In February, Keatly Haldeman announced that he was exiting his role as CEO of Riptide Music to launch a Web3 music sync licensing platform, called Dequency.
He also revealed that the startup had raised $4.5 million via an investment round led by Borderless Capital.
Dequency has now come out of its restricted beta phase, during which it says it had a “limited seed catalog available to license”.
The startup claims that this week’s “v1.0 launch” creates a “two-sided marketplace”, by “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”.
Dequency claims further to have 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.
Built on the Algorand blockchain, Dequency claims to be, “the only option for on-chain sync licensing for blockchain-native content such as motion-visual digital art, NFT projects, games, and metaverse productions”.
Founded by cryptographer Silvio Micali, Algorand is an open-source public blockchain based on what Dequency says is “a pure proof-of-stake consensus protocol that supports quick, efficient, and secure transactions anywhere in the world”.
Dequency was founded in early 2021 by Haldeman and two other music industry veterans: George Howard and Mark Ross.
Haldeman is the former CEO of Riptide Music Group, a publishing company and record label specializing in the synchronization of music to picture.
“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.”
Keatly Haldeman, Dequency
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.
“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.”
Music Business Worldwide