Overview
Awen is a Milwaukee development studio that builds websites, apps, and blockchain platforms for artists, brands, and institutions. The same team also produces live events, music, and film, so a client can bring software and creative work to one studio1.
Awen's blockchain work centers on Cardano, where it helps creators and organizations restrict content to token holders, license work on-chain, and build community tools2. Principal Ian "Cullah" McCullough, a musician and software developer, leads the studio alongside Art Director Maggie "Mie" Schmidt3. Several of its own products started as grant proposals to Project Catalyst, Cardano's community-voted funding program4.
Key Features
- Blockchain features without an in-house crypto team. Awen's Web3 service covers product strategy, token gating (content that opens only for holders of a certain digital token), NFT-based fan ownership, and guidance on smart contracts (programs that run on a blockchain) and integrations2.
- Websites and apps under one roof. Awen builds custom WordPress sites and headless builds, where the content system runs separately from the page design, as well as apps and installable web apps1.
- A licensing marketplace built end to end. Awen designed and built Sync.Land, a marketplace where creators license music directly from artists, with Stripe payouts and license receipts issued as Cardano NFTs5.
- Fan ownership for musicians. Awen's own platform, Valt, lets fans collect songs as NFTs to open an artist's exclusive content, and runs on Cardano's test network6. While building Valt, Awen privately reported a login flaw in CardanoPress, a WordPress plugin for Cardano wallet sign-in, and the fix release credits the report7.
- Public code to inspect. Awen's GitHub organization hosts the code for Valt, Sync.Land, and other tools8. One of them, Cella, is open-source software that helps Cardano Constitutional Committee members (the group that checks governance proposals against Cardano's constitution) review proposals and cast votes9.
What to Expect
Organizations with a project in mind start on the Awen website's Work With Us page. You describe the idea without needing a polished brief, then have a discovery call about goals, scope, and budget. Awen follows up with a plan that sets out scope, timeline, and price10.
Cardano teams planning events will find a record of ecosystem work. Awen ran the North American community hub for Intersect, the member organization that coordinates Cardano's development and governance11. The hub held town halls and a members meeting for the Cardano community12. Awen also managed and hosted Dev & Gov Day, produced with Rare Network, the Cardano Foundation, and Intersect13.
Artists and fans can try the products directly. Sync.Land is where you browse and license songs5, and Valt is where you collect music as a fan6. Developers and curious readers can read the public repositories to see how the open-source products work8, and the studio's case studies describe selected client projects alongside its own products14.
