TL;DR: We’re launching a new membership level called Friend of Medium, designed to directly support the Medium writing community. Become a Friend of Medium, or upgrade your current membership: medium.com/membership.

More than a decade ago, we created Medium as a home for high-quality stories. We focused on creating a simple, beautiful experience for readers and writers, sustained without selling ads or user data. Our member-supported platform directly supports writers; through our Partner Program, we’ve built a sustainable new subscription model for online publishing.

We designed Medium this way because we believe writers should be rewarded for great writing. If you’re reading this, we imagine you do, too.

When we ask people why they became Medium members, many tell us that they want to support writers. Our membership makes that easy: subscribe once, and automatically support every writer whose stories you read here. No need to juggle multiple subscriptions, accounts, payment methods, or patronage platforms.

This week, we’re taking our mission a step further with a new membership level: Friend of Medium. It’s priced at $15/month or $150/year. As a Friend of Medium, more of your membership dollars will directly support the writers you love—plus the editors, curators, and teams who make Medium a vibrant, inclusive home for human stories. You’ll also get access to a new Friend Link feature that lets you share what you read with your friends.

Part of what makes Medium work is that our base price of $5 per month is so affordable. Authors want to be read, and our accessible price makes that possible for nearly a million subscribers. But that base price leaves out a vocal group of readers who can pay more, feel generous to the authors they read, and want a way support the essential value of human stories. If that’s you, we invite you to become a Friend of Medium.

Note: We’ll be rolling out this membership option for all Medium accounts this week—if you don’t see it on your account quite yet, check back soon!

Writers you read earn 4x more

Friends of Medium will directly support the writers they read most — and with more impact than a regular Medium membership. When Friends of Medium spend time reading member-only stories, they’ll generate four times more earnings for those writers compared to regular members. This revenue share is calculated in the same way as our standard Medium membership: it’s based on a combination of read and listen time, claps, highlights, replies, and follows. The difference is that it’s multiplied by a factor of four.

Support a healthy, open future for online publishing

We’re building a publishing model that rewards great writing with real money. Medium is the place where ideas are shared, communities are built, and intellectual wellness is cultivated.

We don’t need to tell you about how writing online has become flawed — full of distracting ads, impersonal AI-generated content, and noisy design. We’re creating an alternative to that world: A platform singularly focused on providing the best reading and writing experience on the internet. When you become a Friend of Medium, you’re investing in this mission to create a better future for online publishing.

Share “Friend Links” to let your friends bypass the paywall

If you’re a writer on Medium, you may already know about the Friend Links feature. Writers in the Partner Program who paywall their stories can create shareable Friend Links and send them to anyone to let them bypass the paywall.

Now, we’re opening this up to Friend members. Friends of Medium will be able to create and share Friend Links for any paywalled story. When non-members follow these links and bypass the paywall, their read time is factored into the writer’s earnings. This means you can drive more earnings and reach for writers you love by sharing Friend Links to their stories.

Show your support for the Medium community

Friends receive a “Friend of Medium” badge on their profile page and avatar. It’s a small thing, but we think Friends deserve special recognition and visibility in the community for going the extra mile to support writers and Medium.

Additionally, the first 500 people to become Friends of Medium will get a limited edition Medium tote bag lovingly made by our design team.

There’s more to come

This is just the beginning for Friend memberships. It’s a foundation for a new community experience that we’re still in the early days of building. So tell us: What do you value most about reading and writing on Medium? What does Medium mean to you? And why are you excited to become a Friend of Medium?

Become a Friend of Medium was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Since 2018, Medium writers in the Medium Partner Program have had the option to set their stories as “metered” to earn money. The word meter is an industry term for a complicated form of paywall where readers were allowed a few free views before being asked to pay. When Medium members read a metered story, the writer of that story earned a share of that member’s subscription revenue.

