Thank you for joining us for another installment in our our ongoing Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the couple months we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. Today we are continuing that effort with a response to a question posed by multiple reader in regards to how they go about accessing the music distributed by Haulix. If you have any questions about developing as a writer/blogger in music, please do not hesitate email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Haulix exists to provide artists and record labels a secure platform for distributing promotional material. Keeping those materials safe is our top priority, and we are constantly developing new ways to further prevent piracy. We believe that by continuing to fight piracy we are helping develop the future of the industry, which is something every current and aspiring professional should feel some sense of responsibility to help create. That’s part of the reason this blog exists – to showcase the wide variety of talents and personalities that have come together to fight for the future of this business.
One thing people often do not understand about our efforts is that we do not grant access to the materials distributed through our platform. We exist to serve our clients, and those wanting to access our clients’ media will need to go through them to be invited to experience the Haulix platform. It’s not our media to share, after all, and as much as we love publicity it’s our forte.
Gaining access to unreleased music for promotional purposes and feature consideration is a relatively simple process, but without a little professionalism and tact your request will likely get lost in someone’s inbox. We cannot prepare you for every situation that you will encounter when seeking new music, but we can give you the basics of working with the type of people that use Haulix.
The first thing you need to know about requesting music from labels, PR, or the like is that no two scenarios will be exactly the same. Everyone has their own method for distributing promotional materials, as well as their own requirements for the individuals they grant early access. The best you can do is be yourself and be honest with your position in the industry. You may not have the biggest site on the net, but that usually does not matter. Labels and PR are looking to work with writers and sites that are passionate about music. More specifically, writers and sites passionate about the type of music they are trying to sell/promote. If that applies to you, then there is a good chance a wonderful working relationship can be developed in no time at all.
Before you send any messages I would take a day or two and scour the internet for the companies and groups you want to work with, as well as their point of contact and how/when they prefer to be reached. It will be tempting to send a blanket ‘please send materials’ message to everyone on your list, but the best relationships are built on taking a personal interest in the other person. If you have 55 people/places to contact then you should plan on creating 55 individual messages. The core of each letter will remain the same, but taking the time to personalize each note will go a long way towards leaving a positive first impression on the individual you are trying to reach.
The letter you draft when requesting promotional materials should be short and to the point. Introduce yourself, your site, your reason for writing, and (if possible) let them know how you plan to feature their artist on your site. There may be more details needed down the line, but this should give the person you are contacting enough information to decide whether or not they want to work with you. You can find a sample letter below:
Dear [insert name whenever possible]
Hello. My name is [INSERT YOUR NAME] and I am writing on behalf of [INSERT YOUR SITE WITH A LINK TO THE FRONTPAGE]. I noticed that you are listed as the press contact for [Artist/Group/Label] and I am contacting you in hopes of working together moving forward.
[YOUR SITE] is a music site dedicated to covering [INSERT COVERAGE]. We have been following [THE ARTIST/LABEL] for a while now and would love to work together on [PROJECT – REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS/FEATURES/ETC] in the near future. We welcome [TRAFFIC, IF POSSIBLE] a month and are growing by the week.
I understand that you are busy, but if you could review my request and respond at your earliest convenience it would be much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Best,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR SITE]
As much as it may be a downer to highlight, the hard truth is that not everyone you contact is going to want to work with you. Heck, some probably will not even send you a reply. In those cases, it’s perfectly acceptable to send a follow-up email to ensure the receipt of your original message, but after a certain amount of time you may need to let that request go until you/your site can improve.
Whatever you do, please try your absolute hardest to refrain from attacking, bashing, or otherwise being a dick to label/PR people who are not quick to respond to you. The music industry is a wild place, and anyone working in promotion or publicity spend about twenty-three hours a day working on various projects. They want to work with you too, but their ability to reply right away may be stunted due to what they currently have going on. BE PATIENT. I know you want to hear the new album from that band you think is going to be huge, and trust me – they want you to hear it to. Being pushy and/or coming across as frustrated with the people on the other end will go you nowhere in this business.
