To get a better idea of what the Selene Network is, it is worth understanding what it was modeled after, so you can draw comparisons to things you already understand.
The model
The Selene Network is modeled after a modern-day department store. Think of it as a store with multiple entrances, a bunch of specialty departments and products. Those departments have sales representatives and managers. On the shelf are the products of all different types.
When buying a product, you can take it to any register in the store. If a sales agent served you, the casher will usually ask who that was so they can be credited for the sale.
The products are created outside the store by the product creators. Each product has it’s own reason for existing and appeals to different types of customers. Some products are hard to sell, others easy – thus different profit margins.
Yet all of this comes together to form a store.
The logical components
The Selene Network simulates this functionality in a virtual way so anyone can shop for any product that is listed and shop on websites that specialize in particular content.
Think of the Selene Network core code (which is a free download which is installed on websites) as the place where you enter the store. The store looks like and functions the way you’re expecting across multiple websites.
Also think of the different websites as being specialty areas in the store. They will display the items that they are most interested in. The website chooses what to show you, or better yet, what they are selling. These websites also act like salesmen in that they show/teach you about the products.
In the store, any product can be purchased at any register(website) and the sales representative is credited for the sale. This functionality is partly hidden in that you modify the URL to contain the agent id and/or add the contract that you’re interested in. But, the money is handled at the blockchain level, thus any website interacts on the till in the same way – following the same rules.
The Players
You don’t need a store unless you have a product.
The product is a Selene Network compatible NFT smart contract. This can be a Theta Video API token gated NFT, a DRM Anything NFT, a custom designed NFT or whatever. Anyone can create content and launch it to the blockchain. When they do, the high-level code will be able to interface with it. Effectively, the NFT is the product for the virtual store and the act of launching it on-chain makes it available in the store.
The person that creates a product is the content creator. The wallet associated with the content creator is considered the owner of the project and the one that holds the property rights to the creation. It is the titled person. It is the person that brings value to market.
Because every product is different, the content creator defines what they offer, chooses a price and assigns the appropriate sales commissions.
It’s hard to sell a product if there are no sales people.
The registered agents in the network act as the sales people. For digital products like this, it makes sense that they are people that have a voice and/or following. It would be expected that they would have social media followings on different platforms – or a sales technique that get them in front of customers.
Because the act of minting requires an agent id, the code is designed to support sales agents with URLs that include the link. The idea is, the agent might be a YouTube social media influencer that has agent id 4242. If they talk about an item, they would simply add “agent=4242” to the link that they build to the product. When the customer mints, the agent is credited with the sale.
The managers of the sales agents
It makes sense to have people that are good at organizing sales teams as the owner of an Agent NFT. Partner agents (sales people) get registered to the Agent NFT.
With this being said, the Agent NFT holder (Founding Agent) is the one responsible for building out their sales team. Because they get a cut of the sales through their registered agents, it makes sense for the Agent NFT holder to register the best salesmen that they can. The goal would be to optimize the cashflow through their registered agents.
Being an Agent NFT holder is like being the manager of a sales team. It’s up to you to help your team shine.
The end result
The process of using the Selene Network more closely resembles shopping in a store than trading in a marketplace. Once you really focus on how a store operates, you’ll see similarities in the design.
The key difference is that the money trades between the customer and the product creator and in the process, the sales people are rewarded. There is no central repository for holding money nor is there anyone that can block you from interacting with the product NFT.
