This article provides an overview of the new Submissions feature which lets music publishers and library owners review and accept artist, producer and/or composer song submissions to their licensing store. We’ll discuss how it works and offer some tips to get publishers started with this handy new catalog growth management feature.

Getting started with the Submissions feature

Under the Catalog section of your account navigation menu (on the left side) you’ll find Submissions listed just below the Tracks/Songs item. Clicking it opens the Submissions page which includes all the controls you need to Edit the Agreement which is between you (the Publisher or Library owner) and the Submitters that will be uploading their audio files for you to review.

When Submitters register on your Submission Form page, they can then upload up to 10 songs/tracks per submission session, until you’ve reviewed the tracks and either accepted or declined them. When the first batch of submitted tracks have been finalized in the review process, the submitter can then start another submission session.

Finding submitted tracks

Submitted tracks will appear listed in a dialog on the Submissions page, and when selected, will appear at top of the page with a play button (to preview the track), a download button (to download the master file) and the composer, applicant, copyright info and description.

When you click the Review button for any selected track, a page opens with all the track’s meta-data, same as on the Edit Track page in your catalog. This lets you edit or add any data already entered by the Submitter during the submission process. This also includes Brand/Artist selection, Tags, Genre, Rate Card selection and Custom fields if you are using them.

Edit Agreement button

The Edit Agreement button (at top-right) lets you open, review and edit the Submission Agreement wording which the Submitters must read and agree to before they can upload their songs. There are two sections on the Submission Agreement edit form:

a) the Introduction which lets you enter a customized message for all submitters to see at top of your Submissions Form page, just below your store header. This can include information about what kind of music you are looking for or where there’s currently a need, and so forth.

b) The main part of the agreement terms, which lets you review the default (standard) agreement and edit as needed, or delete everything and enter / paste in your own Agreement wording which is between you and the Submitters.

Email notifications

Each time a new Submitter completes the registration process, and/or submission process, you are sent an email notification, and their account info will appear on your Submissions page including their name, email address and how many tracks they have already uploaded for you to review. You can also the Manage Submitters link (on right side below the review dialog0 to view and download the Agreement which will include the Submitters contact details as they entered on the registration form.

Accepting or declining submitted tracks

After playing a track and reviewing the song’s meta data, you can either Accept or Decline the track. If accepted, it will be moved to the Tracks/Songs page for access to be included in your Store, as long as all data has been entered and you make the song visible in your store, same as with any other track you upload to your own catalog. Also, the Preview and Master files will be found on the Files/Uploads page in your account.

The submitters are also notified when their submitted songs have been approved or declined. If declined, the message says that all uploaded files have been removed, to assure the Submitter that their files won’t be accessed or used any further beyond the initial review process. If accepted, the Submitter is notified as such by email, and can expect that some licensing sales may occur in the future, after their tracks have been added to your catalog and appear “live” in your store.

Tips for successful music submissions

1) To make the upload files work, you’ll need an LQ plan which includes our integrated audio files storage. This assures that the submitted and uploaded audio files are safe (not lost or misplaced) and easy for you (as publisher) to find and manage as needed.

2) Make sure you have enough tracks “headroom” space in your account to accept uploaded audio Preview and Master files to review and accept or decline as needed. Generally you can expect a faster catalog growth rate when using the Submissions feature and should plan accordingly with your LQ store subscription plans.

3) You can send email invitations to invite Submitters to submitt their songs. The email should include a link to your Submission Form page which you can link to or embed on a page on your website. On your site you should also offer a link or button which opens up your Submissions Form page. This can be “hidden” on your site or made a public based on your needs, management objectives and library growth rate goals, etc.

4) It is recommended that you stay in touch with Submitters whose songs you have accepted, for example, to let them know how your licensing sales are doing, and when they can expect their first payment for their share of the sales revenues from your licensing store.

5) You can use the Sales Report page to filter sales according to various Brand/Artist names, which makes it easy to track total sales (for example) on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis. You can also open and download a copy of the custom sales reports and send a copy in PDF (or other) format to the artists and composers you’re representing in licensing store. This makes it easy to conduct and manage your licensing sales administration.

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