We’re proud of creating a subscription model that rewards high-quality stories without resorting to ads for revenue. But our meter system has always felt a little too complex for writers and readers, and we knew we could do better. So we’ve recently changed to a simpler system that gives writers more control over their stories on Medium. It’s simpler because, as a writer, you don’t have to guess about whether your reader will see a paywall or not.

How the simpler paywall lets writers decide

All writers in the Partner Program can now mark their stories as “paywalled.” This makes the story accessible to members only and indicates that the writer wants to earn a revenue share for their writing.

If you’re a writer in the Partner Program, here’s how you can paywall your story:

As a writer, you can always share a link that bypasses the paywall by using your story’s Friend Link. This makes it easy for you to decide exactly who should be able to read the story for free. There are no limits to how you share your friend link. You can share it with one person or you could share it on Reddit and have thousands of people use it. You are in control.

Here’s how to get a Friend Link: On the story page, click the three-dot menu and click on Copy Friend Link.

We’ve paired this with another change: A longer preview of your paywalled story is now visible above the paywall. This gives your readers a chance to get deeper into the first part of your story before becoming a member to unlock the rest.

Importantly, this change only affects paywalled stories. Nothing has changed for free stories: they are still accessible to everyone, including readers who don’t have a Medium account. Medium writers will always have the choice to keep their stories free or put them behind the paywall.

The impact: A clearer, better experience for readers and writers

With the previous meter system, non-members could read three metered stories each month. You may be familiar with this if you’ve seen a message like “You have two free reads left” above stories on Medium. But this led to confusion for writers on how reads and engagement lead to earnings, and this change will make writer stats easier to understand.

The previous system also left a door open to bots, scrapers, and browser extensions, making it easier for people to bypass the meter and read an unlimited number of metered stories for free. We believe in the value of writing on Medium, and our new paywall will help protect stories from scrapers and spam, helping them get to their intended audience: real human readers. This should have a positive effect on earnings and make reading stats more reliable.

Readers deserve a simple and straightforward way to see which stories are behind the Medium paywall. Some, especially those who are new to Medium, have told us that the old meter system seemed unclear and unpredictable. Our new paywall system aims to make it easier for everyone to understand how they can access your stories.

Medium is growing

Since replacing the meter, we’ve already seen an increase in signups, follows, and story interactions.

When Medium grows, writers benefit. A larger reader community is great for our Partner Program writers because it drives more reach and earnings, and connects more readers with writers and stories they love.

We’re constantly working on growing the Medium community, and we’ve been thrilled to see so much recent growth for Medium and our writers. We made these changes to make things clearer for both our readers and writers. If you’ve got questions or feedback about these changes, let us know in the comments.

Putting writers in control of the paywall was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

One of my favorite things about working on Medium is our member-supported model. Unlike much of the internet these days, we don’t have to rely on annoying ads or selling your data to keep the lights on. Our subscription model means we can stay focused on building the best place to read and write on the internet with simple, thoughtful publishing tools and curated recommendations that surface high-quality stories.

Medium is more than a place to read and write, though; we’re building a community for connection, learning, self-expression, and discussion. As a Medium member, your subscription directly supports the writers you read most and helps us continue to invest in Medium as an independent platform.

Membership already grants you access to the best stories about the topics that are important to you. But our full vision is bigger: We want Medium membership to be a must-have for every smart, curious person on the internet. So this year, we’re going beyond the core benefit of content access to bring new features to membership.

Here are some of the new member benefits we’ve added in just the last few months:

Listen to stories

Last year, we introduced text-to-speech audio capabilities to Medium’s website and mobile apps, transforming every story into a listenable experience. Now that our audio feature has successfully transitioned out of beta, we’ve decided to make it exclusive to members, allowing us to continue to invest in its improvement and ensure that members have access to the best possible listening experience.

Read stories offline

As a member, you now have the convenience of downloading stories to read offline on your mobile device. Offline reading is perfect for times when you find yourself in a location with poor connectivity or when you simply want to save on data usage. It’s also a great way to enjoy your Medium reading list while avoiding distractions from other apps and notifications.

