FAQ
If you're new to the service or stumbled upon a question after you set up your account, we think we have the answers to your most common questions below:
About Speakerheart & Features
1. Why the name Speakerheart? read/close
Speakerheart is a combination of two physical items represented as icons to digitally complement and empower the independent music market.
Speaker – "A speaker is a device that converts electronic signals to audible sounds." Quite literary, this definition describes precisely what we are aiming to do. We are aiming to empower artists to be heard; aiming to take digital product that is uploaded from anywhere in the world and allow that product to be audible to millions of people across the web. The word speaker instills feelings of concerts, performances, gigs, musicians, analog, audio and retro. A speaker has color and taste connotations attached to it. One can smell the venue in which he first heard his favorite band. One can visualize big, powerful speakers freestanding in a coliseum as easily as he can envision a small PA system in an intimate coffeehouse setting. These are the type of emotions we will seek to evoke within our service; a service designed to coexist with and complement this culture.
Heart – The word heart transcends boundaries, cultures, niche demographics – you name it. Heart is a universal phrase. According to Wikipedia, "In European traditional art and folklore, the heart symbol is drawn in a stylized shape. This shape is typically colored red, suggesting...in many cultures, passion and strong emotion. The shape is particularly associated with romantic poetry." Furthermore, "the expression I 'heart' or 'love' something is both as flirtatious and widely recognized as it is genuine and symbolic."
2. What is Speakerheart? read/close
Speakerheart is a web application that lets bands and artists make moolah and lets fans preview, heart, purchase and showcase unrestricted music files in some pretty exciting ways.
3. I'm an artist. What does Speakerheart do me? read/close
Speakerheart™ enables you to upload your albums and tracks, set your prices and sell it all side-by-side in your own, custom storefront.
With Speakerheart, you can:
• Upload your music
• Create and customize track samples
• Earn money and get detailed sales reports
• Start charting – your sales are reported to SoundScan automatically (using your existing UPCs and ISRCs or we'll generate them for you at no charge)
• Offer Mac- and PC-compatible, high-quality MP3s
Meanwhile, your fans can do some nifty hearting themselves with the media that speaks to them and smartly take it with them in Shelves of their own to display for their friends at MySpace, Blogger, and Xanga™, multiplying your exposure. Meet your organic sales force.
4. I'm a fan. What does Speakerheart do for me? read/close
Well, first Speakerheart is free to join as a listener. Second, it is a great place to discover, recommend and purchase quality indie music in MP3 format. So yes, you can load up your iPod with some high quality tunes. Better yet, the files are downloaded directly to the location of your choice, so the music you buy will be instantly accessible within iTunes, Windows Media Player or the player of your choice, depending on your download preferences.
The other important thing to realize is the price you pay is directly in the hands of the artist you're buying from, so there's a good chance music will be a great bargain within Speakerheart. Best of all, most of the money is going directly to the artist. In fact, the artist makes nearly 75% profit on a 99 cent song.
Need more reasons to shop at Speakerheart? Well, there's the fact you can easily bookmark music for yourself AND recommend music to friends by simply using the Heart function. And then there's the fact you can collect all of the stuff you like in one location within your shopper account, drag and drop these items into the Shelf builder, and paste these recommendations in a visual manner on your community profiles like MySpace, Blogger and Xanga.
5. What does the Speaker do? read/close
Besides making up half of our brand, Speakers allow people to sample or preview the piece of media it is associated with. The Speaker follows your album or song all over the Web so people can hear your stuff in as many places as possible. Essentially, teamed up with the Shelf, the whole Web is your stage.
6. What does the Heart do? read/close
Hearts are the crucial other half. First, Hearts are a nifty little way to keep things organized. Hearts serve as a tagging or bookmarking function for users to save various media they enjoy, from tracks to albums to artists. Users may create Shelves using the Hearted media, and who knows, your artist image, albums or songs might be included. Secondly, Hearts also serve as a tool to send great music recommendations to friends in one simple step.
7. What is a Shelf? read/close
A Shelf is a promotional tool that lets you take the Speaker (preview function) and Heart (bookmark function) with you across the Web. A Shelf allows fans to browse wherever Adobe® Flash® is accepted (think MySpace™, Blogger™, artist pages and more).
With Speakerheart, you can:
• Drag and drop albums, tracks, and image into our Shelf Builder
• Paste Shelves where existing and potential fans already spend their time
• Turn your existing community into some classy commerce
8. Can I have more than one Shelf? read/close
Please, build away. We designed this service to help you promote and sell music as easy as possible.
