This article is designed to help guide you through the RoyaltyWorx setup process and ensure you have all of the knowledge needed to use RoyaltyWorx with speed and efficiency. It can be quite overwhelming to begin generating royalty statements, so we've broken down the process into smaller, more manageable sections for your convenience.
RoyaltyWorx is a cloud-based accounting platform developed alongside some of the leading brands in the industry. We give you unparalleled flexibility to manage all types of deal structures and account to your artists and licensors in an intuitive, streamlined way.
Get RoyaltyWorx
You simply need to start your 14-day trial of RoyaltyWorx to get the software enabled on your account. This will allow you to test out and start setting up as well as making sure that RoyaltyWorx is right for you. The below guide will show you how to do this on your Label Worx account.
How Do I Enable RoyaltyWorx on My Account?
Before You Start
Remember These Terms
It's extremely important that you learn the following 4 terms and commit them to memory. This will greatly aid in your learning of the RoyaltyWorx system.
Licensors - These are Artists, Labels and other Companies that you license music FROM
Contracts In - These replicate the contracts you create when you license/sign a track to your label, the information in a Contract In defines how your royalties are calculated.
Licensees - These are Labels and other Companies that you music License TO
Contracts Out - These replicate the contracts you create when you license a track to another label
Create/Import Your Releases
You will need to create your releases (Singles, EPs and Albums) in the Label Worx system. The release is the key component of the process as it acts as a "hub" for all of the other aspects of RoyaltyWorx.
For clients already using Label Worx for distribution, your Release List will already be populated as you will have already created your releases. Once RoyaltyWorx is activated, you can complete the remaining required actions.
For clients not using Label Worx for distribution, you will need to create all of your releases. The best way to do this is by using our bulk import tool.
Can I import releases into the system from a file?
NOTE - You only need to input release Metadata. Audio & Artwork is not necessary for RoyaltyWorx.
Step 1: Setup Your Branding
We understand branding is important, which is why with RoyaltyWorx, you have the ability to add your branding to the statements along with a Licensor Invoice Submission page to give a professional look to your artist statements. The following support guides will explain how to complete these required actions.
Step 2: RoyaltyWorx Settings
There are a number of settings you can customise in RoyaltyWorx. One of your Required Actions can also be completed within the Settings page.
For example, setting the Accounting From Period is a simple, yet vital part of your RoyaltyWorx setup. It must be set in order for the software to function.
The below article will also go through the other settings & features available on the Settings page.
Step 3: Create Your Licensors
Within RoyaltyWorx, tracks and releases are attached to Licensors. You will also see that creating licensors is within the Action Required section of the dashboard, so is a fundamental part of the system. A Licensor is an Artist (or Company) that you have licensed a track, release or remix from. The below guides will assist you with the setup of your Licensors.
Step 4: Setup Your Contracts
The Contract In is a replication of your agreement with your licensor and will hold key information (such as Royalty %, Expenses % etc) as well as providing a “hub” to link Licensors to the specific Release/Tracks.
The Templates allow you to enter the relevant information into a Contract In, and then save that information to be used again for future contracts. The Templates should speed up the process greatly as it gives you the perfect starting point for your Contract creation.
Step 5: Add Expenses to Your Releases
Expenses are costs associated with a particular release and typically cover things like mastering fees, remix fees, artwork or promotional costs etc. The below guide will assist you in adding your expenses/costs to your release.
Step 6: Importing Statements
You may work directly with some stores or use a 3rd party for distribution, in which case you will need to import their statements into RoyaltyWorx. The following guide will explain how to do this.
Distributor / DSP Imports Overview
Step 7: Finalising Your Label Worx Distribution Statement
If you are a Label Worx distribution client, your sales data is already present in our system. The only task for you is to actually receive this data into RoyaltyWorx, so you can then issue statements for these sales. The following support guide will show you how to receive your Label Worx or 3rd party statements into RoyaltyWorx.
Finalising Statements Overview
Step 8: Input Physical Sales & Licenses
With RoyaltyWorx, physical sales, licenses & custom sales formats need to be added manually through the Simple Sales Entry tool. You have the ability to enter sales manually to be included in your licensor statements. Please see the below support guide for assistance with the Simple Sales Entry tool.
Step 9: Sales Reporting
The sales reporting function allows you to check imported & manually entered sales, from both finalised Label Worx statements and 3rd party imports. Using filters & date ranges, this tool can be used to check how much revenue has been imported into the system, as well as amend incorrectly entered simple sales. The guide below will detail the functionality of sales reporting.
Step 10: Generating Licensor Statements
The Licensor Statements are what you send out to your Artists and Licensors informing them of what royalties they may or may not have due to them. This statement contains information regarding sales, expenses and splits, along with advances and totals. Please see the below guide for information on how to generate your statements.
Step 11: Sending Your Statements to Your Licensors
Once you have generated your Licensor Statements and checked them to ensure they are correct, RoyaltyWorx provides you with the necessary tools to email these statements to your Licensors. The following support guide will take you through the sending of your licensor statements.
Licensor Statement Sending Overview
Step 12: Receiving Invoices
When sending your Licensors a statement through RoyaltyWorx you are also sending them a link to invoice for their royalties. Invoices are then received into the system where you can manage them. For more information on receiving invoices and marking them as paid, please see the following article.
Summary & Notes
If you have completed all of the above you will have enough knowledge to use RoyaltyWorx with speed and efficiency.
We recommend integrating RoyaltyWorx into your normal workflow. This can be done by creating new Licensors & Licensees, Contracts In & Contracts Out, adding expenses and importing sales data when creating your releases or receiving a statement and not waiting until your next statement run to do everything. Do any work in small pieces as and when it arrives rather than allowing the work to build up.
If you do need a refresher at all next time it comes to generating your statements, please look through this Knowledge Base article for a breakdown of the steps required.
RoyaltyWorx Refresher: What do I need to do to generate my next batch of statements?
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