Company
Dequency
Dequency, as described on the show by Keatly Haldeman.
Episodes (1)
Keatly Haldeman, founder and CEO of Dequency, explains why online sync licensing is broken and how blockchain could fix music rights.
Questions these episodes answer
Why did Keatly Haldeman focus on building a big catalog of production and indie music rather than pitching his own songs?
Haldeman realized the odds any specific song of his gets picked by a music supervisor are close to zero, since it is a needle in a haystack, while the odds a supervisor needs some song at any given time are close to a hundred percent. So he built a catalog of easily licensable indie and production music instead of relying on his own songs.
Why is online sync licensing broken for most songwriters and rights owners today?
Haldeman says most existing online sync licensing platforms leave rights owners without approval rights over how their music is used, and without access to their own contracts and licenses. Because of that, and because service fees make bigger licenses impractical, only cheap indie or production music is realistically available to license.
How hard is it for an ordinary creator to legally license a well-known song like a Justin Bieber track?
Haldeman says licensing a well-known song like a Justin Bieber track means knowing to look up the writers and publishers through ASCAP or BMI, hoping that information is complete and accurate, then figuring out who the label is and separately negotiating with every rights owner, each of whom will want most-favored-nation terms.
What happened to Dequency's blockchain plans during the 2022 crypto downturn?
Haldeman says the 2022 collapse of Terra Luna and FTX, both large scams that removed billions of dollars from crypto, brought SEC prosecutions of token and NFT projects and dried up VC capital. By the end of that year it was no longer possible to launch a token, and the music industry itself pulled back from anything associated with crypto.
Does Keatly Haldeman still believe blockchain has a future in the music industry?
Haldeman says he remains a massive believer in crypto and blockchain and thinks the industry is on the cusp of another wave, helped by developments like the Bitcoin ETF. He believes it will take one more full wave before blockchain fully realizes its potential and gets full adoption in music.