Dubset raise $4 million to license remixes for distribution
Dubset just received a giant injection of cash from a funding round that will help them license and distribute unofficial remixes and help all artists get paid.
In a round of Series A funding led by Cue Ball Capital Dubset have been able to earn $4 million to invest in their remix analysis technology and help more artists get there music out there. This is the 3rd round of funding for the company founded in 2008, with previous investors including Rhapsody and Three Six Zero.
Dubset have made their name licensing remixes and using their technology ‘Mixbank’ to analyse songs and detect samples used, even if they’re manipulated. Mixbank then links the rights holders for all of the music used within a remix and allows every rights-holder to be paid their share of the revenues equally.
This technology means that DJs and producers who aren’t in a position to acquire the rights for the music they use in their mixes are still able to get their music out there, officially and legally. Just last year Dubset partnered with Spotify and Apple Music to allow unofficial remixes on their streaming services from indie DJs.
Dubset CEO Stephen White said: “This year will be huge in opening up this ecosystem. We have some very big labels and publishers about to join.” He continues, saying that their new $4 million in funding “allows us to scale operations to onboard the thousands of labels and publishers already signed up and get the rest on board.”
As an example of how their Mixbank technology can be used even beyond unlicensed samples, a track by Major Lazer and Bad Royale “was a huge hit and opened everyone’s eyes to the potential of the platform,” says White. The song was difficult because it featured sampled sections as well a cover of the song being sampled. White said: “They couldn’t clear it through traditional channels. We cleared it quickly through our platform and distributed to Apple, Spotify and YouTube. Millions of plays later, everyone’s happy.”
White also said: “Our investors are a diverse group that shares our belief that the music fans who love mix and remix content are a massively underserved audience who will benefit immensely from our work at Dubset. DJs are the ultimate curators and hundreds of millions of music fans all over the world are hungry for their mixes and remixes. We look forward to being able to make this amazing content available at scale.