Grant Application
Solana Mobile Builder Grant — T.H.I.R.I. ecosystem of 12 Seeker dApps and the Cadenza on-chain royalty rail.
Solana Mobile Builder Grant Application
T.H.I.R.I. — The First Cryptographic Provenance Layer for AI-Generated Music on Solana
Applicant: Blues Prince Media
Contact: Dennison Blackett — dennison@bluesprincemedia.com
Date: April 2026
Grant Track: Rolling Builder Grant ($25K ask)
Program ID: [To be generated at mainnet deploy]
1. Executive Summary
T.H.I.R.I. (The Harmonic Intelligence & Rhythmic Interface) is an ecosystem of 12 Solana-native dApps for the Seeker dApp Store that solve a fundamental problem: AI can now generate music, but no one can prove who made it, who owns it, or who gets paid.
We’re building the settlement infrastructure beneath AI music — not another music app. Every mint, every remix, every collaboration carries cryptographic provenance through Cadenza, our on-chain royalty and licensing rail deployed as an Anchor program on Solana mainnet.
What we’ve already shipped:
- WoodShed Chord Intelligence Engine (npm, v0.1.0) — the audio analysis core
- THIRI VST plugin suite (Voice, Keys, Seq) — production tools with Stripe/Supabase licensing
- Cadenza Royalty Console — PWA with Phantom/Solflare integration, ready for Bubblewrap → APK
- Technical specification for the Cadenza Anchor program (5 account schemas, 14 instructions)
What we’re building with this grant:
- Player THIRI — mobile music player with real-time harmonic analysis and on-chain provenance
- Cadenza on-chain program — the royalty/licensing rail that every app settles through
- Artist Fingerprint SDK — open-source, the public good component
What makes this different from every other music-on-blockchain pitch: We don’t ask musicians to learn crypto. We give them tools they already want (key detection, chord analysis, stem splitting, ear training), and the on-chain provenance layer runs silently underneath. The wallet is the login. The blockchain is the receipt. The musician never sees either — they just see their music is protected.
2. Problem Statement
The $0.003 Problem
Spotify pays artists $0.003 per stream. At 1,000 streams/day — more than most independent artists achieve — that’s $3/day, $90/month. Meanwhile, AI-generated music is flooding every platform, trained on these artists’ work, paying them nothing.
The Provenance Gap
When Suno generates a track “in the style of” an artist, there is no:
- Cryptographic proof of the original artist’s influence
- Automated royalty split to the training data source
- On-chain record that the derivative exists
- Licensing mechanism the artist controls
The Infrastructure Missing Piece
Existing solutions (Sound.xyz, Audius, Royal) focus on distribution — getting music to listeners. They don’t solve the settlement layer — proving who made what, who influenced what, and who gets paid when derivatives are created.
Cadenza is that settlement layer.
3. Technical Architecture
3.1 The Stack
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ CONSUMER APPS │
│ Key Finder · Chord Analyzer · Stem Splitter · │
│ Ear Trainer · Player THIRI · Key Transposer · │
│ Setlist Planner │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ COMMERCE APPS │
│ Mint Studio · Royalty Console · Collab Split · │
│ Fan Market │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ CADENZA (Solana Anchor Program) │
│ PublisherNFT · CadenzaRecord · SplitConfig · │
│ LicenseGrant · FingerprintRef │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ WOODSHED INTELLIGENCE ENGINE │
│ Chord parsing · Voicing · Reharmonization · │
│ Scale analysis · Fingerprinting │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ SOLANA BLOCKCHAIN │
│ Metaplex Core · SPL Token · Anchor │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘3.2 Cadenza — The On-Chain Program
Cadenza is a single Anchor program providing three core operations:
Mint — Create a music asset with cryptographic provenance. Every mint writes a CadenzaRecord PDA containing music-specific metadata (key signature, tempo, genre, WoodShed fingerprint hash, licensing terms, royalty basis points). Uses Metaplex Core for the NFT standard.
