Sound.xyz is revolutionizing the music industry by addressing two critical challenges: the concentration of streaming revenue among top artists and the inadequate compensation per stream. As they scale their platform to empower artists and build stronger community connections, their technical infrastructure needs have evolved significantly, particularly in API management and service architecture.

Background

Sound.xyz was founded with a mission to transform the economics of music streaming. The platform aims to address two fundamental problems in the current music industry:

  • The extreme concentration of attention, where 90% of streams go to just 1% of artists
  • The unsustainable economics of streaming, where artists earn only $0.003 per stream

The company’s vision centers on creating a more equitable music ecosystem that properly values artistic content and enables artists to build sustainable careers.

Sound.xyz: Discover new music and prove you were there first

Challenges

Sound.xyz implemented a sophisticated GraphQL-based architecture with the following key components:

  1. Scale and Complexity

    • Moved from a monolithic structure to a microservices architecture
    • Enabled independent service scaling and development
    • Maintained service autonomy while ensuring cohesive API experience

  2. GraphQL Implementation

    • Adopted GraphQL as the primary API layer for all clients
    • Implemented GraphQL stitching to combine multiple service schemas
    • Utilized Hive as the central source of truth for the GraphQL gateway

  3. Schema Management

    Selected Hive as their GraphQL management platform due to:

    • Existing integration with GraphQL Inspector
    • Comprehensive schema management capabilities
    • Built-in analytics and monitoring
    • Breaking change detection and prevention

Implementation

Sound.xyz’s implementation journey began with a monolithic GraphQL API that served as the foundation for their platform. As the platform grew, they systematically decomposed this monolith into microservices, implementing GraphQL stitching to maintain a unified API interface. The integration of Hive came as a natural progression, building upon their existing GraphQL Inspector implementation and providing additional tools for schema management and API monitoring. This phased approach allowed them to maintain service stability while gradually transitioning to a more scalable architecture.

Hive gives us great developer experience and observability over our GraphQL API.

Vignesh HirudayakanthSound.xyz

Results and Benefits

The implementation provided Sound.xyz with several key advantages:

  1. Developer Experience
    • Unified schema management
    • Consistent API documentation
    • Improved development velocity
  2. Operational Efficiency
    • Centralized API monitoring
    • Automated breaking change detection
    • Reduced maintenance overhead
  3. Platform Scalability
    • Independent service scaling
    • Flexible architecture for new features
    • Improved system reliability

Automated Breaking Change Detection

Configure and utilize automated breaking change detection to identify and address schema changes before they impact your API consumers. Ensure seamless updates and maintain API reliability with this step-by-step guide.

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Lessons Learned

Schema Management is Critical: Centralized schema management becomes increasingly important as the number of services grows. Tool Selection Matters: Choosing Hive early provided built-in solutions for common challenges. Architecture Evolution: Starting with a monolith and gradually transitioning to microservices allowed for controlled growth.

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Effortlessly manage schemas, track versions, and automate change notifications to ensure reliable and scalable GraphQL APIs.

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Future Considerations

As Sound.xyz continues to grow, they are well-positioned to:

  • Scale their microservice architecture further
  • Add new features and services independently
  • Support an expanding developer ecosystem
  • Maintain API stability while innovating rapidly

Conclusion

Sound.xyz’s implementation of a GraphQL-based architecture, managed through Hive, demonstrates how modern API management tools can support rapid growth while maintaining stability and developer experience. Their approach provides a valuable template for other organizations facing similar challenges in scaling their API infrastructure.

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