Proof of Taste: Dequency Update 3/4/22

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Think you’ve got taste? Prove it.

Last week, we published our Lite Paper, which is the “light snack” version of our more technical White Paper (which we’ll release later this year; you’ll see the White Paper before you see a token, so calm down on the “wen IDO?”). Within the Lite Paper, we introduced our Proof of Taste protocol, the basic engine by which the Dequency ecosystem is powered.

The ultimate goal of this protocol is progressive decentralization, meaning Dequency HQ isn’t gatekeeping the platform; the community is. For artists, this means that if your music appeals to the multiple “tastemakers” participating in the consensus protocol, you might have a better chance of your track being discovered and licensed. This means that the community can engage with music that is uploaded and actively curate the platform to improve the licensing experience for users (and earn unique rewards for doing so). If we were to do this in a centralized fashion, then you’d have to appeal to me (or the exec in charge of A&R)… and right now, I’m only interested in slimecore vomit step & clowncore artists.

If the last joke missed you, check the twitter thread above for a “best of” list of musical subgenres (and while you’re there, reply with your own faves!)

The Revolution Will Be Coin-Operated

Quality control at scale is a key consideration of how community members (“tastemakers”) are incentivized, earning utility token for completing tasks that ultimately improve the quality of the music available for sync & increase users’ ability to locate the perfect track for their project.

From the Lite Paper:

Tastemakers can earn tokens through various catalog curation opportunities, e.g. playlist creation, as well as quality control checks during the music upload process. Tastemakers are incentivized to provide accurate data and thoughtful feedback, as their earnings are based on public consensus in their ability to curate the catalog for maximum quality and usability.

Folks who hung with us at ETHDenver might recognize these stickers! If you missed out: I’ll send an envelope with a few stickers to the first 10 people who tweet a link to this article ;)

Does “infringement” imply the existence of “outfringement”? Anyways, this paragraph is about copyright infringement policing.

So, we’ve talked a little bit about how the music stays high-quality and discoverable… but how do we know what’s actually legally available to license? What if some asshole pulls a ton of music from Spotify and throws it up on Dequency, hoping some poor unsuspecting artist will try to license a deep-fried version of “Paint it Black” from an unverified account, naively believing that The Rolling Stones are selling $50 sync licenses on-chain?

Copyright infringement is an issue on basically every platform that allows individuals to upload content. From YouTube to TikTok to SoundCloud, people are using art they don’t own. Sometimes it’s as innocent as a screenshot of a pretty photo for a personal blog, but other times it’s a concerted attempt to profit off art that’s owned by someone else. While addressing the entire internet’s worth of copyright infringement is beyond the scope of this lil’ blog post, I do want to introduce the basic steps Dequency is taking to protect against licensors uploading music they do not own:

1. The system must require music uploaders to provide proof of identity (sorry, but this is one instance in which a little KYC goes a long way) and ownership. They’ll do this by supplying all copyright information and digitally signing a warranty acknowledging their control of the music.
2. Additionally, user-provided copyright information for newly uploaded music will be programmatically checked against public performance organization databases. Music rightsowners must address any found discrepancies before the upload is approved.
3. Finally, as part of the proof-of-taste protocol, community members will be incentivized to participate in quality control checks for new uploads to help identify copyright infringements.

Thanks for following along with the convo. Participate in the community by clicking around the beta (buy a sync license NFT!) and jumping into our Discord, where we drop alpha, answer questions in real-time, and even listen to your mixtape when we’re feeling generous. Happy Friday!

-Team Dequency