Hello again. We have spent a lot of time in the last month talking about piracy and the many things you can do as an artist to prepare for and, if necessary, handle leaks. Today we are going to revisit that topic once more to talk about the steps that need to be taken once your material has already leaked online. You may think all hope is lost, but with a little hard work you can curve the unwanted availability of your material in a big way and we are here to help. If you have any questions about the content of the blog, or if you would like more information regarding the distributional services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
If you have been following our company updates over the last few weeks may already know this, but recently Haulix began working on a new update to our distribution service that will allow clients to automatically issue DMCA takedown notices for their copyrighted material. We are admittedly still a few weeks from launch on that project, but we wanted to begin our promotional efforts this afternoon by shedding some additional light on the purpose of these notices and the creation/submission process currently in place.
DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which is a group of laws that protect copyrighted content and its creators on digital mediums. The DMCA was signed into law in 1998 and has since been the source of the vast majority of infringement issues arising from the continuing spread of digital media. There are many aspects to the law that are worth taking the time to research and understand, but for the purposes of this post we are going to look at the part most are familiar with (at least by name): The DMCA Takedown Notice.
A DMCA Takedown Notice allows copyright holders to request an Internet Service Provider (ISP), search engine, host or other type of site-owner/manager to remove material that is infringing their copyright, regardless of whether or not said copyright has been properly registered. In other words – it provides a means for artists and the people who back them (labels/agencies) to ask that their content not be shared without authorization.
In order to file a DMCA Takedown Notice, you must first establish three things:
You either own the copyright or have the right to claim infringement because of a copyright you license. If you do not have either of these, you are already wasting your time.
The alleged infringement is not covered by an exception, like Fair Use or free speech laws. Stanford Law’s website describes Fair Use as ‘any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. In other words, fair use is a defense against a claim of copyright infringement. If your use qualifies as a fair use, then it would not be considered an illegal infringement.’ You do not need to understand all the ins and outs of this law to file a DMCA, but you do need a “good faith” belief that the alleged infringing use is not covered by any law which would permit its use.
The content is capable of being infringed online, which essentially means that the work in question is available in digital form. Some examples include text files (txt, rtf, doc, docx, etc), Images (smb, jpg, png, gif, etc), video (mpg, avi, mov, etc.), Music/Audio (aif, mp3, mp4, wav, etc), and images found on social networks (Facebook, Tumblr, etc.).
Once you have determined all three of these things to be true, it is time to move forward with filing a DMCA Takedown notice. It is important to understand that there are very specific provisions of the law you must comply with or the receiving agent may ignore your request:
1. Make sure you have found the proper source of the infringement – When you find your content on another website it may or may not be common knowledge who their hosting company is, but thankfully the internet provides a number of tools to aide in the discover process (I recommend domain tools.
When contacting ISPs with Takedown Notices that are often specific email addresses provided on the host company’s website. You may need to hunt for it, as no two sites are ever the same, but searching DMCA may quicken your hunt for results. If you try and discover there are no specified contacts listed for DMCA Notices, search the US Copyright Office List Of DMCA agents. It should be current.
2. If an online form specifically for DMCA Takedown requests is provided by the contact you are trying to reach it is wise to use that form as your initial point of contact as it is – unsurprisingly – your best bet for yielding a timely response. This may not happen with larger companies (like Google or Bing) generally use forms to direct specific issues to their different departments. There may be separate departments for music and images, for example, or perhaps a bunch of smaller teams dedicated to all digital piracy. You experience will vary by contact.
3. If you discover there are not forms provided and you still feel driven to fight for your rights as copyright holder you will need to take it upon yourself to send your notice to the designated DMCA agent (refer to #1 for help with locating this individual). Email will likely be acceptable for complaint submissions, but you will need to check with your specific agent to learn how they prefer to handle requests. It may be 2014, but some people still think fax machines are the best way to send business materials. Don’t waste time thinking about how much simpler or quick things could be and comply. This is another war for another day.
