Artist FAQ

Questions?: support@downloadmusic.ie

How do I add a track?

How soon does my track go on sale?

How many tracks can I add?

Fans are trying to buy my track, but when they send the text, they are not getting any response?

Do my sales count towards the official charts?

Do my tracks have to be downloaded to count in the official charts?

How do I sell tickets to my gigs?

What format do my tracks have to be in?

Can my tracks be DRM-enabled?

Do I have to make a preview?

Why do the images I uploaded not look right?

Can I set the price of my track myself?

Can I use a word instead of a number to sell my track by SMS?

How does someone buy my track?

How do I sell from my MySpace page?

How do I list my tracks in my MySpace page?

How does someone download my track to their phone?

Users are reporting that Direct to Mobile downloads aren't working, or are timing out. What is wrong?

Is it very expensive to download a track to a phone?

Can a user download to both their phone and their PC?

Do Direct to Mobile downloads work on all phones and networks?

Can people buy my tracks with their mobile in different countries?

Are the SMS instructions the same for each country/site?

Is the price of the SMS to the user the same for each country/site?

How is the 7 Day Chart calculated for each country/site?

Can someone buy my track with their credit card?

How do I pre-release my track?

Why don't Pre-Release tracks appear in the MySpace app?

Is there an extra charge for Pre-release tracks?

Can I cancel my Pre-Release and make my track Active whenever I want?

Can a user obtain a Direct to Mobile download on Pre-Release?

How much do I get paid for each track?

What currency am I paid in?

Why do I not get paid the full amount that I sold the track for?

How do I know how many tracks I have sold?

How do I know how many tracks have been downloaded?

When and how do I get paid?

Why do you charge so much for a cheque payment?

What if I don't want to sell in different countries?

How do I get my gigs listed?

How do I publish my video?

What if I want to stop using the site?

I own a label. Can I manage multiple artists with one account?

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How do I add a track?

Once you have registered here, go to the login page and login. When you have logged in, you will see a menu with links to categories like Music and Gigs. Click on the link 'Add Track' under Music to begin adding tracks.

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How soon does my track go on sale?

As soon as you upload it.

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How many tracks can I add?

You can add as many tracks, gigs and tickets as you wish. Please note that a charge applies to each track that is uploaded. This charge is only payable after you have made some sales, and is deducted from any sales revenue that is due to you. Please refer to our Terms and Conditions for more details.

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Fans are trying to buy my track, but when they send the text, they are not getting any response?

99.999% of the time this happens because the user hasn't correctly composed the text message.

If the user does not include the 'music' keyword, or doesn't spell it correctly, their message will not get to our systems, which means we cannot act on it.

Users may also enter incorrect tracks id, or include extra, illegal characters in their texts, which can also cause problems.

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Do my sales count towards the official charts?

Sales of tracks on our sites count towards the Official Charts in the UK (Official Chart Company) and Ireland (IRMA Top 40)

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Do my tracks have to be downloaded to count towards the official charts?

Yes.

Furthermore, only 1 download per track per user is counted. It is not possible to rig the charts using our services.

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How do I sell tickets to my gigs?

First, set up a ticket for sale using 'Add Ticket' in Artist Administration.

This ticket then goes on sale on the site and a user can purchase it using their credit card. Each user is issued a unique Ticket ID when they purchase a ticket. This is emailed to them and they are instructed to print it out and bring it to the venue.

By clicking on the 'List' link beside each ticket product under Artist Administration, you can obtain a list of all users who have purchased tickets and the unique ticket IDs they have been issued.

You then bring this list along to the venue and check the ticket IDs being presented by the users against the list. Any user who has a valid ticket ID is admitted, and that unique ticket ID is then crossed off the list.

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What format do my tracks have to be in?

Your tracks must be in MP3 format.

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Can my tracks be DRM-enabled?

Its better than they are DRM free. Otherwise, users won't be able to play them.

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Do I have to make a preview?

No. When you upload your track, we make a preview for you. A new preview is made if you change the MP3 file associated with a track at a later date.

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Why do the images I uploaded not look right?

We crop, centre and resize images to fit with the design of our pages. If you want an image to appear exactly as you have uploaded it, you should upload an image that has square dimensions. This means that the length and height of the image should be the same. The size of the images as they appear on our pages is 214px x 214px.

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Can I set the price of my track myself?

No. We do not have control over the amount that is charged to a users mobile bill, so the charge has to be fixed according to the tariffs provided by the mobile operators.

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Can I use a word instead or a number to sell my track by SMS?