Join our Mastodon community

Mastodon is an emerging social platform that’s drawing crowds from Twitter and elsewhere. For those interested in exploring or building a presence there, we recently launched our own Mastodon community at me.dm exclusively for Medium members. With me.dm, we’ve made it much easier to create a Mastodon account and start connecting with its growing network.

Get early access to new features

Members are eligible to receive early access to some beta features before everyone else on Medium. Feedback from members has been especially valuable for our product, design, and engineering teams because it helps us iterate on new features faster. In fact, this feedback helped us design and refine the new Audio and Offline Reading features mentioned above.

And of course, membership continues to include these core benefits:

Access the best of Medium

Pay once, get everything. Medium’s bundled approach means that your membership supports the writers you love — without having to manage multiple subscriptions. Your membership unlocks every member-only story on Medium, granting you access to a vast library of ideas and knowledge shared by authors with real-world experience and expertise.

Create publications

Publications on Medium are communities that cover a particular topic or niche. They’re created by individual writers, organizations, and teams to publish stories to a wider audience under a shared imprint. Many of these publications are open to submissions from writers. While anyone (including non-members) can submit their stories to publications, only Medium members can create new publications and decide which stories to curate. Building your own publication is a powerful way to collaborate with other writers and build a community around your common interests.

Connect your custom domain

As a member, you can build your brand or use Medium as a personal portfolio with a custom domain name for your profile and stories. We’ve created a simple step-by-step process that makes setting up your custom domain easy, even if you’re new to working with domains.

Support writers

When you read member-only stories, you’re directly supporting the authors who write them. That’s because authors in our Partner Program earn money when you read their stories, directly from your membership fee. We believe in creating a publishing ecosystem that supports writers directly, and your membership allows us to make it happen.

There’s much more planned for membership, and we can’t wait to share it with you. What new features do you most want us to build? Let us know in the comments.

We’re adding more to Medium membership was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A few weeks ago, we announced that Medium is embracing short-form writing by launching our very own Mastodon server at me.dm. Starting today, we’re opening up me.dm access for our member community. If you’re a Medium member, you can create an account on me.dm.

What’s Mastodon?

Mastodon is a social media platform that’s different from the others: it’s not owned by any one entity. Mastodon is a network of servers (or “instances”) that are each hosted and moderated by their respective owners. If you like Medium and our approach to content moderation, we hope you’ll join us on me.dm.

Posts on Mastodon are federated, meaning that they have the potential to be seen and re-shared by anyone in the entire network. We think this presents an exciting new opportunity for writers to reach more readers.

What you’ll get when you join me.dm

1. A fresh, short Mastodon username like @you@me.dm that matches your Medium profile.
2. An easy way to share your own Medium stories or short-form thoughts to millions of potential readers on the Mastodon network.
3. Access to a fast, stable, professionally-operated Mastodon instance.
4. A great local feed featuring posts from fellow Medium writers and readers.
5. Hand-picked recommendations for interesting people to follow on Mastodon.

How to create your me.dm account

The regular process for joining Mastodon and building your profile can be a bit confusing, so we’ve made it easier by integrating it with your Medium account.

• If you’re already a Medium member, you can create your me.dm account right away.
• If you’re not yet a member, you can start your Medium membership to join me.dm.
• After that, you’ll log into me.dm directly with the new password you set when you created the account.
• Once you’re on me.dm, you’ll see that your profile information on Medium has been copied over to your new profile on me.dm.

A note on usernames

For now, we’ve reserved your Medium username on me.dm so you’ll have an opportunity to register it before anyone else. For example, if your Medium name is “yourname”, your me.dm username will be @yourname@me.dm.

This reservation will expire after March 23th, at which time Medium members will be allowed to register any available me.dm username. So if you want to ensure that you have the same username on Medium and me.dm, we recommend creating your account right away.

Getting started on Mastodon

We’ve put together a getting started list that can help you get oriented and make the most of Mastodon. If you’ve used Twitter before, Mastodon should feel pretty familiar. If you have questions, just give a shout to our team account @medium.

