Getting to Know… Lickd
Lickd is the global leader in music micro-licensing and music solutions for content creators, agencies and brands of all types.
Its ground-breaking – and first-to-market – VOUCH software enables online video creators to licence claims-free mainstream music from record labels, publishers and famous artists, as well as a huge range of stock music, without losing their ad revenue to a copyright claim.
Based in London and operational since 2016, the company services digital creators and brands from all over the world, rooted in its belief that ‘better music matters’.
Founder and CEO Paul Sampson sits down with LBB to tell you everything you need to know about one of LBB’s newest members.
LBB> Tell us a bit about Lickd – when did you form and why?
Paul> We launched in 2017 with our first product – ‘major music licensing for content creators’ with the mission to ‘democratise music for the world’s creators’.
Our aim was to build a place for independent content creators to be able to legally license the biggest music in the world, legally, affordably and safely. Our new product, Lickd for Brands is similar, but for brands and agencies. The first product was / is the first ‘consumer-facing’ music licensing platform – think Spotify for content creators.
For too long, music licensing has been way too painful, protracted and litigious a process and it certainly hasn’t evolved enough to keep up with the digital landscape. It needed innovative, proprietary software, pre-clearance of rights and automation to be able to scale and keep up with the modern world – that is what we have built.
Lickd now has over 14,000 labels and publishers signed to it, including Universal, Warner, BMG and thousands of independents. No one thought it was viable or possible when I started and now it lives and breathes, housing over one and a half million of the biggest songs in the world. Moreover, the biggest creators in the world (including Mr Beast, The Sidemen, Casey Neistat etc) use Lickd on a regular basis.
The new platform, Lickd for brands, now provides that same level of access, innovation and efficiency in music licensing to brands and agencies alike. The platform is only a few months old but already we’ve seen brands like L’Oreal, Therabody, RayBan Meta Glasses, and many more, utilise the platform effectively.
LBB> What’s the story behind your name?
Paul> Music licensing companies have really dull, literal names. We wanted a short, sharp name that could help us build a brand. We wanted a musical connotation to it but to be less abstract. We landed on ‘Hookd’ (as in, there are hooks in songs) and were about to go to market with that name when three weeks before the launch in 2017, we got hit with a cease and desist when we applied for the trademark.
As a result, we had to re-brand. We toyed with numerous other names but landed on Lickd for a couple of reasons:
- There are guitar ‘licks’ in a lot of music;
- Lickd, colloquially, can mean ‘problem solved’ and we are solving a problem in music licensing.
LBB> Tell us about up to three campaigns that epitomise what you do as a company.
Paul> Lickd for brands has done some interesting work already.
We recently licensed the song ‘Dirty Cash (Money Talks)’ for a Boohoo campaign that went out on Netflix.
Also, we recently cleared ‘Me And the Devil’ by Soap and ‘Skin’ for Shades by Nico – a new sweet brand created by prominent British YouTuber and member of ‘The Beta Squad’, Nick Olimana. It launched the product well and had over a million views in just a week or so.
On the creator side of the business, Mr Beast is our most well known customer and he uses us regularly. That’s led to a lot more creators finding out about Lickd and becoming customers. You can find all his catalogue on YouTube but here is a link to the first time he used us. He licensed the song ‘Cash Machine’ by Oliver Tree for the $500k cash give-away section of one of his videos.
LBB> Give us a fun fact about your company.
Paul> Our investors include Universal Music, Warner Music, Nick Mason from Pink Floyd, Epic Games (creators of Fortnite) and Ian McAndrew, the manager of the Arctic Monkeys.
LBB> What are your strongest opinions about your industry?
Paul> When it comes to adopting innovation, the music industry has only ever been slightly ahead of the Amish. Lickd builds technological and micro-licensing based solutions to the problems facing the music industry in an ever evolving digital landscape. Our mission is to democratise music for the world’s creators. We started with content creators and now we’re turning our attention to brands and agencies.
Licensing music is difficult. We make it simple.
LBB> What are you proudest of as a company?
Paul> I would have to say our investor base. When I started Lickd, I was told by multiple industry stakeholders that what I wanted to achieve wasn’t possible. Nine years later, seeing companies like Warner and Universal not only lean into Lickd,but also being shareholders in the company gives me great pride.
LBB> What are some upcoming projects our readers should keep an eye on?
Paul> The launch of Lickd for brands. We’re launching imminently and cannot wait to be assisting more brands and agencies at scale by simplifying music licensing.
LBB> Where can we check out Lickd online?
Paul> If you’re a brand or an agency, go to https://brands.lickd.co/
If you’re a YouTuber, no-matter how big or small, go to https://lickd.co/
