Music Forums

Hi everyone,

We sent out an email this morning, but unfortunately the connection timed out and only about 600 members received it. So in case anyone missed it, here it is…

As we previously mentioned in the August newsletter, we are always promoting the Music Store to music lovers and such. We encouraged everyone who currently has music in the store to either put a price on their song or to make it available for free download. It wouldn’t make sense to have music in a store that the public can’t purchase or download. So we’ve made an update!

After completing your project, if you want your song to go into the store, you’ll need to either set a price or make it available for free download. Otherwise, it will only be displayed in your portfolio.

Since we’ve made this update, all of the songs that did not have a price have been removed from the music store. Don’t worry; they are still in your portfolio. Once you put a price on them or make them available to download, your fans can purchase them. So what are you waiting for?

Why not allow a "stream only" option in the store just for listening purposes? There are situations when a member might not want their completed music downloaded or sold, but still have it in public view, without having to search for it under a members profile.

So if you put a download price on it, does it automatically go back into the Music Store from your Portfolio or do you need to resubmit it?

Does that mean we can have all of our completed projects displayed on our profile, instead of the previous limitation of 3? Or do we just not bother to complete our projects & download all the files once we are happy with our song? If it's the first, that's pretty cool, because It's like having our own little Music Library & our peeps don't have to listen to a lot of other stuff to get to our music. If the website had enough storage space, they could do both a Library & a Store. But I guess that gets kind of expensive.

And I don't mind the second option either. It's a heck of a lot easier than getting all those people to sign off on their work ;)

@DrewRoss - perhaps in the future we can have a page dedicated to 'Streaming' music. Or maybe even a 'Published' page for those members who don't want to sell their music.

We have been contacted by quite a few companies (and music supervisors) and asked, "Why aren't there prices on the majority of the songs?" Since it is a store, we need outsiders to easily be able to either purchase or download. In the near future, we plan on implementing a 'Licensing' option as well.

@Vuya - yeah, as soon as you put a price on it, it will go into the Music Store.

@Shannon - I believe you are talking about the 'Showcase' feature, where you can only display 3 of your best songs. That hasn't changed. What has changed is - when you complete your project, if you do not put a price on the song, or allow free downloads, then it only displays in your Portfolio. It will no longer show up in the Music Store.

So, option 2. I still like it. That just takes out all those questions of "Is this published or is it not?" when you get ready to submit to film. Don't know why I didn't think of that in the first place! I should have been downloading as I went, then I wouldn't have lost files :( Now I'm having to start from scratch on one project. Come to think of it, it wasn't that much of a loss :) And no, I'm not talking about quality, I'm talking about commitment, or lack thereof :) I still like the idea of a Library, but I won't leave just because we don't have one.

Is our portfolio limitless? If so, why do we even need a Showcase?

Yes, your Portfolio is limitless. The Showcase is just that, a 'Showcase' - so you can show off your top 3 songs. It is the first thing that outsiders see when they check out your profile. Then if they are interested, they'll click on your Portfolio to see more.

Hey, Shannon. Just thought I'd respond and point out why it is important to actually complete a project and get everyone's sign-off for the song once it's finished.

While a project is "open", and if someone uploads to your project, you do not have any ownership in their contribution at that stage. Joint ownership of the song only comes once everyone agrees.. i.e. signs-off and completes. Meaning, while you are working on the project it is fine to download the tracks but only for use while working on the project, like mixing, for example, or even back-up. But if a member were to delete their contributions from the project before it was complete, then you can no longer use their parts in the song and if you had any backups, you should probably be deleting them at that stage too.

So for example, you start a project, and a keyboard player uploads their part. You like it, use it, mix it, and master it - you should not be taking this track out and submitting for film opportunities or selling on Amazon until you have closed and completed the project - i.e. published it with everyone's agreement. Members can delete their part at any point prior to the project being completed, and in doing so, removing their permission for you to use their parts in the song.

At least, this is how it works if you are using a "joint-work" collaboration agreement. For a work for hire project, the transaction is completed once you accept the artist's work and they are paid. In this case, you do not even have to complete the project. You own the work as soon as it is signed-off by you.

Hope that clears up the fact that point 2 is not an option. The project must be completed and published regardless and only then it will display in your portfolio as well as in the store if there is a download option. And as Dani said, you can have as much music in your portfolio as you want and yes, it acts as a personal library where you can directly send your friends.. or clients!