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PLATFORM PLAYBOOK
1 Introduction
2 Getting Started
2.1 Creating your account
2.2 Connecting your services
2.3 Managing user settings
2.4 Inviting your team
2.5 Setting payout preferences
3 The Basics
3.1 Completing your artist profile
3.2 Uploading assets
3.3 Publishing information
3.4 Distribute your release
3.5 Managing your assets
4 Managing Ownership
4.1 Rights and contracts
4.2 Rights holders
5 Distributing Releases
5.1 Delivering your music
5.2 Tracking you revenue earnings
5.3 Royalties
5.4 Managing payees and payments
6 Analytics
6.1 Analyze your data
Appendix: Style Guide
We’re excited to offer our users a complete guide to getting the most out of Revelator. In this Playbook, you will find best practices, tips, and strategies to build your music business and audience on Revelator. We hope you find this information helpful and we are always here if you have any questions or feedback.
The Playbook’s Purpose
This Playbook is designed to help you take your music business to the next level. It offers guidance on how to upload, sell, and manage your music assets, as well as track, report and analyze your data. We have tried to present our suggestions to encourage a variety of uses, and to inspire music creators and rights holders alike to innovate and apply the approach that works best for you.
How to Use This Playbook
No two music catalogs are created alike, and no two rights holders will use Revelator exactly the same way. Our platform gives you the freedom and flexibility to be creative and use our myriad features to sell, manage and promote your music. Our hope is that you will be inspired to try new things and discover new possibilities in optimizing your content.
Your Success Is Our Mission
We learn so much from our clients, and that’s why we constantly strive to find new tips and trends to share with you. As our platform evolves and we offer even more features, we will update our Playbook and our website with new tips and strategies for you. Check back for updates so you can continue to grow your fan base and take your business to the next stage.
Enjoy!
Playbook Structure
Our best practices are laid out in stages to help you understand each point and guide you through them. We provide step-by-step instructions on how to use each feature, and why we think you’ll benefit from it. Then we will give you examples to illustrate each feature.
Running a successful music business requires much more than releasing legendary hits. Revelator makes it easy to manage it all by unifying the business, content management and marketing tools you need in one powerful platform. We will walk you through how to create your account, connect to your services, manage your user settings, invite your team, and set your payout preferences. We give you tips on centralizing your data and your team so collaborations become transparent and business can run as efficiently as possible.
To create an account, follow the steps below:
Go to app.revelator.com
Click “Create Account”
Enter the first name, last name, email and password you would like associated with the account.
Select the checkbox to accept the Terms & Conditions, and Privacy Policy.
Then click Continue to create your new Revelator account.
Don’t forget to check your email and approve your account.
Connecting to streaming and download services allows our platform to retrieve your catalog metadata and synchronize your sales reports and daily trends. It also allows for more convenient, streamlined distribution.
Note: To connect with any DSP, you must have a direct deal with that DSP and know the connection information. For example, for iTunes, you must have a direct deal with iTunes and know your iTunes Connect vendor ID, email, and password. No need to worry, your data is safe, we can only read data from iTunes, and we can never overwrite any of your data on iTunes without your permission.
To connect to Distribution, Reporting and Payment services:
From the Main menu, click Services.
Select the service you would like to connect to using your existing account information. You may filter the available services you are viewing by clicking Distribution, Reporting, Payment, or All on the left side of the page.
Enter the delivery server address, your DDEX ID, delivery username, path to directory and delivery certificate for Distribution.
Note: Contact the DSP or Merlin directly for your delivery server address, delivery username or path to directory.
Note: For more information about DDEX, consult their knowledge base.
Enter your account information including host server and port address username and password for Reporting services.
Note: The administrator of any DSP you currently deliver to, will have been provided this information by the service.
Enter your client ID and client secret
for payment services.
Note: To learn how to find your client ID and Client secret go to this link.
Click Connect to link your account.
Select each subsequent service you would like to connect, and enter the relevant information for each accordingly.
User settings allow you to customize your personal information, notifications and preferred formatting. To configure your settings, follow the steps below:
From the main navigation menu, click My Settings.
My Settings includes three tabs that include information you may edit: User, Preferences and Notifications. Some of the fields will be prefilled with the information you entered when you created your account.
Under the User tab you may edit your photo, first and last names, preferred email address and Revelator password.
Click Save to confirm any changes.
Under the Preferences tab you may edit your location by country, date format and number format.
Click Save to confirm any changes.
Under the Notifications tab you may choose to receive email notifications about your account, your releases, and/or statements.
Click Save to confirm any changes.
One unified account makes it easy for everyone to access and share the data they need, allowing your business to run as smoothly as possible. The account owner retains control over permissions for all other team members. You can invite members of your team by choosing the account you want them to have access to, and give them permissions for specific applications within the platform.
Note: Whoever you invite will receive an email notifying them and asking them to log in, or create a Revelator account if they do not have one yet.
To invite people to your account, follow the steps below:
From the main navigation menu, click Account.
Scroll down and click Add a Team Member to expand its details.
Click “+ Invite new member.”
In the pop-up dialogue, select an existing artist, label, or account you would like to give access to
Choose the role you would like to assign to the invited members using the drop down menu. There are four roles available that include suggested permissions when selected. You may add or remove permissions for any role selected other than administrator.
Accountant: Includes access to accounts, payments and analytics, but not assets.
Administrator: Includes access to all categories.
Content Manager: Includes access to assets but not accounts, payments or analytics.
Special/Custom: Select any permissions you would like to grant manually.
Enter the email addresses for all people you would like to invite. If you enter multiple addresses, separate each one with a comma.
Select either View or Edit permissions for each category you would like the new members to have access to. If you grant Edit permissions to a team member, that will automatically include View permissions.
Click “Invite” to send the invitation.
Set your desired payout method to automate revenue collection. Decide whether you would like to use a PayPal account or if a direct bank transfer would be more convenient.
Note: Not all countries have access to PayPal.
To set up your payout preferences, follow the steps below:
From the main navigation menu, click Account.
Click the Payout Preferences tab at the top of the page.
Select whether you are an incorporated company, or unincorporated individual.
Enter the legal name and the email address of the bank account holder.
Enter the relevant Tax ID number, VAT number, and Vendor ID if applicable.
Choose your preferred payment method.
If you select PayPal, enter the email address for the PayPal account to be funded.
