- 1. Signing up
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a. How do I sign up?
Signup at top right of page, you can sign up for an ARTIST or general MEMBER account:
Just click here to begin the signup process. We need you to decide what your member name
will be, assign a password and we will need your email address. A verification email
will be sent to you, just use the details there to login to the site as a member.
b. Do we give out emails or sell them?
NO WE DO NOT SELL or give out your EMAIL ADDRESS or personal details.
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- 2. Artist Account:
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a. What is an artist account and how do I get one?
When you LOGIN:
You will be taken to the artist page when you first login so that you can fill in your artist or band details and start uploading your music, photos, gigs and material about yourself or your band.
We collect more information on you as an artist, including the need to know a bit about your band, any members, what music influences you or your band have, perhaps who you sound like, your genre category, add a band icon or photo and don’t forget you need to add your band or artist biography.
The more information you give us when you sign up the easier it is for fans and the music industry to find you.
Your artist page will allow you to tell others about your upcoming gigs, people can add comments and you can add photos of your band or any other photos you want to add on behalf of the band. Click on a song and people can easily LISTEN to YOUR MUSIC.
You can manage YOUR music by allowing people to download your song, leave it as streaming only OR to set a price for the song. You can change this at any time, and you will earn money every time it is bought.
Remember in setting these that this is YOUR hard work and you remain the owner of YOUR music. We provide the facility for you to reach fans and for them to purchase these from you.
At end of each quarter we will transfer the money you have earned into your paypal account (these are free to set up). We can only transfer to you once you have earned more than $20 from your music sales.
This will help keep fees to a minimum in accounting and so increase the % that you earn, after bank/transaction and accounting fees are taken. Some artists will be subject to different tax rulings (depending on their country of origin. This will be in accordance with Australian government taxation rulings and is not controlled by Indieland).
If you are an AUSTRALIAN artist, you must notify us if you are registered for GST. If you are registered for GST you should take this into account when setting the price of your material to include GST. The price of the song will then include the relevant tax.
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b. What is a fan and how do people become a fan?
Other members and artists will be able to become a fan of yours from your home page, by clicking on the 'become a fan' button. This means you will be able to send a message to all your fans with ONE click, as they are giving permission to hear from you. They are essentially friends of the band or you as the artist. You will find your 'fanbase' mail options in your inbox.
c. What do I do once my page is set up?
Once you have set up your artist account and made your albums and or song lists and added your bio, you don't have to do a lot after that if you don’t want to. Just check in and see how your songs are going and what comments you are getting. You can enter one of our free monthly competitions. See how your fan base is going and most of all...tell others about your page and when to vote for you...
d. What is a tag?
A series of tags can be added to each song. A tag is a word attached to a song that helps us track your song and helps fans find them. You can have 4 tags to a song. These can be changed in your myaccount section which is at the top of the page once you log in, then go to the 'my music' section and click on the edit/delete songs section, select the song that you want to change the tags and away you go.
e. Where can I see all of my song stats?
You can view your stats
Here
f. Can I set up links to my other websites like myspace?
Yes you can set up links to your myspace or other pages so people can easily find your other music pages. You can do so when you are setting up your page or add any later through the 'my account' link at the top of the page.
g. How do I enter a song into a competition?
You can enter any of your songs into our free monthly competition through the home page or via the competition tab and the enter competition box in there. Entry is free and we will be interested to hear from you about the prizes you would like to see on offer.
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- 3. General Fan/Member Account:
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a. What is a general member (or FAN) account?
If you aren't an artist, (or don’t want to set up an artist page), you can sign up for a free FAN or general MEMBER account: Just click to create account in the signup at the top of the page and follow the prompts to sign up as a fan. Note you can change upgrade your account type later through the 'my account' section. Just go the 'my account' at the top of the page when you are logged in and you will see an upgrade to artist account button, just click this.
We will need you to select a username and password. We also need your email address, country, gender and DOB. All of these we collect to allow us to collect demographic data about the site's usage – so we can get advertising to keep the site free. We DO NOT give out your personal details. Check out the terms of use and privacy policy to find out more about this.
We will need to verify your account via an email sent to you with your login details, and then you can setup your home page. When you login the first time you can edit your details at through the 'my account' tab at the top of the page once you are logged in. Also your username will appear at the top of the page and you can access that at any time.
b. If I am an artist or in a band, can I have my own page here?
Yes, you get a MEMBER ACCOUNT also as an ARTIST. We give you your own member page where you can keep your own music favourites and playlists from other artists and bands. When you log in you will see 2 names at the top. It will say welcome to 'you' (member name) of 'artist name'. You can click onto either of these at anytime to quickly go to your member or artist page.
c. How will I know if there are any messages for me?