4. If you find yourself in a position where you need to create the Takedown Notice, there is a very specific set of information you will need to provide (and it is the same as what any form would ask you to fill out). According to lawyer Sarah Hawkins, your DMCA Notice must:
• Be in writing (this includes both hardcopy or digital)
• Be signed (whether in writing of via electronic signature) by the copyright owner or agent
• Identify the original copyrighted work (or works if there are multiple) you claim has been infringed
• Identify the material that is infringing your copyrighted work
• Include contact information so the designated agent can reach you, if necessary
• Include a statement your complaint is in “good faith"
• Include a statement the information in the notification is accurate
• Include a statement that under penalty of perjury you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
I know that list can be a little overwhelming upon first glance, but in the age of the internet there is virtually no form letter in existence that does not come with hundreds, if not thousands of examples available online, for free, that you can copy/paste and adjust to fit your needs. You should always triple check your letters to make sure everything comes across in your own voice and that the above list is followed to a ’t,’ but it’s completely understandable if you choose to use a template letter in order to begin filing your first DMCA Takedown Notices. In fact, I have included a letter below you can feel free to duplicate, manipulate, and use however it is needed. If you have any further questions about these notifications, just comment below and let us know!
I am the copyright owner of the works listed below and the following is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge.
The original work, which I claim copyright for, appears online with my permission at the following locations:
[Insert URLs where your original work is located]
Copies of this original work have been attached to this email for your evaluation and determination.
The allegedly infringing [work – image/sound/video] appears on the following sites:
[Insert URLs where your work is being used without your permission]
My contact information is [address/phone]
The information of the alleged copyright infringer based on what I have been able to find is [insert all the information you have about the site/person behind the infringement]
I have a good faith belief that the copyrighted works referenced above that appear on the website for which you are the registered DMCA agent is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or by law.
I declare, under penalty of perjury, that the following information is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and that I am the copyright owner [or have the license to the copyright] entitled to exclusive right which I believe are being infringed.
signed [insert name] on [date – day/month/year] in [city/state]
[signature]
**TERMS & CONDITIONS OF USE: While forms are commonly used and available elsewhere around the Internet it is important to understand the limitations provided by forms. A form, by its very nature, is previously written, usually to address a typical situation. Unfortunately, in law there are few typical situations. While this form will be useful for some, the use of a form should not be viewed as a replacement for competent legal advise adapted to your particular situation. Haulix accepts no liability if you do use this or a modified version of this Agreement.**
Hello, everyone. Today is an exciting, albeit somewhat sad day. We are quite thrilled to be sharing the fourth and final installment in our ‘My Life A Music Pirate’ series, but are sad to see such a beloved column put to rest so soon. If you have any questions about the content of this post, or if you are interested in learning more about the secure music distribution services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Today we put to rest one of the most interesting features we have ever run on this blog. Over the last month we have featured a series of posts on piracy written by a current music professional who has previously leaked countless albums online (part 1, part 2, part 3). Their story is one that I am sure many reading this can relate to, but somewhere along the line this individual got caught up in file-sharing and spent several years breaking the law as a result. They claim to have cleaned up their act, and for what it’s worth I tend to believe them, but as the initial columns began running on this site we could not help noticing an influx of inquiries from readers with questions for our pirate and their supposed retirement. It took a little convincing, but after two weeks of waiting our pirate has emerge from the depths of the internet once more to answer your questions on their life, the repercussions of their decisions, and how they see the industry changing to further combat piracy in the future. You can read their thoughts below.
We have said this from the beginning, but it’s worth repeating that we have absolutely no intentions of revealing the identity of the person behind these posts. The pirate in question has been disconnected from the file-sharing world for over a year at this point, and we truly hope they manage to steer clear of trouble in the future.
[all questions based on reader’s emails]
H: Do you remember the first album you downloaded illegally? How about the first one you uploaded to share with the world?