Click Save to confirm your changes.
This is where you express the public face of an artist. An artist profile is an opportunity to show fans who you are, what you care about, and make a lasting impression. The content you write here will serve as tags and keywords to guide fans to find and connect with your releases. Genres, influencers, and contemporaries you list here help will categorize your music within music services.
To complete your artist profile, follow the steps below:
Click Rights Holders from the main navigation menu.
Click the “+ Add Artist” button on the right side of the page.
Upload an image in JPG or JPEG format. We recommend an image that is at least 1400 by 1400 pixels and 300dpi.
Enter the Official artist or band name as you would like it to appear in stores and elsewhere online.
Fill in a biography. This helps listeners identify the artist in search results.
Enter the location the artist or band is most strongly connected to. You can write either city and country, or just the country if you’d like.
Add the genres that best describe the music. Feel free to include as many as you think apply.
Name some of the influencers who may have inspired the artist.
Identify some contemporaries who create similar music to the artist, or have audiences you would like to appeal to.
Under Years Active, choose the decade(s) during which the music was released.
Select whether the artist is signed to a label. If so, write in the name of the current record label.
Don’t forget to click Save to confirm your changes.
Any music assets you have that are not currently available on music distribution services, you can upload directly through Revelator. Make sure that all your metadata is complete so your fans will be able to search and find your content easily on stores and services. Once your songs are uploaded you will be able to distribute and promote your content across all platforms as soon as you’re ready. Uploading your music also allows you to generate both revenue and marketing data, which you can use to measure and improve your business. Before you upload a release, first prepare all your files, including audio, images, album and song credits. Make sure to upload uncompressed WAV audio files with minimum 16 bit, 44.1 Khz specs. Always upload the highest quality files possible, and the Revelator platform will automatically transcode and prepare the right file type for each of the stores and services requirements.
To upload music, follow the steps below:
From the main navigation menu, click Assets.
Then click the Actions button on the right side and select Create new album. You will be taken to the “Main info” tab of the upload wizard.
Main information:
Upload a cover image that will identify the release across all platforms. In order to comply with each service’s minimum requirements, the image must be:
File format: JPG or JPEG
Color space: RGB
Minimum dimensions: 1400x1400 pixels but highly recommend: 3000x3000 pixels.
Square image: width and height must be the same.
Images may not contain more than 50 megapixels or be larger than 10 Mb.
Your image cannot be stretched, upscaled, or appear to be low-resolution.
Any information displayed on your cover art must match your album title and artist name.
Website addresses, social media links and contact information are not permitted on album artwork.
Your cover art may not include sexually explicit imagery.
Your cover art cannot be misleading by displaying another artist's name more prominently than yours.
You may not use a third-party logo or trademark without the express written permission from the trademark holder.
Choose the language you will be writing your titles, artist name(s) and release description for your content. This exclusively refers to the language of the metadata being entered, not the language of the song or the lyrics.
Choose the release type. You can choose LP, EP, ringtone, single, or video.
In the title section, enter the name of the release, and specify the title version if necessary. You may enter the title in other languages as well. We recommend this especially if the title is in non-Latin characters, or your listeners will likely be searching for the release in other languages.
Note: click here for info on what to include in your album title and what not to include.
Select whether the release is by a single artist, or is a compilation of various artists.
If the release is not a compilation of various artists, add the artist name and any additional artist names such as a remixer or featured artist. As you begin typing, matching names from your existing catalog will appear, and you may select them.
If the release is a compilation of various artists, select this option and you will be asked to enter the artist information separately for each track on the next page.
Note: Click here for more info on entering artists.
In the Release Info section, enter at least one genre.
Note: Click here for more info on Genres (especially if it is classical).
Enter the year the rights were retained and the name of the Publishing Copyright holder in the text box labeled (P) Copyright.
Enter the year the rights were retained and the name of the Artwork Copyright holder in the text box labeled (C) Copyright.
Select whether this album has been previously released. If it has been, you will need to enter the existing UPC/EAN/JAN code* for the album. You may also provide the existing ISRC codes for each track on the following page.
Select if this album is on a record label. If yes, enter the Label name.
Click Next to confirm your entries and advance to the track information tab.
Note: UPC, EAN and JAN are the barcode standards controlled by the US, the EU and Japan, respectively, that would be printed on any physical version of a release. This code is used to identify album sales across all platforms.
Note: Click for some miscellaneous tips.
Track information:
If you have previously uploaded other tracks, you may select them to be included on this release.
Click “+ Upload a new track” to add new files to this release.
Either click the “Audio file” text box, or drag a file from your desktop to upload a new file.
We currently accept audio in WAV only. All files must have 2 channels with a sampling rate of 44.1Khz and 16-bit resolution. Audio length must be longer than 2 seconds, and shorter than 60 minutes.
Revelator will automatically transcode and prepare files for distribution to each service.
Note: Select or drag only one file at a time for each track.
Select the language of the lyrics in the performance. If there are no lyrics, select Instrumental.
Enter the track title and accompanying title version such as “Bonus” or “Remaster” if relevant.
Click “+Add a title in another language” to do so. We recommend this especially if the title is in non-Latin characters, or your listeners will likely be searching for the release in other languages.
Enter the Artist name if the release is a compilation of various artists. If the release is not a compilation but the track has more than one artist performing, click to add each additional artist or contributor featured.
Select whether you do or do not already have and ISRC code. *If the music has not been previously released, Revelator can generate ISRC codes for you.
Select whether the track has explicit lyrics or does not.
Note: Click 'yes' if your song contains one or more of the following:
anything unsuitable for children
strong language
references to violence or abuse
sexual content
anything that might be regarded as racist, homophobic, discriminatory, or misogynistic
anything that encourages or celebrates criminal behavior
Select whether this is an original song or a performance of a song in the public domain. The relevant publishing information required will be entered on the next page.
Note: Original compositions and public domain compositions are defined as such:
An original composition is a track to which you’ve contributed lyrics and/or music, but which does NOT borrow elements from previously created works.
Public domain compositions are ones in which the intellectual property rights have expired or been forfeited. This generally applies to songs written before 1923.
Under Additional Info you may:
Edit the genre or copyright information for this song if it is different than the album.
Choose the starting point, written in seconds, that you would like a short preview on some download services to begin. For example, if you would like the 30 second preview to begin 1 minute and 20 seconds into the track, enter “80.”