Split — Automate royalty distribution. A SplitConfig PDA defines up to 10 recipients with basis-point allocations that must sum to 10,000. Splits can be locked (made immutable). Distribution is permissionless — anyone can crank the distribute_split instruction.
License — Grant on-chain usage rights. A LicenseGrant PDA records that wallet X has licensed asset Y under specific terms (personal, commercial, derivative, sync, unlimited). Payments flow through the split config if one exists.
Full specification: CADENZA_SPEC.md — 5 account schemas, 14 instructions, TypeScript SDK surface, security model, fee structure.
3.3 WoodShed — The Intelligence Engine
WoodShed is the proprietary audio intelligence engine (npm: @bluesprince/woodshed-engine, v0.1.0). It provides:
- Chord parsing — any chord symbol → root, intervals, semitones, MIDI notes
- Voice leading — intelligent voicing with voice-leading optimization
- Scale analysis — chord → compatible scales with modal context
- Reharmonization — algorithmic chord substitution (tritone subs, modal interchange, chromatic mediants)
- Style intelligence — genre-aware voicing and tempo preferences
- Fingerprinting — SHA-256 hash of accumulated harmonic analysis data
WoodShed data feeds directly into Cadenza:
| WoodShed Output | Cadenza Field |
|---|---|
| Key detection result | CadenzaRecord.key_signature |
| Tempo analysis | CadenzaRecord.tempo_bpm |
| Harmonic fingerprint | CadenzaRecord.fingerprint_hash |
| Style classification | CadenzaRecord.genre |
3.4 Artist Fingerprint SDK (Open Source)
The public good component. The Fingerprint SDK captures a musician’s harmonic identity across every app interaction:
- Every Key Finder analysis feeds voicing tendencies
- Every Chord Analyzer session feeds harmonic preferences
- Every Ear Trainer drill feeds interval recognition patterns
- Every Player THIRI recording feeds performance characteristics
The aggregate creates a cryptographic fingerprint — a SHA-256 hash anchored on-chain via FingerprintRef — that proves artistic identity without revealing proprietary training data.
License: MIT (open source) Proprietary boundary: WoodShed engine stays proprietary. The Fingerprint SDK provides the extraction and hashing layer only.
3.5 Seeker-Specific Integration
All apps are built for the Solana Seeker and use:
- Mobile Wallet Adapter (MWA) — wallet connection without browser extensions
- Seed Vault — hardware-backed key storage for transaction signing
- dApp Store — distribution via Bubblewrap-packaged PWAs and React Native apps
- On-device ML inference — audio analysis runs locally (quantized ONNX models), no server round-trips for Key Finder, Chord Analyzer, or Stem Splitter
4. The 12-App Ecosystem
Ship Sequence (May 5 → August 11, 2026)
| Week | App | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Mainnet Foundation | Deploy Cadenza program; mint Publisher NFT |
| 1 | Mint Studio | Musician entry point — mint music NFTs with Cadenza metadata |
| 2 | Royalty Console | Dashboard for viewing royalty earnings and NFT portfolio |
| 3 | Collab Split | Automated royalty splits between collaborators |
| 4 | Stem Splitter | Upload → 4-stem separation (vocals, drums, bass, other) |
| 5 | Key Finder | 10 seconds of audio → detected key (the wedge app) |
| 6 | Chord Analyzer | Record audio → real-time chord progression timeline |
| 7 | Ear Trainer | Duolingo-style interval and chord recognition drills |
| 8 | Player THIRI ⭐ | Mobile player with harmonic analysis + on-chain provenance |
| 9 | Key Transposer | Transpose audio/sheet music to any key (free for Seeker) |
| 10 | Setlist Planner | Analyze key flow, tempo, duration; suggest reorderings |
| 11 | Fan Market | Two-sided marketplace for music NFT licensing |
| 12 | Skill Logger | Cross-app identity — feeds WoodShed fingerprint registry |
Why This Order
- Cadenza apps first (Weeks 0–3) — cheaper to build, proves Solana mainnet integration
- THIRI intelligence apps (Weeks 4–8) — each is a standalone value prop AND a data ingestion point
- Player THIRI at Week 8 — by then, 7 live dApps with real on-chain transactions back the grant submission
- Marketplace + identity last (Weeks 9–12) — Fan Market needs 10 weeks of Mint Studio supply; Skill Logger needs usage data to unify
5. Player THIRI — The Grant Submission App
What It Is
A mobile music player for the Solana Seeker that adds two capabilities no other player has:
-
Real-time harmonic analysis — as music plays, the WoodShed engine identifies key, chords, tempo, and structure in real time. Displayed as an overlay on the player UI.
