Dequency launches music rights portal to create the first open, two-sided sync licensing marketplace

07 July 2022 - Press release

 

Decentralized music licensing marketplace allows owners to set fees; eliminates third parties from music licensing transactions to increase speed of payment, reduce costs.

Dequency has today launched its web3-powered music licensing marketplace, opening its portal to music rightsholders everywhere, having completed a 4-month restricted beta phase.

Dequency is building a unique, decentralized music licensing marketplace for music rightsholders and visual creators to connect, collaborate, and transact directly with one another.

Built on Algorand, the marketplace is the only option for on-chain sync licensing for blockchain-native content such as motion-visual digital art, NFT projects, games, and metaverse productions.

Analogous to Bitcoin's trustless digital payments, Dequency eliminates third parties from music licensing transactions to increase speed of payment, reduce fees, and give control of the system to market participants.

Dequency CEO Keatly Haldeman said: "We use web3 tools such as smart contracts and cryptocurrency, not to be part of the hype cycle, but because this technology enables unprecedented efficiency and control for licensing transactions and payment."

Prior to today, Dequency released a beta product with a limited seed catalog available to license.

Today's v1.0 launch creates a two-sided marketplace, allowing any music rightsholder that owns both the recording and publishing rights of a track to license their music directly to a licensee without an intermediary in between the transaction.

Music rights owners that use the Dequency marketplace are also able to set their own licensing fees, making this a first of its kind proposition for an online sync platform.

Dequency executed the first ever sync license on a public blockchain last year when Late Night People by Goldfish ft. Soweto Kinch was licensed through the platform's SmartSync contract for use in Algorand's Decipher conference, which was held in Miami, Florida last November.

The company raised $4.5 million via an investment round led by Borderless Capital in February this year.

About the v1.0 launch, Haldeman said: "Our goal is to create a decentralized sync marketplace where artists and music rightsholders control their online licensing experience, thereby attracting the most discerning creators and copyright owners. Audio-visual content creators benefit from a uniquely diverse and elevated catalog of music with easy licensing for their projects. Today, we're one step closer to our vision becoming reality."

Black Dave, a musician and thought leader in web3 music, and an early adopter of Dequency said: "Using web3 technology to purchase, track and pay for licenses for music is absolutely the future. Automating this process as much as possible via the blockchain allows for a new era of democratization of sync licensing, and I'm very excited to be a part of it."

Among Dequency's earliest supporters, electronic music duo Goldfish said: "We have always strived to make music that is unique and finally we have a platform that suits our quest!"