The Vibesmithing Constitution

v14.0 — January 2026

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Preamble

Stop renting your audience. Buy the venue.

Music is free now. Streaming won. That war is over. Legacy platforms treat artists and listeners like tenants. You pay rent (fees, data, attention) forever. You improve the building—uploading music, building playlists, bringing friends—but the landlord owns it. When the neighborhood gets valuable, they sell the building to a conglomerate who jacks up the rent. This is enshittification. It is inevitable in the rental model.

Vibesmithing is different. We are not landlords. We are contractors. We built the house. You are moving in. But the value you create isn't rent—it's equity.

This platform exists to obsolete itself as an intermediary and become infrastructure owned by the people who use it. You are buying the infrastructure by using it.

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Article I: The User-Owner Compact

Section 1: Rent-to-Own

Vibesmithing is a "Rent-to-Own" infrastructure project. The "acquisition price" is fixed. Every rent payment builds toward ownership.

• Every Transaction: Contributes to the buyout.
• Every Unlock: Proves value.
• Every Year: The platform moves closer to graduating from "Founder-Built" to "Community-Owned."

Section 2: The Lock

To ensure this transition happens, the company is legally barred from selling out to anyone but its users.

• No external acquisition.
• No private equity / VC exit.
• No "pivot" to extraction. The corporate charter forbids selling the building to a stranger. It can only be sold to the tenants.

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Article II: The Transitional Structure

Vibesmithing evolves through three distinct phases. This is not a forever-startup; it is a project with a completion state.

Phase 1: Founder Control

We build the platform, prove the model, and protect the mission. Full operational discretion. No governance votes yet.

Phase 2: Transition Window

At 10,000 qualified owners (≥10 shares each), the window opens:

• Governance dashboard activates (advisory votes)
• Succession planning begins
• Founders control timing—cannot be forced out
• Community can vote to accelerate buyout

Phase 3: Community Ownership

At $30M buyout completion:

• Governance transfers to the community
• Founders exit (if community chooses) or stay as operators
• Founders retain 5% perpetual stake

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Article III: Distribution & Infrastructure

Section 1: The Interface

We act as the primary infrastructure for artists. This includes:

• Streaming: High-fidelity, direct-to-listener.
• Distribution: We pipe music to legacy DSPs (Spotify, Apple, etc.) as a service. This is plumbing, not a business model.
• Merchandise: On-demand manufacturing with transparent "cost+" pricing.

Section 2: Data Sovereignty

Artists own their audience data. Listeners own their identity. The platform facilitates connection but does not gatekeep it. If an artist leaves, they take their data. If the platform shuts down, the connections survive.

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Article IV: Rights of the People

Section 1: Artists (The Creators)

• Ownership: You keep 100% of your IP.
• Fair Deal: You get the majority of the margin (70%+) on everything sold.
• Tips: You keep 100% of tips. Always.
• Exit: You can leave anytime. No handcuffs.

Section 2: Listeners (The Patrons)

• Access: Listening is free. No paywalls on culture.
• Permanence: Art you unlock is yours forever.
• Privacy: We don't sell your listening habits to advertisers.
• Respect: No dark patterns. No manipulation.

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Article V: The Founder's Role

Section 1: The Job

The founder's role is simple: Build the house, fill the moat, and don't let anyone fuck it up. This means preventing corruption, filtering noise, and aggressively protecting the platform's mission until the community takes over.

Section 2: Operational Freedom

Until the buyout, the founder (and designated stewards) have full operational control to run the business, build products, and curate the ecosystem. This is not a democracy yet—it is a mission-driven dictatorship designed to depose itself.

Section 3: Founder Economics

• Pre-buyout: Founders own 10% of shares and receive proportional dividends
• Buyout payments: Accrue from platform profits over time (not share sales)
• Post-buyout: $30M cap paid out + 5% perpetual stake with dilution protection

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Article VI: The Inviolables (What Can Never Change)

These principles are locked. They cannot be amended by any steward, successor, or vote:

1. The Platform Will Not Be Sold: Not to a corporation. Not to investors. Only to the community.
2. Tips Will Never Be Extracted: The platform takes 0% of tips. Ever.
3. The Mission Cannot Be Abandoned: "Everyone wins. Nobody sacrifices." The platform must remain an abundance engine.
4. Post-Buyout Dilution Cap: 5% annual maximum, locked from Day 1, not adjustable by community vote.

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Article VII: The Buyout Mechanics

Section 1: The Cap

The buyout price is fixed at $30,000,000 (USD, January 2026 basis), adjusted annually by CPI-U (inflation). This is the maximum return the founding team can ever extract.

Section 2: The Split

Community shares are distributed across two balanced buckets:

• 45% Artist Bucket: Reserved for curated platform artists
• 45% Listener Bucket: Reserved for engaged listeners
• 10% Founder Bucket: Starts at 10%, dilution-protected to 5% floor in perpetuity

Section 3: Earning Ownership

The right to purchase shares at community rate is earned through value-creating actions:

• Purchases, tipping, referrals, and patronage accrue "value score"
• Purchase capacity = √(Value Score)
• Premium tier (3×) available for cash buyers (KYC required)

Section 4: Transfer Restrictions

Shares are non-transferable:

• No selling to third parties — you can only redeem shares back to the platform
• Redemption price = trailing dividend × 10
• Not an investment vehicle — ownership is participation, not speculation

Section 5: Governance

Bucket-balanced quadratic voting:

• Each person's voting power = √(their shares)
• Each bucket has equal weight in final tally
• Proposals pass with 2-of-3 bucket majorities
• Post-buyout: 60% supermajority required in both Artist and Listener buckets

Section 6: Perpetual Decentralization

After buyout completion:

• Platform issues new shares quarterly (5% annual max)
• 60% grants / 40% purchase pool
• Unclaimed grants roll over for 3 years
• Founders receive top-up shares to maintain 5% floor

Section 7: Completion

Once the Cap is paid:

1. Governance transfers to the community.
2. Founders retain 5% perpetual stake with anti-dilution protection.
3. The "Rent-to-Own" contract is fulfilled. The venue is yours.

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Closing

Legacy industry says: "We own the pipes, so we own you." Vibesmithing says: "Here are the pipes. Use them to buy them."

It's over. That shit is just over.

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Signed,

Adam B. Levine Founder, Vibesmithing v14.0 — January 2026