What’s coming next

In the coming weeks, we’ll continue working to improve the experience on me.dm and explore potential integrations with Medium. For instance, we may add a “Share to Mastodon” button to the story page on Medium, making it easier for Mastodon users to share Medium stories to the fediverse.

In the meantime, we’re looking for your feedback. Let us know what you think of me.dm so far and what you’d like to see in the future.

Looking forward to seeing you in the community. You’ll find me at @alex — say hi!

Join Mastodon with Medium was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Add easy-to-read code to your stories

Medium is home to some of the best coding tutorials and resources on the web. Many of us at Medium are developers, so we know how useful these can be when learning new skills or working through a tough engineering problem.

It’s our job to help writers share their expertise in the best way possible. For technical writers, that’s partly about making it easy to embed great-looking code blocks in stories. Medium has supported code blocks for a while, but they’ve been rendered in plain text which isn’t ideal for readability.

Today, we’re introducing an update to the story editor that we know many of you have been asking for: code blocks with syntax highlighting.

Code blocks used to look like this:

// my code feels hard to read
function oldCodeBlock() {
  return "thank u, next";
}

Now, you can now create new code blocks that look like this:

// highlighted code is easier to read
function newCodeBlock() {
  return “jazzy!”;
}

These have better readability, making it easier for your readers to understand and learn from your code.

New code blocks will also adapt to the dark mode setting on your reader’s device, automatically using a light or dark theme, depending on their preference.

How do I create a new code block?

In the web-based story editor, when you click the + button, you will now see an updated toolbar. You can click the “{ }” button to insert a new code block.

Or you can type ``` directly into the editor:

In the Medium iOS and Android apps, you can tap the “{ }” button to insert a new code block.

Once you’ve created the code block, you can type your code directly or paste from elsewhere.

What about older stories with code blocks? How can I update them?

Existing code blocks in stories that have already been published on Medium will not be automatically updated, just in case they’re being used for something other than code.

If you’d like to update an old code block in a published story, you can edit the story, create a new code block, and paste the old block’s contents into it.

Tell us what you think

We’re excited to bring you new writing tools and would love to hear your feedback. How could we continue to improve on code blocks? What other kinds of content blocks or tools would be useful to you? Let us know in the responses.

Code Blocks with Syntax Highlighting was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Your time matters. That’s why our team is committed to helping you get the most out of the time you spend reading on Medium.

This means helping you find stories that are relevant to your interests and goals; knowledge that goes beyond entertainment to positively impact your life. It also means helping you access that knowledge in ways that are convenient and enjoyable for you.

Audio on Android

Earlier this year, we introduced text-to-speech audio playback for stories on the Medium website and iOS app. Since then, we’ve been delighted to hear how so many of you can now use Medium at times when you previously couldn’t, like while driving, exercising, or just taking a screen break.

Since we launched audio, many of you have been asking us when we’d bring audio to the Medium Android app. Well, we heard you, and now we have some good news: audio on Android is now available in the most recent update to the app.

Unlike on web and iOS, audio on Android utilizes the device’s native text-to-speech engine. This means you’ll be able to use any of the voices that are already loaded on your Android device, which is handy if you already have one you like, or if you want to use a custom voice. You’ll also be able to listen to Medium stories even when you’re not connected to the internet.

Here’s how to play the audio version of a story in the Android app:

Android friends — give it a try and tell us what you think. How could we improve it from here? Let us know in the comments.

New Homepage Experience

We rolled out some updates to the homepage to make it easier for you to find stories based on your interests and the writers you follow.

Previously, the homepage had a list of topic tags above the story feed. When you clicked on one of these tags, you were taken to a separate tag page with a different layout.

Now, we’ve moved those topics into the tabs right above the feed. When you click a topic, the feed below will instantly update with relevant posts, helping you find stories you’ll love without having to leave the page.

