Original Works
Original Works builds a decentralized blockchain protocol that enables music industry participants to register rights, verify royalties via independent validators, and distribute payments through USDC smart contracts, serving artists, distributors/labels, and developers building on verified music royalty data.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersJerusalem, Israel
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Original Works does
Original Works is a private blockchain infrastructure company building decentralized protocol infrastructure for music intellectual property royalty administration. The company, incorporated as Original Works, Inc. in New York with operations based in Jerusalem, was founded in 2016 and operates with a headcount in the 11-50 range. Its core technology is a protocol deployed on Gnosis Chain (currently on the Holesky testnet) that separates the roles of Royalty Admins, who submit rights data via the open-source OWEN CLI tool accepting standard DDEX.ERN and CWR industry formats, from an independent network of Validators who authenticate submissions and generate zero-knowledge proofs. Smart-contract-based Royalty Pools and ERC1155 Rights Vouchers enable automated, privacy-preserving distribution of royalty streams, with USDC as the payment rail and Bridge (a Stripe company) providing regulated fiat on/off ramps.
The product surface spans the Original Works Protocol core, the OWEN Client, the Validator Node software, the OW Registry web application, and a Community Hub on Circle, complemented by the $OWN native utility token used for staking, fee payment, and governance. Revenue is modeled entirely around $OWN-denominated transaction fees (asset registration, Royalty Pool service fees, royalty on/off ramping, and claiming fees), but no revenue, funding rounds, or production customers are disclosed in the available data, and the protocol remains in testnet. The go-to-market is hybrid: a developer-first, open-source/API-first motion targeting Web3 builders and Royalty Admins via GitHub, documentation, and community channels, paired with enterprise field sales directed at large music distributors, publishers, Collective Rights Organizations, and record labels through a dedicated partner deck and onboarding program.
Customer segments span Artists and Creators (seeking faster payments, transparent splits, and royalty advances), Distributors and Labels (seeking streamlined payment processing, transparency, and new artist services), and Developers and Builders (seeking verified royalty data and APIs for DeFi and music-tech products). Partnerships include Bridge (Stripe) for compliant payments, Gnosis Chain as the underlying blockchain, and a set of DeFi pool operators enabling non-dilutive royalty advances through the OW Registry. Despite the technical breadth and a clear architectural thesis on decentralizing music rights verification, the company has not yet demonstrated production-scale revenue or a confirmed mainnet launch, making adoption timing the central value driver.
Original Works firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Original Works
- Legal name
- Original Works, Inc.
- Website
- https://original.works
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Original Works builds a decentralized blockchain protocol that enables music industry participants to register rights, verify royalties via independent validators, and distribute payments through USDC smart contracts, serving artists, distributors/labels, and developers building on verified music royalty data.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Original Works is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Jerusalem
- HQ country
- Israel
- HQ region
- Middle East
Offices1 record
Markets served
Original Works business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- Network Fees ($OWN): Validators and Royalty Admins pay staking and transaction fees in $OWN tokens for network operations including asset registration, data storage, and royalty processing.
- Asset Registration Fees: Nominal per-asset registration fees paid in $OWN tokens, with volume discounts for batch processing and partial fee rebates for high-quality submissions.
- Royalty Pool Service Fees: Fees for creating Royalty Pools, generating statements, processing royalty claims, and extended data storage availability. Royalty Admins can add custom fees for their services.
- Royalty On/Off Ramping Fees: Fees for depositing collected royalties into the protocol for payment processing, and small protocol fees for claimed royalty payments.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Monthly | OWEN Client Infrastructure |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Network Fees (Token-based) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Original Works product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Original Works operates a decentralized blockchain protocol (built on Gnosis Chain) that enables music IP royalty tokenization by separating rights data submission (Royalty Admins) from independent cryptographic verification (Validators). The platform transforms creative IP royalties into programmable, provable on-chain cash flows, supports real-time royalty distributions via USDC, accepts standard DDEX.ERN and CWR industry formats through its OWEN Client, and uses zero-knowledge proofs and Merkle trees for privacy-preserving verification.
Product overview
Original Works is a blockchain infrastructure platform for IP royalties consisting of multiple interconnected products: the core Original Works Protocol enables tokenization of music IP through Smart Royalty Contracts and Royalty Pools. Developer tools include the OWEN Client (CLI for processing industry DDEX/CWR formats) and Validator Node software. The ecosystem includes the OW Registry web application for rights holders, a Community Hub, and the $OWN token for network security and governance. Rights Vouchers (ERC1155 tokens) represent claims to royalties. The platform works alongside existing music industry infrastructure (distributors, publishers, CMOs) rather than replacing it.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Original Works Protocol: Blockchain infrastructure for IP Royalties enabling tokenization of music rights and decentralized royalty payments.