Please note that due to technical restrictions with Irish SMS providers, this service is only available to UK artists and users.

Yes. You can chose a word (max. 9 characters) to replace your track id in the SMS instructions you pass on to your fans.

For example, if your track is called "A Hard Day's Night" you could chose a word like "hard" to replace you track id. The SMS instruction would then be:

text 'music hard' to 57501

Please note that a charge applies when you use a word instead of a track id. This charge is deducted from any earnings that are due to you.

Please also note that words are only reserved for 6 months after they are added to a track, and that after this period, the word becomes available to other artists to use.

If you do chose to use a word, it will still be possible for fans to buy your track using the track id for as long as your track is available for sale on the system, both during the period the word is in use and afterwards.

Once you have chosen a word, and you have sold a track with that word, it is not possible to change the word or cancel the use of the word.

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How does someone buy my track?

Each track has an ID. The user texts the keyword and the track ID to the shortcode advertised on the site. We send the user a PIN by return SMS. They login with this PIN and download the track.

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How do I sell from my MySpace page?

You need to do 2 things:

1. Ensure that your have entered your MySpace page URL as your URL under your Account Details on downloadmusic.ie. e.g. if your MySpace URL is www.myspace.com/myband, you should enter www.myspace.com/myband as your URL on under your Account Details on downloadmusic.ie. You must include the www.

2. Add our application to your MySpace profile. You do that from here. Our systems are interfaced with MySpace, so you don't need to doing any cutting and pasting or re upload your tracks.

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How do I list my tracks in my MySpace page?

Any tracks you have set to be Featured Tracks will appear in your MySpace application. A maximum of 4 tracks will appear. If you have set more than 4 tracks to be Featured Tracks, the list of tracks will be randomly selected.

Any new tracks you add are set to be Featured Tracks by default.

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How does someone download my track to their phone?

A user can choose to have an internet link sent directly to their phone by inserting m after their text message.

e.g.

'music 120 m', instead of just 'music 120'

When they open this link, their phone will be directed to a a special page which contains both a download link for their track and other important information and abouting downloading the track directly to their phone.

Please note that on our Irish site, downloadmusic.ie, if a user attempts to buy a Pre-Release track for Direct to Mobile download, their order will be converted to a standard Mobile Payment order. It is not possible to buy a Pre-Release track for Direct to Mobile download in the Irish market.

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Users are reporting that Direct to Mobile downloads aren't working, or are timing out. What is wrong?

A Direct to Mobile download transfers a large MP3 file from the Internet to the user's phone, so they need to have a modern phone and be in an area that has 3G data coverage. If they do not have 3G data coverage, the track will take a long time to download, and may time out repeatedly.

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Is it very expensive to download a track to a phone?

This depends on the price plan of the user. If the user does not have an Internet browsing package included in their price plan, it can be very expensive. The user is warned about this before they begin downloading the track.

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Can a user download to both their phone and their PC?

If a user chooses the direct phone download option, they are also given instructions about downloading the track to their PC.

If they do not choose this option, they are only given instructions for PC download.

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Do Direct to Mobile downloads work on all phones and networks?

Direct to Mobile downloads require WAP support to work. Most phones support WAP, but there are some notable exceptions. For instance, the Apple iPhone does not support WAP. Some networks do not support WAP either. However, if a UK user is on a network or handset that does not support WAP, and attempts a Direct to Mobile download, they will not be charged. If an Irish user is on a network or handset that does not support WAP, and attempts a Direct to Mobile download, they will be charged. Please contact support@downloadmusic.ie if this occurs.

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Can people buy my tracks with their mobile in different countries?

If you have the Multisite option switched on (it is on by default) all of your material will be available for purchase by SMS in the different countries in which we operate. Please note that different keywords, tariffs and shortcodes apply in different countries.

A user cannnot buy in a different country unless their mobile account is based in that country. This means that you cannot buy in a different country when you are roaming.

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Are the SMS instructions the same for each country/site?

No.

Different keywords and shortcodes may be used in different countries. Please check the site in question for details.

However, the track ID of your MP3 will always be the same, regardless of what country it is sold in.

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Is the price of the SMS to the user the same for each country/site?

No.

Slightly different tariffs may apply in different countries. Please check the site in question for details.

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How is the 7 Day Chart calculated for each country/site?

Each country/site has its own 7 Day Chart. You can only appear in the 7 Day Chart on a particular site is that site is your Primary Site (ie the site you originally registered on). We may review this in future. We also hope to publish a Global 7 Day Chart.

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Can someone buy my track with their credit card?

