REBEAT_User_manual_English.pdf

Our manuals are recurrently updated. This present version was created on: November 11th 2008

REBEAT DIGITAL

Music Distribution Software

REBEAT DIGITAL IS THE ULTIMATE STANDARD SOFTWARE PACK FOR EVERY

MUSIC CREATOR

Sell your songs worldwide on all the leading download shops - iTunes®, Napster®, Nokia®, Jamba® and many

others!

WELCOME TO THE YOUNG FAMILY OF REBEAT DIGITAL-USERS!

We are pleased that you chose this groundbreaking product, which is the first of its kind worldwide. Never before was it possible

for creative people, musicians, producers, small labels and others, to place their output so cost-efficiently, fast and - most of all -

so easily onto all leading download shops for sale.

REBEAT Digital is a Music Distribution Software, customized for distributing music trough the internet. REBEAT Digital takes

care of all administrative duties regarding the sale of your music and it is allowing you to focus on the most important thing in

music-biz at all: the music itself!

The following tips and explanations will help you to maximize the benefits of the Software which you just purchased.

The professional experience of the team behind REBEAT Digital is based on years of success in the entertainment industry.

Now, you will be able to benefit from this experience, too. REBEAT Digital is cost-efficient, fast and amazingly unbureaucratic.

Nevertheless, there are some rules to attend. When it comes to trading music, copyright is an important issue that deserves

high attention and protection. REBEAT Digital will support you in this procedure, so you can successfully complete all

necessary steps for your own safety.

Please take your time to carefully read this booklet. It contains all the basic information about what is legal and what isn’t; what

you are allowed to upload and what you aren’t. Especially now, when heated debates about the copyrights of recorded music

and the internet adorn many headlines, it is extremely important to pay close attention to these instructions.

On the following pages we will – for your own protection – provide you with information on copyrights, licenses and the music-

business in general. Three basic rules stand above all the others:

It is important to know that you should under no circumstances upload songs trough REBEAT Digital, for which you do

not have all necessary rights or have not got delegated those rights by the originator, since otherwise criminal

charges will be brought up against you. You have to know that this can lead to personal and financial troubles.

for which you do not hold all pertinent rights. Using REBEAT Digital does not at all protect you from impinging upon

sb.’s rights.

II.

After completing the initial sign-up and registration process, you will receive a key code and your registration data

from REBEAT Digital. Please keep these data strictly private and under no circumstances forward it to third parties.

The possibility of uploading songs for which no rights are held is always given and in the end only you are liable for

what is occurring through your access. We therefore warmly recommend avoiding the dissemination and possible

abuse of your registration data.

III.

REBEAT Digital was created by musicians to perform the needs of musicians. We see ourselves as a kind of creative

community, without the pressures or influence of big corporate interests. We hope you’ll join us in taking our own,

basic ethical rules to heart. Overall, what’s most important is that everyone has fun producing music. Having fun while

being creative is what it’s all about for us. But we will by no means tolerate or distribute any kind of songs promoting

racial or religious discrimination or other strongly offensive content. We formally advise you to refrain from uploading

such materials.

The three points above are, in essence, something like the “constitution” of REBEAT Digital, and if all users commit to adhering

to it, this program is sure to be successful. We want to point out explicitly that we reserve the right to exclude you from using the

platform in case of infringement.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. What about copyrights and what am I allowed to upload?

2. What are master rights and how are they applied?

3. I want to write a new text to an already existing song, what do I have to take care of?

4. I want to use samples or parts of existing recordings for my self‐produced compositions. What

do I have to take care of?

5. I want to upload a song but do not have a Barcode (EAN) at my disposal

6. What is an ISRC Code and what do I need it for?

7. Do I need EAN‐ and ISRC Codes or is either one of them enough?

8. Who pays my royalties?

9. How do I transfer my songs to the net with REBEAT Digital?

10. The Product Window

11. Import Window

12. Track data Window

13. Upload‐Window

14. Some short notes about the Music –Biz

15. The Tracker

16. Data Update

17. Take‐Down

18. The Promotion Tool

19. The REBEAT Artist Camp

20. Information about your accounting

1. What about copyrights and what am I allowed to upload?

As a matter of principle, you are allowed to upload all songs to which you have all necessary rights or when those essential

rights were assigned to you by the originator for the realization of digital distribution (in written form! confirmed by a contract!)

You are on the safe side if you have composed, written, recorded and produced everything on your own and did not fall back on

already existing, trademarked recordings of others for your output.

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Tip: if you have composed or written songs in collaboration with other musicians or as a band, clarify the copyright issue before

you upload the first song. Subsequent disputes are always onerous and that’s not necessary if everything is clearly arranged

before.