As I said before, when I first started downloading I was downloading single songs. I wasn’t into full albums. By the time I was, I was gettings discs from the library to rip. I think my first full album download may have been The Prizefighter Inferno’s debut album. I couldn’t find that at the library, so I went online for it.
H: What is the furthest in advance of an album’s release that you would leak it? Did that time remaining before release play a factor at all?
Of course it did. The sooner, the better. When you’re leaking music, you’ve got to be first to be remembered.
H: What was the application process like for the leak site? If I ran something like that I would suspect everyone of being out to get me.
It wasn’t so formal. We got something we ran it.
H: Did you have any close calls with the law/RIAA?
We’d get notices, but no more than the average music blog with a stream. Most of our links would get taken down, but copyright holders would provide the DMCA notices to hosts like Mediafire and Rapidshare. On occasion, we’d get angry emails from band members that felt helpless and couldn’t actually do anything. I remember once a label offered us advances in exchange for not posting their roster’s material. We took the deal and subsequently posted links to the albums they gave us.
H: Did you ever have a moment when you were overcome with the thought you may be doing something wrong? Do you even see piracy as being wrong?
I don’t think there was one moment. I think it was a more gradual decision. Of course I see it as wrong? Didn’t you read my letters? Readthemhere.
H: What benefits do you believe there were, if any, to the artists and labels whose work you shared without permission?
Even bad press is good press, they say. Seriously. Kids listened to the records I posted and went to shows. Some bought merch, some didn’t, they all tweeted and shared with friends. There are ways to make the most of a leak and a lot of artists figured out how to do that.
(Editor’s note: Haulix has a post that can help with that.)
H: Have you met any other music industry professionals actively involved in music piracy?
Actively? No. All of my old mates are out of the game.
H: Do you ever worry that your pirate past will catch up to you?
You’d be surprised how many of my colleagues are aware of my pirating past. I’m not that concerned about it.
H: What lessons, if any, did you learn from your time as a pirate?
That kids like free shit, that I liked introducing people to bands, that bands are made up of people making creative shit, and that underselling the value of that creative shit was a shitty thing to do.
H: What, if anything, can be done to stop piracy? More importantly, do you feel it should be stopped?
Piracy won’t die. People will always want something of value for nothing. That’s human nature. Still, things like Rdio and Spotify help cut out the need to download something to have it for free right away. Dying leak hosts help too. There are a lot less leaks going around now that It-Leaked is gone.
H: Where do you go from here?
I keep doing what I do. I write, I help musicians out where I can, and I drink more than I should sometimes. I live life and listen to music while I do it. That’s all I can do.
This article is the third in a four-part series on piracy. Click here to read the previous entries.
We love creating content for this blog, but the true mission of Haulix has always been to provide the most secure music hosting and distribution services available online. It’s no secret that piracy has crippled the music industry in many ways over the last decade, and we strive every day to do whatever we can to prevent future music leaks. You see, we may not be musicians ourselves, but recognize that the livelihood of everyone in the music business is dependent on the continued success and support of the artists we sign, promote, and otherwise get behind. If we do not do our part to help them support themselves however we are able then how can we expect anyone to help us when piracy eventually erodes entire segments of the industry?
Recently, it dawned on us that we did not have a strong grasp on what actually makes someone want to leak music. The assumption has been made in the past that these so-called ‘music pirates’ think the praise from anonymous commenters on message boards and forums is enough of a reward to convince them to hurt artists and those who fund them, but frankly we thought that felt a bit too simple to be entirely true. So we decided to do something we had never done before: Seek out a music pirate and convince them to share their story.
This afternoon we are thrilled to share the third in a four-part series that aims to take a closer look at music piracy as seen through the eyes of someone directly responsible for the leaks of several high-profile albums. It’s the story of one individual who managed to engrain themselves in the music industry professionally while simultaneously sharing unreleased records with the world, and it’s told entirely in their own words.
