Seattle Musician Starts Platform to Help Indie Artists & Creators

A Seattle-based musician has launched a new digital platform aimed at supporting independent artists and content creators. The startup focuses on simplifying music licensing, making it easier for indie musicians to monetize their work and for creators to legally use high-quality tracks. By bridging the gap between musicians and digital content producers, the platform offers a user-friendly solution to common industry challenges, fostering creativity and collaboration in the evolving music and media landscape.

GeekWire highlights startup activity in the Pacific Northwest, offering insights through a weekly newsletter, a funding tracker, and a venture capital directory. Seattle musician Danny Newcomb has a different take on AI, not for creating music, but for supporting independent artists in navigating the business side of the industry.

He recently launched Incantio, a platform designed as a dual-sided marketplace. It enables musicians to set their own licensing terms and retain rights to their music for use in media like film, ads, and TV. At the same time, it gives content creators an efficient way to find and license tracks suitable for their projects.

Newcomb pointed out that a significant portion of the global music market is now independent, yet these artists often lack access to platforms where they can self-manage pricing and rights. The traditional model, often led by large corporations, strips artists of their rights and performance royalties. Incantio aims to change that by empowering musicians to keep control and still earn backend royalties.

Drawing on his experience playing with notable Seattle bands like Shadow, Goodness, The Rockfords, and Sugarmakers, Newcomb started developing the idea two years ago. Incantio’s five-member team has raised $350,000 in pre-seed funding, with revenue generation expected soon and plans for a seed round in the pipeline.

He described Seattle as culturally rich in music but lacking in music publishing infrastructure, which has made fundraising more challenging. Reflecting on changes in the music industry, Newcomb lamented the decline of the traditional support systems for indie musicians, noting how streaming has become dominant, yet offers minimal financial returns for artists.

For him, Incantio is a solution to help artists take back control over the value of their work. He sees AI as a helpful tool in streamlining the discovery of tracks, especially for content producers working within limited budgets, by matching them to songs that align in mood, tempo, or vocal style. With a clear pricing model and pre-approved licenses, the platform simplifies the entire licensing process. Incantio is currently in beta but already boasts partnerships with CD Baby, a major digital distributor, and Disco, widely used by music supervisors around the globe.

Several well-known artists have already joined the platform, including Chris Ballew, Carrie Akre, Steve Fisk, Mike McCready, and Kevin Murphy, alongside hundreds of others. Media executive Virl Hill, formerly with Microsoft’s media and entertainment division, is part of Incantio’s advisory board. Though entrepreneurship is a new chapter for Newcomb, it doesn’t replace his love for performing music, which he compares to a spiritual experience. However, he embraces the startup world with the same passion, aiming to create a space where indie musicians can thrive financially and artistically.

Recalling advice from advisor Ted Cohen, known for his work with the Sex Pistols and the Pretenders, Newcomb was reminded that bands and startups have much in common. Having started every band he’s been part of, he sees this venture as a natural extension of that same creative drive.

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Source: geekwire‍