Expand the Lyrics section to optionally enter the lyrics to the song.
Once you have uploaded all the files that will be included in this release, confirm that the track order is correct. If you would like to rearrange the order, you may do so by simply dragging the track title to the correct position on the list.
Click next to confirm your changes and advance to the Publishing information tab.
Note: All artist names and contributors entered in this section will appear in metadata, and do not affect publishing details.
Note: ISRC stands for “International Standard Recording Code” and is a system for identifying sound recordings and music videos. It “provides the means to automatically identify recordings for royalty payments.” This is also the code used to report plays for Nielsen SoundScan, the UK Official Charts and other charting organizations.
Accurate publishing information is a vital part of managing royalties and here you can fully account for any writer who contributed to a release, separate from any performers.
To add publishing information for each song, click the title of track you would like to edit, and then complete the following steps:
Enter the full name of a writer of the song. As you begin typing, matching names from your existing assets will appear, and you may select them. If there is more than one writer, you may repeat this process as many times as necessary.
Select the role of the current writer. The options are:
Arranger
Composer
Writer
Writer-Composer
Enter the percentage share of the rights the writer is entitled to. This will be used within Revelator to calculate royalty payments and within accounting reports.
Select the publishing type. The options are:
Copyright control (self published)
Public domain (no publisher)
Published (managed by a publisher)
Enter the name of the publisher. As you begin typing, matching names from your previously entered publishers will appear, and you may select them from the list.
Click “+ Add another writer” to do so.
Click Save to confirm your entries and return to the Publishing information tab.
Repeat this step for all available tracks as necessary.
When all tracks have publishing information completed, click Next to continue on to Review & Save your new release.
Note: The share percentage must add up to 100% for all writers included on each track.
Note: Click here for more info on the publishing tab.
Review and Save:
This is the last step before your release and all included track uploads are saved to your Revelator profile. Make sure to:
Review the information you have just entered for all tracks within this release.
If you notice any errors on any tracks, return to the relevant tab, correct the information as necessary, and make sure to save all changes.
If all information is correct for all tracks within the release, click Approve to save your release.
Once you have completed and approved your release you may:
Send release to stores & services
Create another release
View your catalog
Releases from your catalog that you would like to add to DSPs can be directly distributed from Revelator. Scheduling a coordinated rollout is simple and lets you market a release for when you’re ready. If you choose to distribute a release that has been uploaded to Revelator, the application can easily send the complete package of files and metadata to any or all available services at once. All popular services are available including:
iTunes/Apple Music
Spotify
Amazon
Youtube Music
Pandora
Tidal
Deezer
Shazam
and over 20 more of the world’s leading music DSPs
From the main navigation menu, click Assets
Select the asset you want to distribute
Click on the Distribution tab
Click on Distribute now
Choose your Release Date. This can either be as soon as possible or on a specific date.
As soon as possible primarily depends on the response time from each service. Typically this requires anywhere from a few hours up to a few days. Each service has their own requirements and will make the release public independent of any other service.
On a specific date allows you to choose any date in the future. For unreleased material, this helps control the rollout so that your release appears publicly on all services at the same time, when you’re prepared to promote it.
Choose whether you would like to distribute worldwide or only in certain territories (countries).
If you choose to limit distribution, choose either of the following options and then select all relevant countries from the drop-down list.
“Distribute only in” to include a list of countries you would like to release your music in.
“Distribute everywhere except” to exclude specific countries from your public release.
Select any or all services you would like to distribute to.
For Amazon, Google Play, and iTunes/Apple music, which are download services, you can choose album tier and track price point for your release.
For the remaining streaming services, simply choose whether you would like to include your release on their platform.
If you previously chose a specific release date in the future, you can choose to allow a pre-order start date for all selected download services at least one day in advance of a public release.
Click Send to confirm your selection and distribute your music to all selected platforms at once.
You will be asked to confirm your final selection, certify your legal right to distribute the release, and lock your release for distribution.
Congrats! Your music is on its way to your listeners!
Once you have uploaded or connected tracks from external services to your Revelator account, you may view and update your assets at any time. Your catalog can also easily be exported for use in other spreadsheet or database programs. Music assets are separated by tabs that include Albums, Tracks, Ringtones, and Videos. You may also view all of your assets together.
Sorting:
Each tab allows you to sort all assets listed by clicking on any column title available.
Search:
There is a search bar in each tab that allows you to enter any amount of text including UPC or ISRC codes and find all assets that match your entry.
Filter:
Click Filters to open a menu that includes dynamic filter categories depending on the tab. They are:
Type - View only one of the following types of albums:
LP
EP
Single
Release Date - Sort by the date the release was made available to the public:
This year
Last 7 days
This month
Last month
This year
Choose dates - Select a start and end date from the calendar.
Date Added - Sort by the date the asset was entered into Revelator:
This year
Last 7 days
This month
Last month
This year
Choose dates - Select a start and end date from the calendar.
Artist - View only tracks by a specific artist or artists in your catalog.
Label - View only tracks on a specific label or labels in your catalog.
Status - View assets according to their status within Revelator:
Locked for distribution: Files and metadata have been locked to avoid discrepancies across DSPs.
Not locked for distribution: Metadata may be changed until you choose to distribute the files to DSPs.
Genre - Sort by any available genre in the drop down menu, or by typing your choice.
Owner - View only albums according to who owns the rights to it.
Options: Enable the checkbox next to any asset you would like to select, or the checkbox at the top of the page to select all items. Depending on the tab you are in, your options include:
Delete: This will remove any selected albums from your catalog and all accompanying files and data.
Download metadata (CSV): A CSV file is generated with all available metadata for the selected albums tabulated.
Download metadata (Excel): An Excel spreadsheet (.xlsx) file is generated with all available metadata for the selected albums tabulated.
Album Actions
Create new album.
Download full catalog (CSV): A CSV file is generated with all available metadata for your entire catalog tabulated.
Download full catalog (Excel): An Excel spreadsheet (.xlsx) file is generated with all available metadata for your entire catalog tabulated.
+ Create new - In the track tab, you can click this button to upload an individual song file that is not yet part of a separate release. You will be taken to the Create Track page where all relevant information may be entered, as described in the Track Information help section.