If someone has sent you a messages, the number of messages in your inbox will appear at the top of the page. Just click on the inbox to see your mail.
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- 4. DOWNLOADS AND THE PIG-E-BANK
- a. THE PIG-E-BANK and BUYING MUSIC!
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i. What is the pig-e-bank?
The pig-ebank is the account you use on Indieland to buy music from around the site. You create a holding account which can be increased in $5 amounts. This money can then be used to purchase music and other items that might become available for sale on Indieland. This money does NOT expire, and can be used whenever you like. If you have insufficient funds, then you will be prompted to set this account up OR top up your existing account.
This money is then NON refundable, so use it up when you want to.
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ii. HOW DO I BUY SONGS?
You just click on the song you like and you will go the song's page. Here you can listen again, find other great songs and purchase them... if they have been made free to download by the artist, it will tell you and you just download away.
You will be prompted if you want your account to be debited the amount and then it will just come off your current balance.
You can see your balance anytime at the top of the screen, and the (+) is a short cut to top up your account.
You will need to be a member of Indieland, as we need to be able to track the sales of songs, and the demographic data on the song sales will help raise advertising to help keep the site free for all! No personally identifying details are ever used in this purpose.
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iii. Can I get a refund?
No, once you top up your account, it is non refundable. We advise you that if you are closing your account, to use up all that remains. The dollar amounts are in AUD (Australian dollars), and are equivalent numbers to AUD dollars. i.e if you purchase $5 for your account, you have AUD$5 amount of money to spend.
Remember though that this money does NOT expire. This way there are no ongoing subscription fees, debiting of your credit card or account.
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iv. Can I close account?
Yes you can close your account at any time and we recommend using up your money before hand.
- b. ARTISTS - Selling your music on Indieland
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i. What does it cost to sell my songs on Indieland?
It is free to join Indieland and start selling your songs on the site.
We have no set up costs or ongoing monthly fees.
When you sell your music on Indieland we aim to return as much as we can to YOU, the artist.
There are no tricky 'after profit', or 'share of advertising revenue' clauses. Simply, we deduct a
minimum of 20% from your sales total to cover administrative, accounting and bank transaction fees.
Furthermore, This 20% fee is subject to an Australian government tax (GST 10%) which effectively adds another
2% deduction from your sales total. Simply put this means that most artists will receive 78%
of their total sales revenue rebated quarterly into their paypal account.
It is important to note that Australian government taxation regulations will be adhered to and this may compel
Indieland to with-hold tax from some artists at rates depending on their country of origin. We will endeavor
to inform you if this applies to you.
By using the top up of the pig-ebank we have been able to reduce many of the bank fees and the % you earn will
be the maximum we can afford to make it. The majority of artists will earn 78% of each purchase of a song.
Indieland is subject to fees outside of its control and so these may change in time. We do not make any
guarantee with respect to fees Indieland is subject to nor how this will affect payments to you once these fees
are taken into account. Again we will endeavor to notify you of significant changes to the fees so that you
the artist may adjust your prices.
IMPORTANTLY – you may have other obligations for payments to outside bodies such as publishers and or
collecting bodies. These are the artist’s responsibility and advise you to check whether there are other fees
you are subject to as the result of the sale of your music/published and or recordings. See the terms of use on this matter.
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ii. What happens with Copyright?
Indieland takes NO ownership of your music NOR DO WE ASK you sell exclusively with us. Please ensure you have
read our terms of use and copyright section or contact us if you are unsure before uploading and selling your songs.
If you have a publisher or a label they must know that you are selling your music on Indieland. It is the responsibility
of the artist to ensure that any contractual or other arrangements between themselves and third parties are honored with
respect to the artist’s usage of the website Indieland.com.
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iii. How do I set the prices?
You can set a price for each of your songs in the My Account section. Click on the edit / delete songs submenu in the "music" section, and select the song you want to manage.
You can decide if you want the song downloaded or just streamed. If you want the song downloaded you can choose whether you want to make it free or set a price. You simply choose the price you want. You can change any of these options at any time. To set this up or change it, go to the music section of your ‘my account’ and choose edit/delete songs to change your preferences.
You can remove songs at any time, just as you always can. Remember YOU are the owner of your material and this is respected on Indieland. Should you have any queries, contact us and specify the area you are concerned about, or check the posts on the forum section.
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iv. What if I want to close my artist account and I haven’t earned $20?
You can close your account at any time. Any money owed to you at that time will be sent to you once we are notified that you are closing the account. We will need to keep your details until the amounts are clarified and sent to you.