-
On-chain provenance — every track played through Player THIRI can be minted with a
CadenzaRecordcontaining its harmonic fingerprint. Remixes carry provenance back to the original. Licensing is one tap.
What Makes It Seeker-Native
- Seed Vault signing — every provenance mint is signed through the Seeker’s hardware-backed key storage
- MWA connection — wallet connects without browser extensions; Phantom or Solflare
- On-device inference — harmonic analysis runs on the Seeker’s processor, not a remote server
- dApp Store distribution — not a sideload; a first-class dApp Store listing
User Flow
1. User opens Player THIRI on Seeker
2. Connects wallet via MWA (one-time)
3. Plays a track (local file or stream)
4. WoodShed engine analyzes in real-time:
→ Key: Bb minor
→ Tempo: 92 BPM
→ Chords: Bbm7 → Ebm7 → Ab7 → Dbmaj7
5. User taps "Mint Provenance" (optional)
6. CadenzaRecord created on-chain:
→ fingerprint_hash (SHA-256 of harmonic analysis)
→ key_signature, tempo_bpm, genre
→ audio_uri (Arweave permalink)
→ license_type (artist's choice)
7. If remixed → derivative CadenzaRecord links to original
8. If licensed → LicenseGrant PDA + SOL payment through SplitConfig6. Milestones
Milestone 1 — Infrastructure Proven (Week 3, ~May 26)
Deliverable: Cadenza Anchor program deployed to Solana mainnet. Publisher NFT minted. Three Cadenza dApps (Mint Studio, Royalty Console, Collab Split) live on the Seeker dApp Store. Metric: >50 on-chain transactions across the three apps. Verification: Program explorer link, dApp Store listings, transaction log.
Milestone 2 — Mobile ML Inference Shipped (Week 6, ~Jun 16)
Deliverable: Three THIRI intelligence apps (Stem Splitter, Key Finder, Chord Analyzer) running on-device audio ML inference on the Solana Seeker. Metric: Seed Vault integration verified; <2s inference latency on Key Finder. Verification: APK packages, inference benchmark, Seed Vault signature log.
Milestone 3 — Player THIRI Live (Week 8, ~Jun 30)
Deliverable: Player THIRI shipped to dApp Store. Mobile music player with real-time harmonic analysis, on-chain provenance via Cadenza, and Phantom/Solflare wallet connection. Metric: First cryptographic provenance mint of AI-generated music on Solana. Verification: dApp Store listing, CadenzaRecord on explorer, demo video.
Milestone 4 — Full Ecosystem + Identity Layer (Week 12, ~Aug 11)
Deliverable: All 12 dApps live. Skill Logger unifies cross-app usage into a single on-chain musician identity. Fan Market two-sided marketplace operational. Metric: >100 minted assets on Cadenza; >500 total on-chain transactions. Verification: Program analytics, dApp Store listings, Skill Logger profile demo.
7. Budget
Requested: $25,000
Every dollar maps to a capability gap that cannot be filled with existing resources. Blues Prince Media self-funds ~$7,000/year in SaaS tooling (Supabase, Vercel, Railway, n8n, AI subscriptions, domains) and covers all living expenses through active retainer income. This grant buys infrastructure, not runway.
