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SPLIT

SPLIT is a tool developed by Believe to make it easier for producers with a distribution deal to manage royalties and share the revenues generated by their catalog among their rightsholders.

Available since mid-November 2022 to a selection of producers, this tool is adapted for small to mid-size catalog owners willing to automate their royalty calculation and statement production.

If you do not have access yet and would like to use this tool, please contact your Believe representative.

What can SPLIT do ?

Based on the different revenue shares associated with the tracks, SPLIT will:

  • Automatically calculate the royalties due (net amount)
  • Provide the net amount due to each Collaborator for the period (month, quarter or semester)
  • Produce complete & accurate financial reports

Prerequisites

In order for SPLIT to operate, you will need to fill in 2 main informations : 

  • Splits: the revenue shares allocated to each Collaborator. They are set up for each track.
    See the section How to set up Split rates?
  • Collaborators: any people or organization owning a share of revenue (a "Split") on a track of your catalog. The Collaborator can own unlimited number of Splits but can only have one role. If one of your rightsholders has several roles on your tracks, please refer to the section How to set up SPLIT when a Collaborator has several roles?

These two concepts are important to understand in order to configure SPLIT and have it produce the expected results.

How to set up SPLIT when a Collaborator has several roles?

If a Collaborator has different roles on the tracks in your catalog, there are two ways to set it up depending on the type of report you want to obtain:

  • A report per Collaborator
    For the same Collaborator, add up all the shares associated to each of his roles and enter this amount as the global share of the Collaborator.
  • A report per role
    For two different tracks, create two Collaborators with the same name but different roles and the corresponding sharing rate. For example:
      Track 1 Track 2
    Collaborator name John Doe John Doe
    Role Composer Artist

How to set up split rates?

Before you begin, you should know that :

  • The Split set for a contributor on a track will apply to all revenue generated by that track, worldwide and on all platforms.

  • The Split rate is applied on the net revenue you receive from Believe for this track, resulting in the revenue due to the Collaborator as per this track.

To set up a Split, go on SPLIT and open the Splits tab:

  1. Click on "Add Split"
  2. Choose a Release. Find the release using its title or its UPC then click on ADD so the tracks of this release can be selected to the setup page
    blobid0.png

    From there, you will see all the tracks of the selected releases, with their UPC, ISRC and Split Status
    blobid1.png
    Select all tracks you want to add the same Split rates on then click on NEXT
  3. Select the Collaborators and add the Splits on the tracks:
    • SPLIT can automatically identify the Collaborators of the selected tracks thanks to their metadata 
    • But if your Collaborator is not in the automatic selection, click on NOT IN THE LIST to select him/her from your Collaborators' list. Or if they're not yet in your list then create a new Collaborator using the option on the page (the Collaborator will be saved to your Collaborators list)
    • Add the Split, on the selected tracks:
      blobid2.png
    • Click on CONFIRM to proceed to validation

      The total of Splits cannot exceed 100%. Also, if the total is less than 100%, the rest is automatically attributed to you – see "My Share" on the top right corner.

  4. Validate the Splits:

    • SPLIT summarizes what has just been set: make sure all the Splits filled in are correct.

    • SPLIT reminds you of the tracks that do not have a Split yet: check the box if you need to define Splits for the tracks of the release which you did not select in step 4.

    • If everything's OK, click on APPLY to validate & save the Splits - and eventually to set up the remaining tracks' Splits.

Tips

  • Clean metadata first in order to facilitate your Split setup
  • Take the time to fill in the Splits on all the titles in your catalog.
  • Make the setup more efficient by preparing the list of releases & tracks which share the same Splits: set up the Splits on all of them in a row
  • Integrate the setup of Splits into your routine. When you create a new release in Backstage, fill in all the Collaborators, production and content information, then add Splits to each track. This will help you save time and get the most out of SPLIT for your business.

How are the Collaborators' reports generated?

SPLIT calculates the royalties due to all Collaborators based on the revenue shares (i.e., the “Splits”) set up on the catalog, and produces a detailed financial report for each Collaborator.

The Collaborators's reports are generated automatically according to the frequency you selected for each of them.

When do the Splits need to be set up for my reports to be complete?

To get complete Collaborators' reports, you must set up the Split shares before a certain deadline:

  • If your reporting frequency is monthly, the Splits must be set up in the tool before the 20th of each month. 
  • If your reporting frequency is quarterly, the Splits must be set up in the tool before:
    • January 20th for Q4 reports
    • April 20th for Q1 reports
    • July 20th for Q2 reports
    • October 20th for Q3 reports

When are the Collaborators' reports generated ?

The reports are then available in SPLIT on the 1st day of the following month.

The revenue other than distribution revenue (like sync, branding, etc.) or adjustments on the Backstage are not included in the reports to your Collaborators. So if some revenue needs to be added, you will need to do it manually in your own statement.

How to collect the reports ?

  1. Go on the Collaborators page

  2. Choose the period you want the report for using the drop-down menu

  3. Then click on the arrow button to download the reports
    blobid3.png
    You can download reports individually, but also in bulk by using the arrow button in the top right-hand corner (circled in red, above).

What information is included in the financial statements for my rightsholders?

Additional columns have been added to specifically show the distribution and net income of contributors.

See below the name and description of the new columns :

  • Split Rate
    the rate that you attributed to this Collaborator for this precise track
  • Collaborator Revenue
    the net revenue due to this Collaborator as per their share on this precise track

See also the name and description of the other columns in the Financial report :

Reporting month, Sales Month, Platform, Release title, Track title, UPC, ISRC, Sales Type, Quantity, Client , Payment Currency, Unit Price, Mechanical Fee, Gross Revenue, Client share rate, Net Revenue

How to make sure the statements are complete and correct?

Make sure you have correctly completed the setup phase:

  • All the tracks of your catalog must have a Split set up
  • All the Splits on these tracks must be set up according to your agreements with the Collaborators
  • For each Collaborator, all the Splits which belong to them must be set up

How to proceed with payments to my Collaborators?

SPLIT provides you with the amounts due to your Collaborators and the detailed report to explain each amount. But you will still have to manage the payments to your Collaborators as you normally would.

How can my Collaborators access their reports?

Collaborators cannot retrieve reports directly from SPLIT. The reports must be sent to them.

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