SoundExchange Reporting Blog

Last Friday I gave a webinar about SoundExchange reporting through Public Interactive to stations that belong to the National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB). I did a presentation and then we opened things up for Q&A. I was helped out in answering questions by Jeff Luchsinger, Director of Radio Systems Investment at the CPB, who helped craft the agreement between the CPB and SoundExchange.

You can see the slides from that presentation here.

It was a well attended event that sparked lots of good questions. One, in particular, that came up was the following:

Do we need to report live performances, i.e. the artist is playing live in the station’s studio?

The answer here is that since the performance is going out live from your studio and IF you get a valid release from the performers there would be no performance or recording royalty to pay in that case. Again, that is assuming you get a valid release signed by the artist!

There were also questions related to reporting on songs that are in the public domain. There is a quite a bit of fuzziness here, because while a song may be in the public domain in terms of publishing royalties, the recording of it may not be (i.e. a recent recording of an old standard). The recommended approach is to report all music you play and let SoundExchange sort out who (er, whom?), if anybody, is due a royalty.

Finally, there were multiple questions about On Demand archives and whether they are covered by the CPB-SX agreement. The answer depends on the format of the offerings. Podcasts and downloadable archives are not covered. Neither are archives which, while not downloadable, are interactive, meaning the user can restart/rewind/pause/fast forward the archive. Truly streamed archives (played on a loop, non-interactive, non-downloadable) are covered.

This is just the first of a series of such webinars for various station groupings so we can begin to share information on what the agreement between the CPB and SoundExchange means for stations, what Public Interactive’s role in SoundExchange reporting will be and what the next steps are for stations. In July I’ll be doing a series of similar webinars for NPR stations. Keep you eyes peeled for invitations to these webinars or email me and I can forward them along to you.

For those interested, here is the actual agreement signed between CPB and SoundExchange, laying out the full reporting specifications. It is in the public domain and can be shared feely with anyone, including vendors interested in providing CPB-SX compliant reports or data.

It’s chock full of legal-ese and makes for great before-bedtime reading!

A number of stations have asked about reporting copyrighted recordings that are used as interstitials or in music beds. Also, stations have asked whether there is a general threshold for music length, under which a recording does not have to be reported to SoundExchange.

After discussing this with the folks in the know (i.e. those involved in crafting the agreement between the CPB and SoundExchange), we have come up with the following answer:

1. Any sound recording under 30 seconds does not need to be reported to SoundExchange, BMI, ASCAP, etc.

2. Any sound recording played between 30 and 60 seconds does not need to be reported to SoundExchange. However, BMI and ASCAP do care about these. Also, it’s possible that SX will want to know about such recordings in the future, so stations are advised to log them. But, again, they don’t currently need to be reported for SoundExchange.

Also, some stations have asked about whether, if they cannot fully comply with the SoundExchange reporting, they should stop streaming now. While neither I – nor Public Interactive – can recommend whether or not a station should stream, stations should know that by 2011 they will need to be fully compliant if they wish to continue streaming. Stations should take the take the time between now and then to log the required information about each sound recording played for the purpose of reporting back to SX through Public Interactive.

More information about the agreement is available here.

The great SoundExchange (SX) reporting project here at Public Interactive is well underway!

I’ve already begun reaching out to stations to request data, explain the project and answer questions (of which there are many!). We have also begun scheduling webinars for various station groupings (NPR, NFCB, IMA, etc.) to better explain what this all means and how it will work. Look for invitations for a webinar coming soon to a computer near you!

The initial round of reporting is due to SoundExchange in mid-July. However, be aware that we are beginning by collecting data and log files from the largest streamers first (in terms of aggregate tuning hours, ATH), so not all stations need to provide us with these data just yet. But please be aware that we will soon be requesting playlist and streaming log data from your station, so if you are not already keeping track of the music your stream, please start now!

As a reminder for all stations, regardless of the volume of your streaming, please be sure to register with both the CPB and Public Interactive as soon as possible, to ensure you are covered and included under the CPB-SoundExchange agreement.

First, register with CPB and review and accept the music rights agreement. Stations that registered for Internet music rights coverage with the CPB before January 29, 2009 must re-register!

http://www.cpb.org/stations/musicrights/registration.html

It is important to note that stations are not considered covered by the agreement until they register with the CPB and accept the terms of the agreement!

Second, register with Public Interactive to participate in SoundExchange reporting. All stations must register explicitly with Public Interactive for SoundExchange coverage, whether or not they are already PI clients.

http://www.publicinteractive.com/sx-registrationform.html

Finally, please sign up with Public Interactive to receive SoundExchange email newsletters,

http://platform.publicbroadcasting.net/pi/email.emailmain

Be sure to check SoundExchange under “Modules and Services You Use.”

I look forward to working with all of you on this very important project. Feel free to contact me at any time with questions, concerns or comments.

Hello World!

I’m Phil Johnson, the new SoundExchange reporting project manager at Public Interactive. I’m writing to introduce myself and to give you a little background on this important initiative and the next steps for everyone.

