ICO Alert: Opus

There is a new ICO called Opus that caught my attention today for having an awesome GUI.

Why Opus is significant

The problem with 99% of the coins out there is that they serve the same essential function as Bitcoin (BTC). Since Bitcoin is already widely accepted for general monetary uses, such as purchases, the mission of these coins has an element of futility that is sometimes overlooked in an era of surging market activity and speculation.

The coins that are most likely to succeed are specialized for certain target markets in ways that Bitcoin is not. The best-known of these coins include Siacoin (SC), a decentralized cloud storage marketplace, and Golem (GNT), a decentralized supercomputer in development.

If the Opus platform actually looks/works anything like their website suggests,
(https://opus-foundation.org/index.php/crowdsale/)
it is certainly specialized to revolutionize the music industry.

Edit: It really works! Check out the demo at:
https://opus-foundation.org/demo/demo.html

Musicians would want to use Opus because they get micropayments directly for every stream of their music, without having to pay hefty fees to publishers.

Why Opus has obstacles ahead of it

Competion

Opus has many competitors, the most prominent of which is Musicoin(MUSIC). Musicoin has a very similar platform as Opus, and has a functionally similar (but less modern) GUI. However, Musicoin has a much larger network and has many real-world partners, such as @theharddata. It will be hard for Opus to gain traction with a big brother already on the market, but success is entirely possible given the current state of optimism in the cryptocurrency market.

Awareness

If you type in "Opus ICO," the Opus website doesn't come up. Opus has a lot of room to raise awareness in order to have a successful ICO.

X-Factor???

If you read
https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@theharddata/the-musicoin-alliance,
you will find that Opus is listed as partners with Musicoin. While I can see how both foundations have the same interest in eliminating publishers and increasing musician revenue, investors will undoubtedly want to profit off choosing the most successful coin, and they will feel betrayed if there is collusion between the foundations. In light of the current ICO, as well as the upcoming ICO of Musicoin's Musiconomi, it will be profoundly interesting to see how this dynamic plays out.