Home > F.A.Q.

F.A.Q.

  1. Working with Playgrind

    Q.1 What type of music does Playgrind license?

    We are looking for instrumental music in all genres. We have a unique marketing strategy in place for this particular type of music. We license anything that may appeal to a filmmaker, television producer, creative advertising director, web site designer, recording artists, or other media user.

    Q.2 What kinds of uses are possible with my music?

    Playgrind's clients use music in every kind of production including: television, radio, Internet, film and other media. Customers either call us, use our Beatbox hard drive service, or search our online store to find the music they are looking for. Possible uses include commercials, promotional spots, background music on a television show, motion pictures, video games, industrial videos, websites - anything that benefits from audio enhancement. Most uses are incidental and will only be a few seconds in duration. The kinds of use and market forces determine the license fees we charge in each case. We will also be maintaining an online beat store where aspiring artists can license tracks quickly and conveniently.

    Q.3 What happens when my music gets used?

    Playgrind will grant a license to a customer for a specific use (Internet, television, etc.) for a specific period of time or project. The customer will report to and pay Playgrind for the use of your song, and Playgrind will then, within sixty (60) days of the following June 30 or December 31, send you a check in the amount of thirty-five percent (50%) of any license fees or royalties generated by your music.

    Q.4 What can Playgrind customers do with my music?

    Customers can synchronize your music with program material for a specific job and for a set period of time. Examples include a one-year use as background music for a television production, or six months as background music on a web site, or the life of one commercial album release limited by sales. Customers will be able to edit the tracks if they need to. Other types of production/entertainment service uses are possible and Playgrind continues to explore how to put your music to work profitably as new opportunities develop.

    Q.5 Will you tell me when my music is used?

    Due to the high volume of licenses and placements of Playgrind material on a monthly basis, and the fact that the companies creating the shows are often not the actual broadcaster, we are unable to notify artists before a program has started airing. Many times Playgrind does not receive cue sheets from clients until well after the production first aired. You should not expect to be informed by us where your music has been used until the use shows up in a pay period report.

    Q.6 Do I get to approve where and when my music is placed?

    No. Your agreement with Playgrind allows us to license your music to any client who is willing to pay money for its use. The agreement you sign with Playgrind pre-clears all of your music for potential licensing. Pre-clearance is a strong selling point for our clients who are more likely to use music that causes them less hassle.

    Q.7 What happens if my music doesn’t get used?

    Nothing. You are still owner of all your music and completely free to continue to pursue other opportunities. Playgrind may not include all of the music that you submit into its database, and there are no penalties or charges for songs that are not used.

    Q.8 What is the Playgrind BeatBox?

    Playgrind will provide many of its production clients with a BeatBox, a device containing only the best of the best in our catalog in every genre. While sitting at their desks, clients are then able to search through thousands of songs by genre, mood, instrument and tempo. The music is then instantly available for use in their production. Those artists who are chosen to be featured on the BeatBox have the best chances not only for placement, but multiple placements as their music is being auditioned on an on-going basis with hundreds of music creatives across the world. If your music is not selected for the BeatBox, then it will still be included in our in-house database. Clients with and without BeatBoxes will call us for in-house music searches. In such cases, Playgrind will utilize the entire catalog to find clients exactly what they are looking for.

    Q.9 If I license my music to Playgrind, can I still do other things with it?

    Definitely. You are providing your music to Playgrind on a non-exclusive basis, and are not restricted in any way with respect to what else you may want to do with your music. In certain cases, a customer may want to have the exclusive right to use the music for a particular application, in which case Playgrind would deal directly with you to get your approval and negotiate such an exclusive arrangement.

    Q.10 How do I know when my music has been received?

    Playgrind will contact you via email to let you know your submission has been received and your contract has been approved. Your submission will then be reviewed by our Catalog Department. After your submission has been reviewed, you will be informed via email to let you know of its acceptance status.

    Q.11 What rights do I give Playgrind when I sign the agreement?

    You give Playgrind the right to license your songs on a non-exclusive basis to any of our production or media clients worldwide at a license fee determined by Playgrind based on competitive factors and the type of usage. You agree to keep your music in the catalog for a minimum period of one year - or two years if your material is loaded onto a BeatBox hard-drive. You retain all ownership of publishing, copyrights and masters. Playgrind only has the right to broker your music to interested parties for production, information or entertainment services use, and to administer the uses Playgrind generates on your behalf with the corresponding performance rights society.

    Q.12 What responsibilities do I take for the music I submit?