- OWEN
- Validator Node
- $OWN
- Royalty Pool
Products and services
- Original Works Protocol Core blockchain infrastructure protocol for tokenizing music IP and managing royalty streams. Bridges real-world media assets, royalty streams, and DeFi through a decentralized network of validators that verify rights registrations and enable programmable, provable on-chain royalty cash flows.
- OWEN Client Open-source CLI tool (Original Works Electronic Notification) for music supply chain companies to participate in decentralization of music IP. Accepts standard DDEX/CWR industry formats for processing and submitting release notifications and rights data.
- Validator Node Software for independent validators to participate in the network by authenticating standard electronic release messages, maintaining network integrity, and generating zero-knowledge proofs for rights verification.
- Smart Royalty Contracts Core building blocks of the Original Works Protocol that transform creative IP royalties into programmable, provable, and trustless on-chain cash flows. Enable royalties to be split, managed, claimed by rights holders, and used as collateral in DeFi.
- Royalty Pools Smart contract systems that collect, track, and distribute royalty payments to rights holders. Admins deposit bulk payments and the system automatically generates statements based on registered splits; rights holders claim earnings with privacy-preserving proofs.
- Rights Vouchers ERC1155 tokens representing the right to claim royalties from specific assets. Rights holders prove ownership and claim royalties using these vouchers through the protocol without exposing split percentages or revenue data.
- OW Registry Official web application for managing royalty assets, enabling rights holders to view claims, manage addresses, and access royalty advances through partnered DeFi pool operators.
- Community Hub Community platform for builders, artists, and developers to engage with the Original Works ecosystem, built on the Circle platform.
- $OWN Token Native protocol token used for staking by Royalty Admins and validators, securing network operations, and facilitating fee payments. Required for network participation and governance.
Quantifiable outcome
- Infrastructure costs reduced to approximately $50/month for OWEN client hosting
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Original Works
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Original Works technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
AI capability4 records
Feature6 records
Original Works partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Bridge (Stripe)coreBridge, a Stripe company, is the regulated payment provider partner for compliant fiat on/off ramps. They enable Royalty Admins to deposit total royalties and process compliant payments through the Original Works protocol while maintaining regulatory compliance.
- Gnosis ChaincoreThe Original Works protocol is built on Gnosis Chain for blockchain operations, with live testnet implementation on Holesky network. Gnosis Chain provides the infrastructure for smart contracts and validator operations.
- DeFi Pool OperatorscoreOriginal Works is partnering with DeFi pool operators to enable advances against Royalty Assets on the official OW Registry web app. These partnerships enable rights holders to access liquidity using their verified streaming revenue as collateral.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Original Works competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Original Works social profiles
Digital presenceOriginal Works compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Original Works financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Original Works leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Original Works funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Original Works M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Original Works
What does Original Works do?
Original Works operates a decentralized blockchain protocol (built on Gnosis Chain) that enables music IP royalty tokenization by separating rights data submission (Royalty Admins) from independent cryptographic verification (Validators). The platform transforms creative IP royalties into programmable, provable on-chain cash flows, supports real-time royalty distributions via USDC, accepts standard DDEX.ERN and CWR industry formats through its OWEN Client, and uses zero-knowledge proofs and Merkle trees for privacy-preserving verification.
Is Original Works a public or private company?
Original Works is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Original Works founded?
Original Works was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Original Works based?
Original Works is headquartered in Jerusalem, Israel, in the Middle East region.
How does Original Works make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Network Fees ($OWN) is the primary driver. The others are asset Registration Fees, royalty Pool Service Fees and royalty On/Off Ramping Fees.
Does Original Works have an API?
Yes. Original Works provides developer tools and APIs for building royalty-based applications and music-centered experiences. The OWEN client is an open-source CLI tool for music supply chain companies to participate in decentralized music IP registration. Developers can access documentation at docs.original.works and integration resources through GitHub repositories (protocol-core/owen for Royalty Admin CLI, protocol-core/validator_node for independent validators). The protocol enables developers to build new products, marketplaces, and music-centered experiences using simple APIs. Developer documentation is at docs.original.works.