Templates tell Curve how to read a sales file, describing each column in the sheet & how to map specific values. Thanks to our Templates, there is no need to copy-paste any sales data from your statement into a structured format. The objective of a Template is for it to be set up in such a way that you can import your sales files straight onto Curve without the need to make any manual changes to your statements prior to importing.

When dropping a sales file into Curve using our Bulk Upload tool, Curve will automatically search for a fitting Template in our Template Library. Our library covers the statement format of hundreds of streaming & download platforms, distributors, collection societies & sub-publishers. Only when you import a sales file that is in a format that is not recognised by Curve, you will need to create your own Template or adjust an existing Template from our Library.

In the below video, we explain how you can create your own Template. Further down this article, we provide you with notes and further reading.

Creating a Template Summary

To begin, select Templates from the Sales sub-menu on the sidebar.  Once there, hit Create. You will be presented with two options ‘From New’ or ‘From Library’. Meaning you can create your own Template from scratch, or download and adjust an existing one from our Library. The below steps instruct you on how to create a Template ‘From New’.

1. Name your Template – Provide a clear name for your own reference

2. Name the Source – Who sent you the statement that you are creating this Template for?

3. Specify the Tab Number – On which Tab Number of the Excel spreadsheet is the sales data specified?

4. Specify the Header Row – The Headers describe the columns of your sales file. Which Row are these Headers on?

5. Specify the Starting Row – Starting from which row does your sales file provide actual sales data that you want Curve to read?

6. If necessary, provide a Delimiter and Encoding – If your data is separated by a character such as a comma or a semi-colon, rather than data being stored in different columns, you may need to specify this delimiter here. If your sheet has a special type of encoding, such as UTF-8 or UTF-16, you may need to specify this also. If in doubt, generally, the Delimiter and Encoding field can be left blank.

7. Upload your Example File – Now that you have told Curve where to read the data in your sales file, you can upload your sales file as an example. Once you have attached your file, hit Save. This will upload the file, and then display some example lines for you to work with.

8. Match Columns to Fields – Once the upload of the test file is complete, you need to tell the system which columns contain data for the Required Fields.  If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you’ll see the Example Lines panel, where a sample set of data is displayed. The objective here is to match the columns of data to the necessary Fields using the drop-down options at the top of the columns.

For Record Labels & Distributors, the main fields to consider are:

• Territory– the country where something was streamed, downloaded or sold
• Source– the store or service
• Sub Source– who has reported this file, if different from the Source. For instance you may use this to capture the distributor supplying the sales sheet
• Distribution Channel– the over arching consumption type (usually Physical or Digital)
• Configuration– the format or more specific consumption type; perhaps CD or 12″ for physical, or Download or Stream for digital
• Release Title
• Release Artist
• Cat No– used to match any sales rows to your releases
• Barcode– used along with Cat No for matching to releases
• Track Title
• Track Artist
• ISRC– key identifier for matching sales to tracks
• Units– the number of units sold or streamed
• Gross Amount– this may be the amount received from the store or DSP, before any distribution fees are taken
• Net Amount– the amount being paid to you per line
• Original Currency– the currency in which you are reported your sales data
• Exchange Rate– the exchange rate back to your base currency
• Sale Date – the day the download or stream was made
• Transaction Date – the day you were paid

For Publishers, the main Fields to consider are:

• Territory– the country where the income was generated
• Source –  who has reported this file? This would be your collection societies, sub-publishers or any other direct partner.
• Sub Source –  the original source of income, eg the radio station, television station or DSP.
• Distribution Channel – the overarching consumption type (typically Performance or Mechanical)
• Configuration – the format or more specific consumption type; perhaps revenue from radio, television or online revenue.
• Work Title
• Party 1, 2, 3, … – the composers or publishers that own copyright in the work
• Identifier– the unique identifier of your songs, usually unique to that particular Sub Source
• ISWC – an internationally used unique identifier of your songs
• Share Percentage– the percentage paid, should be equal to your share on the work
• Units – the number of units sold or streamed
• Gross Amount – this may be the amount received from the collection society or sub-publisher before any commissions are taken
• Net Amount – the amount being paid to you per line
• Currency – the original currency it was reported in
• Exchange Rate – the exchange rate back to your base currency
• Sale Date – the day the performance or mechanical was created
• Transaction Date – the day you were paid

9. Provide missing values using the Standard Fields – With any reporting, there will be elements that are not explicitly defined in the data, but is instead inferred or provided in additional communications. For instance, a Spotify statement will not define the channel, which is of course Digital. Or your statement may not specify the currency in which you are paid. In these instances, you can provide these values using the Standard Fields. Put simply, you can set the values that will be fixed for every line on file via this panel. Be careful, that also means it will overwrite any values that you would have matched before when matching columns to fields, so you should only complete these fields when the same value should be applied to all sales lines in your statement and when there is no column in the sales file providing this data already.

Once all of your necessary columns have been matched, hit Save and your sales template is now complete and ready to import sales data. For more information on Templates, please visit this chapter in our documentation.

Additional Features that can help Curve read your sales data

Target Cells – Sometimes sales file wide data such as the Sale Date, the Currency or the Source will be specified in a single cell rather than a column. If so, you can use Target Cells to read this data and apply it to all the sales lines.
Catalogue Overwrite Sales – The Channel, Configuration and/or Price Category of the sales line can be derived from the mapped Release.
Copy Fields – When one column holds data that should be mapped to two or more fields (such as one column being used to specify both the Track Artist and Release Artist, or one column being used to specify both the Net Amount and Gross Amount), you can use a Copy Field to copy the data stored in one field to another. More info
Source Mapping & Sub Source Mapping – This can be used to adjust the spelling of the (Sub) Source values provided in the sales file. You may prefer SPOTIFY to be spelt as Spotify for example. More info
Calculations – These can be used to combine columns, ignore rows, complete blank cells and adjust values. More info