It’s a subtle change, but it’s resulted in a simpler, more focused experience on this page, and the effects have been remarkable. When we first tested this with an initial group of people, we found that the new experience led to a significant boost in satisfaction. Folks were reading more posts and for longer periods of time. Given that outcome, we decided to make the change for everyone.

It’s important to note that as part of this decluttering, this update also removed the “Following” avatar row that we know some of you have loved in the past. We found that replacing it with the new Following tab (which shows a true reverse-chron list of stories written by writers you follow) works far better for almost everyone, and increases reading time by 110%.

Our work here is far from finished, and we want to hear from you. How else do you think we can improve the homepage? Let us know in the comments.

Android Audio and Homepage Topics was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We’ve been blown away by your enthusiasm since we introduced audio a little over a month ago. We’ve learned a lot, too. Writers continue to use audio to proofread their stories, while readers can breeze through their reading lists as they listen at work or around the house. We’ve also heard from readers who find listening to be an easier way to absorb information. Now, they can take that same experience on the go with the improved iPhone app.

The new Listen feature on mobile and desktop is powered in part by AI text-to-speech technology, which we integrated with the help of Vamsee Chamakura and his team at Speechify. We aim to continue working with them to expand audio on Medium: that means introducing new product experiences, language options, and voice diversity as it becomes available on their platform.

What else would you like to see us do with audio? How are you using Listen mode now? Sound off (on?) in the comments!

Listener FAQ

Is the audio player available in the mobile apps?

The player is now available in the iOS mobile app on the story screen. If you don’t see it yet, try updating to the newest version in the app store. As for Android, we’re looking to bring audio to that app too. We don’t have clear timing for that, but we’ll be sure to let you know when we do.

Why don’t I see the “Listen” button on a story?

The feature currently supports English text, so the “Listen” button may not appear if the post is not written in English.

Can I change the narrator’s voice and speed?

Yes. To change the playback speed, tap the “1x” button on the audio player. To change the narrator’s voice, tap the “…” button on the audio player, and then choose “Select a voice.”

Can I save stories to a list that automatically plays them aloud?

Not at this time. We’ve heard from many of you that it’s a feature you’d like to see, so it’s something we’re keeping in mind for future product updates.

Writer FAQs

How will this feature affect my earnings?

We’ll factor listen time into the payout calculations for eligible writers with metered stories.

Can I narrate my own stories?

Not currently. We’ve received great pieces of feedback during the initial website launch, including the ability for writers to narrate their own stories. It’s something we’ll consider for future product updates.

Can non-members listen to my metered stories?

The same paywall rules apply to listening as to reading. Only members will be able to listen to stories that are behind the paywall.

Can I disable this feature for my stories?

Because we believe that text-to-speech will help more people gain access to great writing and ideas on Medium, disabling the feature is not possible at this time.

Will I be able to see how many people listened to my stories, or who listened?

Not yet, but as we advance this feature, we may provide more listening insights so you can learn more about your audience.

Listen to stories anytime, anywhere. Audio is now on iOS. was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

At Medium, we’re always thinking about ways to make it easier for you to dive deep into great stories, ideas, and perspectives. That’s why we’re thrilled to share that audio on Medium is now available to all users on the Medium website with the launch of our new Listen feature. You can click the new “Listen” button at the top of most stories to hear an audio version read aloud. Go ahead — try it above!

Since we gave early access to a group of Medium readers in January, they’ve shared that audio has helped them to enjoy more stories than ever before — up to three times as many. They’re often listening to stories at times throughout their day when they normally wouldn’t be able to read: while going on walks, exercising, commuting, taking care of housework, and even working on other tasks at their computer.

“When working out, I used to read on my phone between sets. Now, it’s so much easier with audio — I can listen to many more articles than I could read before.” — Jess, Medium listener

Based on the benefits we’ve seen so far, we believe audio can make your experience with Medium more versatile and delightful.

An easier way to enjoy more stories

If you’re an avid reader, you likely have a long list of stories you’ve saved for later. You can now use the Listen feature to make your way through that list at your leisure. I personally like catching up on Medium stories during my morning runs.

