SoundExchange Reporting Blog

I just booked my flight and hotel for the Public Radio Program Directors annual conference in Denver next month. I was in Cleveland for last year’s conference which I enjoyed quite a bit; I guess Arthur Cohen decided to take the PRPD’s talents to the Mile High City this year.

I’m looking forward to this year’s event, to seeing and meeting lots of you folks responsible for your station’s SoundExchange reporting and to seeing Denver for the first time.

While there won’t be a SoundExchange-specific session this time around, I will be there to answer whatever SX-related questions you have. If you don’t see me milling about the sessions, come look for me at the Public Interactive booth, which will  be manned by our own Joe Orlando and Suzanne Brendle. Be sure to come by and say hello!

While I have you on the line, don’t forget that the data submission deadline for your Q3 SoundExchange reporting data (covering July 1 – September 30) is Friday, October 8, 2010. Please be sure to submit your data to us as soon as your reporting weeks are over and contact me to let me know you have uploaded your data.

The deadline for submitting your Q2 SoundExchange reporting data to Public Interactive has come and gone! Thanks to the many of you who got us your data on time and in the proper format and such!

For you stragglers, we can still try to squeeze you in, but you’d have to get us your data ASAP, and even then there are no promises, though we will do our best. Contact me if you do slip your data under my door in the next couple of days to let me know.

In the meantime, we’ve just posted a good reminder on the main Public Interactive blog about how to properly enter syndicated programming into your schedule grid, so that we can  integrate any playlists we get for your syndicated programs into your SoundExchange reports. Please take a few minutes to read and make sure your syndicated programs are entered properly into your schedule grid(s) in Composer Pro or Basic.

Anyway, thanks again to you stations that submitted Q2 data. Now, all we have to do is process it all…

It’s official: Q2 2010 is now over – which means, if you haven’t already, it is time to submit your SoundExchange reporting data to Public Interactive.

As you should know by now, the due date to get us your data is Friday, July 9, 2010.  It’s like the night before the big school project is due: there’s no more putting it off.

The basic reporting steps are detailed here.

Two important reminders for everyone:

1. Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE – even you PI streaming and Composer Pro clients – that is reporting on a 14-day sample (rather than the whole quarter) MUST set your reporting dates in Composer Pro or Composer Basic!!!

Emailing your reporting dates to me or otherwise noting them in filenames or files is not adequate! If you don’t set your dates in Composer Basic or Pro then we will tell SoundExchange that you have chosen to report on the whole quarter. If you only give us two weeks worth of compliant reporting data, but SoundExchange thinks you are reporting on the whole quarter, that means your reports are understating the amount of music you streamed. Not good.

To specify your reporting dates in Composer Basic or Pro, navigate to the Select Report Dates screen using the global What do you want to do? navigation drop down at the top of each screen, then enter the two start dates of your chosen reporting weeks; not the start and end date of your two weeks, but the start dates of each week. We do it this way because stations are free to report on non-consecutive weeks.

If you have more than one content stream to report on, be sure to set these dates for each of your content streams, navigating between them using the drop-down toggle at the upper right hand corner of the screen.

2. If you have entered, uploaded or otherwise submitted your Q2 data to us and you have not yet verified with me that we have what we need, contact me now! Do not assume that no news is good news. It isn’t. Is it ever?

That is all. Thanks, everyone!

It’s probably not something worth blowing a vuvuzela over but, for better or worse, the deadline for submitting your station’s Q2 2010 SoundExchange reporting data to Public Interactive is quickly approaching: Friday July 9, 2010.

For those who are new to this process, or for those who don’t have it down pat yet, here are the basic SoundExchange reporting steps for this quarter:

1. Choose your 14-day reporting period for Q2 2010, which must be two 7-day-consecutive periods completely contained between April 1 – June 30
2. Create properly formatted playlist logs or, for Composer Pro clients, enter playlists with required reporting data directly into Composer Pro
3. Obtain streaming access logs from your stream host for your chosen reporting period (not required for PI streaming clients)
4. Upload playlist and streaming log files to Public Interactive using Composer Basic or Composer Pro
5. Update/enter the guide information for each of your content streams in Composer Basic or Composer Pro, so that we can integrate playlists for those syndicated shows that you stream
6. Specify the start dates of your two chosen reporting weeks using Composer Basic/Pro
7. Contact me to let me know you’ve uploaded your data, updated your guide(s) and specified your reporting dates
8. Have a beverage of your choosing to celebrate!