    You are giving us your guarantee that the material you are submitting is your own, written and recorded by you and not sampled. Anyone who owns any part of the master recording or the publishing, or has any rights over the music at all, must sign the agreement prior to submission. Should this turn out not to be the case you are fully responsible for the consequences as you are indemnifying Playgrind and our clients if your submission infringes on the rights of another person.

    Q.13 What happens if I get a record or publishing deal in the future?

    You must tell the record or publishing company that certain songs that you have recorded have been provided to Playgrind. If for some reason the company does not want these songs offered to customers through Playgrind, you can write us a letter, and we will remove the songs from our catalog.

    Q.14 What if I already have a record or publishing deal?

    Playgrind needs the permission of every person or company that has control over the copyright in the sound recordings and songs that you wish to have licensed, which would presumably include your record company and music publishing company. The written consent of these parties is most likely necessary for Playgrind to place your music, so you need to put their names on the License Agreement and have them sign as well. If necessary, Playgrind will provide the label or publisher with a separate License Agreement.

    Q.15 If I sign an agreement with Playgrind, can I work with any other music companies?

    Absolutely. We encourage our artists to pursue other avenues with their music. The agreement with Playgrind is completely non-exclusive.

  2. Submitting Music

    Q.1 What do I need to do to submit my music to Playgrind?

    Simply follow the steps outlined on the Submit Music page.

    Q.2 What criteria must my music fulfill to be accepted into the catalog?

    a) First and foremost, you must confirm via our Artist License Agreement, that all of the songs you submit are original to you and/or controlled solely by you. If there are co-owners, we will need their permission as well. If you wish to submit music that contains any samples you must be absolutely certain that they are royalty-free and cleared for use. The best way to indicate this is by sending along a photocopy of the copyright agreement from the sample program. You must be certain that you have the rights to all of the elements used in any recordings you submit to us. Unauthorized samples are not permitted. b) All music must be uploaded (after your audition MP3's) on a broadcast quality, 16bit, 44.1khz Wav file. We do not accept any audio that has been compressed (i.e. converted to mp3's) in any way, during the online catalog upload. c) Playgrind accepts only instrumental music from all genres at this time. Your music will go through a preliminary screening process to check for sonic quality. Our Catalog department will then listen to each song on your submission and select which, if any, will be accepted into our catalog. You will be notified via email again if your music is selected for the BeatBox product.

    Q.3 What quality recordings must I submit?

    All music must be submitted on a broadcast quality, 16bit, 44.1khz CDDA Audio Only CD. Copies should be of the highest technological quality possible: you need not have spent a fortune to make them, but we do not want recordings with buzz, hiss, dropouts, and other flaws (allowing for artistic effects). Please: No MP3's after your audition!

    Q.4 Can I submit songs that have co-writers?

    Yes. Songs with multiple writers are eligible for catalog consideration if you are able to obtain the original signatures of all parties who have any ownership of the music. This includes those who possess rights to the master and/or the publishing. If there are co-writers listed on the submission schedule who have not signed the license agreement, Playgrind will delay the screening process in order to obtain the necessary confirmation from licensor. Songs that are not to be considered for licensing (i.e. cover songs or songs where co-writer does not give permission) are to be clearly listed as such on the submission schedule.

    Q.5 How do I know when my music has been reviewed?

    Playgrind will contact you via email to let you know your submission has been reviewed and your contract has been approved. Your submission will then be reviewed by our Catalog Department. After your submission has been reviewed, you will be informed via email to let you know of its acceptance status. If your contract is missing information we will contact you via email to let you know exactly what is missing from the contract.

    Q.6 How much music can I submit?

    Please submit as much music as you like, once your online account is approved and up and running.

    Q.7 My co-writers don't live near me, how can I get their signatures?

    Please have each write fill out the Signature Page of our Agreement and mail it back to you before submitting music. We require the original signature of every writer, publisher and master owner before reviewing your submission.

    Q.8 What is the standard length of tracks for submission?

    3-4 minutes in length. We prefer full tracks rather than edits. Of course, if you have shorter (or longer) tracks that you would like reviewed, feel free to upload them to your account for review.

    Q.9 Can I submit music that has samples? How about royalty-free samples?

    If you wish to submit music that contains samples, you must be absolutely certain that they are royalty-free and cleared for use. The best way to indicate that is by a photocopy of the company's copyright agreement.

    Q.10 Do you accept non-instrumental music?

    No, not at this time.

  3. P.R.O./Royalties/Administration

    Q.1 What if I'm not yet a member of a performing rights organization (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc.)?

    Please list "No PRO" on the Signature of the Agreement. You can submit to Playgrind and join a P.R.O. (like ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, e.g.) later on. When/if you do sign up with a PRO, please email your PRO affiliation, member number and CAE/IPI number. We do strongly recommend you join a P.R.O. at some point so that you're eligible to collect performance royalties.