Hardware — $6,250
| Item | Amount | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| NVIDIA DGX Spark | $3,999 | 128GB unified memory, 1 petaFLOP FP4. Sovereign AI training — WoodShed fingerprint models, ONNX quantization for Seeker on-device inference, MusicGen fine-tuning. Model weights never leave owned hardware. |
| Mac Mini M4 Pro | $1,799 | 48GB unified memory, always-on agentic host. Runs Ollama inference, n8n orchestration, local Supabase, and monitoring agents 24/7 — separate from the dev machine to prevent resource contention. |
| Solana Seeker #2 | $450 | Dedicated development/testing device. Stays plugged in running debug builds while the primary Seeker remains a clean user device. |
Cloud Compute (6 months) — $5,400
The DGX Spark handles daily training locally. Cloud burst covers jobs that exceed local capacity — large-scale fingerprint model training, hyperparameter sweeps, and production ONNX export runs.
| Item | Amount | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| H100 GPU hours | $3,585 | ~1,500 hrs @ $2.39/hr (RunPod Secure Cloud) — model training overflow |
| A100 GPU hours | $1,045 | ~750 hrs @ $1.39/hr (RunPod Community) — inference tuning, quantization |
| Storage & egress | $770 | Checkpoints, datasets, model artifacts across 6 months |
Solana Infrastructure (6 months) — $3,350
| Item | Amount | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Helius RPC Pro | $1,500 | Dedicated mainnet + devnet endpoints, 6 months @ $250/mo |
| Arweave permanent storage | $1,000 | Audio URIs and CadenzaRecord metadata for ~750 mints |
| Solana mainnet deployment | $750 | Program deploy rent, transaction costs, Publisher NFT mint |
| Apple Developer Program | $100 | Required for any iOS/Seeker wrapper builds |
Security — $2,000
| Item | Amount | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Freelance Anchor security review | $1,500 | Experienced Solana developer, 2–3 day focused review of Cadenza (5 PDAs, 14 instructions). Supplements existing security tooling already in possession. |
| Remediation follow-up | $500 | One review pass after fixes are applied |
Design & dApp Store Assets — $2,000
| Item | Amount | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 12 app icon sets | $800 | dApp Store-ready (512×512 + adaptive), consistent brand language |
| Store listing assets | $600 | Screenshots, feature graphics for each dApp Store submission |
| Player THIRI marketing asset | $300 | Hero visual for grant submission and build.thiri.ai |
| Revision rounds | $300 | Two rounds of feedback per deliverable |
Contingency — $1,000
Price fluctuations, shipping, unexpected infrastructure costs, Seeker hardware refresh.
Budget Summary
| Category | Amount | % |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware (DGX Spark + Mac Mini + Seeker) | $6,250 | 25% |
| Cloud Compute Burst (6 months) | $5,400 | 22% |
| Solana Infrastructure (6 months) | $3,350 | 13% |
| Security Review | $2,000 | 8% |
| Design & dApp Store Assets | $2,000 | 8% |
| Contingency | $1,000 | 4% |
| Total | $20,000 | 80% |
| Extended runway buffer | $5,000 | 20% |
| Grant ask | $25,000 | 100% |
The $5,000 buffer covers: additional cloud compute if training runs exceed estimates, Helius RPC extension beyond 6 months, a second security review pass post-launch, and unforeseen Solana ecosystem costs (e.g., priority fees during congestion).
Self-Funded Offsets (Not in the Grant)
Blues Prince Media independently funds the following at ~$585/month ($7,020/year):
| Item | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase Pro | $100 | $1,200 |
| Lovable | $100 | $1,200 |
| Claude Max | $100 | $1,200 |
| HeyGen | $60 | $720 |
| Gemini Ultra | $25 | $300 |
| ChatGPT Plus | $20 | $240 |
| Vercel Pro | $20 | $240 |
| Tailscale | $20 | $240 |
| Railway | $20 | $240 |
| n8n | $20 | $240 |
| Domains (amortized) | ~$80 | $960 |
| Total | ~$585 | ~$7,020 |
Revenue Offsets
The ecosystem generates revenue from Day 1:
- Mint Studio: 0.01 SOL per mint
- Collab Split: 1% of disbursements
- Fan Market: 2.5% of secondary sales
- THIRI apps: $4.99/mo freemium upgrades
Conservative Month 1 estimate: $500–$1,200 MRR. Post-grant (Month 6): $5,000–$12,000 MRR.
