Rhythm Chain

Landing page
Verifications on our website

The Problem

An audio clip can ruin a life. From deepfakes to manipulated recordings, a singular altered audio clip has the power to distort our reality.

Last February, an audio recording went viral of a top political candidate in Slovakia bragging about how he rigged the election. The audio recording fueled public outrage: by the time the clip was debunked, the damage had been done.

In a world where misinformation spreads faster than the truth, verifying authenticity isn’t just important—it’s essential.

The Solution

RhythmChain validates the authenticity of any audio on the web, preventing the spread of misinformation and making verification undeniable.

RhythmChain is a revolutionary software that implements blockchain to verify the validity of any audio registered using our service.
Implemented with Solana and Next.js, through RhythmChain anyone has the power to protect their content.
From audio clips to music, RhythmChain is made for everyone who wants to verify ownership.

What It Does

RhythmChain guides users seamlessly from uploading audio to verifying its authenticity on the blockchain.

Upload Audio: Upload a music track (mp4) or paste a link to verify its originality.
Crypto Wallet Integration: Connect a Solana-compatible wallet (e.g., Phantom, Solflare) to sign and store verification records securely.
Seamless Wallet Switching: Switch between wallets within the platform, ensuring flexibility in managing assets and verification records.
Secure Watermarking: A unique fingerprint of the audio is generated. We hash each audio and use it to verify ownership of the audio. Once an original audio’s hash is on the blockchain, it cannot be mutated or replicated. This allows for verification against audio files that are altered or replicated.
Blockchain Verification: The fingerprint is checked against a decentralized registry.
Verification Certificate: Authentic tracks receive a blockchain-based proof of authenticity.
(Secure watermarking and blockchain verification are currently on the backend, and we are working on front-end integration.)
Clean User Interface: A modern UI that allows functionality without bloating the screen. Users can visually see relevant information about RhythmChain and previous verifications.

Upcoming Features

Recent Verifications Page: A public registry showcasing the latest verified tracks for each user. Currently, there is a proof of concept on the front end, but we plan on expanding it in the future.
Creator Profiles: Artists can link their works and verifications to a public profile.
Get Track Information: Allow users to get metadata and track information based on blockchain signatures.
Integration with Streaming Platforms: Verify authenticity directly within music and social media platforms.
Improved Confidence verification: Add feature for calculating accurate confidence verification when uploading a file to RhythmChain.

How We Built It

RhythmChain was developed using Solana and Next.js for a seamless user experience:

Solana: A high-performance blockchain designed for scalability, which makes it easy for applications like RhythmChain to have low-latency processing and high throughput during the audio verification process.
Immutable Verification: We process audios and create a unique hash for every audio. Once it is on the blockchain, anyone can verify the ownership of an audio clip. By being on the blockchain, it cannot be mutated.
-** Verification for Anyone**: Decentralized trust, through Solana, allows anyone to independently verify the authenticity of an audio file. This makes information free for anyone: a powerful tool in today’s internet landscape.
Our fuel and motivation: A Dance Party with Jonas from Solana and a Cucumber, free food, swag, and glow-in-the-dark entertainment from the HackIllinois organizers and sponsors!

Challenges We Ran Into

Smart Contracts with Solana: It was our first time using Solana so we faced some technical roadblocks in our initial understanding. We asked for help from the Solana Staff which led to an insightful conversation, helped us verify our idea, and learn more about the Blockchain. We also watched Solana tutorials, and read documentation to get started on the project.
Solana Sign-on: Connecting our project to Solana wallet was challenging with issues in auto wallet and connecting it to the client component. We faced challenges integrating it into our front-end but we relied on documentation and tutorials to help us through!
Integrating Solana with Front end: We faced challenges with wallet connections, fetching blockchain data, and handling transactions in real time. But were able to integrate into front end.

Next Steps

Our goal is to host RhythmChain on a scalable backend for users to start hashing and verifying their unique audio clips. We plan on adding and updating the following:

Recent Verifications Page: A public registry showcasing the latest verified tracks for each user.
Creator Profiles: Artists can link their works and verifications to a public profile.
Get Track Information: Allow users to get metadata and track information based on blockchain signatures.
Integration with Streaming Platforms: Verify authenticity directly within music and social media platforms.

What We Learned

Before this hackathon, when people said “it’s on the blockchain,” we would just smile and nod. Now that we’ve created our own app using the Solana blockchain, we feel much more confident.

Some of the things we learned were:

Understanding Blockchain: A deeper understanding of blockchain, Solana technologies, and how blockchain can be used to verify ownership.
Public and Private Keys: Learned how these keys function in blockchain transactions and how they can function within our signatures and watermarking tools.
Cryptography: Gained insight into how cryptographic methods validate ownership and authorization of transactions.