Revelator allows you to create and manage rights contracts based on assets both currently connected to your account, and content that you may upload in the future. Contracts govern the collection and distribution of revenue for all parties involved, within their agreed upon timeframe. Maintaining accurate contracts is crucial for streamlining payments and accounting.
Click on Rights in the main navigation menu to manage the contract rights for all of your assets. Assets that have been uploaded and distributed through Revelator will have automatically generated contracts based on the information previously entered. You may also create new contracts that may govern assets that have not been distributed yet.
To create a new contract, click the Create contract button and then follow these steps:
Choose the contract type:
Distribution Agreement: This contract covers asset distribution and revenue collection for streaming and digital download rights.
Recording Agreement: The contract covers rights to record, promote, license and sell music.
Joint Venture Agreement - Coming soon.
Licensing Agreement - Coming soon.
Mechanical License - Coming soon.
Synchronization License - Coming soon.
Settings: In this tab you can define the basic information about the contract
Contract name: Name your contract so that you can organize and find it easily.
Party acquiring rights: This is the name of the person(s) or entity purchasing the rights to the assets in this agreement.
Note: The name of the party acquiring rights will be the name of the primary account holder by default.
Start date: The acquiring party will be entitled to the assets starting on this date.
End date: The acquiring party will be entitled to the assets until this date.
Accounting frequency: Revenue will be reported and calculated in one of the following intervals
Monthly
Quarterly
Semi-annually
Expiration Notification: Select the amount of time in advance of the contract end date for the administrator to be notified.
One month
Two months
Three months
Click Next at the bottom of the screen to confirm your selections and move to the next page.
Payees: In this tab you can define all eligible payment recipients. The sum total of all payee shares must equal 100%
Select an existing payee if you have previously entered a relevant person in a previous contract.
Identify the details of the payee
Payee Name: This is the legal name of the Payee.
Starting balance: Include the amount of money outstanding from other contracts or advances whether they were previously reported within Revelator or not.
Share %: This is the payee’s share of the royalties.
Email: This is the payee’s email address, used for payment and report notification. You may enter more than one address.
Commission payee: Select either Yes or No.
Yes: The payee receives their percentage share subtracted from your share.
No: The payee receives a percentage share independent of any other payees.
+Payout and contact info: Click this link to either enter the payee’s information, or to invite them via email to fill out their information themselves.
Click “+ Create a new payee” and enter the relevant information until all payees have been included and the Total % is equal to 100%.
Assets: Determine the licensors and assets that this contract will apply to.
Select either Artist or Label from the drop down menu.
Enter the name of a Licensor that will be included in this contract.
Choose which assets you would like this contract to apply to:
Select all assets: All tracks and releases currently in your asset catalog and assigned to the selected artist or label will be included.
Select some assets: When this choice is selected, a dialogue window will pop up allowing you to choose any assets currently available in your catalog assigned to the selected artist or label.
If you have selected all assets, you may also assign this contract to all future assets held by the artist or label.
Terms: Manage the terms of the contract for both digital and mechanical rights.
Select the percentage of either retail (SRLP) or wholesale (PPD) sales you would like to assign.
Confirm that territories (countries) you would like to either include or exclude within this contract.
Select the services you would like to either include or exclude within this contract from the drop down menu.
Select the release formats this contract will apply to.
Select the channel or channels this contract will apply to.
If there are additional terms you would like to include in this contract, repeat these steps for each one.
Approve: Review each section of the contract you have just created. If you notice any errors, return to the relevant tab, correct the information as necessary, and make sure to save all changes before approving your contract. All assets reported to Revelator that are governed by this contract will now be accounted for accordingly.
Within the Rights holders section, all available artists and labels may be viewed and edited. Hover over an artist or label to invite them to create a Revelator account and share Assets, Distribution, Revenue, Analytics, or Accounting data with them as necessary.
A new artist or label profile may be created in this section too, even if they do not yet have any connected assets or rights.
Artists: From the main menu, click on Rights Holders, or Artists below it to open this window. All artists related to your account will be displayed. This includes artists you have added manually, artists performing on songs or albums that you have uploaded, and artists from your catalogs on connected external services. How to add an artist profile..
Labels: From the main menu, click on Rights Holders and then click Labels below it to open this window. All labels related to your account will be displayed. This includes labels you have added manually, labels representing songs or albums that you have uploaded, and labels associated with your catalogs on connected external services.
Click on any available record label in your collection to view and edit more information about it. There are three tabs that cover the following information:
About:
Label image: Choose an image or logo to identify your label. We recommend using a file that is at least 1400 pixels in width or height.
Genres: Select as many genres as you think apply to the artists you represent.
Official Name: This is the name of your record label as it will appear on other services.
Description: Write a brief explanation of who you are, and who you represent.
Location: This is where your label is based.
Contact email (private):
Contact phone (private):
Artists: Profiles for all artists signed to the label will appear here
Stats: This tab provides an overview of all streaming and purchase history for all available artists represented by the label. The top artists and regions will also be featured. Click on a time span to focus on the previous:
1M: One month
3M: Three months
6M: Six months
1Y: One year
2Y: Two years
Max: All available data
Distributing your creative assets for download and streaming is completely streamlined within Revelator. You can monitor all live or pending releases, and the current status of each release regarding which services it is currently available on or in delivery to. Releases that have had errors in delivery or have been taken down for any reason are also identified, so that you can resolve any issues.
Delivering your music to the services
Distribution
Overview
Search: Enter a release's title or UPC to find it and view its full distribution details.
Recent releases: A highlight of the most recent albums delivered to DSPs. Click View all to see a list of all live releases currently available publicly.
Releases by type: A chart describing the percentage of albums, singles, EPs and other release types currently delivered to DSPs.
Releases by status: A chart describing the percentage of releases from your catalog currently live, in delivery, in delivery error or having other delivery statuses. The percentages are calculated from the total of all DSPs selected for each release.
Your to do's: A highlight of your releases that are either in progress or have errors in delivery.
Insights (by UPC): A highlight tallying the current status of all releases.
Additionally the following actions are available in the overview tab:
Create new release: This will navigate to the Create new release page within Assets.
Distribute an existing release: This allows you to deliver a release that has already been uploaded to Revelator.
Export Catalog: Download a spreadsheet of all current assets in the distribution chain.