8. Team
Dennison Blackett — Founder & Solo Builder
- Full-stack engineer specializing in Solana, TypeScript, Rust, and audio/ML
- Built and shipped: WoodShed engine, THIRI VST suite, THIRI API (Stripe/Supabase), Cadenza Royalty Console
- Published npm package:
@bluesprince/woodshed-engine - Blues Prince Media — multi-vertical creative technology company
- Previously: production tools for Ableton Live (Push 3 integration, groove analysis)
What’s Already Built (Proof of Execution)
| Component | Status | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| WoodShed Chord Intelligence Engine | ✅ Shipped v0.1.0 | npm registry, 18 source files, vitest suite |
| THIRI VST Plugin Suite (Voice, Keys, Seq) | ✅ Shipped v1.2 | VST3/AU binaries, Stripe licensing |
| THIRI API (license backend) | ✅ Live on Vercel | 4 REST endpoints, Supabase + Stripe |
| Cadenza Royalty Console | ✅ Built (PWA) | Phantom/Solflare integration |
| Cadenza Technical Spec | ✅ Complete | 5 accounts, 14 instructions, full IDL |
| Execution Plan | ✅ Complete | 12-app roadmap with week-by-week gates |
| Monorepo Scaffold | ✅ Complete | 15 directories with READMEs |
9. Why Solana, Why Seeker, Why Now
Why Solana
- Transaction cost: $0.00025 per mint makes per-track provenance economically viable. Ethereum/L2s make this 10–100× more expensive.
- Speed: 400ms finality means provenance mints in Player THIRI feel instant — no “waiting for confirmation” while music plays.
- Metaplex Core: Purpose-built NFT standard that reduces account rent by ~80% vs. Token Metadata.
Why Seeker
- Seed Vault: Hardware-backed signing means a musician’s provenance mints are as secure as their device. No browser extension attack surface.
- MWA: Wallet connection that works like Bluetooth pairing — musicians don’t need to understand private keys.
- dApp Store: Curated distribution without Apple/Google’s 30% take or content policy risk. Music apps are chronically under-served on mobile.
- On-device compute: The Seeker’s processor handles ONNX inference for Key Finder and Chord Analyzer locally. No server costs, no latency, no privacy concerns.
Why Now
- Suno hit 12M users in 2025. AI-generated music is mainstream.
- No one has solved provenance. The conversation is still “should AI music exist?” when it should be “who gets paid when it does?”
- Seeker ships to early adopters who are crypto-native AND creative. That’s our exact user. First-mover advantage in the dApp Store music category is real and available right now.
10. Open Source Commitment
| Component | License |
|---|---|
| Artist Fingerprint SDK | MIT |
| Cadenza TypeScript SDK | MIT |
| Cadenza IDL (Anchor) | MIT |
| WoodShed Engine | Proprietary (Blues Prince Media) |
| App source code | Proprietary |
The Fingerprint SDK and Cadenza client libraries are fully open source. Any developer can build apps that read/write Cadenza accounts and compute artist fingerprints. The intelligence engine (WoodShed) and consumer apps remain proprietary — this is the sustainable business model.
11. Links
- Repository: github.com/bluesprincemedia/THIRI
- Website: thiri.ai
- WoodShed Engine: npmjs.com/package/@bluesprince/woodshed-engine
- Cadenza Spec: CADENZA_SPEC.md
- Execution Plan: SEEKER_EXECUTION_PLAN.md
- Contact: dennison@bluesprincemedia.com
Blues Prince Media · April 2026