**As part of our agreement with the author of this series, a number of names and websites have been altered to protect identities and certain brand reputations. We have no intention to reveal the author’s name or location.**
When I began my first music-related blog. I had no real appreciation for music journalism or how that sort of thing worked. I just wrote about bands I liked and offered free downloads of their songs via filesharing websites like Mediafire and MegaUpload. It seemed innocent enough and as far I was concerned, I was doing these bands a favor. Free publicity! So that’s what I did. I downloaded songs, re-uploaded them, wrote blurbs, and shared them around.
Through this, my blog saw some success. A few hundred hits here and there added up. I made friends with others who ran similar sites like BrokeNoise, It-Leaked, MP3Boo, Get an Earection, Strike Gently, and a crudely named site I would later admin called LeakySlut. It was a community. We raced against and supported each other. This is what made it fun.
I ran LeakySlut, my own blog, as well as a forum or two for over a year. The first taking priority as a direct competitor to Strike Gently’s fall into poo porn and t-shirt sales. I leaked music and I was good at it. When we got a hold of things early, we’d upload the tracks laced with ID3 tags sporting our brand and push them out to the masses. I pushed the site to my friends and on Internet message boards. When I visited universities I would change the “ready” prompt on printer displays to “leakyslut.com.” I left the site open on public computers. The name alone generated enough interest to click around. When someone asked if it was porn they were looking at, a person would have to show and explain that it wasn’t. The site was self marketing. When I came aboard in fall of 2010, I took a blog posting once or twice a day and turned it into the new #1 source for music leaks in the alternative music community. This was something I was very proud of and later ashamed of. The thrill of delivering copyrighted content to thousands of fans hungry for it felt good, if only for the minutes following the initial post. I felt like I was doing something worthwhile. I thought I was part of the process when, in actuality, I was hindering it.
LeakySlut is gone now. It began to fizzle out once I left for more legitimate work. In spring of 2011, I left the leaking game and never looked back.
A week after leaving LeakySlut, I started an editor’s gig at a music webzine. No more links to zip files and mp3s. Just words on sounds. I had shed the peg leg and eye patch and it felt good. It was every bit as exciting as what I did before, only constructive and beneficial for the artists that I wrote about.
Now I didn’t have to go to sketchy sites to download songs. Instead I was getting albums sent to me unsolicited because I just might listen to it and write about it. I felt important. The feeling here lasted much longer than it did with leaks. I didn’t have to worry about links getting broken because of DMCA takedowns or emails from labels threatening legal action. The words were enough and they were eternal.
I still write about music today. I’ve contributed to a number of publications and haven’t leaked an album in almost 5 years. I’ve never even considered it. I’m in a place where artists, managers, and publicists trust me with their livelihood. They send me their songs trusting that I won’t put them online. I know that doing so could seriously jeapordize their marketing plans and corresponding income. I’m bigger than that. I’m not a villian. I’m a fan of music. Promoting and sharing my taste with others is reward enough. The perks of music journalism are just a plus.
Do I still download music without paying for it? Certainly. But thinking back on the last year of my life in music, I can’t think of a single instance where I didn’t later purchase the artists’ full release. If I want to hear a song now, I can pull up Rdio and listen to it. I pay $10/month to the service and the artist gets a small payout for the play. If I love it, I’ll seek it out on vinyl to add to my collection. I take up Soundcloud download offers when I find them and only rip songs from streaming services if they are no longer available (I’m still an avid demo hunter).
My life as a digital pirate is drawing closer and closer to an end every year. With advancing technology and a deep sense of admiration and respect for my industry’s peers, I have no need for it anymore. I think that this rings true with a lot of fans as well. A majority of the sites I named about no longer exist due to a lack of interest. Even the existing torrenting communities like what.cd are withering away with declining traffic and membership.
In the end convenience is key and if there are better, more legal, alternatives for listening to music, people will take them. Streaming services like Spotify, Rdio, and YouTube are clear indicators of that. The benefits to these serves opposed to piracy are numerous and are topic for another day.