For uploading third-party compositions (cover versions or remixes) you have to get the permission of the original publisher or the

originator, meaning the author and the composer of a song. The publisher or the originator has to give his explicit permission to

the digital use on the internet in written form.

To find out who published the title you want to use, we recommend contacting a society for musical performing and mechanical

reproduction rights. In the U.S. this is ASCAP or BMI. Both are easily reachable trough the internet. Please be aware that

getting permission from publishers can be a nerve-wracking and time-consuming affair and can take a couple of months to

succeed.

2. What are master rights and how are they applied?

The rights on audio recordings, thus the rights on what is coming out of the speakers when a recording is played back, are

called master rights. This word stems from the word “master tape”, which originally was the tape, on which the final, finished

“mastered” recording was on and which was then handed off for duplication. You are not allowed to upload a song to which you

do not hold the master rights or written permission from the rights holder.

When you are recording a song in your own studio, thus also functioning as a producer, you are holding the master rights. When

you are recording a song in an external studio where you are also functioning as a producer, you are also holding the master

rights. When the song is recorded in an external studio by another person acting as producer, you will need the allowance of this

person in written form for the use of it. Thus, when you are commissioning someone with the recording – even when you have to

pay for it – you should in any case reach an agreement in written form with the producer that guarantees the master rights for

you and therefore the right of use for Digital distribution. In most of the cases you pay for the work of the producer and include

the master rights in the payment as well. Often it is agreed that the producer receives a share of the sales trough a “producer’s

license”. The specific allotment is a matter of negotiation, but in general no producer settles for less than 3%.

The most important thing is:

All arrangements have to be settled upfront. Once the recordings have started, or the master tape is finished, different points of

view can quickly degenerate to a serious problem and escalate to a “deal breaker” and the entire project is doomed. And let’s

face it - who really wants to record and produce when the result then collects dust in a drawer?

3. I want to write a new text to an already existing song, what do I have to take care of?

As discussed before, this is not as easy as it may sound like. You have to have the permission of the originator. In general, a

publisher represents the originator - so we are back to what we outlined earlier. To get the publisher’s permission, he needs to

receive the new version of a text – then he will decide if you will or will not get the permission. Either way this process can take

some time and you’ll have to be patient.

Without permission of the publisher, thus the original author, you are not allowed to upload a new text version of a song. This is

outright illegal and will most certainly get you in trouble. Illegal use like this is likely to result in legal action against you.

4. I want to use samples or parts of existing recordings for my self-produced compositions. What do I

have to take care of?

The basic ground rule is that if you, yourself did not record the title you’d like to use, meaning that if you do not hold any master

rights to it, you have to apply for a permit. Even if you only want to use very short samples, you cannot do so without permission

of the holder of the master rights. If the part you want to use is a few seconds long, you will additionally need the permission of

the originator, respectively the publisher. When you are working with purchased sampling libraries, you have to check the terms

and conditions of the license. It is not automatically guaranteed that you have the right to use the samples without permission of

the originator. You may even have to reel the master rights if you like to sample your work, in fact when you before left the rights

on realization of the work at someone else for evaluation. The use of samples in general is a delicate issue. We strongly

recommend refraining from using unsettled samples. There are specialists out there who explicitly watch out for the use of

unsettled samples to enforce the claim of the originators. Again, legal action is a very likely outcome.

5. I want to upload a song but do not have a Barcode (EAN) at my disposal

EAN codes are not only seen in supermarkets. By now, every product is identified with one and when it comes to paying for a

product at the cashier you see what it’s for. By the same token our audiophiles need to get a barcode. It serves the identification

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of the product and is therefore something like an electronic price tag of a product. That way, a correct accounting is guaranteed.

A “product” can either be just a single track or a complete album. Without a barcode or with a false barcode a correct accounting

cannot occur and the inventory control systems of the particular shops will not be able to process correctly. That’s why barcodes

are so important. If you do not have barcodes on your own, you can purchase them directly on your REBEAT Digital Software.

The one-time charge for one barcode amounts to €5.00.

6. What is an ISRC Code and what do I need it for?

Every single song that finds its way into a shop needs to have an ISRC code. No matter if it’s a physical CD or song files. This

code is unique for every single track and therefore something like the ID-card of a track. Also collecting societies and other

enterprises working with trademarked songs use the ISRC code and it as well (like the EAN code) ensures the correct

accounting. The ISRC code is international. It enables to worldwide identify who holds the rights to a title and whereto these

rights have to be accounted. Through your REBEAT Digital Software you are able to purchase ISRC codes for the amount of

one-time €1.00 per code.