9. How do I put my Shelf into my Website/MySpace page? read/close
Just copy the HTML code provided in the Shelf Builder section and paste it in your website and MySpace page anywhere you think might look attractive.
10. Do I need my own Website? read/close
No. Even if you don't have your own Website, we would love to reserve a Web address for you at Speakerheart. However, if you do have your own Website, you can seamlessly integrate the Shelf wherever you please, offering fans a very convenient way to sample music and be redirected back to Speakerheart to buy the stuff they like in a convenient process.
11. Is this service exclusive? read/close
No, the agreement to sell music within Speakerheart is strictly non-exclusive.
12. Is Speakerheart available internationally? read/close
Artists can create accounts from anywhere in the world as long as they have a PayPal account and do not mind being compensated in U.S. dollars. The same is true for international Listeners when it comes to purchasing music as long as they have a PayPal account and do not mind paying in U.S. dollars.
Currently, our system asks for a U.S. Zip Code. If you are an international Artist or Listener, simply type in "00000" as your Zip Code and you'll be on your way.
13. Does Speakerheart sell explicit content? read/close
We believe in an environment that clearly designates various types of media to help listeners find music that might interest them. Yes, we do sell explicit content, and yes, it appears side-by-side with clean content. With this in mind, explicit content is clearly defined by the word "Explicit."
It should be noted, however, that no explicit content will ever make its way on to our Homepage at www.speakerheart.com. If you happen to sample content – on our homepage or otherwise – that is not marked Explicit yet you feel might be offensive to certain audiences, please contact Customer Support at and we will extend your recommendation to the artist that they designate their media more appropriately. However, artists do pay an annual fee to utilize our platform, and as such, we provide them the freedom to sell their own creative works, however they choose to express it.
Also, keep in mind Speakerheart thrives on user-generated content and various definitions – from genres to level of offensiveness – and will never suit all parties involved. This is both part of the brilliance and struggle of lowering the barriers to entry and relying primarily on self-governed, user-generated content.
Buying Music
1. Will the songs I purchase at Speakerheart work on iPods? read/close
Yes. All music sold through Speakerheart will download as MP3 files which are compatible with iPods.
2. Why won't my music files download as MP3s? read/close
All music sold through Speakerheart will download as MP3 files. However, certain computer settings can prevent songs from downloading as MP3 files.
A quick fix for this situation is to rename your music files by adding .mp3 at the end of the track name.
To keep it from happening in the future, go to the Start Menu, then Control Panel, Folder Options, and then go to the View tab in the Advanced Settings section. Uncheck the box that says "Hide Extensions for Known File Types." After that, you're good to go.
3. Do I need to have a PayPal account to buy music? read/close
Nope. You'll still be redirected to PayPal, but simply use one of the accepted credit cards at PayPal. If you are downloading free music, you won't even be directed to PayPal.
4. I paid for my music, but I don't see any music in my download section. How do I get my music? read/close
In rare circumstances there can be a communication interruption between PayPal and Speakerheart. Just contact us at and we will get your music to you in no time.
5. Does Speakerheart sell physical CDs? read/close
No. We only sell digital downloads.
Artist Account
1. What do I have to do to sign up at Speakerheart? read/close
Just go to the Speakerheart.com, click "join," and you will be on your way to creating an account in no time at all.
2. What is the difference between Speakerheart Basic and Pro? read/close
Speakerheart Basic enables you to upload up to 10 songs spread across up to three albums for free. Speakerheart Pro enables you to upload up to 100 spread across up to 10 albums for $25 a year, which is a great way to promote and sell your entire catalog!
3. How do I upgrade to the Pro service? read/close
If you are currently a Speakerheart Basic member and you want to upgrade to Speakerheart Pro you may do so by accessing your Account Page and selecting the "Go Pro" option at the top of the page. You will then be prompted to complete the upgrade process by creating a subscription through PayPal.
4. How often do I get to see reporting on my sales? read/close
You have the ability to view sales, previews and user bookmarks directly within your user account. Just click on "Stats" and watch your figures soar.
5. What is the process to change my Username? read/close
Unfortunately, the Username you provided while registering cannot be modified.
6. What is the process to change my email address? read/close
You may change your email address within Account Info once you log in.
7. What is the process to close my account? read/close
You may choose to close your Speakerheart account at any time from within your Account Info section. However, the annual service fee is non-refundable.
8. Can I have more than one account? read/close
Yes, but don't hog all of the good URLs.
9. How can I go back and edit my profile sections? read/close
Profiles, otherwise known as your artist storefront, can be edited at any time once you are logged in. Just follow the prompts in the various sections and you should be good to go.
10. I am a manager. Can I set up one profile for all my Artists? read/close
Yep.
