Statement Settings

1. Make sure to complete your Company Name & Address. This will appear on your statements, self-bill invoices & fees invoices (a legal requirement in many countries).

2. Enter an Email Address for ‘help’ both in the Statement Design & Communication settings. Invariably artists have questions regarding their statements. ‘When will I get paid?’ ‘Do I need to send an invoice?’ Providing a contact email gives reassurance & ensures artists know where to ask these questions.

3. Write Custom Statement Text & Custom Email Text. As previously noted recipients of statements typically have questions; why not provide the answer to frequently asked questions in your statement or email text? You could when payments will be made, where invoices should be sent, or anything else useful for your payees.

4. Upload a logo. This will be published on your statements emphasising your brand identity.

Configurations

1. Review the configurations to confirm they capture the level of detail you require. For example, you may have one configuration named Streaming, or be more detailed with Premium Stream & Ad-Supported Stream, or even take it a step further & have Premium Stream, Ad-Supported Stream, Telco Stream, Concession Stream & Trial Stream.

2. Make sure your configurations reflect the level of detail you are provided in your sales files. It is impossible to map your sales down to a separate Premium Stream & Ad-Supported Stream configuration when your distributor only breaks down your sales by Streams. If so, it’s better to just have one Streaming configuration in your Settings also.

3. Make sure the meaning of your configurations cover your needs but don’t overlap. For example, when you have a configuration for Premium Stream & Ad-Supported Stream, there is little or no benefit in having a third configuration named Stream which is nothing more than a less detailed description of the former two configurations combined. Or little benefit in having an additional configuration named On-Demand Stream, as on-demand streams could be both subscription-based or ad-supported.

4. Make sure they are understandable for your clients. Artists will gain little info from FAM4. It’s better use clear names such as Premium Stream or Family Stream.

5. Perhaps most importantly, the configurations should mirror the requirements of your Contracts. If you have artists that are paid a different royalty rate for Premium Streams opposed to Ad-Supported Streams, you will need a unique configuration for Premium Streams. If you don’t have contract terms that require this level of detail, you may still decide to have these detailed configurations; in case you would decide to have more detailed contract terms in future deals or to provide this level of detail in the analytics for yourself & your clients.

Channels

1. These are the parent categories of your configurations. You can keep it simple with just Digital & Physical for recordings or Mechanical & Performance for publishers. Alternatively, you can increase your categories to Streaming, Download, Vinyl & CD channels & then add further detail in the configurations (eg Premium Stream, Ad-Supported Stream, Telco Stream; 12″, 2×12″ 10″ & 7″).

2. As with configurations make sure these don’t overlap. There is little benefit in having a Digital & a Streaming channel, as Streaming should technically be part of your Digital channel too. Also, make sure they are understandable for your clients & suit the requirements of your contract terms.