I’m new to Public Interactive, but not new to public broadcasting. For the past seven years I worked as the Director of Technology for WGBH Online in Boston. I’m hoping to use my knowledge of and passion for the public broadcasting industry to make this project a success for all involved.

As you may know, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and SoundExchange (SX) came to an agreement on public radio’s streaming (webcasting) royalty rights earlier this year. CPB has since chosen Public Interactive (PI) to collect and report public radio music streaming activities to SX.

The idea of the agreement between the CPB and PI is to simplify the reporting process for stations and ensure proper and timely compliance as per the agreement reached between the CPB and SX. To that end, PI will develop new tools and processes (and enhance its existing Composer product) for stations to provide streaming usage and playlist data to PI, and will then generate and submit the required reports to SX. This will be done free of charge to stations and does not require stations to purchase PI’s Composer product or streaming services.

Please note that the agreement between the CPB and SX and, as a result, the tool that PI will develop for reporting, only applies to music streamed over the Internet; it does not cover songs downloaded or podcast over the Internet.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND TIMING

Stations wishing to be covered by CPB’s rights reporting agreement with SX must provide quarterly data to PI on stream usage (the total number of hours of programming transmitted to all listeners within the US) and songs played (e.g. Title, Artist, Album, Label, Play Frequency) during the reporting period.

Initially, most stations will only need to provide streaming and song data for two 7-consecutive-day reporting periods within each quarter. Eventually, all stations will need to provide complete data for each quarter in order to achieve compliance.

The first set of reports is due from PI to SX in mid-July, 2009. Going forward, they will be due within 30 days of the end of each calendar quarter.

THE PROCESS

In a nutshell, the reporting process will work as follows:

1. Stations that are PI clients that use both PI Composer and streaming services (i.e. host their streams through PI) will not need to do anything beyond registering to participate in SX reporting with the CPB and PI.

2. Stations that are PI clients but do not use PI’s Composer or streaming services will need to upload streaming usage or playlist log files via the new PI tool. Stations will be responsible for obtaining and uploading the required log files to PI each quarter. PI will work with stations and develop the reporting tool to accommodate the various log file and output formats of the streaming hosts and playlist tools.

3. Stations that are not PI clients need to register with PI and upload both streaming usage and playlist log files via the new PI tool.

4. Using station-provided log files and/or Composer and PI streaming logs, PI will generate and submit compliant reports directly to SX at the appropriate intervals.

NEXT STEPS FOR STATIONS

Stations wishing to be covered by CPB’s rights reporting agreement with SX should do the following as soon as possible:

1. Register with CPB and review and accept the music rights agreement. Stations that registered for Internet music rights coverage with the CPB before January 29, 2009 must re-register!

http://www.cpb.org/stations/musicrights/registration.html

It is important to note that stations are not considered covered by the agreement until they register with the CPB and accept the terms of the agreement!

2. Register with PI to participate in SX reporting. All stations must register explicitly with PI for SX coverage, whether or not they are PI clients.

http://www.publicinteractive.com/sx-registrationform.html

3. Sign up with PI to receive SX email newsletters,

http://platform.publicbroadcasting.net/pi/email.emailmain

Be sure to check SoundExchange under “Modules and Services You Use.”

4. If your stream is not hosted by PI, identify and contact your station’s streaming host or content data network (CDN) and request access to streaming usage (access) logs. Stations will need to either obtain streaming usage logs from the host or provide PI with direct access to the files (e.g. via FTP). Also, stations will need access to these logs for at least three months in the past in order to be compliant with quarterly SX reporting. I will be able to help stations work with streaming hosts and CDNs to identify, archive and share these files with PI.

5. Identify the source of streaming song playlists. If your station programs streaming playlists using a commercial application (e.g. Spintron), contact the vendor and let them know that you will need to generate a quarterly data export file. Stations using homegrown solutions (e.g. spreadsheets, custom playlist software, etc.) will need to identify a way to export the data for transmission to PI. Again, I will be able to help stations work with the appropriate vendors or technical staff to generate and share these files with PI.

Fields required by SoundExchange for each song streamed are:

Sound recording title
Featured artist, group or orchestra
Album
Marketing label
Start time of play
End time of play OR song duration

NEXT STEPS FOR PI

I will begin to contact stations that have registered with both the CPB and PI to request streaming and playlist data files for evaluation and parsing.

PI is developing a web application to allow stations to either enter or upload log files to PI for reporting. This tool will not be in production for the initial round of reports (mid-July); instead, PI will work directly with stations to obtain the necessary streaming and playlist log files and produce SX compliant reports.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The official announcement of the agreement between CPB and SX is available here:

http://cpb.org/pressroom/release.php?prn=699

The official announcement on PI’s agreement with CPB is available here:

http://www.publicinteractive.com/sx-pressrelease.html

General information on the agreement between PI and SX is available here:

http://www.publicinteractive.com/sx-info.html

FAQs are available here:

http://www.publicinteractive.com/sx-faqs.html

Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns using the contact info below.

Phil Johnson
SoundExchange Project Manager
617.423.4499 x138
pjohnson [at] publicinteractive [dot] com

http://twitter.com/PhilJohnsonPI