Duetti Is Betting Big on Independent Artists and Changing the Rules of Catalog Deals

For years, music catalog sales have been reserved for established artists with years of streaming history. But Duetti wants to change that.

The New York-based music company has announced two new initiatives aimed at helping independent artists access funding and new creative opportunities much earlier in their careers.

The biggest change is its updated acquisition model. Artists can now sell all or part of their master recordings just six months after release, a significant shift from Duetti's previous two-year requirement. With recording, marketing, and touring costs continuing to rise, the move gives independent artists a new way to generate capital while building momentum.

"Traditional models in the music industry have not kept pace with the needs of independent artists," said Duetti CEO and co-founder Lior Tibon. "We're excited to be the first music company to support young catalog acquisitions at scale."

Backed by a $75 million credit facility from Viola Credit, Duetti uses AI-powered predictive models to identify promising catalogs early. The company has already partnered with more than 1,100 artists and songwriters across 40 countries.

Duetti also unveiled its new Remix Program, giving producers access to a catalog of more than 30,000 tracks for official remixes, covers, and derivative works. Participating artists receive upfront compensation, royalty participation, marketing support, and zero distribution fees, while Duetti manages licensing and approvals.

During its pilot phase, the program facilitated more than 200 remixes featuring over 100 artists across genres, including rap, baile funk, and house music.

As more artists choose independence, access to funding is becoming just as valuable as ownership itself. Duetti's latest expansion reflects a growing shift in music financing, one that gives emerging artists more opportunities to invest in their careers long before they become legacy acts. Continue reading below for an exclusive interview with Elliot Baumohl, Duetti’s Head of Music Growth.

For years, catalog deals have largely been reserved for established artists with mature catalogs. What convinced Duetti that six months is now enough time to accurately assess a track’s long-term value?

We found that artists had a real interest in funding and marketing support even earlier in a track or project’s lifecycle. The six-month mark is often when an artist knows a project has potential but doesn’t have the capital or infrastructure to push it further. This is where Duetti steps in by providing both funding and marketing support while a project is still receiving meaningful attention from fans.

Because that demand exists, we then needed to determine whether there was enough data to support purchase decisions this early in a track’s life. Our engineering and data science teams built proprietary models that assess early performance signals and project long-term value at the six-month mark, allowing us to accurately predict future performance with only a few months of data.

Some independent artists may worry about selling rights too early in their careers. How does Duetti help artists determine whether monetizing a young catalog is the right move for them?

The decision to sell a catalog is both personal and professional, and every artist has different goals for partnering with Duetti. Our role is to help artists understand their options clearly through flexibility and transparency. Artists can choose to sell as much or as little of their catalog as they want, keeping up to 50% of their income with no advances or recoupment.

For younger catalogs specifically, we also look closely at the cultural context. Where is the early engagement coming from? Who is listening? What communities are responding? From there, we can better understand which marketing strategies will help build on that momentum.

The rise of AI in music has sparked both excitement and concern. How is Duetti using AI responsibly to evaluate catalogs and match artists for remix opportunities without compromising creativity?

AI responsibility is a major focus for us. We use it as a tool to support internal processes, not to replace creativity.

For example, we analyze audio characteristics across tracks in our catalog to surface remix opportunities that make sense for a specific artist. However, that’s only one part of the process. Our team reviews the music, considers the broader context, and makes the final decision. In other words, our remix program is helping foster human collaboration at a time when more works are being remixed solely by AI.

We will never use AI to offset or replace human expression.

With the Remix Program opening up access to more than 30,000 tracks, what safeguards are in place to ensure collaborations remain artist-first and preserve the integrity of the original work?

The size of our catalog creates many opportunities, which is exciting, but it also requires a thoughtful, artist-first process. For any official collaboration, we work directly with our artist partners on approvals and make sure they are involved before anything moves forward. Our broader goal is to build long-term artist partnerships.

Beyond that, we care about creative fit. We’re not looking to release remixes at random. We want to create tracks that make sense sonically and feel like a natural extension of the original work while still bringing something fresh to listeners. Striking the right balance between discovery and preserving what made the original special is incredibly important to us.

As more artists choose independence over traditional label deals, do you see companies like Duetti becoming a new kind of music infrastructure for creators, and how do you envision that role evolving over the next five years?

Absolutely. We’ve combined the marketing expertise of labels and agencies with the data infrastructure of a global operator, supported by internal tools that we really haven’t seen elsewhere in the music industry. That allows us to operate at scale while helping artists unlock value from their catalogs without giving up control over their careers or creative direction.

One of our core goals is to give independent artists access to financing and services that help grow their careers without sacrificing their independence. I believe our role will only continue to grow as more artists choose to build sustainable careers outside the traditional label system.

If an emerging artist came to you with one song gaining traction but no budget to scale it, what factors would make them an ideal candidate for a Duetti partnership?

We’d start by assessing whether the momentum is genuine and whether there’s something meaningful we can do to amplify it. Raw streaming numbers only tell part of the story, so we examine the underlying trends and audience engagement to understand exactly where we can add the most value.

Our marketing playbook also changes significantly depending on the genre, audience, and cultural context. The strategy we use for pop or rap is very different from how we’d approach online-native genres like hardstyle or phonk, allowing us to tailor our support to each artist’s unique audience and trajectory.