Creating the soundtrack to the metaverse

Dequency aims to build a platform that eliminates third parties from music licensing transactions to increase the speed of payment, reduce fees, and give control of the system to market participants. The Dequency platform will enable music and visual creators to connect and collaborate on NFT art and metaverse content more easily.

Initially catering to on-chain content such as motion graphic NFT projects, video games and metaverse productions, Dequency wants to showcase recording artists offering their music to license and facilitate communication between the parties to foster community. With the ultimate goal of creating a fully-decentralised, trustless music licensing marketplace, Dequency will also provide creators income-generating opportunities with minimum fees and instant payment.

All visual productions that use music require a synchronisation licence (AKA “sync licence”) negotiated between the copyright owner of a piece of music and the party seeking to use the music. The license permits the synchronisation of copyrighted music to any other type of content. 

Dequency believes that blockchain technology has the power to revolutionise the market for music licensing and create more opportunities for artists. The company wanted to build on Algorand, a blockchain that is known for its environmentally friendly “pure proof of stake” consensus mechanism. Algorand offers quick, efficient and secure transactions on its blockchain.

Shortly after the MVP was created, Dequency made history by executing the first-ever sync licence on a public blockchain. “Late Night People” by Goldfish ft. Soweto Kinch was licenced through Dequency’s SmartSync contract for use in Algorand’s Decipher conference, held in late 2021. 

In early 2022, Dequency was also able to raise $4.5 million through an investment round led by Borderless Capital to further build out the marketplace. The funding will go toward building out Dequency’s peer-to-peer function, enabling music creators to upload their work to the platform and directly license for use in visual art projects. 

DEPT® is currently working with Dequency on phase two of the project, focused on enabling music creators and rights owners to host their catalog on Dequency and work directly with visual creators looking to purchase the rights to use music in their projects. 

When Dequency fully launches, the marketplace will be the only option to license music on-chain for blockchain-native content such as motion-visual NFT projects, games, and metaverse productions.