Sync.Land - Metaverse & Video Game Music Licensing

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Ian McCullough

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

mc@cullah.com

Additional applicants

None

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

6

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.” .

No dependencies

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

Project will be be fully open source.

[METADATA] Category of Proposal

dApp

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

How do we perceive the problem?

Copyright law requires when music is "synced" to a visual media, such as a video NFT, metaverse, video game, film, etc, the creator of that visual media is required to obtain permission and approval from the music rightsholder. This agreement for approval and permission is what is known as a synchronization license.

With the rise of UGC (User generated content) showing no signs of slowing down as well as video game and other video content becoming more accessible, it is more important than ever that musicians rights are protected and they works get properly licensed and paid for.

Like many other areas of the music industry, there is a huge lack of transparency and trust. Musicians often encounter predatory agencies, large fees from middlemen, and slow payment-times - sometimes never getting paid!

What is our proposed solution?

What we are proposing is for the team at Firebird Media to build a peer-to-peer marketplace and API to decentralize the listing, discovery, negotiation, and issuance of music licensing for music synchronization.

What the dApp and API will do:

• Listing / Discovery - a marketplace where artists are able to list their assets and be discovered
• Transact the issuance of the sync license
• Synchronization license from a publisher/songwriter, allowing to exploit the original composition and lyrics
• Master use license from a record label/recording artists, allowing to synchronize the sound recording
• Parameterize sync license scope. Each relevant area of scope in a sync license will be parameterized by the rights-holder. This incudes:

1. Term
2. Territory
3. Nature of Use
4. Cost
5. Marketplace tools

• Build extendibility in the protocol so that we can implement other features such as:

1. Smart contract enforcement
2. Offers / negotiation
3. Bidding
4. PWYW (pay-what-you-want) or other variable rate models

What will be the result?

The decentralization of sync licensing using Cardano. The protocol will enable the artists, builders, and licensors (filmmakers, indie game developers, etc) to issue and approve sync licenses. This will allow fees to stay low and middlemen to remain at a minimum.

Who will your project engage?

• Licensor - Musician / label / publisher / music rights-holder
• Licensee - Video game company / filmmaker / metaverse project / podcast / ad agency / content creator / streamer / etc
• Developer / Builder

How you will demonstrate or prove your impact?

To demonstrate and prove the impact, we can measure it quantitatively by the number of users, the number of sync license issued, the number of minutes of songs synced, and the amount of volume and value transacted and paid to musicians.

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

The impact of the successful delivery of this proposal will ultimately increase the number products available for the community to use that help to enrich the ecosystem - with new use case for the uses of music in visual media including film & video, video games, metaverse projects, streaming, podcasts, and more.

This will give more reasons people have to interact with the Cardano blockchain that can help further drive more adoption, feedback and further innovation. The successful funding and delivery of this proposal will provide a better alternative over current centralized providers.

According to Songtradr & Digital Music News 2022 Global Sync Licensing Report,

"Despite production obstacles stemming from the pandemic, digital advertising spending grew by double digits in 2020 . And following estimated growth of 25% for the overarching U.S. ad industry in 2021, at a total of about $284.3 billion, the market is predicted to crack $300 billion in the U.S. and $700 billion globally in 2022."

With virtually every visual-media segment poised to continue growing, all signs suggest that demand for high quality music will be greater than ever. This means music synchronization industry has a vast potential for intersegment exposure - the audiovisual interaction and collaboration between many large industries including: film, video games, advertisement, and metaverse.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

The project's impact on Cardano's productivity and long-term growth can be measured through increased adoption in the metrics of number of total syncs and total volume of sales, expanded use cases in metaverses and video games, and positive user feedback.

As part of our project's success measurement, we aim to gather valuable insights through user feedback and customer surveys.

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

The outputs of this program will be shared in the Firebird Media social media channels including:

• Twitter
• Discord
• Instagram
• Github

They will also be shared at IRL meetups, conventions, and other events.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

Transparency

To ensure trust and accountability, we maintain a transparent and collaborative approach with clear deliverables and financial reports (including cost breakdowns and on-chain transaction history) for each project milestone. 

For each milestone, we will include regular communication, sharing project updates, and actively soliciting feedback. This open line of communication fosters trust and ensures that all parties are engaged throughout the integration process.

MVP

Our project already has a MVP (minimum viable product) with a roster of musicians and synchronization licenses issued. This MVP has provided the team with valuable insights and has played a crucial role in building a consumer-ready product by providing feedback and validation from users and insights already gathered that will cut down on costs and time efficiency.

Expert Team

Firebird Media cofounder, Project Catalyst proposer, and musician Ian McCullough (Cullah) has established a trusted reputation as a pioneer in internet technology for music distribution by leading decentralized music communities using p2p networks and open licensing frameworks for 10+ years. He has placed his music using synchronization music licenses in over 10,000+ projects and has a vast domain expertise in music synchronization. McCullough has been evangelizing web3 technology for musicians by speaking and performing at web3 conferences such as Rarebloom, CNFTCon, University of Illinois Blockchain Summit, MusicTech Catalyst, Music District, NFT.NYC, NFTLES, Cyphercon, and more.