A useful proofreading tool for writers

With the Listen feature, you can listen to your drafts. We’ve heard from writers that it can be super helpful to hear someone else read their writing before they publish — even if that someone is a robot!

Improved accessibility

People with reading differences such as visual impairment or dyslexia report that having the ability to listen greatly improves their experience on Medium.

How to listen

The Listen button currently lives at the top of the story page. When you press this button, the story text is read to you by a charming, synthesized voice.

If you’d like to change the default voice, you can choose from other options by clicking the voice button in the bottom left corner. We’ll be adding additional voices for you to choose from in the future.

In the bottom right corner, you can click the speed button to adjust the playback speed from 0.5x to 4.5x.

More listening ahead

We’re excited to see people enjoying audio on Medium so far. Given the results, we’re now exploring how we can best integrate audio into our mobile apps, expand language capabilities, and provide more voice options.

Now that audio on Medium is live, we’d love to hear what you think. How can we make listening on Medium better in the future?

Listener FAQ

Is the player available in the mobile apps?
No, listening is currently only available on the Medium website. However, we are exploring the opportunity to bring audio to our mobile apps.

Why don’t I see the “Listen” button on a story?
The feature currently only supports English text, so the “Listen” button may not appear if the post is not written in English.

Can I change the narrator’s voice and speed?
Yes. After pressing play, you can choose from eight different options via the player that appears in the lower right corner of the story page. The playback speed can also be adjusted within the same player.

Is this a permanent feature?
We don’t yet know. We’re continuing to gather data and feedback to see how readers and writers respond.

I thought Medium is only for text. Why add audio?
We know there are times when we cannot sit down to read, but we’re open to learning something new. We hope that having the ability to listen on Medium will help more people enjoy great writing during such times. Audio also increases accessibility for those who prefer listening over reading. To learn more about our push into audio, check out Ev’s 3MR here.

Does Medium offer audio options that aren’t related to text-to-speech?
Medium recently acquired Knowable, an audio-first learning app. Knowable features lessons from hundreds of field-leading experts on subjects ranging from professional development to personal well-being. Featured contributors include NBA All-Star Chris Paul, record-holding astronaut Scott Kelly, and top TED speaker Celeste Headlee, as well as notable organizations such as MIT and the Upright Citizen’s Brigade. You can check out Knowable here.

Writer FAQ

How will this feature affect my earnings?
We’ll factor listen time into the payout calculations for eligible writers with metered stories.

Can I narrate my own stories?
Not currently. Many writers have requested this feature and it’s one that we are actively exploring, along with a more expansive and diverse list of automated voice options.

Can non-members listen to my metered stories?
The same paywall rules apply to listening as to reading. Only members will be able to listen to stories that are behind the paywall.

Can I disable this feature on my stories?
Not currently. We believe that text to speech will help more people gain access to great writing on Medium.

Will I be able to see how many people listened to my stories, or who listened?
Not yet, but if this feature becomes permanent, then we’ll work to update your dashboard accordingly.

Sound on: Now you can listen to Medium stories was originally published in The Medium Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

One of our favorite features of physical paintings is the ability for an artist to inscribe the back of the canvas. Whether the inscription includes a signature, date, edition number, doodle, or personal note, it’s like a secret message between the artist and the collector that adds to the personal connection between the two.

At Digital Objects we’re aiming to make digitally-presented art as appealing and collectible as physical art, and to that end we’re excited to announce a new feature which we’re calling “Back of the Canvas,” which makes reverse-side inscriptions possible for digital works.

Artists that choose to utilize this feature can provide reverse-side images that are unique to each edition of their artwork. Their piece can then be flipped around, revealing this reverse-side image. Only a collector who has purchased the artwork will be able to reveal this image.

Here’s a video demonstrating this experience, both for collectors and non-collectors alike:

If you’re an artist and interested in trying this out, you can apply to be considered for exhibition on Digital Objects.

