First, it's important to understand the distinction between "Distributing" and "Minting." Distribution is the process of getting your song onto streaming platforms, while minting involves creating digital tokens with certain characteristics. In this case the tokens created will represent a specific percentage of streaming royalties. 

Here's the step-by-step explanation of the minting process with NEWM Studio:

1. Uploading: The artist initiates the process by uploading the audio file of their song along with relevant metadata, which includes song details, album artwork, and other pertinent information. Check out our ‘Best Practices’ guide for more info.
2. Collaborators and Splits: If there are collaborators (i.e. people who helped create the track and are entitled to a percentage of royalties) involved, the artist adds the collaborators and defines their agreed upon royalty percentage splits. Please note that collaborators MUST have a NEWM Studio Account along with a connected wallet in order to claim future royalties.
3. Payment:  Before moving forward with the minting and distribution process, the artist must complete payment for the release. Once payment is made, the track will move on to the next step.
4. Quality Control: Upon completing payment the song, along with all the relevant data, is ready to be submitted to our distribution partner for quality control checks. This ensures that the song meets the necessary standards for distribution. Check out our ‘Best Practices’ guide for more info.
5. Distribution: Upon passing quality control, the distribution partner proceeds to distribute the song to a variety of streaming services (as well as generate any specific release codes if needed). Once generated, you’ll be able to find these codes in your NEWM Studio Account.
6. Notification and Updates: At this point, NEWM is informed of the outcome of the distribution process. If successful, the platform automatically updates the song's metadata and status.

Minting: As soon as NEWM is notified, the system simultaneously initiates the minting process and creates digital tokens representing streaming royalties for your uploaded song and distributes them to their respective owners. In the meantime, you’ll receive email notifications with specific updates throughout the process.

Various minting statuses appear throughout the minting and distributing process to help you track your song’s progress. Here’s a quick explanation of each status on NEWM Studio:

• Undistributed: The song has not yet been sent for distribution.
• Awaiting Collaborator Approval: Distribution is on hold until all collaborators approve their roles and splits.
• Distribution/Minting in Process: The song is actively being distributed and minted.
• Distributed: The song has successfully reached streaming platforms, but minting is still in progress.
• Minted: The tokens representing streaming royalties have been successfully minted.
• Released: The entire process, including minting and distributing, is complete and your song is available for stream on all major platforms. 
• Declined: Distribution or minting may be declined due to various reasons, and further action is needed to resolve the issue.
• An error occurred: This status signifies a problem in the distribution or minting process that requires investigation and resolution.

There are two copyrights you will either need to hold yourself, or have acquired the proper permissions and/or license(s) from the copyright holder(s) in order to mint:

• Sound Recording Copyright (℗)

• Composition Copyright (©) 

The sound recording copyright covers the recording itself. It does not cover the music, lyrics, words, or other underlying content embodied in that recording. This copyright is often owned by the artist and/or record label.

The musical composition copyright covers the music and lyrics, if any, embodied in that composition, but it does not cover a recorded performance of that composition. This copyright is often owned by the songwriter and/or music publisher. 

If you are not the copyright holder for ALL of the sound recording (i.e. this recording is a remix or uses samples from other sound recordings), and/or if you are not the copyright holder for ALL of the song composition (i.e. this song is a cover or uses composition parts from other works), you will need to secure and provide the proper permission(s) and/or license(s) from the copyright holder(s) in order to mint and distribute this song. 

If you need more information, or if you have secured the necessary permissions/licenses, please submit a request to proceed.

If you have already distributed music under the artist name that you registered on NEWM Studio, we highly recommend that you provide the Artist Profile URL for each outlet (DSP) in the artist information section of your profile. Doing so will ensure that your music and artist profiles are linked, and help mitigate issues and/or confusion if there is another artist by the same artist name. 

If you are a first-time distributor, or are distributing music under a new artist name and do not have any artist profiles, simply continue the minting and distributing process and the artist profiles will be generated for you.

Most profile links can be found by going to your personal profile on the DSP (Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud, etc.). Simply click the three dots on your profile, then choose share and copy the provided link. Alternatively, you can locate your artist profile using a desktop browser. Just go to the designated DSP, search for your artist name, and copy the profile URL from the search bar.

When submitting cover art for track distribution through our distribution partner, there are certain restrictions that must be adhered to. These guidelines, as outlined by our distribution partner, help ensure the quality and appropriateness of cover art. Here are the restrictions to keep in mind:

• Content Restrictions: Cover art should not contain additional information such as roles, instruments, "Produced By," "Presents," track lists, logos, barcodes, social-media information, production details, ads, audio format logos or information, release dates, contact information, codes, or URLs.

• Misleading Content: Cover art must not be misleading. For example, it should not prominently depict or reference an artist who does not perform on the album.

• Adult Content: Cover art must not contain explicit images or any URLs leading to websites with explicit content.

• Parental Advisory Tag: While the parental advisory tag is no longer mandatory, if included, it should adhere to the standard Parental Advisory Label or be omitted altogether.

Adhering to these guidelines will help ensure a smooth submission process and avoid potential rejection of track distribution. For further clarification or additional questions regarding cover art restrictions, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team.

To claim your royalties, navigate to the Wallet page to view your available earnings, then click “Claim Earnings” to transfer them to your wallet. All royalties will be paid out in $NEWM tokens (you will be able to trade/sell these for USD on a designated DEX or CEX listed here: newm.io/token). 

Royalty payouts from streaming platforms typically take around 90 days for newly distributed tracks to reach the NEWM Studio, though timelines may vary based on the streaming service and the royalties generated by each track.

Once royalties are available on the NEWM Studio, there’s no limit to how often you can claim them. You can claim your royalties as frequently as you like whenever funds are accrued in your account.

It has to do with the basic functionality of the blockchain, which doesn’t allow anyone to send tokens on their own (i.e. without $ADA) to user wallets. Without this safeguard, there's a risk of flooding the blockchain with dummy token transactions, hindering its functionality. Therefore, to enable the transfer of NEWM tokens on the blockchain, they must be accompanied by a certain amount of $ADA to prevent this kind of attack. This precaution, while greatly beneficial to blockchain security, also makes the process of distributing stream tokens to user wallets pretty costly. 

By implementing a claiming process, users have the flexibility to accumulate tokens on our platform. When they choose to claim them, they cover a transaction fee plus 1.3 $ADA, allowing us to attach it to the NEWM tokens and safely transfer them back to their wallet. This approach ensures a secure and efficient token distribution process.

Of course! NEWM Studio supports both streaming and the distribution of digital downloads, allowing you to cater to different preferences and revenue streams. Whether your fans prefer to listen on the go or keep your tracks for offline enjoyment, we've got you covered. 

No, we don't retain any of your streaming royalties or Intellectual Property (IP) – and we never will. At NEWM, we prioritize and respect your creative rights. When you use our platform to distribute your music, you retain full ownership and control over your intellectual property, as you rightfully should. Your creative work is yours to protect and profit from as you see fit.

Not at all. Once you've distributed your song through NEWM, your music will remain distributed on streaming platforms in perpetuity, ensuring your fans can continue to enjoy it without any additional charges to you.