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v. How do I know what to charge?
We recommend you take into account the quality of the recording and consider amounts you have spent in getting it this far. You may also want to factor in any extra tax costs (ie for Australian artists we may need to add GST).
Also if it is a video clip then you would expect the pricing to be different than a simple audio that you recorded at home. If you are just starting, you might want to see which songs are popular before spending money on an Ep or single recording... so it might help to have them free for a while and see what comments you get or the ‘vibe’ you feel they are attracting!
Keep in mind that the prices set on here are AUD – Australian dollars and all communication will be by default if not otherwise specified in AUD's.
Additional taxes may need to be added and we will update any of this information if it changes.
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vi. How do I promote my songs?
We recommend you email your fans on Indieland and on other sites to let them know that they can buy them here or have new songs for sale. You can embed a link back to your page to make it easier.
Remember also that you can put any number of external links on your Indieland page to help sell your music elsewhere
You will note we have added as well some share buttons on every page to share your music and link your song page to facebook, twitter, google, stumbleupon and heaps of others! This should help people choose which sites they want to spread the word about your music... and help you as the artist gain new audiences and popularity.
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vii. How do I get paid for my music?
You will be paid quarterly via PayPal (it is free to sign up) when the amount owing in your account is over $20. Provided your account has accrued at least AU$20.00 over that quarter, we will send you an email asking you to provide (or confirm, if already provided) your PayPal account details.
Please note that we cannot provide any alternative means of payment other than PayPal.
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viii. What about tax?
Whilst Indieland has made every effort to try and advise you, the members of the correct tax rulings as it applies to the conduct of the sale of the artist’s music to their fans, Indieland takes no responsibility for your own tax. You are advised to seek your own independent advice regarding taxation laws that may apply to you. This information is to be regarded as informative only.
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ix. Where can I see how much I have made?
Your catalogue sales history is viewable in the MUSIC section of 'my account' this will include a summary of all that is owed to you from song sales.
- c. MUSIC USAGE AGREEMENT
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All creative content displayed or offered on this site is protected by copyright law. This extends to international treaties established globally.
When you download or purchase a song from Indieland you are entitled to that product solely for personal, non-commercial use.
Access to downloading or purchasing material from the site does not constitute a grant or waiver of any rights of the copyright owners in any audio or video content, sound recording, underlying musical composition or artwork embodied in any product.
Tracks are not protected electronically however we allow you to reproduce a reasonable amount of copies for backup purposes and extended personal use.
The delivery or products does not transfer to you any promotional use rights in the product.
In other words you may not reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works from these tracks unless it has been authorised by copyright owners – the artists who you must contact. This can be done by messaging them through the site, on forums or by contacting us at Indieland – admin@indieland.com
With respect to the purchase of material on Indieland, price and availability of products are subject to change at any time (given that the artists on Indieland are entitled to alter the pricing of their music catalogue at any time). Therefore Indieland makes no warranty on the pricing of artist’s products for sale.
Your use of the service includes the ability to enter into agreement and/or make purchases electronically. You acknowledge that your electronic submissions constitute your agreement and intent to be bound by and to pay for such agreements and purchases.
On occasion technical problems may delay or prevent delivery or your product. Your exclusive and sole remedy with respect to product not delivered within a reasonable period will be replacement of that item.
You acknowledge that use of products may require the use of other hardware or software products and that such hardware and software is your responsibility.
Once you receive a product it is your responsibility not to lose, destroy or damage the product and to the extent permitted by law Indieland will be without liability to you in the event of any loss, destruction or damage.
- 4. Editing 'My Account'
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a. How do I change my password?
You can change your password in the 'my account' section which you can access via the top of the page at all times. Go to edit my details to change your password.
b. How do I edit my account?
You can access 'my account' anytime from the top of the page. You will go to a page where you can edit any details of your member or artist profile.
c. What is the menu at the top right of the page in the myaccount section?
On that page there is a mini menu on the top right which gives you a quick link to any section.
d. How do I edit my artist profile and songs?
The ARTIST editing options are in the blue boxes on the page. They include, editing your artist profile, photos, gigs, fans, and of course you can edit all of your music – songs and albums from the 'My Music' green box.
e. How do I enter a song into the competition?
You can enter a song into a competition via the 'Competition' box on the home page or via the competition tab.
f. How do I edit my general FAN/member account?
Your MEMBER editing options are listed in the silver boxes. You can edit any of the following in 'My Account': change your password, change your location and other general details. You can edit your RSS subscriptions, your friends, favourites and your playlist. Again you can access the mini menu to quickly navigate to those areas you want to edit.
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