GENERAL QUESTIONS

How do I setup my browser to listen to streaming MP3s with my favorite MP3 player?

What do those letters mean next to a piece of music's name? Like, smb, sb, m, s, b, mb, etc...?

What is the criteria for your 5-Star rating system?

What is a cue sheet?

FILMMAKERS QUESTIONS

I understand that your composers, songwriters, and licensors get royalties. Where does that money come from? Do we have to pay it?

After I download the music and place it in my production, do I actually have the right to use it and duplicate it into say 250,000 videocassettes and DVDs, or air it anywhere in the world?

How do I report my usage of your music, create an industry standard cue sheet for my project, and recieve my final license agreements allowing me to legally use this music in my project?

How do I make money by putting my music on your system?

What rights to my music am I giving up by uploading it to your system? And what if I want to remove it later?

Why do you need the right to use my music "in perpetuity throughout the universe"?

I am unclear as to how the collection of royalties works. Do you collect royalties via the normal channels of performing rights societies etc? And since I'm based outside the USA, would I still be able to collect usage royalties from your site, or is this only possible for composers in the states?

GENERAL QUESTIONS [ back to top ]

How do I setup my browser to listen to streaming MP3s with my favorite MP3 player? [ back to top ]

If you are using Internet Explorer (Windows):

- From your Desktop double left-click on My Computer. Click "View" on your toolbar.
- Find "Folder Options..." at the bottom of that list. Select "File Types".
- Click the "New Type..." button. In "Add New File Type", fill in the following:
- Description of type: M3U file...Associated extension: .m3u
- Content Type (MIME): audio/x-mpegurl...Under "Actions:" click the "New..." button. Explorer may recognize this as a current "Playlist" setting. If this happens click "Cancel" in the New File Type box. Scroll through the file types and delete the M3U entry. Try to add the M3U type again. Continue with the instructions below.

In the "New Action" box, fill in the following:

- Action: open
- Application to perform action: "C:\Program Files\Winamp\WINAMP.EXE" "%1"
Above we simply used Winamp as an example. You can type in where your preferred player is (include the quotes), if different, or use the browse button. Be sure to remember the "%1" at the end.

Netscape Navigator (Windows):

- Open the "Edit->Preferences->Navigator->Applications" Dialog.
- Press on the "New" Button.
- Add "m3u" to the File Extension (Suffixes) Field.
- Depending on your current settings, Navigator may recognize this as a current "Playlist" setting. This is normal. Continue with the instructions below.
- Type "audio/x-mpegurl" in the MIME Type Field.
- Find your MP3 Player, such as Winamp, under Handled By Application Window. Press "OK".
- Now, next time you try to play an m3u file it will locate the MP3 Player and launch it.

Note: Once Microsoft's Media Player becomes your default setting it is very difficult to remove. If this happens to you a quick solution is to download the newest version of RealPlayer G2. RealPlayer's insallation will automatically set RealPlayer as the default player for streaming.

Streaming MP3's (m3u format) on the Macintosh with Real Player G2:

Before we get to the instructions about how to configure RealPlayer G2 as your mp3/m3u player, we'll point out some tweaks you might want to consider if your primary use will be as a mp3 player.

After downloading and installing the player, visit the "View" menu and select "Compact". This will minimize the hulking Real Player interface.

You can also turn off individual elements of the interface, such as the "Search" feature, that are rarely used. There isn't a playlist feature that you can use to create a custom list of songs to play in the order you prefer, which most other players have, but there is something called "Playlist" which remembers the trailing 10 songs you have played. It's not as useful as a traditional playlist, but it's handy nonetheless.

Netscape (Mac):

To configure Netscape, you need to click on Edit > Preferences > Applications. Add the following entry:

1) Description: Streamed MP3s
2) MIME Type: audio/x-mpegurl
3) Suffixes: .m3u
4) When you click on a "play" link on Free Library Music, Netscape then launches RealPlayer and plays the MP3 file.

Internet Explorer (Mac):

Go to Edit >Preferences > Helper Apps. Add the following entry:

1) Description: Streamed MP3s
2) Extension: .m3u
3) MIME Type: audio/x-mpegurl
4) File Type: M3U
5) File Type Application: RealPlayer G2
6) How to Handle: "View With Application"
7) Application: RealPlayer
8) When you click on a "play" link on Free Library Music, IE launches RealPlayer and plays the MP3 file.

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What do those letters mean next to a piece of music's name? Like, smb, sb, m, s, b, mb, etc...? [ back to top ]

They are indicating what categories the piece of music has been placed in.

s = songs
b = score (think b for background)
m = multimedia

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What is the criteria for your 5-Star rating system? [ back to top ]

For a CuePop™ track, we need 3 votes before we calculate it's rating.

For CuePop™ Contributors, such as Composers and Songwriters, they need to have at least 3 tracks uploaded, and 3 tracks rated each with 3 votes. It may take a while for a contributor's ranking to show up on CuePop™ forthese reasons. But when it does it is a more accurate and fair representation of where that contributor stands on CuePop™.

