Frequently Asked Questions

 

Chords

 

Copyrights

Do I own my content on Chords?

Except granting a license to us to perform and promote Chords’s Service, you own your own content.
We claim no intellectual property rights over the material you provide to the Service. Your profile and materials uploaded remain yours.
However, by publishing your content on Chords, you agree to allow others to view your content.
In any case, we will not enable 3rd party advertisement on your chords profile.



Is my content protected?

Chords works closely with ASCAP & BMI to make sure you perceive your royalties. It is your responsibility to protect your content through ASCAP or BMI.



My content is not protected, what should I do?

We highly recommend that you create an ASCAP or BMI profile and get an ASCAP or BMI id# in order to make sure that your content is copyrighted.
Note sure how to do it? We are here to help!



I am signed on a Label, can I still use Chords?

Unsigned/independent Artists are more than welcome to use Chords. It is for you that Chords was created.
If you are signed on a label, you need to make sure that your contract is non-exclusive and that you own your copyrights in order to avoid any copyright infringement.



How is my music used by Chords?

Once you create your Chords Artist Profile and upload your music, your music will be streamable by the Chords Community.
Meanwhile, you do have the option to make your music available only to your Chords Supporting Fans.



Will I earn royalties if my music is played on Chords?

Chords is ASCAP and BMI Licensed. This mean that we do pay royalties to the ASCAP and BMI organizations for the diffusion of music on the Chords website.
It is your responsibility to make sure that your music is protected through the ASCAP or the BMI organization in order to receive your cut.



 

Music

Can I upload any song on Chords?

No.
Chords was created to help the preservation of the cultural diversity brought by independent creators.
Our goal is to make Chords “The Place to Go” to discover the very best new original music by independent artists. ​
For the time being we only accept ORIGINAL MUSIC and DO NOT ACCEPT COVER SONGS.



Can I edit my music on Chords?

You can add or delete any content uploaded on Chords, anytime.



 

Rewards

Do I own my content on Chords?

Except granting a license to us to perform and promote Chords’s Service, you own your own content.
We claim no intellectual property rights over the material you provide to the Service. Your profile and materials uploaded remain yours.
However, by publishing your content on Chords, you agree to allow others to view your content.
In any case, we will not enable 3rd party advertisement on your chords profile.



Is my content protected?

Chords works closely with ASCAP & BMI to make sure you perceive your royalties. It is your responsibility to protect your content through ASCAP or BMI.



My content is not protected, what should I do?

We highly recommend that you create an ASCAP or BMI profile and get an ASCAP or BMI id# in order to make sure that your content is copyrighted.
Note sure how to do it? We are here to help!



I am signed on a Label, can I still use Chords?

Unsigned/independent Artists are more than welcome to use Chords. It is for you that Chords was created.
If you are signed on a label, you need to make sure that your contract is non-exclusive and that you own your copyrights in order to avoid any copyright infringement.



How is my music used by Chords?

Once you create your Chords Artist Profile and upload your music, your music will be streamable by the Chords Community.
Meanwhile, you do have the option to make your music available only to your Chords Supporting Fans.



Will I earn royalties if my music is played on Chords?

Chords is ASCAP and BMI Licensed. This mean that we do pay royalties to the ASCAP and BMI organizations for the diffusion of music on the Chords website.
It is your responsibility to make sure that your music is protected through the ASCAP or the BMI organization in order to receive your cut.



 

Notifications

How do I get notified on chords?

For the time being, all notifications are sent via email.



How does artists get in touch with fans?

Artists, you will have access to your suporters email in order to reach out to them.



How does fans get in touch with artists?

When an artist reaches out to you via email, you will be able to answer back and therefore save their email in you mailbox.

On chords, Artists have the option to display their social media links (i.e. Facebook, Insta, Twitter) through which you should be able to contact them.



Will email be the only way yof communication on Chords?

Of course not!
We are currently in beta mode which means that right now we aim to gather as much feedback as possible from our users in order to build the features they want and not what we think they want.
This is why we kept things very simple. We will make sure to provide our user the best features to make Chords the best place for our community of independent artists and fans.



 

Payments

Do I own my content on Chords?

Except granting a license to us to perform and promote Chords’s Service, you own your own content.
We claim no intellectual property rights over the material you provide to the Service. Your profile and materials uploaded remain yours.
However, by publishing your content on Chords, you agree to allow others to view your content.
In any case, we will not enable 3rd party advertisement on your chords profile.



Is my content protected?

Chords works closely with ASCAP & BMI to make sure you perceive your royalties. It is your responsibility to protect your content through ASCAP or BMI.



My content is not protected, what should I do?

We highly recommend that you create an ASCAP or BMI profile and get an ASCAP or BMI id# in order to make sure that your content is copyrighted.
Note sure how to do it? We are here to help!



I am signed on a Label, can I still use Chords?

Unsigned/independent Artists are more than welcome to use Chords. It is for you that Chords was created.
If you are signed on a label, you need to make sure that your contract is non-exclusive and that you own your copyrights in order to avoid any copyright infringement.



How is my music used by Chords?

Once you create your Chords Artist Profile and upload your music, your music will be streamable by the Chords Community.
Meanwhile, you do have the option to make your music available only to your Chords Supporting Fans.



Will I earn royalties if my music is played on Chords?

