General Questions What is Promote Africa? Promote Africa is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We are working to build the world's largest African music directory to bring the sounds of Africa to the ears of a global audience. Our online services allow listeners to buy music directly from the artists we represent. How much does Promote Africa cost to use? Promote Africa receives a 10% commission on all music sales made through www.PromoteAfrica.Org All proceeds go toward artist advertising, promotion and development. Prospective Artist Questions How do I get started as an Artist with Promote Africa? 1. Contact us at music@promoteafrica.org with a letter of interest and a link to a webpage where your music can be sampled. Alternatively, if your music is not available online, email us one of your MP3s which accurately represents your music. 2. After reviewing your music, we will follow up with you regarding your status. 3. We will then create an online account for you under our label with our digital rights manager (DRM) BlastMyMusic (www.blastmymusic.com). This account will allow you to upload your music onto BlastMyMusic and Promote Africa. By allowing you to track your online music sales, your account grants full transparency to our operations. 4. Once your DRM account is set-up, we will create a personalized webpage for you on the Promote Africa domain. Your webpage will be found under the artist listing for your country. You will receive your own URL, and your personalized page will feature a thumbnail image, artist biography, and the BlastMyMusic Music Blaster to sell your music. Click here to see an example of how your page will appear. I am a signed artist, can I use Promote Africa? Absolutely, have your management or record label contact us to work out the details. Can I use Promote Africa if I am already using other digital or physical distribution services? Absolutely, Promote Africa is a non-exclusive service so there should be no conflicts with other services. Likewise, you are free to pursue any and all other distribution mediums while partnered with us. We simply want to give musicians across the continent a forum for distribution, while promoting your music to a broader, global audience. If at any time you wish to discontinue selling your music on our site, simply contact us and we will remove your music from our listings.   How much does my band get paid for each song sold? Artists receive 65% of the sale price of each MP3 sold through Promote Africa. This percentage is calculated based on BlastMyMusic (25%) and Promote Africa's (10%) receipts. Compared with other online distributors, our low rate is possible due to our partnership with BlastMyMusic. Promote Africa's Artists Once we have created an account for you under our label, the following steps will ensure a smooth transition to selling your music on our website. To begin, go to BlastMyMusic and log-in with the user name and password that we assign to you. How do I upload my songs? On the Music Tab, go to the add song section and do the following: 1. Enter the name of the song 2. Select an album (or select no album if you haven’t created an album yet) 3. Browse for the MP3 file you’d like to upload 4. Check the Explicit Lyrics box if necessary 5. Click Upload How do I sell my music? Leave the sell box checked when uploading the song, and make sure the sell box is checked in your music library. How do I not sell my music? If you would like to upload music for sale at a later date or want to upload music but not sell it yet (for marketing purposes, etc…) uncheck the sell box when uploading the song, and make sure the sell box is unchecked in your music library. If I just uploaded my song, when will it be available? When you upload a song, it gets processed and the preview is created. How fast the song is made available depends on how many songs are being uploaded by other artists at the same time. It could take anywhere from 30 seconds to 24 hours, but typically it won’t take more than 15 minutes. Can I upload any genre of music? Yes, you can upload anything you own the rights to. Is there a limit to how many songs I can upload? No, there is not. Just make sure you own the rights to all the songs you upload. What is your policy on copyright infringement? Uploading music you do not have the rights to is strictly prohibited and is punishable to the fullest extent of the law. How do I report copyright infringement? Contact us at music@promoteafrica.org and report any suspicions of infringement. Please provide adequate contact information and evidence supporting your claim. What if there is a dispute about rights to certain songs? See BlastMyMusic's Dispute Resolution Policy for details. What Music file formats does BlastMyMusic accept? BlastMyMusic accepts and sells MP3 formatted songs. MP3 is the most widely used and commercially viable format currently available. They work on just about every digital music device available (there’s a reason everybody calls them MP3 players). What Photo file formats does BlastMyMusic accept? Standard photo file formats JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP How and when do I get paid for music sold? Promote Africa has partnered with PayPal to provide you with a quick, easy, and convenient way to get paid for songs sold. On the first day of each month, we send your receipts from all verified funds to the PayPal e-mail address you registered in your profile. Please note that this payment process takes 1-2 days. How long does it take to verify funds? It takes 30 days to verify that the funds are real and can be withdrawn. So if you sell songs today, you will receive the receipts from those sales the first days of the month which follows 30 days from today. Why does Promote Africa use PayPal? We chose PayPal over sending checks because it is so much faster and easier for us and you. Instead of paying yearly or quarterly and having to wait two weeks for a check to come in the mail, you can have money in your PayPal account within two business days. Does my band have to have a PayPal account to use Promote Africa? No, but you do have to have a PayPal account to get paid. You can sign up and start selling your music without a registered PayPal account, but when it comes time to get paid, you’ll need to have a PayPal account registered in your Artist Profile. Does my band have to use Paypal to get paid? If there are extenuating circumstances, you can request alternate means of payment. We cannot guarantee quick payment, but we can work something out. Is the personal information I submit on my artist account safe with BlastMyMusic? Yes it is. For more information on their privacy policy, click here. Artist information such as addresses, phone numbers, etc. will be used by BlastMyMusic only and will not be made available to customers. Are there any fees for using PayPal? PayPal may update their fees from time to time, so it is important to check with PayPal concerning your specific type of account (personal or business). Currently, there are no fees for receiving your money from Promote Africa.