FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Distribution & Marketplace below.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please get in touch through CHAT WITH SB TEAM or through More > Others > Contact support.
Artists
How to manage your subscription
Subscriptions in SoundBirth are in-app purchases, which means they are directly linked to your iCloud (Apple device) or Google (Android device) accounts.
As such, you can manage them as you wish and at any time from your respective accounts.
Please follow these steps for iPhone:
1. Go to your AppStore App.
2. Click on your icon on the top right.
3. Scroll & touch Subscriptions.
4. Tap the subscription you want to manage.
5. Use the suggested options to manage your subscription.
Please follow these steps for an Android smartphone:
1. Go on your “Playstore“ app
2. Click on your “icon“ on the top bar and click on “Manage your Google Account“
3. Click on “Payments & Subscriptions“
4. Use the suggested options to manage your subscription.
If you have any doubt about your subscription, you can of course contact us at support(at)sound-birth.com
How to delete your account and all your data from SoundBirth App?
In the “More” section you can click on “Delete my account” and confirm that you want all your data to be erased.
Please note that this request is irreversible and all your data will be permanently deleted.
Please note that you still must handle your subscription on your App Store on your side.
A SoundBirth badge on some profiles?
Those artists have managed to get noticed by our scouting team, filling their profile and sharing their tracks in our playlists. By using our distribution and promotion services, they have managed to create a momentum with their music.
Now, they get access to additional services like pitching official playlists, being highlighted on our roster, marketing & strategy for their releases.
About SoundBirth Playlists
When you share your track through the “Get Playlisted” feature, depending on the style you have selected, our curators will include one of your tracks in the weekly updates of our thematic playlists.
When you share your track through the “Share My Release” feature, you will be included in the weekly update of the “Fresh New Music” playlist or the “Fresh New Video” Youtube playlist.
These playlists are updated weekly, feel free to submit your tracks on a regular basis.
You will receive an email and notification message in SoundBirth to confirm your selection.
Without doing anything more, you will get the chance to join our “Weekly Top Tracks” playlist.
We hope you will enjoy your time in our playlists and that it helps you to increase your streams and your audience.
About Collabz Feature
By allowing to be contacted via the “Collabz” feature, you agree to receive collaboration requests and to share your email.
It is important to embrace this feature in order to take advantage of the opportunities that the SoundBirth community has to offer.
You can change your settings to accept or decline to be contacted via the “Collabz” button from the “More” section, “Collabz” tab.
Distribution
How long does it take for my releases to reach stores?
Freemium artists have their release date announced one month after the final and approved upload of their project. Premium Max artists can pick up a date of their choice starting 10 days after the submission of their upload. Before sending the release off, we make a quick review to check that it lives up to the rules set by each store. This ensures that it will be accepted everywhere and not taken down.
You can see the status of your release on SoundBirth App (Distribution section > Releases)
What stores and streaming platforms does SoundBirth deliver to?
SoundBirth distributes to all the major stores and streaming platforms: Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, TikTok, Triller, Youtube Music & Content ID * Deezer, 7 Digital, Amazon Music, Anghami, Bugs!, Facebook / Instagram, Pandora, Mixcloud, Napster, Qobuz, Shazam, SoundCloud and Tencent.
You can pick up your favorite ones before submitting your upload.
*For qualified original content only. When YouTube Content ID is added, YouTube Music is automatically included as well.
Is my agreement with SoundBirth exclusive?
No, the agreement between you and SoundBirth is on a release basis and not for your entire catalogue.
You may have some of your music distributed with other distributors for different Singles/EP’s/Albums.
You remain the owner of the tracks, music, and copyrights and keep 100% of the control on those assets.
However, you may not distribute your release with another digital distributor at the same time and have a 6 month exclusive period on each release.
How do I switch from another music distributor?
First of all, thank you for considering redistributing your music with us.
Before you do that, please contact your current distributor and ask them to take down your content from all stores, since moving your content while it’s live is not possible.
The important thing is to try to aim for the same Take Down and Release date at SoundBirth. There may be a small margin of a few days, though. But at least be sure to ask when it will disappear so you can target your SoundBirth release date.
Don’t forget to insert your original ISRC codes when you upload your release on SoundBirth, in order to keep all your stats and playlist entries.
Please note that you may not find your stats back on some stores as they have different policies with this kind of behavior, and you should not take SoundBirth responsible of this case.
When you leave your old distributor you will clear your money with them and start from scratch at SoundBirth with zero stream data. But if you make the connection right you won’t lose any stats at Spotify.
How can I take down a release?
Takedown requests are free of charge and can be made by clicking on the « Take down » button on your release page. However, as specified in our Terms & conditions, you must wait for 6 months after your release date to do so.
If you want to make changes: cover art, name, contributor… you can go to “Manager & Inbox” and ask our team who will be glad to help you out.
Do not request a take down if you want changes on your release.
What if my release is live on the wrong artist profile?
Thanks to SoundBirth, your music should always land on the right artist profile thanks to our onboarding process. However, other stores might have some issues matching releases to the correct profile if multiple artists share the same artist name. If your music is showing up on the wrong artist profile on any store, we need to reach out to them for you, so please reach out in “Manager & inbox” with the following information:
- Your release ID
- Stores with the wrong artist profile and their links
- Links from your correct artist profile on those stores (or write NEW if you need a new profile)
What is considered as "explicit" content?
The explicit logo is applied when the lyrics or content of a song contain one or more of the following criteria which could be considered offensive or unsuitable for children:
- strong language (one word is already enough);
- references to violence, physical, or mental abuse;
- references to sexual behavior;
- discriminatory language.
Please make sure you mark the tracks or your entire release as explicit, if one of the above statement applies.