I’m not completely ashamed of my piracy history. It got me to where I am. I learned valuable lessons about art and property through my experience and I think I’m better for it. The Jolly Roger has been lowered and my tri-cornered cap has been hung in the locker of Davy Jones. I won’t be fetching it again.
This article is the second in a four-part series on piracy. Click here to read the first entry.
We love creating content for this blog, but the true mission of Haulix has always been to provide the most secure music hosting and distribution services available online. It’s no secret that piracy has crippled the music industry in many ways over the last decade, and we strive every day to do whatever we can to prevent future music leaks. You see, we may not be musicians ourselves, but recognize that the livelihood of everyone in the music business is dependent on the continued success and support of the artists we sign, promote, and otherwise get behind. If we do not do our part to help them support themselves however we are able then how can we expect anyone to help us when piracy eventually erodes entire segments of the industry?
Recently, it dawned on us that we did not have a strong grasp on what actually makes someone want to leak music. The assumption has been made in the past that these so-called ‘music pirates’ think the praise from anonymous commenters on message boards and forums is enough of a reward to convince them to hurt artists and those who fund them, but frankly we thought that felt a bit too simple to be entirely true. So we decided to do something we had never done before: Seek out a music pirate and convince them to share their story.
This afternoon we are thrilled to share the second in a four-part series that aims to take a closer look at music piracy as seen through the eyes of someone directly responsible for the leaks of several high-profile albums. It’s the story of one individual who managed to engrain themselves in the music industry professionally while simultaneously sharing unreleased records with the world, and it’s told entirely in their own words.
**As part of our agreement with the author of this series, a number of names and websites have been altered to protect identities and certain brand reputations. We have no intention to reveal the author’s name or location.**
PART 2 – High School
Throughout my last years of middle school and the beginnings of high school, I kept on collecting. These were formative years by means of my general taste in music. Many of my favorites today were discovered on new release shelves at libraries and in my friend’s collections. I continued to plunder and steal and tally. It was around this time that I first came into contact with the idea of torrenting.
I was always good with computers. My Powerpoints and Windows Movie Maker projects were always the most detailed and animated in classes. If a teacher’s PC wasn’t starting correctly, I was normally the first they’d ask to look at it. My family relied on me for setting up, fixing, and cleaning up their Windows XP-based desktops and I took pride in that. Still, there were things could admit to not understanding and torrenting was one of them. Limewire was one thing. To search and download was easy enough, but somehow the idea of torrenting from The Pirate Bay seemed daunting to me, so I brushed past it and stuck with the citrusy latter.
Oh Limewire, you dangerous little thing. You never did quite know what you were getting with this P2P service. Mistitled songs, incorrectly attributed ID3 tags, viruses abundant… My grandparent’s PC was at the whim of Internet strangers when I began using its services. This was my first real taste of the dangers of piracy and its use was the first thing that made me question not only the legality of music downloading, but the morality as well.
At this point, my library was starting to get a bit messier. I was downloading more single songs than albums. Correctly naming them took time and time was something I began to have less of due to after school activities and clubs. So my collection grew untidy and my care for the music I was getting outgrew that of the number of songs I had. This is when I started becoming a “fan.”
As high school progressed and more Internet access was available to me, I started using my computer ability to my music hunting advantage. First I’d navigate around my school’s Internet blocker of choice using a proxy (or occasionally the actual bypass password itself if I could find it). Then I’d bring up Myspace, Purevolume, or YouTube and peruse the charts. If a download was available, I’d take it. If it wasn’t. I’d make it. Audicity was good for that. A quick switch from “microphone” to “wave out mix” made any listening experience an act of copyright infringement.
Then came blogging. Once I found WordPress and Tumblr, I took piracy a bit further. I went from music collector to music distributor with ease.
My Life As A Music Pirate will continue next Thursday, April 3. Follow Haulix on Twitter and Facebook for updates.
