SoundExchange Reporting Blog

As I continue digging through the Q2 2011 SoundExchange reporting data in preparation for my talk at the upcoming Public Radio Programming Conference, I thought I ‘d share some findings about the songs reported in this last quarter.

First, though, a definition. When compiling the data you supply to us for your quarterly SoundExchange reports, one of the statistics we calculate for each song you report is the total (or actual) number of performances. That’s not the same as the number of plays or spins; instead, it’s a count of the number of people that heard the song, which we calculate using your streaming access logs.

Anyhow, using that measure, here, then, are the 10 most performed songs (across all channel formats) on station streams covered by the CPB-SoundExchange webcasting agreement in Q2 2011:

1. Gonzaghuinha “Tanacara”
2. Death Cab for Cutie “You are a Tourist”
3. Gomez “Options”
4. Fleet Foxes “Helplessness Blues”
5. TV On the Radio “Will Do”
6. Foster the People “Pumped Up Kicks”
7. Dawes “Time Spent in Los Angeles”
8. Lykke Li “I Follow Rivers”
9. My Morning Jacket “Circuital”
10. Bon Iver “Calgary”

What do think? Any of these songs in your station’s rotation?

Are you feeling stressed, unhappy and overwhelmed by the effort to complete and submit your Q2 2011 SoundExchange reporting data to us at NPR Digital Services (due date THIS FRIDAY, July 8, by the by)? Well, first off, take a deep breath and consider having an adult beverage. Everything will OK… Feel better? Good.

Now, it may be that there are other SoundExchange reporting options available to you.

The fine legal minds at Garvey Schubert Barer have produced an updated version of their chart comparing and contrasting the various SoundExchange royalty rates and terms. It may be that your station qualifies for different payment and reporting terms under one of the many webcasting agreements that have been made with SoundExchange (e.g., college broadcasters, microcasters, etc.) You can download the latest version right here.

NPR Digital Services cannot provide any other information or advice on any of these other reporting agreements. We simply present this chart to be helpful and refer you to your own legal counsel to fully understand all of the options, and associated requirements and responsibilities, that may be available to your station.

Should your station choose to opt-out of coverage under the CPB-SoundExchange agreement, in order to report and/or pay SoundExchange under different terms, please let us know and we’ll tell you what you need to do to opt-out from the CPB deal.

Big conference week for us!

I’ll be speaking at AMPPR’s Public Radio Music Conference in New York City on Thursday, March 10 about – what else? – SoundExchange reporting. In addition to answering whatever questions you guys have, I’ll be sharing some interesting stats, charts and graphs on some of things we’ve gleaned from all the data that we’ve been collecting.

Meanwhile, down in Austin we’ll be well represented at the iMA conference, where we’re hosting the opening reception, on Thursday from 7:30-9:30pm where our new leader, Bob Kempf, will speak (click here to RSVP).

A number of of our folks will also be taking part in the session Take Advantage of NPR and PBS! Tactics You Can Implement Now (Friday at 9:45am), where they’ll be discussing topics like Project Argo and NPR’s Core Publisher Pilot.

If you’ll be attending one of these conference, be sure to say hello to me or my co-workers! We don’t bite.

Finally, if you haven’t done the following two things already, please do so ASAP:

1. Register for coverage under the new CPB-SoundAgreement

2. Submit your Q1 2011 SoundExchange reporting data (deadline, Friday, April 8, 2011)

We hope to see you in New York or Austin!

One question that comes my way regularly in regards to music streaming is about podcasting and whether it falls under the terms of the CPB-SoundExchange webcasting agreement. The short answer is that it doesn’t. The statutory license administered by SoundExchange only covers non-interactive digital music offerings (e.g. streams).

Offering copyrighted recordings as part of a podcast is whole other matter from doing it via a stream/webcast and introduces a whole new set of legal questions. When someone asks me about it, I always refer people to their own legal counsel in order to understand all of the intricacies involved.

Recently, this question came up on the Public Radio Discussion Group mailing list and someone (only identified as Will R) posted links to two very, very useful articles on the legal and copyright issues around podcasting. They were so good that I wanted to share them here for those not on the list.

The first was Podcasting Stripped to Basics by Carly Didden of the law firm Garvey Schubert Barer.

The second was the more detailed Podcasting Legal Guide, for those who really want to get into the nitty-gritty.