Back of the Canvas was originally published in Digital Objects on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

My first exposure to programming came through the influence of visual art — a middle school silkscreening class, an audacious art teacher, and an old Silicon Graphics PC with Macromedia Director and ActionScript, a long-dead predecessor to Flash. The very first thing I programmed was an interactive CD filled with all the terrible art I’d made with “ancient” 3D programs like Bryce and Truespace. Even then, with meager processing power and limited functionality, the creative possibilities seemed boundless.

As my programming practice has evolved, my excitement for digital art has only grown. I’ve spent years tinkering with creative coding tools like Processing, Unity, and the Kinect, in awe of visionary works by genre-defining new media artists like Nam June Paik, Olia Lialina, and Casey Reas.

The last decade has given us an astounding variety of new creative tools, with smartphones and social media conspiring to make great art more accessible than ever before. Countless artists, some already famous and with large online followings, are making compelling digital art. Many aren’t just making it on the Internet, but for the Internet. Museums and blue-chip galleries are already embracing the potential of digitally-based artwork. I think this field will only continue to grow, in part because I see so much work being made with digital tools and shared on social media, but also because I believe the incoming generation of collectors will be comfortable with the concept of digital ownership.

Yet today, the digital art market remains small relative to the overall art market. Conventional collectors have long struggled with digital art’s intrinsic intangibility and reproducibility. How can you own something you can’t touch? If it’s easy to copy, does it really belong to you? These questions have inhibited the market for years, forcing artists to rely on alternative means to build sustainable practices.

Inspired to help solve these problems for artists and collectors alike, the Digital Objects team, of which I’m a co-founder, has developed a system that leverages blockchain technology — a system for verified consensus, like a public database of record — to help artists make their digital works verifiably scarce, thus making them more accessible to a broader range of collectors.

We’ve spent months developing this idea, and today we’re excited to introduce the public beta of Digital Objects: a new, invite-only space for buying, selling, and showcasing limited-edition digital works of art. Our mission is to empower artists and inspire the next generation of collectors.

Digital Objects aims to address several problems in today’s art market:

• It’s hard for most artists to maintain a sustainable practice. Artists need and deserve more ways to generate revenue from their work.
• Artists rarely benefit from their own secondary markets. They should receive guaranteed royalties when their works are sold between collectors.
• Younger collectors are almost entirely priced out of the art market. They’re eager to collect, but the traditional market and gallery system favors ultra-wealthy, socially-connected, and geo-mobile buyers.
• New media artists are attracting huge audiences online, but there’s no straightforward and scalable way to collect their art and support their craft.
• Smaller galleries are struggling to survive. Due to changing market dynamics, rising costs, and an aging traditional collector base, the art market is consolidating into a small set of powerful galleries.

Limited-edition digital art explained

The market value of art is influenced by the economics of scarcity: finite supply begets demand and value. Duplicating physical art is costly and inefficient, but digital artworks can be copied and distributed ad infinitum. In the past, this has hindered the formation of a robust market for digital art and has made it challenging for artists to profit from their work.

Now, we’re able to use blockchain technology to solve the lack-of-scarcity problem. Fundamentally, a blockchain is a public register where transactions are recorded in a secure, verifiable, and permanent way. It’s commonly known as the technology underlying cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether, but its promise extends well beyond the realm of finance — with potential applications in all kinds of other fields, including art.

How Digital Objects works

When an artwork is uploaded to Digital Objects, our system mints a unique ERC-721 token on the Ethereum blockchain. This token contains the artwork’s metadata, and its creation is publicly and irreversibly recorded on the Ethereum ledger. This makes the artwork verifiably authentic and scarce due to its immutable presence in the public record. Possession of the “original” artwork on the blockchain cannot be transferred without the permission of its owner. While a third party may copy the image/video/GIF file of the artwork, this would be tantamount to photocopying a physical painting.