All votes are recorded, and if we find someone abusing our system we can easily void those persons votes and that will then readjust the rankings on CuePop™ instantaneously.

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What is a cue sheet? [ back to top ]

Keeping track of all the music used in films and on television shows is a formidable task, but one that Performance Royalty Associations, known as PROs, enthusiastically undertake to ensure their writers and publishers receive the royalties due them. PROs maintain vast computer databases logging the music composed for past film and television work, which is systematically updated. But the database alone cannot reflect all of the music used in new productions. This gargantuan job is made feasible only by the use of cue sheets.

Cue sheets are the primary means by which PROs track the use of music in films and TV. Without cue sheets, it would be nearly impossible for such composers and publishers to be compensated for their work.

An accurately filled out cue sheet is a log of all the music used in a production. This information includes:

• Series/Film Title
  
• Series/Film Title AKA
  
• Episode Title
  
• Episode Title AKA
  
• Episode Number
  
• Air Date
  
• Show Length
  
• Music Length
  
• Production Company Information
  
• Song/Cue Title
  
• Composer
  
• Publisher
  
• Performing rights society
  
• Timing
  
• Usage

If there is more than one composer for an individual piece of music, or if the writer and publisher split their royalties on other than a 50/50 basis, this must also be indicated on the cue sheet, and these become important factors in the PRO's payment calculations.

With the increase in independent producers and cable operations, the filing of accurate cue sheets has become even more crucial to tracking the use of music in film and television productions. These newcomers to the industry are sometimes unfamiliar with, or unaware of, the legal and professional responsibilities involved in using the music of composers and publishers whose rights are represented by performing rights societies.

Since PRO's calculations of royalties depends upon detailed and accurate cue sheets, it is in composers' and publishers' best interests to make sure that cue sheets are properly prepared and submitted by the production company. It is not uncommon -- and is often helpful -- for a composer to prepare a cue sheet him/herself for comparison purposes or ask to see those filled out by the production company before it is submitted to the publisher and/or the performing rights organization.

Checking to make sure that the cue sheets have been prepared and filed is good insurance for receiving accurate compensation for those compositions.

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FILMMAKER QUESTIONS [ back to top ]

I understand that your composers, songwriters, and licensors get royalties. Where does that money come from? Do we have to pay it? [ back to top ]

You and/or any of your distributors will generally never need to pay anything. The money that is payed via royalties to our music makers comes from various retail markets and venues, and on splits for any fees we collect directly here on our site.

Here's an example: HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and TMC all pay what's called a "blanket license" fee for one year's use of music on their stations.

[ NOTE: The reason they have to fork over anything for music is that writers and publishers are allowed to collect public performance royalties whenever their music is publicly performed. That's the system in almost every country. This goes on as long as an active copyright is held and the work is not deemed "Public Domain". In the USA, the term is up 75 years after the death of the writer. In different countries it is proclaimed differently. ]

So back to HBO etc.., if they pay $15,000,000 to the worlds performance royalty organizations (BMI,ASCAP,SACEM,etc.) as a "blanket license" then all that happens is that money is distributed to the people who claim it. So the money is already out there. In fact, the blanket license is never claimed fully. The rest of the money goes into interest bearing accounts to pay royalties where money might be lacking. When a composer registers their music usage via a cue sheet with their P.R.O.(Public Performance Organization such as BMI etc...), than the P.R.O. then knows how much of the blanket license is portioned for that particular composer for each airing based on their P.R.O.'s rates in force.

The same goes with almost every venue out there. Video Rental and Movie Theatres in the USA do not have to pay royalties, but everywhere else in the world they do. And in some countries money is collected for the sales of videos and games. For instance if a VHS is sold in France, maybe 25 cents goes to the writer of the music. Those are called Mechanical Royalties because they are based off of a physical mechanism such as a sale process, or an audio track going through a movie projector. But that's also fodder for further discussion in another forum.

So the long and the short of it is that the venues already expect to be paying P.R.O.s these monies for the right to publicly broadcast or sell the music in your production. The monies are already being payed and all the music writers have to do is get a cue sheet into their P.R.O. That is why it is an important obligation of yours to create one for your project here in MY PROJECTS. We make it the highest priority, and much of the status of your account will depend on how well you report to us your usages of music on the CUE SHEETS.

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After I download the music and place it in my production, do I actually have the right to use it and duplicate it into say 250,000 videocassettes and DVDs, or air it anywhere in the world? [ back to top ]

Absolutely not. You do not have the right to even use the music at all. We only granted you a temporary right to use the music for the production and post production process of your project. The right to use the music commercially has not been granted yet.

In order to obtain that right, you must finish your contracutal obligations with us.

1) You must create a project entry for your production in MY PROJECTS and enter, at the very least, the music you used from our library. You may enter all of the music in your project at that time. We recommend this so that your final CUE SHEET is fuly correct and non-supplemental.

2) Then email us with the Ref# of your project(on the left of your project header in MY PROJECTS. We will double check it for accuracy.

3) Send us a copy of your project for verifcation and for our records.

