Amsterdam-based Ringo, a company that believes licensing music for moving images should be accessible and do-able for all, announced on Tuesday that it has secured €350K in a pre-Seed round of funding.
Ringo aims to create a simplified, safe, and stress-free sync music licensing experience utilising artificial intelligence (AI) and Web 3 technologies.
Investors in this round
The round was led by Innovation Fund North-Holland and supported by a group of individuals including advertising agency owners, film producers and former employees of Sizzer and MassiveMusic.
Patrick Joest, co-founder of WKDJ Music Strategy, says, “It’s time for the sync business to change: Traditional systems can’t keep up with the increased volume in a constantly shifting media landscape.”
“We urgently need new approaches to streamline the process: making music usage more viable for buyers, while protecting the value of songs and untapping additional revenue sources. Ringo is at the forefront of these new initiatives, and I support them,” adds Joest.
“Sync Simplified”
Founded in 2021 by Marcel Alexander Wiebenga and Nicholas van den Doel, Ringo is a B2B music-for-media platform that streamlines safe and stress-free licensing of existing music for commercials, movies, series, social media, and games.
Ringo automates music licensing with a purchasing funnel, providing on-demand information for track feasibility, budget, and timing. Users can securely close licences on the platform.
“A Ringo Song Report provides you with all of a song’s sync-specific metadata, including price indications, copyright owner and representative information, sync history, artist and song marketing metrics, track assets, and much more,” says the startup.
The company aims to improve the music industry by addressing inefficiencies in rights management and content licensing, potentially saving around $500M annually.
By enhancing the buyer experience and the ecosystem, the company believes the entire sync pie industry will grow.
Wiebenga says, “My co-founder Nicholas and I, collectively, have been involved with music and moving media for about 30 years now, and we’ve always found the inefficiencies around sync licensing staggering.”
“We’ve realised that the big problem with sync isn’t so much with the song that ends up on the screen but with the 10s of songs per project, and with that, millions of tracks per year that go through parts of the current licensing processes but don’t.”
“Essentially, we’re building an information exchange that will make the buying process simple, safe, and stress-free. If you spend good money on a track, the buying experience should reflect that. This is obviously not the case at the moment,” adds Wiebenga.
Currently, Ringo is developing its first product version with a global team, specifically targeting sync in advertising. The beta version is set to be released before the year’s end, and interested parties can request a demo session through their website.