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BitTorrent offers grants for budding artists

The Discovery Fund is BitTorrent's way of fostering its own content.

Phil Hunt via Getty Images

BitTorrent doesn't just want to rely on ready-made content from big-name artists and well-funded indies to fuel its constant distribution dreams -- it's contributing to the projects themselves. The company is launching the Discovery Fund to give movie makers, musicians and other creators the money they need to get their work off the ground. A total of 25 promising artists will get between $2,500 to $100,000 to help distribute and market their wares. Producers maintain control, BitTorrent's Straith Schreder says -- this is just about finding a "global audience."

Of course, this isn't purely act of generosity. The more original material BitTorrent gets, the more chances it has at landing an exclusive (or at least, a first-on-BitTorrent release) that gives you a reason to try out its peer-to-peer distribution technology. It also helps show that the company isn't just catering to established artists trying to stick it to the system. In theory, BitTorrent is for anyone who has an artistic vision they want to share without handing power to someone else.