4) We will then issue you a LICENSE AGREEMENT allowing you to use all of those pieces from our library that are in your production for the world's markets and venues.

Failure to complete these steps to achieve your LICENSE AGREEMENT for your project not only causes you to be using our music illegally, but also is a breach of our membership agreement and further action will be necessary if the issue is not resolved in a fair amount of time. Your name may also be displayed in our wanted section as per our membership agreement.

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How do I report my usage of your music, create an industry standard cue sheet for my project, and recieve my final license agreements allowing me to legally use this music in my project? [ back to top ]

To report, Create a "project", and subsequently a "cue sheet" for all the music used in your film. We recommend you enter ALL the music usage for your film, not just those tracks from CuePop™, as this will be the official document submitted to the worldwide network of music royalty administration. Go to MY PROJECTS on your member navigation bar above. Then email us letting us know the reference number that your project was given by our system and your member ID number.

We will then double check on your behalf that you have filled out the cue sheet adequately, and ask for a copy of your project on VHS, DVD-R, CD-ROM, etc... for our records and verification. You need to then send the copy to the office location on our contact page CONTACT

Depending on the level of service you've requested or purchased, we may need to do a verification of your cue sheet against your submitted project. If everything checks out, we will then issue you via US Post, or via Email in PDF format, your final license agreement giving you the right to use those music cues in your project.

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MUSICMAKER QUESTIONS [ back to top ]

How do I make money by putting my music on your system? [ back to top ]

We have not only one, but three revenue stream potentials for each track you upload:

1) Through the collection of your writer's share of Public Performance Royalties through your Public Performance Royalty Organization, known thourghout the industry as your PRO (BMI,ASCAP,SACEM,etc...)
2) Recieving your portion (currently 50%) of any "needle-drop" fees associated with your tracks.
3) You recieve 50% of any further net income generated from your tracks and collected by CuePop™ on a non-royalty basis.

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What rights to my music am I giving up by uploading it to your system? And what if I want to remove it later? [ back to top ]

You are not giving up any rights at all. Not a single copyright or right to publish. You are merely giving us the "right to use" and "the right to grant the right to use" the track(s) on a non-exclusive basis in production(s).

You cannot remove your music without our permission. We do make exceptions however. The music you upload is on an "in perpetuity" basis. Meaning, you have granted us the right to use the track of music forever, in all of the universe. Should you wish to discuss such a matter we will do our best to come to a resolution with you.

We are a very different structure of licensing company. We don't want to "own" your music. YOU own it! You keep it. We just want to see if we can get it in some films and other broadcast projects for you. And in exchange, all that we ask in return is to collect the other half of public performance royalties due, the publishing royalties. This in no way means that we are "asking for publishing". The dreaded "publishing" issue as it is widely known in the industry refers to the rights to control, administer, or own the rights to your music. What's known to the Library of Congress as the Publisher's rights. We aren't asking for that. What we're asking for our efforts is that we get the royalties associated with the publishing share of royalties generated by airtime. This is what BMI and ASCAP refer to as publishing royalties. Not publishing rights. So as far as ONLY royalties go, you get the writers, we get the publishing. You get to remain the owner, controller, and publisher of your tracks. Be careful to remember that we are not "asking for publishing". Just the royalties derived from the publishing share of airtime.

So if you look at it this way, we are going to get 50% of all monies derived from the usage and airing of your music in licenseable projects. So we are 50-50 partners. Except we do ALL the business work and you get to stay focused on your work, art, craft, and other loves and ambitions. Of course you are also free to license these tracks to others and make money yourself with them too! Just so long as it is also on a "non-exclusive basis."

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Why do you need the right to use my music "in perpetuity throughout the universe"? [ back to top ]

Once your music is in our library it becomes a part of our library permanantly. We must obtain permanent rights for the following reasons:

1) In case a contract needs to be re-negotiated regarding a new medium use or royalty rate in the future.

2) If a producer uses a piece from a Library CD from a few years earlier than the right to use the music must still be in place.

3) We are building a music library and it would be an adminstrative nightmare to have our catalog constantly in flux.

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I am unclear as to how the collection of royalties works. Do you collect royalties via the normal channels of performing rights societies etc? And since I'm based outside the USA, would I still be able to collect usage royalties from your site, or is this only possible for composers in the states? [ back to top ]

Yes. You would be collecting royalties from your public performance royalty association known as a PRO(BMI,ASCAP, etc...)

Basically, our service brings your music to filmmakers and lets them drop it into their productions. How this benefits you is that if the production airs on TV, Spots on Radio, Theatrically, or any other public performance, you should receive some public performance royalties from that.

Prime time TV can pay as much as $600 a minute. However some asian theatrical markets pay as little as $3 a minute. In any case, you can start building up your revenue streams. The more music you add, the more potential you have for getting your music into productions that can earn you royalties.

These royalties would be collected through your Public Performance Royalty association known as a PRO. So you should be sure to join one if you are not already. Royalties usually take at least 9 months to collect by your PRO.

Happy uploading and let's get those checks rolling in!

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