Frequently Asked Questions

Who is able to access the songs on Song Central?

Only registered Industry Users can search and play songs which have been submitted to Showcase. They are not able to search or sample songs that are in repository only.

Song Central seeks to provide a wide range of Industry users with access to Showcased material. These industry users could come from industries that include: music, film, radio, television, advertising, events, games, theatre - even corporates (seeking original songs/music to incorporate in multi-media presentations etc.)

Do I lose ‘control’ of my material should I submit it to Song Central?

Absolutely not. Song Central has no part in any outcomes for your material on its platform. You negotiate your own outcomes for your material following being contacted by an interested party.

Can songs be submitted by professional songwriters?

Yes, songs by professional songwriters are tagged with a professional status symbol - P and become an option for searching in showcase.

Can songs submitted by other songwriters qualify for professional recognition status on Song Central?

Yes, songs by other songwriters whose material has had some some recognition by a professional will qualify for professional recognition status and be tagged with a P symbol in showcase. Songs/music will qualify for this status once one of the following is confirmed:

1. Achievment of success in a Song Competition. If you achieve a result in a “known” songwriting competition and advise Song Central with details for confirmation, your song will be tagged with a P symbol for the duration of its time in showcase
2. Achieving a successful Review
   If you submit a song for review by one of Song Central’s professional reviewers that results in your song being deemed to have “commercial potential” your song qualifies for a P symbol.
3. Co-write or collaborate with a Professional
   If your song was developed by working with a music professional contact Song Central with the details. We will verify the status of your co-writer/collaborator and apply a P symbol to the song in showcase.

How do I request a review?

If you wish to submit your song for a review you select ‘Review’ from your songwriter homepage, pay for the review via PayPal and Song Central system administrators will then process your request and match your song with an appropriate reviewer. Please note: Song reviews are not currently available but we will be able to offer this service soon.

Who reviews my songs?

Song Central selects its reviewers carefully. Reviewers are songwriting professionals who are committed to the art of songwriting. Song Central will match your song for review with a professional who understands the genre of your song.

How much does it cost to become a member of Song Central?

Membership Levels and Fees

• Level 1 ... storage for up to 2 songs - $15.00 pa (excl gst)
• Level 2 ... storage for up to 6 songs - $30.00 pa (excl gst)
• Level 3 ... storage for up to 12 songs - $50.00 pa (excl gst)
• Level 4 ... storage for up to 18 songs - $75.00 pa (excl gst)
• Level 5 ... storage for up to 36 songs - $135.00 pa (excl gst)
• Level 6 ... storage for up to 60 songs - $240.00 pa (excl gst)

Once a member, how much does it cost to Showcase a song?

Once you are a full member of Song Central and have uploaded your songs to the repository, you can elect at any time to showcase any of your songs. The fee for showcasing is based upon $30 per year per song. However, with the new members special showcasing fees can start from $15 per year.

How secure is Song Central?  How safe are my songs?

www.songcentral.com.au is hosted in a secure web hosting environment with an organisation who provide industry best practise security and file access. The Site and data are behind an Internet Firewall that manages access to the server and data that is password protected. All music files are “streamed” to registered industry users on-demand. Music files are not downloaded. Whilst 100% security cannot be guaranteed, the risks are similar to having your songs/music played over the radio.

Whilst Song Central can’t be held responsible for any incident that could lead to unauthorised use of information and material held on its system, it takes all care to ensure that such risks are minimised. Song Central recommends all users to seek their own legal advice regarding the risks they take exposing their intellectual property in the context of this online marketplace. It also is important that all songwriters/composers understand the protection offered by existing (and any future) Copyright laws. We recommend you obtain independent advice or contact organisations like APRA for further information.

What is an industry “tender”?

An industry “tender” is a “brief” submitted by an industry user that describes a song or piece of music for which they have a commercial requirement. Industry users submit a request to lodge a “tender” and will agree to specific terms and conditions prior to Song Central agreeing to publish the request to its songwriter/composer members. Once approved, Song Central administrator will publish the details of the “tender” to songwriter/composer members in their home pages.

What is involved with responding to a Tender? Does it cost anything to the songwriter?

Anyone can submit a song in response to an industry Tender. However, Song Central requires that all songs submitted in response to a tender must be in its Showcase database. This enables the song to remain in showcase for a year should it not be selected for the particular tender and thus become accessible for other potential industry users to view and sample.

Can I hear my own songs on Song Central?

Once you have become a Song Central songwriter/composer member and completed membership payment via PayPal you can proceed with uploading your song(s). Once uploaded to the Song Central Repository, your songs can be played back by you anytime from your personal Home page.

Can I hear other songwriter’s songs?

No, songwriters are only able to play their own songs on Song Central. Only professional songwriters or professional singer/songwriters (who become registered Industry Users) looking for new songs 'as is' and/or for co-writing or collaborating will be able to hear other songwriters’ songs.

What happens if someone samples my song and likes it?

When an Industry User samples your music they are able to see the “bio” information you entered as part of your membership registration. If they are interested in your music they will contact you directly by email.

Does Song Central have any part in songs finding outcomes?

Song Central is an independent platform and does not have any part in creating specific song outcomes. However, we are extremely happy when Songwriters and Composers gain a positive outcome for their music through our website as this is our “raison d’etre”! And, in this regard, we want to acknowledge the songwriter's success by awarding them a ''crotchet'' (see Crotchet program below) that becomes visible any time anyone listens to any of their songs - that will help them build their profile as a songwriter on Song Central.

Does Song Central make money from songs being found?

Song Central considers it has been successful in its goal when Songwriters and Composers gain positive outcomes for their music through our service and website. We do not take any royalty nor any financial fee for outcomes. You negotiate directly with the interested party with full “control” of your material. We ask only, that you tell us when your songs have achieved an outcome so we can award you with a 'Crotchet' and, depending upon the outcome (and your approval) we may seek to promote you and your success on our website and/or via the press.