11. I am a manager. Can I set up individual profiles for my artists, but manage them all from a central location? read/close
At this time you are not able to manage multiple artists from a central location. We are certainly working toward this functionality. The good news is that if you choose to manage separate accounts today, we will offer a streamlined way to merge your accounts together once this is a possibility.
Uploading and Selling Music
1. How long does it take for my music to be available for sale? read/close
Pending all required fields are successfully completed during the album creation process, your music will be available for sale and searchable by your fans on Speakerheart within minutes after you press "Publish Album." If you feel it has been just a bit too long since you pressed that button, contact us at .
2. How long will my music be available for sale within Speakerheart? read/close
The short answer is "as long as you feel like keeping us around." We're required to say "Proper payment of the annual service fee assures that all your music will remain up for sale within Speakerheart."
3. How can I remove my music from Speakerheart? read/close
This depends on whether you wish to simply deactivate an album from being available for sale or if you prefer to remove it from your account entirely. Speakerheart is designed to be flexible in allowing you to control which music is available for sale, which music is saved yet not currently available for sale and which music is removed from you account permanently.
If you prefer to simply deactivate an album, you may do so by designating which albums are available and which are not by selecting "activate" or "deactivate" on top of each album cover within your albums section accordingly. At this point you will be prompted to confirm this request.
By pressing "deactivate" you are not deleting your material entirely, but rather storing it for future use in case you feel like selling content from it once again. However, if you prefer to remove your music entirely, select an album from your albums section and select "delete" at the bottom of your track listings. Keep in mind that if you remove your album from the system entirely using this method and do not keep record of your UPC number or ISRC numbers, you will not be able to accurately recreate the identical album in our system for reporting purposes. In other words, if you choose to upload the identical product again, as far as both Speakerheart and SoundScan are concerned, sales will be correlated to a different album and reported as such.
4. What is the process to add additional music to Speakerheart? read/close
If you are currently a Speakerheart Basic member and you would like to add additional music you can upgrade to Speakerheart Pro for only $25 and have up to 100 songs spread across up to 10 albums.
5. What if my fan base is not in the US, can they still buy my music? read/close
Yes. Your fans in other countries will be able to purchase music from Speakerheart as long as they are willing to pay in U.S. dollars.
6. How is my music priced to the end consumer? read/close
Speakerheart is all about simplicity and flexibility. We're not really fans of the whole one-size-fits-all 99-cent pricing model, so we have enabled you to set the price for all of your music. Speakerheart charges a small transaction fee – 25 cents per track sold and 25 percent on an album sold. We do this so you don't lose money per transaction. Keep in mind, however, that you may always offer promotional giveaways of any of your music without being charged a transaction fee. So if you want to give your music away for free, feel...um, free!
7. What are all the costs I will incur signing up for Speakerheart? read/close
Either free for Basic or $25 for Pro. All other costs are found in the transaction fees which only apply during the sale of music. See the chart for a further breakdown of these fees.
8. What if I want to give a song away for free? read/close
No problem. We understand the value of promotion, so giveaway all the high-quality MP3s through our simple and secure checkout system you want and we won't charge you any transaction fees.
9. What is the minimum amount I can sell my music for? read/close
The minimum amount you can sell your music for is 25 cents unless you choose to give your music away for free.
10. What type of audio files can I upload onto Speakerheart? read/close
Currently only MP3 files may be uploaded. Future enhancements will allow different audio formats to be uploaded and Speakerheart will convert.
11. What quality of audio file should I upload? read/close
We understand the importance of accommodating all types of music fans, from ones who want to pack 10,000 songs onto an iPod and the one who prefers to have hi-fidelity music. So our rule of thumb is the higher the bit-rate, the better. We recommend you upload files at least 192kbps, but we'll take anything 128kbps or better. If you upload a file larger than 320kbps, it will be down-converted to 192kbps. That's the good stuff.
12. How long can my songs be? read/close
It's your music. If you're the next Mozart, upload entire movements. There are currently no limitations for the length of audio files.
13. How many songs can be on one album? read/close
There are no specific limits associated with albums, but keep in mind that if you have a Basic account, your total storage limit is 10 songs while Pro accounts limit the total storage to 100 songs. If you want to include 100 symphonies on one album, more power to you.
14. How long can my albums be? read/close
That's up to you.
15. What if I don't have a full album? read/close
No problem. All you need is at least one track and you're on your way. Tracks are automatically stored as albums within Speakerheart so all sales can report to the proper places.