As soon as you mark one track as explicit on your album, the entire release will be marked “explicit” in most of the shops later on.
How much do you charge for Distribution?
They are no charges and no upfront fees distributing your music with SoundBirth. We do think everyone should be able to reach the world and make its music available on the main streaming services.
However SoundBirth doesn’t take any fee, our partners will keep a 15% commission on your future royalties.
It means SoundBirth gives back 100% of every income will get from your music.
We won’t charge extra to keep your music in stores or to send you royalties.
How do I request a payout?
Go on “Distribution” next “Money” and click on “Withdraw”.
Your money is updated on a monthly basis, and you can request a transfer wire every time you reach your threshold: $50 for free and Premium users / $20 for Premium Max users.
We want you to earn all the money from your releases but there might be some fees you should expect:
Bank transfer fees and / or PayPal fees.
No transaction fee on SoundBirth side, however, please note that bank may charge a fee for receiving a payment, depending on the country and the total amount.
Should I declare my earnings for taxes?
Any sales income needs to be declared as income. Tax rules are different in every country, so we recommend that you consult your accountant.
Can I release a cover or a remix?
Yes, you can upload a cover if:
1) you did not change the existing lyrics on your recording,
2) you did not change the fundamental melody of the song,
3) you are not sampling any music or using karaoke tracks,
4) you are reproducing all the instrumentals and vocals yourself.
You can NOT mention the original artist in the release text or on the cover art.
BUT, please note that you still need a license to release it in some markets (USA / Canada / Mexico / India to name a few…). Especially if the right holders are from those territories, do not distribute your music worldwide! You can check out this website in order to get a license: http://www.songfile.com/ and/or exclude those territories on delivery options.
Please also note:
- Make sure to fill in the composers, lyricists and publishers of the original song when entering your metadata on SoundBirth
- Don’t forget to mark your cover song by toggling on “cover version”
- Legally speaking, the original rights holder still reserves the right to request the take down of your cover version
You can release a Remix but you need 100% distribution rights (aka you need permission from the original owners of the track or parts of a track). If it’s a remix of your own song, you can release it.
Can I add lyrics to my release?
In order to do so, we recommend that you create an account on Musixmatch.com
It’s totally free for artists and your lyrics will be available on the main streaming platforms and on social media as well.
What is a barcode (EAN or UPC)?
This is an internationally unique product code often seen as a “barcode” on products. There is a European (EAN) and a US system (UPC). SoundBirth uses 13 digits EAN barcodes.
What is an ISRC?
It is an internationally unique code for music which we need to track your song through the worldwide shop system. We provide EAN/UPC and ISRC codes for free.
Please note that if you decide to join SoundBirth but already published your music through a different distributor, don’t forget to insert your ISRC codes when you upload your release on our platform.
Marketplace
What is the Promotion tab on SoundBirth?
The promotion feature is an online music licensing service that allows Artists to share music tracks for review, and potential broadcast on social media & platforms by influencers or curators for Artist’s promotional purposes.
What is the Promotion tab on SoundBirth?
The promotion feature is an online music licensing service that allows Artists to share music tracks for review, and potential broadcast on social media & platforms by influencers or curators for Artist’s promotional purposes.
Can I get a refund?
You may only receive a refund of your purchases if SoundBirth is in direct violation/breach of our Subscriptions Terms of use. In no other circumstance are you entitled to a refund.
If a dispute should arise between SoundBirth and any Influencer, curator or Artist (or between SoundBirth and any third party rightsholder) involving an item (or items), SoundBirth will seek to resolve such dispute as fairly and reasonably as possible.
If we resolve such a dispute in favour of an Influencer or third party, we reserve the right in our sole discretion to remove or withhold funds from the relevant Artist account or, where insufficient funds are available, directly invoice Artist for an amount equivalent to the sum paid or payable to such Influencer or third party.
If we resolve such a dispute in favour of an artist, we will credit his/her wallet with the same amount of SoundBirth coins involved in the dispute.
How does the promotion feature work?
Artist provides content by sharing a track for potential broadcast by Influencers or review by curators, A&Rs. They can accept or decline the submission in exchange of a promotion fee.
When accepted, Influencers they will create a content with your song!
Curators & A&Rs will make a review of your music, and in their sole discretion they can also choose to add it to their playlist, blog, media, promotion made easy!
You can pin your selection of favorites promotion profiles and/or filter them within the app depending on their tags, Audience, platforms…
How long does the process last?
Influencers, curators and A&Rs have a 3 day period to accept or decline the submission.
If they don’t answer, artists will get their credits back in their wallet.
If submission is accepted, Influencers have a 5day period to share the content on the platform(s) requested and shared the link created on their SoundBirth profile.
Curators and A&Rs have a 5day period to share a review of your music. If they want to, they can also share a link of their media, playlists with your track.
Then, a review process of 1day allows artist to eventually call a claim on the link/feedback submitted.
If everything’s fine, influencers, curators and A&Rs will get promotion fees credited on their SoundBirth wallet the next day.
How do I pay the promotion fee as an artist?
Promotion fees payable by Artists are transacted using monetary credits (“SoundBirth Coins” or “SBCoins”) within Artist’s online SoundBirth Account as detailed on the App.
You can fill your wallet with SoundBirth coins by making in-app purchases made with your Google account (Android) or iCloud account (iPhone, iPad).
Using Coins, you may make Submissions by sharing your track in accordance with Promotion fees set by influencers, curators and A&Rs.
Does SoundBirth take a percentage as an intermediary?
No, apart from subscriptions to our services (only for Artists) and newsletter, SoundBirth does not take a percentage on connections. Nevertheless, if you are looking for additional partners to develop your project, do not hesitate to contact directly our team of managers through the More section > Others > Contact support.