SoundExchange Reporting Blog

Slight correction to an earlier post about our SoundExchange Reporting session at the PRPD conference next week in Cleveland. Originally, we were scheduled for 11:00am on Wednesday, 9/16. However, the session is officially booked for later that day, from 4:00-5:30pm on Wednesday 9/16 in Grand Ballroom A.

Don’t be fooled by the location; there will be no ballroom dancing going on. At least not by me.

You can download the Agenda at a Glance here, and the complete listing of the conference sessions and events here.

Hopefully I’ll see you in Cleveland. They say it rocks, you know.

This coming Friday, September 4, is not only the beginning of Labor Day weekend, but it also marks six weeks until the deadline to get your Q3 SoundExchange reporting data to Public Interactive – Friday, October 16, 2009.

It really sneaks up on you, doesn’t it? Kind of like old age.

Of course, we’ll be happy to take your reporting data before then, if you have it ready. Thanks to those stations that have already delivered their Q3 data to us!

As a reminder, here are the particulars about SoundExchange reporting through PI:

1. Make sure you have registered with the CPB, accepted the terms of the CPB-SX agreement, and registered with PI for SoundExchange reporting. If you have not completed all of these steps then PI cannot submit reports to SoundExchange on your behalf. If you are not sure whether your station has completed all of these steps, contact me and I can tell you.

2. Unless you have already been told otherwise, you choose two 7-day-consecutive periods within the current calendar quarter (July, August, September) on which to report. SoundExchange would like data for two weeks during which you play music that is representative of what you play during the whole quarter.

3. Prepare a data file of the songs you streamed during the reporting period (one file per content stream) that conforms to our playlist log file guidelines. Your playlist file(s) must conform to these basic requirements or we cannot process them and hence cannot generate and submit reports on your station’s behalf to SoundExchange! (NOTE: Existing PI Composer clients don’t need to send us a playlist log file, since we have access to your Composer data; just make sure you’ve filled out the playlist and guide data for your reporting weeks.)

4. Contact your IT department or stream host and request the raw streaming access logs that cover your chosen reporting weeks. Read more here about our streaming access log file guidelines, which describes what data we need. (NOTE: Existing PI streaming clients don’t need to send us streaming log access files.)

5. Once you are ready to send us your data files, if you do not already have an FTP account from PI, contact me and I will give you one to transfer the files to us.

6. Open a bottle of champagne to celebrate! You deserve it.

For those wondering, Composer Basic – an online tool that stations will use to manage stream information, push data files to PI and input schedule data (for use in incorporating syndicated programming playlists) – is not yet ready for prime time, so data uploads will continue to be via FTP. We’re hoping to have this tool online and available for stations before the end of the quarter.

Finally, for those going to the Public Radio Program Directors conference in a couple of weeks, please note that we will be having a session on SoundExchange reporting. If you’re going to be there be sure to attend and stop by the Public Interactive booth to say hello and ask questions.

I am pleased to announce that our friends at the Public Radio Program Directors Association (this means you Arthur!) have given us a slot at their upcoming conference in Cleveland to discuss – what else? – SoundExchange reporting! The SX session at the PRPD conference will be on Wednesday, September 16th at 11:00am. Here’s the skinny on the session:

Eliminate SoundExchange Stress with Dr. Phil and Friends

Are you suffering from online music reporting stress? Join this roundtable discussion on music rights and SoundExchange (SX) reporting for public broadcasters. Phil Johnson (aka:  Dr. Phil) will give a brief report card on how the system is doing, review reporting requirements, provide an exclusive first look at reporting tools coming to your station, and will reveal what you need to know about the upcoming Q3 deadline.  Panelists will provide history and details behind the agreement and a primer on internet music rights and royalties. After a brief presentation we will open the session to answer your questions on the complicated and evolving world of music rights and responsibilities in the realm of new media. Don’t miss this chance to alleviate reporting stress and ask questions about what is and is not permitted forstreaming.

In addition to myself (yes, Dr. Phil), the panelists will include my boss Debra May Hughes, who runs PI, as well as Jeff Luchsinger from the CPB, and John Crigler from the law firm of Garvey Schubert Barer. Both Jeff and John were involved in crafting of the deal between the CPB and SoundExchange. As the session blurb says, we’ll use the time to give you an update on SoundExchange reporting through Public Interactive, including the development of tools to help stations get us their data. Jeff and John will be able to help answer your larger questions on the CPB-SX agreement and music rights and licensing in the digital era.

Let me use this opportunity to refer you back to an excellent webinar about music licensing that John participated in last month for NFCB stations. If you haven’t already watched the video of the webinar, I would encourage you to do so when you have a spare hour. It’s worth your time.

I look forward to meeting many of you in person at the conference. Even if you can’t make the session, please be sure to swing by the Public Interactive booth on Wednesday afternoon and say hello! I’ll only be there on Wednesday, but our crack sales manager Joe Orlando will be there all week to answer any question you may have about PI’s products and services.

I expect that Cleveland will be rocking that week!