7. Do I need EAN- and ISRC Codes or is either one of them enough?

You need to have both of them. Every single song needs to have an ISRC code to identify your song “A” as your song “A”

worldwide. The complete product needs to have an EAN code for the same reason. A “product” can be composed of only one

track or a complete composition of x amount of tracks (e.g. an album). If someone downloads just one track of your product the

ISRC code will disclose which song of your product it was. If someone downloads your complete product, the accounting works

through the EAN code. If your complete product consists of just one song, the accounting works through the EAN. In any case,

the financial investment is very low and having correct codes will ensure you’re safe and properly reimbursed.

8. Who pays my royalties?

When you are the originator of your songs, thus author and/or composer, then you are entitled to get the income of your

When using the REBEAT Digital Music Distribution this works as follows: In Europe most of the shops pay the royalties directly

to the mechanical royalties societies themselves, and those dues will à la longue find their way to you. Outside of Europe or

everywhere, where shops do not take care of this processing, REBEAT Digital pays the royalties to the Austrian society Austro-

Mechana. To get your royalties, you have to be a member of a mechanical royalty’s society.

Please do not hesitate to contact us, if you have any further questions.

9. How do I transfer my songs to the net with REBEAT Digital?

The software manual step-by-step

Not all of us are computer scientists. Everyone knows the feeling of being that frustrated that you want to bite into the keyboard

because yet again something does not work the way we expect it to.

That’s why we made it our top priority to make the use of REBEAT Digital as user-friendly as possible. It should all be simple

and quick. Plug & Play is the straightforward concept of our software. If, at any time only “Plug” works, but “Play” does not, we’re

there for you at all times to help you getting back into the groove. (Mailto: support@REBEAT.com )

The following points relate to the specific fields of the product window, as you will see it on your screen. We appreciate to guide

you trough the details step-by-step.

10. The Product Window

That’s what it looks like – a purposefully simple design!

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1. THE COVER ART DESIGN

Like everything else in this window, you have to create and input it yourself. The more dramatic and exciting the art design, the

more you will attract the costumer. Spending thought and time on your choice of design can have a huge impact on how many

people will want to listen to your music. Thus, be creative or contract a designer you trust. No doubt about it: The cover is the

face of your product. The cover requires the format 1400 x 1400 pixel and 300dpi.

SCANOPTION: Here you have the option to scan the cover straight out of the Software. Scan the picture and arrange your

required array by pulling the mouse from one vertex to the other. Then scan the defined array.

2. TITLE

Your track needs a title. You can enter it here. We recommend that you to use a title that can be identified in the chorus. Bear in

mind that you want your track to be easily found. By labeling it “I love you”, chances that someone will quickly find your specific

song are not very high.

3. ARTIST

Here the artist of your product has to be entered. If there is more than one artist on your product, please enter „Various Artist“.

4. EAN-CODE

We have written about it before, but nevertheless we want to re-cap this point again briefly. We need the codes to make the

identification of all products possible. A song without a code is like a stateless person without a passport – unable to work, make

money and be a vital part of the community. We’d like to remind you again that every product needs its own code. One EAN

code may not be used several times, because the accounting would not work. If you do not have an EAN code for your product,

click the $-button on the right side and purchase an EAN directly. The price for an EAN is €5.00.

Barcode Creator:

This tool is settled next to the $-symbol in the line EAN code. Here you are able to display the numerical series of

your barcode graphically, save and print it, e.g. for the pressing plant.

5. GENRE

Please select the specific kind of music genre here. Bear in mind that the correct genre information supply to the shops depends

on your selection in this category - it has an immediate impact on how easily consumers can search for and find your music.

Since the particular shops do have differing genre lists, REBEAT Digital does its best to summarize them to the lowest common

denominator. It is impossible for us to offer sub-assembly groups that are very detailed (e.g. “Mongolian male chant”), as is

practice on a few shops.

Subscription service systems like Napster® offers, for example, work with a different principle. There you pay a monthly fee and

are then able to listen to as much music as you want. Other systems allow a set amount of downloads for a fixed monthly fee.

We also want to mention ring tones and streams – both products have different price arrangements.

We feel that we’re all in the same boat in a way, and want to assure you that we will always be anxious to retrieve the highest

possible proceeds out of the shops. Remember, we live off the distribution margin - our percentage points of the sales profits of

your songs!

Please understand that the proceeds of sales are differing from portal to portal and cannot be standardized by REBEAT Digital.

6. PRELISTENING/ AUDIO EDITOR:

H ere you can specify, which musical part of the track shall be used fort he "pre – listening" in the shops.

The small “c” in a ring… it symbolizes the trademarked right. Therefore, please enter the owner of the master rights here. As a

rule, this should be you yourself, your Label or the person, who carried forward the rights for examination to you.

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