Music Distribution FAQ
I SUBMITTED MY RELEASE AS REQUIRED! WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
As long as you have submitted your content to 5050 Music Group in the correct formats, you are ready to go! The distribution process takes 4-6 weeks for a successful upload to any service. 72 hours prior to 5050 Music Group uploading your content to services, you will receive a “Distribution Notification” for you to approve the release artwork, track listing and album Meta data as it will appear to customers. If you approve, there is no need to respond. If changes need to be made, you have 72 hours to respond from the date the notification was sent.
WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT IF I SUBMIT CONTENT TO BE "PUSHED THROUGH" THE DISTRIBUTION PROCESS AS A PRIORITY?
Requesting content to be “pushed through” the distribution process is not recommended. If you need to request an early delivery, INgrooves cannot guarantee the success of your release’s upload or that your album will be “live” on a service by your requested release date. Clients requesting this service need prior approval by INgrooves and are processed on a case by case basis.
HOW WOULD I KNOW IF MY CONTENT WAS DISTRIBUTED SUCCESSFULLY?
Your Console provides real time updates on the status of your content and where they are in the distribution process. To confirm if your content is “live” at any retailer, please visit the respective retailer website and do a search for your album. Depending on the retailer, you can also “Google” search for your album’s name and the retailers selling your album will show up.
WHAT SIZE AND FORMAT MY ARTWORK SHOULD BE?
All album artwork must be a minimum of 1500 x 1500 pixels and 300 dpi in resolution and in “.jpg”, “.png”, “.gif”, “.bmp” or “.tiff” format. Other formats will not be accepted. Submitting art work with other specs may delay the distribution of your album.
WHAT FORMAT MY AUDIO MUST BE IN?
All audio must be in either .WAV or .AIF formats. Other formats will not be accepted. Submitting other formats may delay the distribution of your album.
HOW CAN I GET MY RELEASE TO BE FEATURED ON RETAIL OR PROMOTIONAL SITES?
Features are requested by 5050 Music Group on a release by release basis, are not guaranteed and are subject to final editorial approval by the service. If you would like 5050 Music Group to request a feature for your album on a particular site, send the request to your label representative with 5-6 of the strongest sales points for the release. These sales points are what 5050 Music Group will send to the service when requesting a feature. Please submit feature request content to 5050 Music Group 6 weeks ahead of the release date. Generally speaking, 5050 Music Group will not know if the feature was approved until the day the feature is published.
I FOUND AN ERROR ON MY DISTRIBUTION NOTIFICATION. CAN I CORRECT THE ERROR?
Yes! You have 72 hours to request changes on these albums by responding to the reply address in the body of the email – please be sure to copy your Client Representative as well. Any changes requested after the 72 hour period are subject to approval.
I MADE AN ERROR ON MY RELEASE BUT IT HAS ALREADY BEEN SUBMITTED FOR RETAILERS. WHAT CAN I DO & WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT?
Generally speaking, change requests after the Distribution Notification period are not guaranteed and retailers have the final right of refusal. Often, changes are due to issues out of our control such as “Genre” as those are specific to the retailer. Please allow 3-4 weeks for changes to take effect on a retailer. To avoid this, please be sure to check your Distribution Notifications carefully.
5050 MUSIC GROUP OR RETAILERS HAS MADE AN ERROR ON MY RELEASE. WHAT CAN I EXPECT?
If the error was made by 5050 Music Group, we will make every effort to correct the error immediately.
If the error was made by a retailer, depending on the change, expect 3-4 weeks for the error to be corrected. However, some changes are not possible depending on the retailer such as “Genre”. Again, as a final reference, please be sure to check your Distribution Notifications carefully.
MY ALBUM IS NOT LIVE ON iTUNES. WHEN SHOULD I EXPECTED TO BE?
There are several possible reasons why releases may not be live on iTunes. iTunes requires at least 4 weeks to process releases on their end. Other reasons could include conflicting release information when going through the iTunes polishing process, inconsistencies iTunes discovers with your uploaded release and what is on other services, poor quality art, explicit content albums not marked as such, explicit cover art and iTunes technical issues. iTunes is the most complex service we distribute to, please expect change requests to take a longer time to update.
SOME OF MY RELEASES ARE LIVE AND SOME ARE NOT. WHY IS THAT?
There are several possible reasons for this. The most common reason is simply that your entire catalog may not have been delivered to retailers as of yet. Initially, when distributing your catalog, new releases are sent to retailers first followed by your back catalog. Each retailer has its own requirements for accepting content. Some services do not accept back catalog or releases older than 6 months for example. If you are a client with several different genres of music, it could be that certain releases are not suited for a particular service. If you feel there may be an error in this, contact us and we will be happy to assist you.
WILL MY BACK CATALOG BE MADE LIVE TO RETAILERS?
This depends on the retailer. Some retailers do not accept back catalog and/or albums with release dates older than 4-6 months. In addition, depending on the genre of your album, your catalog may not entirely be available on a given site depending on what genres of music a service carries. For example, if you are a dance label and have both minimal and trance in your catalog, some services my only take minimal or trance but not both. Hence, your entire catalog may not be available for sale on that particular retail site.
WHEN WILL I RECEIVE MT ROYALTY STATEMENT AND WHEN WILL I RECEIVE MY PAYMENT?
Royalty statements are sent out at the end of every month via email to the address you provide when signing with INgrooves. Additionally, once statements are generated, clients can review earnings on the Client Console.
All accounts are set up with a minimum threshold depending on your payment method. Once your royalty statements show an accrued net amount to reach the threshold, payments are sent to clients. Some clients, particularly non-US based clients opt to set higher threshold amounts to minimize transfer and bank fees.
WHAT OPTIONS DO I HAVE RECEIVING PAYMENT?
Payments may be issued via check, wire transfer or PayPal.
WHEN WILL I RECEIVE ROYALTY STATEMENT AND PAYMENT?
Royalty statements are generated and processed monthly, generally by the second week of the new month.
If you do not receive your royalty statements in a timely manner, please contact 5050 Music Group.
I RECEIVE ROYALTY STATEMENT BUT NO PAYMENT. WHY?
As outlined in your distribution agreement, all publishers must generate a minimum of $250.00 in payable royalties/proceeds in order to qualify for monthly payment.
If in any given royalty cycle the amount generated is less than $250.00, 5050 Music Group will withhold payment until the minimum threshold payment is met during successive monthly royalty cycles.
WHY DO MY SALES TRENDING REPORT DON'T MATCH MY ROYALTY STATEMENT?
Sales trending reports available for viewing/download via the Client Console are the closest representation to real-time sales activity for your estatement that we can get from our retail partners.
In many cases 5050 Music Group has not yet received payment for the more recent sales trending activity you may be viewing in the Console, and as such 5050 Music Group does not pay out royalties until such time as each retail partner has accounted back to us in accordance with their normal royalty cycles.
The royalty statements you receive from 5050 Music Group represent the latest sales proceeds amount(s) that we have received from each retailer, and as such lag behind the time that actual sales occurred.