Crunch Digital (PRNewsfoto/Crunch Digital)
Today Crunch Digital, a music metadata management, reporting, and licensing service that bridges music rights owners with content users, is announcing the launch of the Crunch Digital Sandbox™.
The Sandbox is a music licensing platform that enables qualified app developers to include music legally from participating major and indie record labels and music publishers under short-term developer licenses – and do it faster.
The Crunch Digital Sandbox™ directly addresses the much-publicized problems and concerns surrounding music licensing, which have stymied innovation critical to new business models and new revenue streams for the music industry.
On one side, you have innovators and startups who need licenses now – because tech moves fast. On the other side, you have record labels and music publishers who are inundated with emails and pitches for licenses, all vying for their attention. It’s unrealistic to expect record labels and music publishers to take time away from their core business to quickly vet and assess the viability of all the incoming license requests. You also have investors who have been shying away from backing new music companies due to scary infringement lawsuits and high licensing transaction costs.
In making the announcement, Keith Bernstein, Founder of Crunch Digital said, “With the Crunch Digital Sandbox™, app developers can prove out their concepts and features before engaging in all-encompassing music licensing negotiations. They will have a better opportunity to gain market traction and attract potential investment for a full product launch. For record labels and music publishers, the Sandbox helps them to focus their attention on viable opportunities. For investors, they can invest in companies that show proof of concept and mitigate the concerns they have about music licensing.”
Getting started with the Sandbox is easy. Interested developers submit an application to Crunch. Crunch will vet the applications. Once an application has been approved, Crunch will work with the applicant to help present their idea to labels and publishers who are participating in the Sandbox.
Crunch will then assist developers in requesting a customized limited use license for access to catalogs, either for a period of time or until the company hits a certain success threshold. Crunch will share growth metrics with participating labels and publishers – and standout developers can start the conversation to “graduate” from the Sandbox and move up to a long-term licensing deal.
Bernstein added, “For innovators and entrepreneurs, being a part of the Sandbox gives them an invaluable opportunity to go from having no meaningful knowledge about music licensing, no meaningful connections, and probably no awareness of who to contact at labels and publishers, to working with a team of people at Crunch who can help to put them on a path to legally launch with music that will help them find an audience.”
The Sandbox will officially launch in January 2018, and Crunch is already accepting applications at www.digitalmusicsandbox.com. Record labels and music publishers can also visit the site to become a content participant. View a fun video about the Sandbox.
About Crunch Digital
crunchdigital.com
Crunch Digital is an independent technology firm based in Los Angeles, California with a long pedigree in the media & entertainment industry. Crunch Digital’s mission is to eliminate the barriers of music licensing and payments, ultimately fueling better revenue flow and reducing operating costs through streamlined workflows. We offer a full suite of solutions and services to provide a simple, affordable, compliant and reliable way to license and report the use of music content. We support content owners – including record labels and music publishers – by managing the flow of data to and from digital services. We also manage data flow for content licensees – digital service providers, multi-channel networks, game companies, app developers and mobile carriers – including royalty reporting and payments.