Chords is ASCAP and BMI Licensed. This mean that we do pay royalties to the ASCAP and BMI organizations for the diffusion of music on the Chords website.
It is your responsibility to make sure that your music is protected through the ASCAP or the BMI organization in order to receive your cut.



 

Analytics

What are Analytics?

Analytics offers information about your Chords profile.



What will "Artist Analytics” page show?

This section summarizes the support that you receive, the layout is based on your monthly payments. The table shows: Active Supporters: Number of Direct or Indirect Fans currently supporting you. Scheduled Active Supporters: Number of Direct or Indirect fans scheduled to become active supporters on the Current pay out period.

Upcoming Active Supporters: Number of Direct or Indirect fans scheduled to become active supporters on the next pay out period

Inactive Supporters: Number of Direct or Indirect fans scheduled to stop supporting you.



What will "Fan Analytics" page show?

This section summarizes the support that you receive, the layout is based on your monthly payments. The table shows: Active Referrals: Number of Indirect Fans currently supporting your artist.

Scheduled Referrals: Number of Indirect fans scheduled to become active referrals.

Inactive Referrals: Number of Indirect fans scheduled to stop supporting you.



 

Referral Discounts

What are referral discounts?

Referral discounts are offered to fans for referring / promoting the artist they support.



How does referral discounts work?

There are two ways for a referral discount to be applied towards a fan's membership:

• Every chords fan profile comes with an "Invite" button which allows fans to share a referral link with their community.

Evey time a new member signs up via that link, the referring fan (who shared the link) will benefit of a $1.00 discount towards their $9.99 monthly membership.

• Every Chords Fan profile comes with a "Support" button which allows any fan already on the chords platform to support the artist displayed on that fan page.

Every time a support button is clicked on a fan profile, the fan (owner) of the profile will benefit of a $1.00 discount towards their $9.99 monthly membership.



How long does a referral discount last for?

A referral discount applied to a fan's membership will automatically renew on a monthly basis as long as the referred fan is supporting the artist they discovered through the referring fan's profile.

If the reffered fan decide to support a new artist through an other fan's profile, then the discount will switch to the new referring fans's membership.



Will I keep my discounts if I decide to support a new artist?

No.

Every time you decide to support a new artist, all discounts earned while supporting the previous supported artist will stop and your membership will go back to $9.99/month.

That being said, as soon as you decide to start supporting a new artist, every new referral you originate will apply a $1.00 discount towards you membership.



Why can't I keep my discounts if decide to support a new artist?

When you refer a new fan, you earn a discount that lowers your monthly membership.
The amount discounted from your membership affects the amount the artist you support earn from your membership.
Althouth the artist gets paid less from your membership, they would still get a new supporting fan through you referral which makes up for the discount applied to your membership.

If you kept your discounts when supporting a new artist, the new supported artist would not benefit of the new supporting fans associated with your discounts and would not get paid the full amount from your membership.

This is why we believe that it is fair to associate all discounts earned through the referrals brought by a fan with the artist currently supported during the time the referrals occured.

When you decide to support a new artist, from that moment on all new referrals you originate will be associated with the new artist supported and the discounts associated will be applied towards your membership.



How does a referral discount impact an artist's earnings?

Out of the $9.99 Fan monthly membership, $7.00 is distributed to the artist and Chords takes a $2.99 fee.

If a fan refers 10 new fans, they would benefit of a $10.00 discount towards there membership in which case neither the artist or Chords get paid.

We believe that everyone should pitch in including us!

The following shows you how referral discount affect Fan's membership, Artist's earning and Chords fees.



 

Taxes

Do I own my content on Chords?

Except granting a license to us to perform and promote Chords’s Service, you own your own content.
We claim no intellectual property rights over the material you provide to the Service. Your profile and materials uploaded remain yours.
However, by publishing your content on Chords, you agree to allow others to view your content.
In any case, we will not enable 3rd party advertisement on your chords profile.



Is my content protected?

Chords works closely with ASCAP & BMI to make sure you perceive your royalties. It is your responsibility to protect your content through ASCAP or BMI.



My content is not protected, what should I do?

We highly recommend that you create an ASCAP or BMI profile and get an ASCAP or BMI id# in order to make sure that your content is copyrighted.
Note sure how to do it? We are here to help!



I am signed on a Label, can I still use Chords?

Unsigned/independent Artists are more than welcome to use Chords. It is for you that Chords was created.
If you are signed on a label, you need to make sure that your contract is non-exclusive and that you own your copyrights in order to avoid any copyright infringement.



How is my music used by Chords?

Once you create your Chords Artist Profile and upload your music, your music will be streamable by the Chords Community.
Meanwhile, you do have the option to make your music available only to your Chords Supporting Fans.



Will I earn royalties if my music is played on Chords?

Chords is ASCAP and BMI Licensed. This mean that we do pay royalties to the ASCAP and BMI organizations for the diffusion of music on the Chords website.
It is your responsibility to make sure that your music is protected through the ASCAP or the BMI organization in order to receive your cut.



 

Account Deletion 

Do I need to pay taxes on the money I earn on Chords?

In most jurisdictions, the money you receive from your Chords Supporters is taxable income.
USA Artists are responsible for filing/paying taxes on the money received from Chords.
Your professional tax advisor can assist you to determine if you need to make quarterly tax payments to the Internal Revenue Service.



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