Queue
This tab contains all releases that are in progress to be delivered or taken down from the selected DSPs. Releases are separated into three categories:
In delivery: Releases listed here have been marked for delivery but have not been confirmed as delivered to at least one store or service.
Errors: Releases listed here have failed to complete delivery to or takedown from at least one requested store or service.
Takedowns: Releases listed here are in progress to be taken down from any service that received an associated takedown request.
Click on any release in the queue to expand details about its delivery status. Hover the cursor over any release and an Actions dropdown menu will appear. Click the menu to select from the following two options:
Resend release: Send a new delivery of a release to selected DSPs in order to update the release on the service and/or resolve errors.
Request takedown: Remove the release from the selected DSPs or terminate its delivery.
Live
This tab contains a list of all assets that have been delivered to and are currently available on at least one DSP.
Click on any release to expand details about its delivery status. Hover the cursor over any release and an Actions dropdown menu will appear. Click the menu to select from the following options:
Deliver to more: Send the release to select DSPs where the release is not yet available.
Resend release: Send a new delivery of a release to selected DSPs in order to update the release on the service.
Request takedown: Remove the release from the selected DSPs.
View metadata: View an overview of the release as it appears in Assets.
Stores & services
This tab shows the status of your entire catalog by all available DSPs. Sort in ascending or descending order for each category - In progress, Delivered, May-be live, Live, and Error.
Batch Deliver
This tab allows you to bach deliver or takedown your catalog to a specific DSP.
Select assets to deliver by PayeeID, LabelID, ArtistID and static list of releases.
Multiple fields can be used as and values can be inserted in each field comma separated.
Certain account types that manage distribution for a multitude of self-uploading artists are provided with a Metadata Inspection interface. This tool is designed to be collaborative so that the inspection process can be managed by a team, and it further provides some automation to correct metadata issues.
An additional feature of the Metadata Inspector provides a set of canned texts that you may quickly select to identify the issue and notify your clients via email how to resolve it. You can review these canned texts here.
For our clients without access to this tool (as well as for anyone needing a handy reference on the metadata guidelines established by the leading DSPs), please refer to the Metadata Styleguide in Appendix A.
As your release progresses through the various stages of delivery to the DSPs, you (or your users) will receive the following status emails (unless you have chosen to turn off these emails):
Confirmation that you have requested to distribute/deliver a release. This email will further list all the DSPs that you have requested your release to be sent to.
Confirmation that your release has been delivered to the DSP.
Confirmation that your release is now live on a certain DSP. Please note:
Most DSPs provide no automated method to establish whether a release is actually live on their service. In such cases, we will automatically indicate (without verification) that your release is live after a certain amount of time based on our experience of how long it takes this DSP to make content live.
For those DSPs that provide a method to verify whether a release is indeed live (iTunes, Spotify, Deezer, YouTube, Yandex and a few others), the email will further contain a link to your release on the DSP’s website.
An email is also sent if an error has occurred during the distribution process.
You will additionally receive a confirmation email when issuing a takedown request from a DSP.
Revelator records all income from your connected services and itemizes it in your earnings reports. View reports as a summary of your income, or track income trends by artist, tracks, channels and more. Reports that require foreign exchange (FX) are noted, so you can be sure to record income in the right currency, and distribute it after to payees correctly.
Earnings
Reports are automatically generated by Revelator based on data from connected services and the information you have previously input. To import other earnings reports, click the “+ Import report(s)” button and upload one file at a time. Files should be uploaded in the format provided by any supported service. Reports are separated into four categories:
Digital
Physical: Coming Soon!
Licensing: Coming Soon!
Publishing: Coming Soon!
At the top of the page, select the time period you would like to view earnings reports for. The last 3 months will be displayed by default. Additionally, you may select from:
Last month
This quarter
Last quarter
This year
Last year
Choose dates
Enter text in the search bar to find reports by name. Additionally, you can also group reports by selecting one of the options from the drop down menu to the left of the search box:
Source
Date
iTunes payment
The Royalties section contains all information about outgoing royalty payments and their respective payees. View your statements, royalty runs, past and pending payments, and detailed information about your payees.
Statements:
This section allows you to view and approve all existing royalty statements. You can also view and create royalty runs for statements with inconsistencies that have been corrected for.
Statements: View all royalty statements for payees, their associated contracts, the amount of money paid, and the current approval status.
Royalty Runs: View and create royalty runs. Typically these are used to adjust for corrections in reporting.
Create a new royalty run:
You may create a royalty run if there were errors corrected or adjustments made to previous accounting periods. If there has been a payment error in a previous accounting period, but they have not yet been corrected for, a new royalty run will not likely be helpful until they are. You must include at least one pre-existing report in order to create a royalty run. Click “Next” at the end of each section to continue.
Settings: Edit the basic information regarding the run in this section.
Select the desired reporting period using the year and month drop down menus.
Create a name for your statement that is helpful for you. The reporting period will be automatically attached to the name.
Optionally add notes regarding this royalty run for yourself. Payees will not see what you enter here.
Checklist: Confirm that this royalty run will be helpful for all parties involved in this section. Click the “Done” button on the right side if you have in fact confirmed the improvements listed in each section.
Reports
Contracts
Payments
Coherence
Reports (unprocessed):
Examine your reports for the current viewing period and determine whether any require FX (foreign exchange) currency conversion, or have any other errors.
Approve all reports you would like to include.
Reports (processed): If you need to include previously processed reports in this run, you may add them here.
Select the time period for the previously processed reports you would like to include.
Select the reports you would like to include.
Review & Save: Examine the royalty run information presented here and click “Approve” if it is all correct.
Your payees list includes a robust set of features for viewing, organizing and managing anyone who receives payment from you. Clicking on any name opens a Payee Details page with an overview of that payee’s recent transactions, all associated assets and contracts, and the ability to edit their permissions within Revelator. Other tabs include assets, contracts, and transactions. Clicking on those tabs will show you all items within the related field associated with that payee. You may also export a list of all payees or a selection of them and their accompanying information, as a CSV file.
From the main navigation menu click Royalties, then click on Payees.
When viewing the main Payees window, clicking Options at the top of the page will present a list of actions that will apply to any payees that have been selected from the list using the checkboxes. The options apply only to selected payees and include:
Request pay info: Send an email requesting the payee login and enter all relevant information.
Request all pay info missing: Send an email requesting the payee login and enter all missing information.