Benefits for artists

• Verifiable scarcity. Artists can now sell rare digital editions of their artwork, opening up a new revenue channel.
• Access to a new, growing market. Younger collectors and art lovers increasingly discover art on the Internet and social media, not in physical galleries.
• Royalties. Our Ethereum smart contract helps ensure that artists are compensated when their works are sold between collectors.
• Platform independence. Once the token is minted, it permanently lives on the Ethereum blockchain and can be listed and traded in any marketplace that supports ERC-721 tokens. Rare Bits and OpenSea are two such examples, and there will likely be other exchanges for digital items.
• Tracked provenance. Traditionally, an artwork’s value is often tied to the history of who has collected it, known as its provenance. Digital Objects automatically displays provenance, making tracking easy and provable.
• Scalable art practice. Selling digital artworks means less work and investment put into materials, storage, and shipping.

Benefits for collectors

• A new way to support artists. Collecting artwork from an artist you admire is the sincerest way to support their craft, but up until now, making a secure digital purchase has been difficult.
• Visibility of ownership. Each artwork includes a collector registry which lists the owners of its editions. Collectors have the choice of using their real name or a pseudonym and linking their username to their own websites or social accounts.
• A new opportunity for brands. Collecting digital artwork presents a unique marketing concept for brands. By collecting artists’ work and being listed in the collector registry, brands can become associated with supporting the artists and aesthetics that their customers admire.
• A new investment asset class. The rising market capitalization of digital assets like Bitcoin and Cryptokitties reflects the increasing acceptance of digital items as valuable and possessable. Physical art has long been a widely-accepted asset class, and we believe that digitally-owned art will become an essential component of a diversified investment portfolio. All Digital Objects’ artists are curated with input from our advisory board, which includes curators from established galleries and institutions.
• Displaying digital art in the physical world. Digital art display devices are improving rapidly, with established manufacturers like Samsung entering the market alongside smaller companies like Meural and Depict. We believe that screens will continue to proliferate and will increasingly be used to display art in new and wonderful ways. Pieces purchased via Digital Objects may be legally displayed on these devices (for non-commercial purposes).
• “Back of the canvas” experience. Digital Objects enables artists to include special notes, inscriptions, and other personal attributes to their work that are only accessible to their collectors.
• Exclusive access. Collectors will receive early access to new works, special invitations to our community events, and other perks.

Benefits for galleries

• Significantly lower risk and overhead. Unlike with physical art, where shipping, storage, security, condition reports, and insurance are all conditions of ownership, digital art on Digital Objects does not require maintenance spend.
• Increased awareness for physical sales. A gallery page on Digital Objects is like a dedicated room in a gallery, specific to showcasing and selling digital editions. Digital Objects can be used in conjunction with gallery-represented artists to issue digital editions of the artist’s physical works.
• Access to non-local collectors. A gallery, minus time and space. A Digital Objects gallery page is an online extension of the physical gallery, making its art viewable to anyone, anytime, anywhere.
• Visibility among new collectors. Attracting new clients is imperative for a gallery’s long-term sustainability, and Digital Objects offers galleries exposure to a digital-native group of collectors.
• Royalties. Like artists, galleries can also earn royalties on secondary sales.

What’s next?

As Digital Objects evolves, we’ll work to offer more selling features for artists and collectors, more varied ways to display and interact with artworks, plus partnerships with galleries and institutions, live events and auctions, and most importantly, the debut of more talented artists.

If you have features that you’d like to see us develop, we’d love to hear from you: hello@digitalobjects.art.

Join us

If you’re an artist interested in issuing limited-edition digital works of art on Digital Objects, please apply here for consideration.

If you’re a gallerist interested in partnering with Digital Objects, please email us: hello@digitalobjects.art.

To stay up to date on our progress, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and sign up for our newsletter.

About our team

Digital Objects is a Los Angeles-based team of technologists and artists who have created software used by hundreds of millions of people. We’re supported by top early-stage investors, who have previously backed companies like Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, and Google. We’re on a mission to empower artists and inspire collectors around the world, and we hope you’ll join us.

Introducing Digital Objects was originally published in Digital Objects on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.