If you’re thinking of podcasting music I highly, strongly and fervently recommend that you at least read the former. Great stuff.

Big thanks to Will R for sharing these articles, whoever you are…!

I am pleased as punch to announce that Public Interactive has once again completed a not-so-minor miracle by delivering another round of quarterly reports to SoundExchange, this time for Q4 2010.

Thanks to the hard work of many people at stations, syndicated shows, service providers and, of course, right here at Public Interactive, we were able to produce reports for 302 stations covering 482 content channels and 11,447,867 Music Aggregate Tuning Hours (a measure of the total hours of music transmitted to listeners) for the recently competed quarter. It’s truly a ridiculous task that somehow manages to get pulled off each quarter. It’s also an important task, helping to keep stations in compliance with the terms of the CPB-SoundExchange agreement and, hence, the copyright laws.

Now that the Q4 reports are done, that means we’re ready to accept your Q1 2011 reporting data (covering January 1 – March 31). Per usual, I can’t encourage everyone strongly enough to submit your reporting data as soon as possible after your chosen reporting weeks are over. Don’t don’t don’t wait until the last minute, please, I beg you.

For those who still refuse to heed this advice, the deadline for submitting your Q1 data to Public Interactive is Friday, April 8, 2011.

Again, a big thanks to all who submitted Q4 data; keep up the good work!

Finally, if you haven’t already, be sure to opt in for coverage under the latest CPB-SoundExchange agreement!

Thanks to all who have submitted Q4 2010 SoundExchange reporting data! We’re plowing through the mountain of data (and still tracking down a few of you stragglers) and will be generating and submitting the final reports to SoundExchange later this month. Per usual, I’ll blog about the report totals when the reports are done and submitted.

In the meantime, I must call your attention to another important matter: the new agreement between the CPB and SoundExchange which took effect as of January 1. I’ve written previously about the old and new agreements and that, while the new agreement keeps the same reporting requirements for stations, everyone – yes, everyone – must again opt-in for coverage under the new agreement.

This week the CPB launched a new Internet Music Rights web site, through which eligible stations can affirm their intent to comply with the terms of the new agreement, which is in effect from 2011 through the end of 2015.

So, if you haven’t already, go to the site, log in if you’ve previously registered and have credentials, or register with the CPB and complete the opt-in process. After that, if you haven’t already, register with Public Interactive so that we can begin accepting your quarterly data and submitting reports on your behalf. Stations that have previously registered with Public Interactive do NOT need to register with us again.

Remember, if you don’t opt-in for coverage under the new deal, you are on your own for paying royalties and reporting to SoundExchange – even if you were covered under the old agreement.

Got it?  OK, as always, contact me with questions and don’t wait – get covered now!

For those we don’t realize it, the current agreement between the CPB and SoundExchange expires at the end of 2010. Those of you who like having the CPB pay your streaming royalties fear not, though, because a new agreement that takes effect on January 1, 2011 is already in place.

From a station’s perspective, the main aspects of the new deal, which runs through the end of 2015, are the same as the old one: the CPB pays all royalties for music streaming by covered stations and the vast majority of stations still only have to report on 14 days (of their choosing) per calendar quarter, etc.

However, there are some important things to keep in mind about the new deal:

All stations that are eligible for coverage under the agreement will have to opt-in for coverage under the new deal – even those of you who have already opted-in for coverage under the existing agreement!

Opting-in for coverage under the new deal will be a similar process to opting-in under the current deal (i.e., via a CPB web site). The exact process has not yet been determined. More information on how that will work, and when you’ll be able to opt-in, will be forthcoming via this blog and emails.

As a reminder, in order to be eligible for coverage under the CPB-SoundExchange agreement, your organization must be one of the following:

• An NPR member
• An NFCB member
• A CPB Community Service Grant recipient

If your station used to fall into one of these categories but no longer does, you will not be eligible for coverage under the new agreement. Public Interactive and the CPB are currently compiling the complete list of eligible stations based on the latest NPR/NFCB member lists and CPB grantees.

Covered stations will continue to report quarterly to SoundExchange via Pubic Interactive.

Finally, all stations streaming music still need to adhere to the restrictions imposed by the DMCA’s Performance Complement. Just a friendly reminder.