OK, let’s get this set of reports over with ASAP so we can all enjoy the summer!

As we quickly approach the next SoundExchange reporting deadline, here at Public Interactive we’ve made some tweaks to the SoundExchange Dashboard portion of Composer Basic and Composer Pro to (hopefully) make the reporting process a little bit easier.

Having now gone through two quarters of reporting with the Dashboard in place, it was clear that one of the biggest areas of confusion for stations has been how to specify their two chosen reporting weeks each quarter. Many folks didn’t know how to do this, as the screen used for it was hard to find. We’ve now made some changes in attempt to make it easier to complete this important step in the reporting process.

An aside, this step is particularly important because, if your station provides two weeks worth of reporting data but doesn’t specify which weeks in the quarter they pertain to, then SoundExchange will assume the data is not a sample but a census (that is a complete accounting) of all the recordings you streamed during the quarter. This effectively means you have under-reported and could, in theory, affect royalty payments to artists and key metrics used as benchmarks in the agreement between the CPB and SoundExchange (e.g. Music Aggregate Tuning Hours).

So, it’s very important you set these dates in the tool.

To try and make a little more obvious as to how and where to do so, we’ve made the following changes to the SoundExchange Dashboard:

1. The Select Report Dates screen can now be accessed from the global What do you want to do? navigation at the top of each page, under SoundExchange Dashboard:

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2. The View Reports screen now displays the chosen reporting weeks for each of your content streams for the current reporting quarter, which are linked to the Select Report Dates screen:

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3. The chosen reporting period for the current quarter is now also displayed on the Upload Playlists/Streaming Logs screen, and a link to the Select Report Dates screen is provided:

the

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4. We’ve removed the previous functionality on the Upload Playlists/Streaming Logs screen that required you to specify the start and end dates for each individual playlist or streaming log file you uploaded to us. This was only causing confusion for users and these dates are now deduced from the files themselves.

5. If you have more than one content stream (e.g., an HD2 channel), you must specify reporting weeks for each one separately. You can now navigate between the Select Report Dates screens for each of your content streams by using the drop-down toggle we’ve added to the upper right hand corner of that screen (like you were already able to do on the upload logs and guide management screens):

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Important reminder: when specifying your two chosen reporting weeks in Composer Basic or Pro, you specify the start dates of each week, rather than the start and end dates of your reporting period. We do it this way because stations are free to choose two non-consecutive reporting weeks.

OK, if you haven’t already, please go forth, gather and submit your Q2 reporting data!

Slowly but surely, Q2 2010 SoundExchange reporting data is starting to dribble in to us here at Public Interactive. Thanks to you early birds for getting us your data already!

For the rest of you, please please PLEASE don’t wait until the deadline to get us your Q2 data. I encourage you to submit your reporting data as soon as your reporting weeks are over! If you wait until the last minute, problems can arise (not to mention other important business like, say, pledge drives). The earlier you get us your data, the more time we have to work together to fix any data problems and ensure that PI can generate and submit reports on your station’s behalf.

Q2 2010 SoundExchange Reporting Steps:

1. Choose your 14-day reporting period, which must be two 7-day-consecutive periods completely contained between  April 1 – June 30
2. Create properly formatted playlist logs and obtain streaming access logs from your stream host for your chosen reporting period
3. Submit playlist and streaming log files to Public Interactive using Composer Basic or Composer Pro
4. Update/enter the guide (schedule) information for each of your content streams in Composer Basic or Composer Pro, so that we can integrate playlists for those syndicated shows that you stream
5. Specify the start dates of your two chosen reporting weeks using Composer Basic/Pro
6. Contact me to let me know you’ve uploaded your data, updated your guide(s) and specified your reporting dates
7. Complete all of these steps by Friday, July 9, 2010
8. Rinse, lather, repeat in Q3…

Of course, there are some exceptions to the above. For example, some stations (they know who they are) must report for the entire quarter. Also, Composer Pro clients that enter playlist data using that tool don’t need to upload playlist files, and PI streaming clients don’t need to upload streaming logs, etc. But, otherwise, them’s the rules.

Oh yes, if you produce a syndicated program and are not yet providing us with playlists, please review this page on what data we need from you, then contact me so we can start collecting your show’s data.