Block payments: Halt all pending and future payments until they are unblocked.
Unblock payments: Resume all pending and future payments that have been blocked.
Lock account: Bar selected accounts from accessing Revelator
Unlock account: Grant selected accounts access to Revelator
Export selected payees: Create and download a CSV file with all available payment and account information listed.
Invite all selected: Send an email invitation to all currently selected payees to sign up for Revelator.
Invite all not yet selected: Send an email invitation to all payees that are not currently selected to sign up for Revelator.
Payments:
From the main navigation menu click Royalties, then click on Payments.
Overview: View all recent payments in easy to browse graphs and score cards. You can easily add a new transaction or payee, and export or import previous transactions as CSV files.
Payments: View all payments paid, pending or failed. Payments are fully searchable and may be filtered by payment method and/or status.
Pay with PayPal: Select all payees, individual payees, or by setting specific criteria in search and/or filters. Once payees are selected, click the “Pay” CTA.
A payment to all payees will be paid on [date] through PayPal in the amount of the current balance due to each payee.
A pop up will show with the option to include a note to go out with your PayPal payment.
By hitting the PAY button you will be performing a money transfer through the selected payment method.
Revelator provides a complete set of tools to help you analyze and understand your data. Find out which artists and songs are most popular, where your fans are and which services they prefer to use to listen to your music.
Daily trends is a dynamic, comprehensive graph that allows you to view a wide amount of information about your assets across all connected services. View download and streaming quantities at the label, artist, or track level; compare them across channels and services, and find out which countries and even cities your fans are listening from. You can separate differences between streaming or downloads, and soon you’ll be able to include physical sales and publishing information too.
Daily Trends: The default modules shown are:
Total units by channels
Services
Streams
Downloads
Countries
From the main Analytics dashboard, click on any module to expand the details and view all the available information on the Daily Trends graph.
The current time period being displayed can be adjusted from the drop down menu above the graph. From the drop down menu, you may select:
Last 7 days: Displays information for the previous 7 complete days.
Last 14 days: Displays information for the previous 14 complete days.
Last 30 days: Displays information for the previous 30 complete days.
Choose dates: Using the calendar widget, choose a start from the left side and an end date from the right side. Click Apply to confirm your choice and view the graph using your selected dates.
Additionally, you may further narrow the view by dragging the left or right edges of the graph summary, immediately below the main graph. The remaining highlighted area may be moved left or right, and the graph above will reflect the selected area.
You can view daily trends sorted by any of the available tabs above the graph by simply clicking on them:
Labels
Artists
Releases
Tracks
Formats
Channels
Services
Countries
Cities
For each tab selected, streams or downloads will be graphed accordingly within the selected date range. Below the graph is a table detailing all available elements within the current graph view. To include or remove an item from the graph, check or uncheck the box to the left of the item in the table. Only the most popular items will be included initially.
Note: Click the blue “Reports Availability” button to find out which services have sent reports to Revelator regarding any given day. Often, DSPs provide estimates that are not fully accurate until adjusted at the end of the month.
The graph compares activity between any item selected from the table below it. Each item is identified on the graph by the same color as the check mark beside it. On the right side of the daily trends graph, select from one of three graph types:
Hover your pointer over any data point to reveal the specific values represented at that point in time.
Revenue Analytics
Compare your monthly revenue over time using a dynamic, comprehensive graph. Like Daily Trends, view a wide amount of information about your assets across all connected services. View download and streaming numbers organized by label, artist, or track. Compare sales across channels, services, or by region at the country or even city level.
Leaderboard
Use the leaderboard to see how artists in your catalog are trending when comparing the current period to a previous period. By default, play counts will be displayed comparing the previous two complete quarters. Use the search bar and filters to focus only on the artists or values you want to view. You can also click on any column title to sort in ascending or descending order.
Geo
View a map of the world that displays where your listeners are. Compare sales across regions and see which artists, albums, or songs are most popular in any city or country. Use the search bar to find any combination of keywords you’d like to learn more about.
Digital music distribution is a collaborative process that brings together content providers and content retailers before the music goes live in stores. Revelator works with a variety of music platforms, retailers, and services to get your content into the stores of your choosing. Each of our distribution partners has policies regarding content, and we are committed to providing them content that is free of technical issues, formatting errors, and rights problems. We’ve put together this style guide to help you format your releases, so they can go live quickly.
Artist and Contributor Names
Overview
Revelator lets you provide detailed information about who contributed to each track. You can identify artists and add contributors on a track by track basis by specifying each person’s role as arranger, composer, conductor, performer, etc.
You’ll need to mark at least one contributor as a “Primary Artist”. This means that when you pull up the track on services like iTunes or Spotify, all names marked Primary Artist. will display in the main artist field.
For most releases, you’ll use the common roles for artist like “Primary”, “Featuring” and sometimes “Remixer”. Other contributors can be credited in the “Publishing” section of the submission form.
Be Consistent
How many artist pages should a single band have? The answer is.... One! Submitting releases with slightly different spellings or formatting will result in multiple artist pages. Please stick to what your content is branded under on your social media.
We may ask you for social media links if you are branded with CrEaTiVe CaSiNG. Just provide us with your links, and we’ll advise you from there
Artist Name No-No’s
Aliases. For example: The Kim Jong Illness, AKA John “The Illest Brother” Kim.
AKA’s are currently not accepted by our digital partners, please choose 1 artist name to submit under.
Translations: We can support translations, but they need to be submitted in 2 separate fields. To do so, just click “Add Artist in Another Language.
Correct:
Main Field: ガールフレソドパーティー
English Field: Girlfriend Party
Incorrect: ガールフレソドパーティー(Girlfriend Party)
Dates. For example: Jim Morrison (1943-1971), Nelly (2009)
Instruments. For example: Frank N. Furter [Vuvuzela, Kazoo, Bagpipes]
Generic or descriptive names. For example: Singer, Actor, Christmas Hits, Karaoke or
Various Composers. “Various Artists” albums will automatically be listed as such when there are 4 or primary contributing artists listed on a track.
The name of any artist that did not participate in creating YOUR version of the track. Only list artists who are actually performing the music you’re uploading. Don’t enter things like:
Names of bands you used to be in. Even if you used to be a member of Nirvana. (If you used to be a member of Nirvana, please email us ASAP so we can get your autograph.)
