June 7th, 2022, 12:00 pm PT / Category: Interviews
How can decentralized music licensing catalyze artistic collaboration?
Keatly Haldeman, Co-Founder and CEO of Dequency, has played in rock bands since he was 11 years old. After a stint as an EDM producer and composer for TV, film, advertising and video games, Keatly became a founding partner and CEO of Riptide Music Group, a publishing company and record label specializing in the synchronization of music to picture. Riptide’s roster includes songs by artists such as Major Lazer, Foster The People, Selena Gomez, Migos, Quavo, Ziggy Marley, Big Gigantic, Black Flag, The Turtles, and Fatboy Slim.
Keatly’s crypto “red pill” moment happened when he fully understood the power of smart contracts to remove intermediaries in real-world transactions and the benefits to society that result. He realized that a decentralized protocol could simplify synchronization licensing and empower music rightsholders in the same way bitcoin streamlines digital payments. Shortly after that, he and co-founder George Howard wrote Dequency’s white paper, secured a grant from the Algorand Foundation and raised $4.5 million from a group of investors, including Borderless Capital, Endeavor Entertainment, Steve Kokinos (CEO Algorand), Vinny Lingham (Co-Founder & former CEO Civic), Lyndon Rive (Co-Founder & CEO Solar City), Peter Rive (Co-Founder & CTO Solar City), Kimbal Musk (Founder Big Green DAO, board member SpaceX & Tesla), and Tosca Musk (Founder & CEO Passionflix).