Last week Public Interactive officially generated and submitted Q1 2010 reports to SoundExchange on behalf of 265 stations. The reports covered 373 content streams and 11.5 million Music Aggregate Tuning Hours, a nice increase from the Q4 2009 reports. Big thanks to all of you who submitted data for Q1!

Of course, there are still a number of you who didn’t submit data for Q1, and so are not in compliance with the terms of the CPB-SoundExchange agreement. If you have not been reporting, there’s no better time than the present to get in compliance before the stream police come a-knockin’. You’ve been warned.

Anyway, time now to get cracking on Q2 reports, which cover data from April 1 through June 30. The official deadline to get us your Q2 2010 reporting data will be Friday July 9, 2010.

If you have questions about how this all works, what data you need to give us and such, then please review this page on the basics of SoundExchange reporting through Public Interactive.

A few reminders for this next round of reporting:

1. Your chosen reporting weeks must be fully contained within Q2, (April 1 – June 30).

2. In addition to playlist and streaming log data, please be sure to fill out or update the guide for each of your content streams in Composer Basic or Pro so that we may integrate playlists for syndicated shows that you stream. The full list of syndicated shows for which we’re gathering playlists (which continues to grow) is here. If you produce a syndicated program and are not yet providing us with playlists, please review this page on what data we need from you and how to get it to us.

3. When submitting data to us, make sure to specify the start dates of your two chosen reporting weeks using Composer Basic/Pro (unless you are one of the lucky few that have to do full quarter reporting).

Oh yeah, and one more thing: AFTER SUBMITTING YOUR DATA PLEASE CONTACT ME to let me know that you have and to double check that we have what we need!!!!! We’re still tweaking the reporting system on our end to ensure no data falls through the cracks, but there are still some holes. Don’t assume that no news is good news!

Onward!

OK, folks, the current calendar quarter ends in a couple of days, so you know what that means: we are once again about to hit another SoundExchange reporting deadline. This one is for Q1 2010 (January 1 – March 31) and those data are due to us by Friday, April 9, 2010.

If you have already submitted Q1 data to us, and you’ve checked with me and I’ve told you it looks good – then THANK YOU. You are the wind beneath my wings and you should be sleeping soundly!

If you have submitted data to us but have not confirmed with me that we have what we need, you should do so ASAP, so that you, too, can sleep soundly.

If you have not yet submitted your reporting data to us for Q1, you must do so by the data submission deadline to ensure that we can generate reports on your behalf.

The basics on the SoundExchange reporting through Public Interactive are available here.

As always and ever, contact me with any questions.

Just wanted to bring to everybody’s attention a very interesting rundown of the basics of music licensing in digital media here, recently written by David Oxenford and Robert Driscoll. They do a first rate job of describing many of the issues in layman’s terms. I highly recommend that everybody take a few minutes to read it.

DISCLAIMER: I myself am not a lawyer, and so cannot provide any further interpretation of these issues for you. If you ask I will recommend – as I already have to many – that you consult with your own legal counsel about any questions involving interpretation of the laws that govern all of this (i.e., the Digital Millennium Copyright Act).

Mr. Oxenford just published a piece today about how SoundExchange is starting to contact stations that are in not in compliance with royalty payments for music streaming. I’m not aware of SoundExchange having yet contacted of any of stations covered by the CPB-SX agreement for non-compliance – but I assume it’s only a matter of time. Don’t be one of those stations!

On another note, the deadline for getting Public Interactive your Q1 2010 SoundExchange reporting data is fast approaching. Please please please don’t wait until the last minute to submit your data!

Charles Dickens wrote that line 150 years ago in reference to the time before and during the French Revolution, yet it could still apply today. To wit…

The best of times: spring will, uh, spring this weekend!

The worst of times: Q1 2010 SoundExchange reporting data are due to Public Interactive in a just a couple of weeks. Well, three weeks from this Friday, to be exact. That due date is Friday, April 9, 2010.

Rather than rehash all the particulars again, allow me to simply link to my previous post which lays it all out.

Just because the deadline is still three weeks away is no reason to wait to get us your data! The earlier you get it to us, the more time we have to identify issues with your data and the more time you have to resolve them and make any revisions. If you submit data at the last minute you run the risk of not having the time to make any fixes and, thus, not being included in the reports we submit.

Thanks to all who already provided their Q1 data to us. We love you early birds!