Yes. All tracks and tickets available for sale on the site are available for sale via credit card. The users adds the track to their shopping cart and proceeds to checkout where they process a credit card transaction.

A user who wishes to pay by Credit Card must have an existing PayPal account or create a new PayPal account.

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How do I pre-release my track?

If you'd like your fans to be able to pre-order your track, set the Status of your Track to Pre-release and choose the date and time on which you would like it to become available for download.

Users who buy the track prior to this time and date will be sent a text saying that their purchase has been recorded and that they will be sent a reminder notice when it becomes available for download.

Please note that if a user attempts to buy a Pre-Release track for Direct to Mobile download via our Irish site, downloadmusic.ie, their order will be converted to a standard Mobile Payment order. It is not possible to buy a Pre-Release track for Direct to Mobile download in the Irish market.

At the Pre-release time and date, a reminder text is sent to all users who have the track on pre-order. This text will include download instructions.

The status of your track is automactically changed at this time from Pre-release to Active, so that any future purchases occur normally.

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Why don't Pre-Release tracks appear in the MySpace app?

The MySpace app facilitates direct download of tracks. Pre-release tracks are not available for direct download so they do not appear. Once a track is released it will appear.

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Is there an extra charge for Pre-release tracks?

There is a small charge (approx 5% of the purchase price of the track) for each reminder we have to send. This is deducted from your sales revenue when you seek payment.

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Can I cancel my Pre-Release and make my track Active whenever I want?

If you change the status of a track from Pre-Release to Active before its Pre-Release time and date, reminder messages to users who have purchased your track on pre-release will not be sent.

If you wish to cancel a Pre-Release, please contact support@downloadmusic.ie.

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Can a user obtain a Direct to Mobile download on Pre-Release?

For UK mobile networks, yes. If a track is on Pre Release, and the user requests a Direct To Mobile download, that user will be sent a download link in their reminder txt. For Irish mobile networks, all Pre-Release purchases are converted to PC download purchases, regardless of the SMS instruction sent by the user.

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How much do I get paid for each track?

Your share of the sale depends on numerous factors. See our Terms and Conditions for more details.

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What currency am I paid in?

All mobile sales are converted to Euros at the time of the sale. We then convert your total Euro sales figure to your local currency when we come to pay you, and make the payment to you in your local currency. Credit Card sales are processed and paid in your local currency.

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Why do I not get paid the full amount that I sold the track for?

SMS payment systems operate on the basis that the mobile operator takes a portion of the charge to the user. Fees also have to be paid to the bank that processes credit card sales. In certain instances, we also take a small portion of the fee to cover our costs. See our Terms and Conditions for more details.

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How do I know how many tracks I have sold?

When you login, click on Manage Tracks under Music for all details about your products, sales and downloads.

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How do I know how many tracks have been downloaded?

When you login, click on Manage Tracks under Music for all details about your tracks, sales and downloads.

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When and how do I get paid?

You can request payment at any time by emailing us at info@downloadmusic.ie.

When you reach a certain minimum level of sales, we will contact you and ask you to request payment.

Payment is made by Bank Draft or PayPal, depending on your preference. Payments by Bank Draft will incur an additional fee. Please refer to our Terms and Conditions for more details.

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Why do you charge so much for a cheque payment?

We process lots of small payments.

If we had to process a cheque payment for each of these, it would consume a considerable amount of our continually limited resources.

As such, we like to encourage people to use the PayPal option. Its very simple to set up a PayPal account. You don't need a credit card, and PayPal will transfer funds to your bank account within 48 hours in most cases.

Using PayPal also allows both us and artists to maintain a verifiable record of payments, which helps in terms of resolving disputes (even though we've never had any).

For large payments (> €500) we do waive our cheque fee.

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What if I don't want to sell in different countries?

If you only wish to sell in your own country, login and untick the Multisite option under My Account.

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How do I get my gigs listed?

You can do this in one of 2 ways:

You can add your gigs to our database under the Gigs option when you login

or

You can enter your Myspace URL in your profile under Account Details and we will import any gigs you have listed on MySpace into your account on this site. We update your gig listings from MySpace every day.

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How do I publish my video?

When you login, select Video. Instruction regarding the use of video are provided.

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What if I want to stop using the site?

Just email us at support@downloadmusic.ie and we'll disable your account.

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I own a label. Can I manage multpile artists with one account?

Our service is primarily aimed at individual artists, but we do offer a facility to labels and other agencies to process bulk ingests of catalogues from multiple artists. It is also our intention to offer a multi-artist account facility in the near future.

Please email us at support@downloadmusic.ie for more details.

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