Former Spotify Artist-in-Residence D.A.Wallach, YouTube Content ID Creator David King join JAAK as Advisors

• ●  Former head of UK copyright at UMPG Dom Lovett, Alina Colceag, Hari Ashurst- Venn, Philippe Rixhon and Samir Rashed make up seven new additions

• ●  JAAK’s first music business commercial product to launch in 2019

• ●  Pilot for film and TV industries in development

  
  

  Following the success of its industry-wide music pilot in May, blockchain rights company JAAK have made several senior appointments ahead of their firstcommercial release in 2019. Spotify’s former artist-in-residence D.A.Wallach and David King,inventor of YouTube’s Content ID, are retained as advisors, while UMPG’s Dom Lovett joins fulltime.

  Wallach, who was Spotify's artist-in-residence for four years and is currently a solo artist whotoured with acclaimed artists like N*E*R*D and Lady Gaga, penned the influential essay “Bitcoin for Rockstars", advocating for a decentralised solution to the spiralling rights management problem. He will bring his extensive experience of the music and investor communities toJAAK’s commercial development and product teams.

  Said Wallach of his new advisory position, “When I, years ago, conceived of a global metadata and payments platform built on blockchain technology I was hoping that this might once and for all cut through the intense global disorganization in the music business that bedevils artists who merely want to get paid fairly for their work. I am still hopeful that a combination of streaming platforms, decentralized databases, and payment networks can deliver on this promise.

  “The industry we should all want is one in which artists are paid transparently and instantaneously when listeners enjoy their music. Facilitating this eminently achievable vision will become a competitive necessity for rights holders seeking to attract the best talent.

  “I'm excited to advise JAAK because they are taking a comprehensive and practical view to building core infrastructure for the future of the industry. Their seriousness and focus set them apart.”

  David King, meanwhile, is renowned for inventing and building YouTube’s Content ID system,which identifies, manages, and monetises copyrights in user-generated content on the platform. Following his recent work with the United Nations and the World Intellectual Property Office ondigital infrastructure for copyright holders, King will advise on refining JAAK’s product strategy and furthering its ever-growing commercial partnerships.

Alongside Wallach and King, JAAK have made five new hires in preparation for their first commercial product.

Dom Lovett joins as Head of Music Copyright after a decade with Universal Music Publishing Group. Before UMPG, Lovett held roles at BMG, Zomba, and MCPS. Hari Ashurst-Venn will focus on developing commercial partnerships. He was previously head of creative services for the emerging DSP Lucid Tunes and founded the influential indie label Double Denim Records.

Furthermore, JAAK have hired Entrepreneur First member Alina Colceag and Samir Rashed as product designers. Samir joins following a UX product manager role at school leaver network Alumnet. Finally, Philippe Rixhon, a research fellow at UCL Centre for Blockchain, will be briefing JAAK on developments in copyright policy.

Said JAAK CEO Vaughn McKenzie-Landell, “Tackling such a complex problem with newtechnology requires not just incredibly talented people but also voices, ideas, and experiences from businesses across the entire supply chain - including creators.

“D.A. and David's insight and experience increase the effectiveness of our efforts and the depthof our relationships. Combined with Dom, Hari, Alina, Samir, and Philippe, our team integrates deep expertise in rights administration, copyright policy, and creator services with digital infrastructure, royalty payments, content identification, distributed systems, and product design.

“We share the belief that rights can and will be unified across shared, decentralisedinfrastructure and we're assembling a team capable of delivering that vision.”

Due in 2019, JAAK’s first commercial product will lower the barriers to music innovation bysimplifying the licensing and back-office processes for music rights holders and developers. The aim is to encourage new and varied music services to launch.

In May 2018, JAAK announced a music pilot where partners, including BMG, Global Music Rights, Red Bull Media House, Sentric, Warner Music Group, and Warner/Chappell Music, contributed music rights information, metadata, and audio assets to a private sandbox. A similar pilot for the film and TV industries is being developed.