How does Song Central make money?

Songwriters and Music Composers pay to become members of Song Central. Once you are a financial member you can submit songs for storage. Songwriter and Music Composers also pay for additional services such as Showcasing and song Reviews.
The subscription and showcasing fees provide Song Central with income and enable us to support, manage, host the infra-structure we have developed and continue to provide and develop services for our members.

How is Song Central different to YouTube / MySpace, etc.?

Song Central is about original songs, not performances. It is a ‘place’ where industry users can access songs, music and talent from the wider community. For the first time, ever, in Australia both ‘known’ and ‘unknown’ songwriters and music composers have a place to market their music easily to a wide range of people in the business of using it.

The music on Song Central is available for industry users only and not accessible by members of the general public.

Can I have songs on You Tube / MySpace, etc and also on Song Central?

If you have submitted your own original music to YouTube, MySpace (and other similar) websites this does not prevent you from joining Song Central and Showcasing your material. However, you may need to be careful when submitting a song/music to a tender that has already been showcased in the public domain. Some industry users may be looking for previously unheard music. It is your responsibility to check and comply with the terms and conditions of any tender and submit music/songs accordingly.

What production quality does my music need to be put on Song Central?

It is up to you how you wish to present your song/music. However, the advice we have is not to try and over produce it — remember, it is not meant to be a “finished song” but a demo. The best way to present your material is to keep your production simple. Vocals and a guitar or keyboards should be fine — even just vocals! Your aim is to present your song so that its potential for further use is discovered. A bit like buying a house — present it in its barest form and let others see its potential rather than clutter it with your vision of how you want it to be and potentially cloud other’s vision. (see “Tips and Tricks” to creating a good MP3 demo recording in our news and features section of the site).

What music file format is required by Song Central?

The Song Central Site will ONLY accept the MP3-128bps file format. Any other file format (eg WAV / MP3-256 etc.) will NOT be accepted by the system and therefore won’t complete an uploade request.

If I have a song in Repository only am I able to submit it to a Tender?

No, only songs in the showcase database will be able to be submitted in response to an industry tender or brief.

How do I select the right genre for my song?

Classifying songs/music seems to be a moveable feast - there is no one frame of reference that provides all the answers. Different genres mean different things to different people. For the purposes of classifying songs/music on Song Central we have prepared a chart of genres and sub-genres. We urge all songwriters to approach this sensibly and not apply inappropriate genre classifications to songs. Inappropriately classified songs will be brought to the attention of Song Central who will respond by re-classifying the song with the songwriter or removing the song from the site altogether.

How does Song Central Define Professional Songwriter / Music Composer

A professional songwriter/composer is someone who:

• derives his/her major source of income from writing songs and/or
• has, or has had, songs released commercially on album(s) by record label or in a film or other and/or
• is listed as a professional in a published music directory

How do I pay for Showcase and Other Services?

You may purchase Showcase and Review services on the Song Central Website. Purchasing these services is via Paypal and that can be accessed by selecting “submit to showcase” option from your homepage. Once in this section you will be able to purchase $5 Tokens online.

Once you have songs in showcase they are available for industry users to retrieve via searches.
You may load multiple versions of one song. Each version will contribute to your quantity against your membership level. More than one version of a song can be elevated to Showcase.

How do I pay for membership?

Membership payment is managed & facilitated online by PayPal and billed as an annually recurring charge.

How do I purchase services eg showcasing, song reviews etc.?

You can purchase “Tokens” that enable you to pay for any of the above services. These tokens cost $5 each (excl gst) and can be purchased via PayPal accessed from your Personal Home page.

What is the Crotchet Program?

The Crotched Programme is Song Central’s way of promoting its songwriters/music composers to industry users. It works in a similar way to hospitality *star ratings or “chefs hat” ratings for restaurants. Basically, if a songwriter/composer’s material is selected by an industry user for some commercial opportunity, Song Central will award that songwriter/composer with a crotchet symbol that will be visible in their songwriter bio profile whenever their song(s) are being sampled by industry users.

Who sees the Crotchets?

Crotchets are visible within a songwriter/music composer’s profile. This profile is displayed when an industry user is sampling a song or piece of music by the songwriter/composer.

Do industry users listen to a download of my music?

Industry users sample songs/music that is streamed on-demand to them. Streaming does not require a user to download a song file in order to listen to it.

Can I upgrade my membership during a subscription year?

If you wish to upgrade from one membership level to another during your ‘billing year’ you need to cancel your existing subscription and then apply for a new subscription for the membership level you require.

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ:

Currently, PayPal does not enable us to offer a one step process of upgrading subscriptions. Song Central plans to develop a process (with PayPal) that will enable a one step approach to up-grading for our members. However, in the meantime, up-grading membership subscriptions relies on a two step approach involving cancelling their current subscription and commencing a new subscription. Should members wish to upgrade during their subscription year, Song Central will re-imburse any out of pocket expenses suffered through this process by depositing $5 tokens directly into their Song Central accounts.

How long can a Song be? Is there a restriction for length of song?

The average song is between 3 to 4 minutes long. Song Central allows the maximum length of a song to be 5 minutes. If your song/music is longer than 5 minutes then it is classified as 2 songs and will consume 2 songs worth in your repository allowance.

How do I submit my songs?

Once you have selected your membership level (based upon the number of songs you will want to store in one year) and completed membership payment the next time you login you will arrive at your Personal Home page. You will have the option to ‘submit new song’ in the menu. This will take you to a submit song page where you can upload your MP3 demo file, complete song details along with a copyright declaration and your song and its details will be stored in our database.