16. My picture on my profile isn't uploading, what should I do? read/close
First, make sure the picture you are trying to upload is either a .jpeg, .jpg, .png, or .gif file. Second, try to upload a different file just to make sure there is not an issue with your preferred file. If you are still having issues, please contact Customer Support.
17. Why isn't my picture on my profile centered? read/close
When you're in edit mode, your picture can be resized to fit in the space as you desire. The drag slider tool which appears at the bottom of the picture as you hover over it enables you to fix up your beauty shot as you see fit.
18. What if I don't have album art? read/close
Until you're ready to upload your album art, it will be set to a default Speakerheart album image. But, as artists ourselves, we do recommend you create and establish a brand for your artistry. But we'll cover your back until then.
19. My songs are not uploading, what should I do? read/close
Please ensure the files you are trying to upload are one of the following audio types: MP3, WMA, AAC, Apple Lossless or Windows Media Lossless. Also, please ensure the bit-rates of the files you are trying to upload are at least 128kbps. If your files adhere to these two guidelines and you are still having problems, please contact Customer Support so we can assist you further.
20. What if I am not the only writer on a specific song? read/close
When selling within Speakerheart, it is the responsibility of the artist to distribute the royalties to the appropriate parties involved in the writing of the song or composition. Please see our copyright primer for further information.
21. Can I upload cover songs that I have recorded? read/close
Yes, but when selling from Speakerheart it is the responsibility of the artist to report all sales of those songs to the appropriate parties and pay any and all necessary fees and/or royalties associated with the song. We have this documented quite clearly in our copyright primer.
Getting Paid
1. How much do I make per transaction? read/close
With the purchase of a song on Speakerheart you will make 100% of the net profit after the 25 cent transaction fee is applied.
2. How am I paid? read/close
You are paid via an electronic money transfer directly into your Paypal account once a month.
3. What if I don't have a PayPal account? read/close
No worries. Our signup process enables you to create a free PayPal account as you go.
4. How often am I paid? read/close
Once per month.
5. How safe is all my credit card information and what does Speakerheart do with it after I have paid? read/close
All of the checkout process for Speakerheart is handled through PayPal. PayPal's state of the art, high security transaction platform will handle all of your billing information, keeping it safe and completely private.
6. I made a transfer from my PayPal account but my bank has received nothing. What should I do? read/close
For all balance transfer and transaction inquires please contact PayPal customer support.
Reporting
1. What is a UPC? read/close
A UPC (Universal Product Code) is a unique 12-digit tracking number assigned to individual products by the Universal Code Council. In the case of music, these codes are assigned to albums. If you already have a UPC assigned to your album, physical or digital, you may reproduce that number within Speakerheart so that all sales are properly and consistently reported to SoundScan. However, if you do not have a UPC code for an album you are uploading we will auto-generate a code for you at no cost. In the latter example, Speakerheart acts as the "parent label" for your album(s) and reports all sales to SoundScan for you automatically, and displays that information for you within your stats tab.
2. What is an ISRC? read/close
An ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is an internationally recognized code for uniquely identifying sound recordings and music video recordings. In the case of music, these codes are assigned to individual tracks. If you already have ISRC's assigned to your tracks, you may reproduce those numbers while uploading your music so that all sales are properly and consistently reported to SoundScan. However, if you do not have ISRC's assigned to your individual tracks we will auto-generate a code for you at no cost and will display all reporting information for you within your stats tab.
3. I already have a UPC. Do I have to generate a new one? read/close
No. When adding albums to Speakerheart you may either enter in your existing UPC or we will generate one for you at no charge.
4. What is SoundScan? read/close
Nielsen SoundScan is an information system that tracks sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada. Sales data from point-of-sale cash registers is collected weekly from over 14,000 retail, mass merchant and non-traditional (on-line stores, venues, etc.) outlets. Weekly data is compiled and made available every Wednesday. Nielsen SoundScan is the sales source for the Billboard music charts.
(Source: http://www.soundscan.com/about.html)
5. Does Speakerheart Report to SoundScan? read/close
Yes, all of your sales are reported to SoundScan. Songs transacted for free do not count toward SoundScan charts.
Artist Rights
1. Someone has misappropriated themselves with my identity. What should I do? read/close
Please email to resolve any disputes. Also, our Copyright Primer includes applicable information.
2. Someone is selling my music without permission. What should I do? read/close
Please email to resolve any disputes. Also, our Copyright Primer includes applicable information.
3. What rights does Speakerheart have in relation to my music? read/close
The only right Speakerheart has in relation to your music is the right to distribute and sell it. You can relinquish that right from Speakerheart at any time. Please view our Digital Media Store Agreement for the detailed, legalistic interpretation.
