hurdle we encountered while building the SONGS project was realizing that our initial goal of simply tokenizing digital distribution royalties while allowing artists to work with any distributor wasn't feasible due to the industry's opacity. We initially aimed to integrate our system seamlessly with existing distributors, but the lack of transparency and standardized processes made it nearly impossible.

Faced with this challenge, we decided to start from scratch and build an open, transparent digital distribution protocol. This pivot meant developing a new system from the ground up, focusing on transparency, efficiency, and fairness. Although it was a significant shift, this approach allowed us to create a more reliable solution that empowers artists with complete control over their music distribution and royalties, ensuring fairness and transparency in an industry that has long lacked both.