As always, contact me with any questions – or good turkey brining recipes. I’m on the lookout for one…

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Just want to remind everyone of two important SoundExchange-related events that are coming up soon:

1. We’ll be conducting a webinar this coming Thursday, September 16, 2010 from 2:00-3:00 EDT for producers of syndicated programming streamed by stations covered under the CPB-SoundExchange agreement. Anybody is welcome to attend, but we’ll be discussing a reporting process that’s specific to those folks. Here’s the description and registration information:

If you produce a syndicated show streamed by public radio stations, please join us to learn how to submit data on the music you stream to Public Interactive (PI, a division of NPR) for use in the generation of quarterly reports to SoundExchange (SX). This webinar will discuss the terms of the recent CPB-SX webcasting performance agreement and what syndicated show producers need to do to ensure that stations streaming their shows are in compliance with the terms of this agreement. We’ll discuss the required reporting data, as well the format and method in which the data should be reported to PI. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.

Title:         SoundExchange Reporting for Syndicated Show Producers
Date:        Thursday, September 16, 2010
Time:        2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT

Reserve your seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/796174776

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements

PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

2. Q3 2010, believe it or not, will soon be over which means, if you haven’t already, please get your Q3 reporting data (covering July 1- September 30, 2010) to Public Interactive as soon as possible. We’ve set a deadline of Friday, October 8 to submit your Q3 data to us but please please pretty please do not wait until the last minute to submit your data! It leaves little to no time to correct errors and deal with unforeseen problems (e.g., missing streaming logs).

Anyway, as always, the basics of reporting are detailed here.

Onward!

As you hopefully know by now, Public Interactive (PI) currently collects music playlists from a number of syndicated programs for the purpose of integrating them into quarterly SoundExchange reports for stations that stream those shows. PI does this to help make SoundExchange (SX) reporting compliance easier for stations that have chosen to be covered by the CPB-SX webcasting performance agreement.

Until now, we’ve gotten playlists mainly (though not exclusively) from those programs syndicated through the “big three” networks (NPR, PRI, APM). However, we know that there are lots and lots of other syndicated shows out there, and we’d like to pull as many of those shows into the SoundExchange reporting fold as possible.

To that end, I’ll be hosting a webinar on Thursday, September 16 at 2:00 PM EDT to talk about SoundExchange reporting for syndicated shows. In the webinar we’ll discuss the terms of the recent CPB-SX webcasting performance agreement and what data syndicated show producers need to provide to ensure that stations streaming their shows are in compliance with the terms of this agreement. We’ll discuss the required reporting data, as well the format and method in which the data should be reported to PI. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session, and a representative from the CPB will join us to help answer questions.

Why is this important? Because producers who do not provide the required song data for SoundExchange reporting are putting the stations that stream their shows at risk of being in violation of copyright laws! If you, or someone you know, offers a program for syndication to public radio broadcasters, please plan on attending or passing along the invitation.

Here are more details, including registration information, on the webinar:

Title:         SoundExchange Reporting for Syndicated Show Producers
Date:        Thursday, September 16, 2010
Time:        2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT

Reserve your seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/796174776

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements

PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

We hope to see (er, hear) you there! Yes – YOU!

Once again, thanks to lots of hard work by lots of folks – in particular YOU fine folks at so many stations – quarterly reports have been generated and delivered by Public Interactive to SoundExchange, this time for Q2 2010! The totals for this quarter’s reports:

Stations reporting: 288, a 9% increase over Q1 2010

Content streams reported on: 431, a 16% increase over Q1

Total Music Aggregate Tuning Hours (MATH) covered by the reports: 11,752,233, a 2.5% increase over Q1

That there is a lot of data, folks. Well done, everyone! Give yourself a pat on the back.

OK, that’s enough celebrating; time to get to work on Q3 2010 reporting! We are now accepting your reporting data for Q3 via Composer Basic and Composer Pro. The due date for data from the current quarter (July 1 – September 30) is Friday, October 8, 2010.

Once again, I urge one and all to get us your data as soon as your reporting weeks are over. Don’t wait until October! The sooner you do it, the more time there is to fix any problems and get us any missing data, and the sooner you will have SoundExchange peace of mind, which, really, is priceless.

Please, no matter what, contact me as soon as you upload your data. Do not just upload and assume all is fine! Check with me, please please pretty please. I really can’t emphasize this enough.

Anyway, thanks so much to all of you who submitted data for Q2. We appreciate it, the CPB appreciates it and the artists whose music you stream no doubt appreciate it.