Names of bands you’d like to be in, or artists you’d like to be, but who actually don’t appear in your recordings.
Featured Artists
If you are featuring an artist, please add them artist field by hitting the “+Add Another” button under the Artist field and entering in the featured artists’ name. That’s it! Do not enter the featured artist name in the track title or title version section.
Soundtracks and Classical Music
Listing a composer as an artist is suggested if you have them listed on your cover artwork – our digital partners prefer to have content submitted to them this way. This is different than other genres; for example, you would NOT list a Producer of a track as an artist for a Rock album.
Various Artists and Multi-Artist Collaborations
You may not name an artist “Various Artists”. If you are releasing a compilation, please mark it as such on the main info page. List the artist or artists that appear on each track
as you normally would.
If several artists perform together as a group under a name that uses individual artist names, you should list the names as they appear together.
For example, each of these should be listed as a single artist: Peter, Bjorn & John, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Simon & Garfunkel. But if David Bowie and Queen get together and make an album, they should each be listed separately as a Track Artist.
Please avoid listing all of your artists together in one line, a la “Wisin y Yandel featuring Pitbull & The Lumineers”. List each artist name separately, i.e. Wisin y Yandel would be one artist, Pitbull listed as a featured artist, as well as The Lumineers.
Album Titles
What to Include in the Album Title
The same album title displayed on your album cover art. The album title needs to match the cover art EXACTLY. No partial phrases, etc.
“Live”: If most of the tracks are recorded live in front of an audience. Please do not put “Live” in your album title or on your cover artwork if you are referring to “Live In Studio”; this is not considered a “Live” recording. Live should be entered the Album Title Version Info
What NOT To Include In The Album Title
The abbreviation “O.S.T.” for soundtrack albums. See the Soundtracks section below for more information.
Deceptive or misleading information, especially for tribute and cover albums. Do not reference genres, popular song lyrics, or the original artist names in album titles.
The sole exception to this rule is the Karaoke Exception.
Do not add “LP”, “EP” or “Single” to your album title. These tags are added directly on a store-by-store basis.
Album titles should not contain artist names unless the title of the album is the exact same as the artist. Album titles must be unique, so this typically limits each artist to one self-titled album (for example, “Black Sabbath” by Black Sabbath), though you may also include additional volumes if you wish to keep that format (For example: Led Zeppelin II, etc.)
Soundtracks
If all the recordings on an album are from the same soundtrack, you should specify that the album is a soundtrack by marking the Primary Genre as “Soundtrack” and by adding a soundtrack specification in parentheses. Be detailed and include explicit source information.
Some examples of acceptable soundtrack album titles: “The Godfather (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” “The Spirit Engine 2 (Original Game Soundtrack)” “Breaking Bad (Music from the Original TV Series)”
Only use “Original” or “Official” Soundtrack information if your soundtrack THE original or official Soundtrack
Do not use “OST”, “OSV”, “O.S.T.” or similar abbreviations in your album title.
Track Titles
3.1. What To Include In The Track Title
For singles, the album title, track title, and album cover must all match.
Decorators, or title version, such as “Live”, “Radio Edit”, “Extended Version”, “Single Version”, or others are permitted, if you wish to label your tracks with these.
Add any version information to the Title Version field below the Track/Album Titles. These will automatically have parentheticals added to them within our system, as long as you include that information in the Title Version field.
All track titles performed by the same artist on an album must be unique. If multiple versions of the same track exist on the album, please specify each version in the track title.
3.2. What NOT To Include In The Track Title
Audio files that don’t match the track titles. Double check before you submit generic track titles, such as Track 1 and Track 2.
Please do not include the phrase (Original Mix) - only include version information for alternate mixes. Original Mix is inherently implied by the title not including any other version information, ergo it is unnecessary to include in the Title Version field.
Words and phrases that apply only for a limited period of time, like “Exclusive” or “Limited Edition”, since titles are a permanent part of the content and there is no exclusivity or limited distribution available via digital distribution within Revelator.
“Cover”; please do not use the word “cover” in your track title of Title Version information.
Reference to digital content, physical content, or content that is not included. Some examples include “E-Release”, “Digital Download”, or “Digital Single” (fans who are buying your music online probably already know that this is a digital release) and “Two CD Set” “With Digital Booklet” or “With Sheet Music” (if fans don’t get the extra CD, booklet or sheet music with purchases across all platforms you’ve selected, leave this part out).
Deceptive or misleading information, especially for tribute and cover albums. Avoid referencing genres, popular song lyrics, or the original artist names in album titles. The sole exception to this rule is for karaoke tracks - please see the Karaoke Exception.
Some examples of track titles that will be flagged and cannot be distributed unless changed:
“Made famous by Foo Fighters”
“Originally performed by Pearl Jam”
“Cover of Call Me Maybe”
If you are uploading an explicit (or a corresponding clean) track, you do not need to add the words “Clean” or “Explicit” to the track title, simply mark them as such in the Explicit checkbox/column during sign up.
Translations. Please use the “Add title in another language” to enter translations.
Do not censor words in your track title. Partners will censor titles for you if necessary. Please note that censored content may vary from platform to platform and territory to territory.
3.3. Medleys
All songs in a medley should be listed in the track title with forward slashes separating each song. For example:
“Boom Clap / All of Me / Happy”
“Jingle Bells / Frosty The Snowman / The Chipmunks Holiday Song”
“The Great Deku Tree / Kokiri Forest / Ocarina of Time”
3.4. Remixes
If “vs.” or “Meets” is used to describe your album that is a collection of different songs remixed by a single DJ, you should list the mixing DJ as a Track Artist and include supplemental information about the DJ’s remixer role. The original artists whose songs are being remixed must also be listed as Track Artists (and you must obtain separate permission from the original artist, as a remix is not covered under standard cover song license).
In order to avoid identical track titles, the track titles should include remix information to differentiate them. If an album is a collection of remixes of the same song, the album subtitle should indicate that they are remixes.
Genres
Certain types of albums require a particular primary genre. Typically these albums fall into ”Karaoke”, ”Soundtrack”, or ”Classical”.
Instrumental albums comprised of covers must be marked with the primary genre of ”Karaoke” in order to take advantage of the Karaoke Exception to our artists-in-titles rules.
Soundtracks (whether to video games or films) must be marked as primary genre ”Soundtrack”.
Only Classical albums may be marked as ”Classical” - do not mark non-classical albums (including rock or hip-hop albums that feature classical elements) as classical.
4.1. Karaoke / Tribute
The Karaoke Exception: If you are releasing a karaoke track, you can use the original artist's name in the title if it’s accompanied by the phrase “Originally Performed By (original artist name)”.
Searchability: Karaoke and Tribute albums may be hidden from search on some stores unless a customer specifically types ”Karaoke” or ”Tribute” along with their search terms. We recommend that artists avoid the Karaoke genre or including the word ”Tribute” in their album titles if they wish to remain generally searchable across all stores.
The titles of karaoke tracks must indicate that they are an instrumental or karaoke version in the Title Version field.
Karaoke album titles may NOT begin with the name of the original artist. “Metallica: the Polka Tribute” is not allowed, but “The Polka Tribute to Metallica” is acceptable.
Classical Music
Some of our distribution partners have specific guidelines for Classical music.
5.1. Genre
Albums containing primarily classical music must have a primary genre of “Classical.”
Please do not mark non-classical Instrumental albums as “Classical.”
5.2. Artist and Contributor Names
All performers must be marked as Track Artists with a role of “Primary”, unless you are using a “Classical Artist Role” in the artist role menu.
Artists or contributors having a “featured or with” contributor role is not permitted for Classical Music in any case.
The standard artist name and spelling must be used for composers. Composers must be supplied for all classical music. You can find common composer names here: Common Classical Composers
5.3. Album Titles
Use the work titles in their original languages. Do not include extraneous translations.
Casing: Album titles in English must be in title case. For example: “Glass: Glassworks” Album titles in French, Italian, or Swedish must be in sentence case. For example: “Debussy: Préludes deuxième livre & Six épigraphes antiques”
5.4. Track Titles
Song titles must be formatted as [Name of Work] in [Key], [Catalog Number]: [Movement Number]. [Movement Title] For example:
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67: I. Allegro con brio
Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056: III. Presto
Three Lyric Pieces, Op. 47: No. 1, Summer Song
Die Winterreise, D. 911: No. 24, Der Leiermann
Partita for Solo Flute in A Minor, BWV 1013: I. Allemande
Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major, K. 311: II. Minuet - Trio
Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-Flat Major, Op. 27, No. 1: III. Adagio con espressione
For movements or sections, roman numerals or standard notation (“No. 1,” “No. 2,” etc.) may be used.
The Publishing Tab
6.1. How To Fill Out The Publishing Tab
If your song is original:
List the real name of the composer, as well as the names of other composers, songwriters, or lyricists who contributed to the composition. Select the publishing role, and enter a split percentage.
If your song is a cover:
List the original song title as the title, even if it differs from your track title.
List the artist you’re covering as the original artist.
If the song you’re covering is from a soundtrack, list the composer of the soundtrack as the original artist.
List the name of the original game/movie/television series/etc. In the Composition Title field. For example: “Main Theme (The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past)”
Karaoke tracks are a type of cover song. Please do not list yourself as the original artist, even if you’ve created your own karaoke version of a popular song.
If you are submitted a medley, please fill out a licensing request for each and every cover in your medley.
6.2. Where To List The Original Artist's Name Or The Songwriter's Name
Please note that our cover song licenses don’t give you the right to use the original performing artist’s name in your track or album titles. If you’ve covered a song and are having Revelator license it for you, you should list the name of the original artist or songwriters in the compositions section of your track, and not within the track title or album title fields. For example, if the a cappella group On The Rocks were to record a heart-wrenching version of Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable”, they would release it like this:
Artist name: “On The Rocks”, not “On The Rocks in the style of Beyoncé”, “On The Rocks with Beyoncé”, or “Beyoncé vs. On The Rocks”
Track title: “Irreplaceable”, not “Irreplaceable, feat. Beyoncé”, “Irreplaceable in the style of Beyoncé”, or “Beyoncé’s Irreplaceable”.
6.3. Covers Of Public Domain Songs
A cover of a public domain song is a special type of cover song. We do not obtain licenses or pay royalties on public domain works, so it is very important that you only flag a work as public domain when you’re absolutely sure the work is no longer under copyright in the United States.
In the compositions section of the track, list the original artist in the original artist field and the composer in the composer field, if known. Otherwise, name the original artist as “Traditional”.
If you’re not sure whether or not your song is in the public domain, please contact our customer service team and we can investigate further before submitting as either public domain or a cover song.
Artwork
Many of the rules for album artwork mirror the rules in the Album Title and Track Title sections above. When in doubt, create something original from scratch, rather than altering someone else’s image.
Your album art should include the album title and your artist name. Compilation albums (albums with more than 4 artists) do not need to display the artist's name on the art. Please do not use other text on your artwork that will be more prominent than the album title and artist name, as that can create confusion and is prohibited by our digital partners. That information should be clearly identifiable on your cover art.
Album art should not include extra or incorrect text.
Album art should not be pixelated or blown up to bad quality.
Artwork must be centered and must fill the entire canvas from corner-to-corner. Album art should be a full 3000px by 3000px square image. We can accept art as small as 1400px1400px. Do not fill blank space to make the album art the correct size. Art must be a JPG file type and in RGB.
Album art should not be stretched.
Album art may NOT use third party trademarks without permission - (including digital partners’ or social media logos).
Album art may NOT use celebrity or character likenesses or images without permission.
Album art may NOT include social media icons. Including social media links is acceptable provided that the sites you link to do not also sell your music in a way that would compete with any of our stores.
If there is nothing between your line-of-sight and the subject’s nethers or nipples, it is considered sexually explicit imagery and we cannot approve your artwork.
Audio File Formats
We currently accept audio in WAV only. All files must have 2 channels with a sampling rate of 44.1Khz and 16-bit resolution. Audio length must be longer than 2 seconds, and shorter than 60 minutes.
Miscellaneous Tips
Do not use ALL-CAPS, all lower case, or rAndOm casing. We will correct this if you choose to do so anyway, as our partners all prefer title casing when it comes to English or specialized casing for certain languages.
“The” should be capitalized when it is the start of an Artist’s name or Track / Album Title.
Instrumental tracks cannot be marked explicit unless the track title contains explicit language.
Always use the correct language in the language of lyrics section.