    Q.2 Will I receive performance royalties (i.e. ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc)?

    Any use of your licensed material in broadcast, cable or certain Internet transmissions, as well as a number of foreign broadcasts and exhibitions, will entitle you to certain performance royalty payments from your respective performing rights society such as ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, if you are a member of one of these performing rights societies.

    As part of the agreement with Playgrind, you give Playgrind your permission to register your songs in the form licensed by Playgrind with performance rights societies. This means that for Playgrind uses (and Playgrind uses ONLY), your songs are re-titled with the PRO and administered through Playgrind. This does not affect any other use that doesn't come through Playgrind. Playgrind then administers the performance royalties owed on the publishing share. You will receive 100% of the writer's share directly from your P.R.O. Playgrind does not take any permanent ownership in your material as part of this process. Playgrind only administers the uses/licenses that Playgrind places. This does not affect any other use of your music or the ownership of your songs in any way.

    Q.3 What benefit comes from Playgrind acting as the Administration Agent for royalty collection?

    We feel that collective representation of the large number of BeatBox artists by Playgrind to ASCAP, BMI and foreign performing rights organizations will result in far superior royalty collections overall. Playgrind is in a better position to monitor the various broadcast and other performance uses licensed by Playgrind, and to deal regularly with the performing rights societies, both domestic and foreign. We are in constant contact with our clients and have access to information that is critical to ensuring proper collection - including accurate cue sheet filing.

    Q.4 Is the Administration Agreement a Publishing Agreement?

    No. A publishing agreement requires that all or a part of the ownership, including copyright, of the music be transferred to the publisher. Playgrind does not take any part of the copyright in your music.

    Q.5 How long does the Administration Agreement last?

    The Administration Agreement runs concurrently with the License Agreement pursuant to which you submitted your material to Playgrind, meaning that so long as the License Agreement is in effect, upon Playgrind licensing your music to a broadcast or performance client, Playgrind then becomes the Administrator with respect to that use. However, Playgrind's right to act as administrator and to collect its share of the performing rights revenue continues for as long as the time period provided for in the use license. After you ask for your songs to be removed from the Playgrind Audio catalog, the administration agreement ends too. In other words, if we are no longer placing your music, we are no longer entitled to administer new uses.

    Q.6 How does Playgrind monitor royalties?

    Playgrind will register songs with the performing rights societies and will track and confirm all uses of your music with them. Playgrind will aggressively pursue every royalty owed to you by ensuring the broadcast client fills in and submits accurate cue sheets in both the USA and internationally.

    Q.7 What is a CAE/IPI#?

    A CAE/IPI number is a unique international identifying number given to you by your Performing Rights Organization which usually consists of 9 digits (ex: 123.45.67.89). US Residents: If you are a member of ASCAP this number can be found by clicking here: If you are a member of BMI this number can be found by clicking here: If you are a member of SESAC this number can be found by clicking here: If you are a member of a Performing Rights Organization outside of the US, please check with your respective PRO's website.

  4. International

    Q.1 I do not live in the USA. Will I receive royalties for uses of my music anywhere in the world and how?

    Depending upon your affiliations with rights organizations in your country, and their corresponding relationships with rights organizations in the country where the productions are created or performed, you may receive writers and/or performers royalties directly. Playgrind will be authorized to collect your share of any publishing royalties due in relevant territories, for the particular use, and distribute your share to you.

  5. Payment

    Q.1 What are the possible payments I can expect?

    Payments will vary according to type of use—a TV show vs. commercial, the broadcast market it is used in, etc. Usage fees can range from several thousand dollars for a national advertising spot, to hundreds of dollars for a national promo spot, to tens of dollars for an incidental background use on television programming or general beat license in the Beat Market store. Remember that Playgrind and its artists are partners in this process in that we always attempt to get the most money we can for every project. However, each project demands that we price competitively in order secure the license in the first place, and to ensure future business with each client.

    Q.2 Why do you ask for a Social Security Number and a W-9 tax form?

    We need Social Security numbers and W-9 tax forms (included in the license agreement document) to pay U.S. residents. Non-U.S. residents obviously do not need to provide Social Security numbers or W-9 tax forms, but we do strongly recommend that you fill out a W-8 BEN so that we don't have to withhold any of your payments for tax purposes. Again, this is optional for international artists, but is recommended.

    Q.3 Can I split payments between myself and other parties?

    No. Playgrind only pays 1 person. It is up to that person to distribute any payment accordingly.

    Q.4 If I would like payment made to my company do you need my SS#?

    No, we will need your Federal Tax ID number and a completed W-9 form