Firebird Media cofounder Blackbird has established a strong reputation for technical expertise in building on the Cardano blockchain with leading custom development and integration for well-known projects in the Cardano ecosystem through his agency Dropshop.sh and architecting a next-gen NFT headless marketplace codenamed Floorless.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

Main Goals

1. Develop marketplace for listing, selling, and issuing synchronization licenses.
2. Develop well-documented API for extendibility and parameterization of license scope and for further development.

Validation

1. Measure the number of songs listed, licensing transactions, transaction volumes.
2. Assess marketplace user feedback and engagement.
3. Monitor the number of applications using the API, gather feedback from developers regarding its ease of use, documentation, and effectiveness in integrating music licensing capabilities.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Milestone 1: Initial Development and Platform Setup (Month 1)

• Set up development environment and infrastructure.
• Implement core functionalities of the marketplace platform.
• Migrate current MVP (freemusic.land) infrastructure, users, songs, and licenses.

Milestone 2: MVP Launch and User Feedback (Months 2-3)

• Develop Minimum Viable Product (MVP) version of Sync.Land.
• Enable music rights holders to list their music for synchronization licensing.
• Gather user feedback and conduct usability testing for improvements.

Milestone 3: P2P Transactions and API Integration (Months 4-6)

• Enable direct peer-to-peer transactions between rights holders and content creators.
• Implement secure payment and royalty distribution mechanisms.
• Develop and release a robust API for seamless integration with third-party applications.

Milestone 4: Finalize & Closeout (Month 6)

• Finalize marketplace features and bugfixes.
• Finalize API features & bugfixes.
• Finalize documentation.
• Get final user and project reports.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Milestone 1: Initial Development and Platform Setup (Month 1)

Deliverables: Development environment and infrastructure set up, core functionalities implemented, user registration and authentication system developed.

Results: Functional platform with user registration and authentication capabilities, basic music catalog browsing and search functionality.

Measurement: Successful deployment of the platform, operational user registration and authentication system, availability of basic music catalog features.

Milestone 2: MVP Launch and User Feedback (Months 2-4)

Deliverables: Release of Minimum Viable Product (MVP), enabling music rights holders to list music, implementation of licensing workflow and transaction management system.

Results: Live MVP accessible to users, functionality for music listing and licensing, operational licensing workflow.

Measurement: User feedback collection, number of music listings, successful licensing transactions, and user satisfaction surveys.

Milestone 3: P2P Transactions and API Integration (Months 5-6)

Deliverables: Enable direct P2P transactions, implement secure payment mechanisms, release robust API for third-party integration.

Results: Functionality for direct transactions, secure payment and royalty mechanisms, available API documentation.

Measurement: Number of successful P2P transactions, seamless payment processing, integration of the API by third-party developers, and positive feedback on API usability.

Milestone 4: Closeout and Final Report (Month 6)

Deliverables: Comprehensive evaluation of platform performance, final bug fixes or feature enhancements, final report summarizing development process and lessons learned.

Results: Platform stability, readiness for official release, and completion of final report.

Measurement: Successful platform evaluation, resolution of critical issues, completion of the final report as per the project plan.

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Milestone 1: Initial Development and Platform Setup (Month 1) / 22,500 ada

• Development environment and infrastructure setup: ~20 hours of work
• Core functionalities implementation: ~25 hours of work
• User registration and authentication system development / Migrating MVP: ~20 hours of work
• Administration & Misc: 10 hours
• Total: 75 hours

Milestone 2: MVP Launch and User Feedback (Months 2-4) / 45,000 ada

• Sync.Land v1 beta Release: ~40 hours of work
• Music listing and licensing functionality: ~40 hours of work
• Licensing workflow and transaction management system: ~30 hours of work
• User feedback & usability testing: ~15 hours of work
• Defining and initializing API Scope: ~10 hours of work
• Administration & Misc: ~5 hours
• Total: 150 hours

Milestone 3: P2P Transactions and API Integration (Months 5-6) / 45,000 ada

• P2P transactions and payments: ~40 hours of work
• Marketplace UX/UI improvements: ~20 hours of work
• Resolve critical marketplace issues: ~15 hours of work
• API development and integration: ~50 hours of work
• Developer documentation and support: ~15 hours of work
• Administration & Misc: ~10 hours of work
• Total: 150 hours

Milestone 4: Closeout and Final Report (Month 6) / 22,500 ada

• Comprehensive evaluation: ~10 hours of work
• Marketing & user feedback reports: ~10 hours of work
• Marketplace bugfixes, feature implementation: ~15 hours of work
• API development, bugfixes, and documentation: ~15 hours of work
• Final report preparation: ~10 hours of work
• Administration & Misc: ~10 hours of work
• Total: 75 hours

Total: 450hrs * 300 ada/hr = 135,000 ada

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Senior Full-stack developer : $100 USD/hr

Project Manager & Marketing: $45/hr

Assuming ada is a .25 USD price, and adjusting the costs of a project within the Cardano ecosystem to the equivalent of $73/hr and ~300 Ada on average, based on the global development costs ensures prudence This approach allows for cost-effective utilization of resources while still delivering value for money, as it reflects a reasonable and sustainable investment.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept