MediaBase + BDSRadio / Luminate / MCR / Nielsen BDS

Note: MediaBase & BDSRadio were merged in November 2022 (as per this note)

Why? MediaBase tracks radio play on commercial radio (and maybe campus?). BDSRadio (aka. Luminate) (Formerly Nielsen BDS) (short for Broadcast Data Systems) is a service that tracks monitored radio, TV and Internet airplay of songs. This helps with the flow of royalties.

Submitting: http://w2.mediabase.com/mmrweb/NewMusic.asp

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iD19WIJs3s

Important Notes:

• Tracks must have ISRC codes and UPCs assigned
• The mp3s (and wavs?) that are uploaded should not contain ANY metadata in their fields.
• Featured artists should be listed as part of the artist field and not the track title

Contracts

1. Publishing / composition splits. In hip-hop, typically 50% rapper + 50% beatmaker.
2. Master sound recording performance. In hip-hop, does the beatmaker want to be listed as:
   • main/featured artist (e.g. Akuma & Factor) (e.g. Fresh Kils remix)
   • background artist. (e.g. see them in the credits)
   • Not listed at all.
3. Master sound recording revenue.
   • According to this article, the standard percentage that Producers & Beatmakers get is 3%-5% of the master royalties.
   • However, if the beatmaker is splitting the funding of the recording and marketing/promo, then a 50-50 split makes sense
4. Is it a leased beat or exclusive?

ISRC codes

They are unique codes that identify each song.

If you have a digital distributor, then you can find the assigned ISRC codes for the songs you have with them.

Some royalties/rights organizations use these codes to collect royalties, especially composition mechanicals (publishing).

Go to CONNECT and sign up to be able to generate your own ISRC codes. https://connectmusic.ca/isrc/apply/

Use a spreadsheet to keep track of the ISRC codes for each song.

CONNECT / Re:Sound recommends that a “music video should have its own separate ISRC code” that is different from the ISRC code for the audio recording.

Billboard / Luminate / Soundscan

Luminate (formerly SoundScan) Data tracks sales, streaming, and radio airplay. These factor into Billboard charts.

Submission forms: https://support.mrc-data.com/portal/en/kb/articles/how-to-get-my-music-tracked-by-luminate-data

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UiBYmlyYzc

Matching Distributor statements to royalty statements

You should be able to look at your distributor statement (e.g. TuneCore, DistroKid, CD Baby) and match it up with payments from MROC and CONNECT. However, the payment schedules are all over the map, so they could be 6 months to a year difference.

Feedback

Did you find this useful? Is something out of date or incorrect? Please let me know.