We love this blog. We really, really do. Every now and then, however, it also is a source of great frustration when people contact us believing all we do is spend our days writing about what it’s like to be in the music industry without actually doing much contributing to its progress ourselves. The truth is, the this blog is meant to serve as a marketing tool as much as it is intended to help the next generation of music industry professionals. Our real mission in life is to create the most advanced, secure, and easy-to-use digital servicing platform in the world, and this post exists to bring that mission to your attention.
Today we’re going to look at four reasons people sign up Haulix, and in the weeks to come we’ll be posting more updates on what is going on behind-the-scenes at HQ. If you have any questions about our product, or if you would like to schedule a tour through the service, please do not hesitate to contact james@haulix.com.
1. Security – Music piracy is at an all-time high, and here at Haulix we are doing everything in our power to prevent your album from falling victim to early release. Through a combination of advanced watermarking technology, Permissions, encryption, and secure traffic techniques we are able securely host, distribute, and track your media while you focus on promoting the material itself.
Watermarks contain user specific information that allows us to identify which contact specifically downloaded or streamed a file through Haulix. On average, each track will contain 15-20 watermarks which can survive most attacks such as re-encoding and conversion. Additionally, you have fine grained control over how many times they can stream or download a promo. All traffic in and out of Haulix is SSL encrypted (like bank websites). Haulix automatically prepares your tracks for watermarking and when a contact downloads or streams an album, the injection process is performed in seconds.
2. Customization – We love to focus on the backend of things so that publicists, labels, and bands can put their efforts into promotion. We recognize that in order to do that to the best of their abilities our clients need to be in control of how their content is no only dispersed, but presented. From the “promo” pages where your music securely lives online, to the email you will send when inviting press to experience your material, there are dozens of ways our product can be customized to fit your needs. Want to use a color theme or still image as the background to your “promo” page and/or emails? No problem! Want to limit the number of times an album can be streamed or downloaded by any particular individual? We can do that too.
3. Organization & Analytics – (This may seem like two, but they go hand-in-hand). Expanding on an aspect of our service mentioned in the previous two points, Haulix also helps distribute content. Through our one-of-a-kind email system our clients are able to create contact lists ( or upload their existing contacts), organize them into groups however they see fit, send personalized messages, and access analytics with ease. You’ll know who read your message, which ones accessed the material, and how the engage with it once on the “promo” page.
From a press perspective, Haulix offers a unique organization tool that allows journalists to view all the promos they have been sent by people using our system. Which leads us to our fourth point…
4. Journalist Approved – We could write and write about how we believe our products to be the best in the business, but it wouldn’t matter half as much as the approval of the people bands, labels, and publicists are trying to reach through our service. We don’t want to pat ourselves on the back too much, but here are a few things people have said about Haulix in recent months:
“I always get a little extra excited when I see I have new music through Haulix because I know I can jam it in mere seconds with no hassles.” – Jameson Ketchum, Substream Music Press
“Haulix takes all of the hassle out of receiving new music. It simply combines everything on one page and provides you with promo pictures, bios, videos and whatever else. Since most of the publicists we work with tend to use it, it’s nice to be able to quick switch back to your full catalog of promos you’ve received.” – Drew Maroon, MindEqualBlown.net
“I prefer a watermarked (to keep be accountable of course) zip download with high quality mp3s. Now I don’t always get that, so I roll with what I get. Haulix is cool because you can download and stream and it has the capability of supplying high quality stuff if the label/PR people provide it.” – Drew Beringer, Absolutepunk.net
“I want tracks I can stream, and preferably download too — I’m a New Yorker and do a lot of my listening on the subway, where streaming isn’t an option. Haulix is straightforward and intuitive.” – Jesse Richman, PropertyOfZack.com
Here at Haulix, we dedicate the majority of our daily lives to making sure the music stored and distributed through our state-of-the-art servicing platform is as secure as it can possibly be. From the moment clients upload music to our servers their files are watermarked, and from that point forward every individual accessing their content is given a unique identifier that allows us to trace the source of any future leaks (should they happen to occur). It’s our mission to keep your music away from the public until its intended release date, and we are always open to discussing that mission with anyone who may be unfamiliar with our efforts. If that applies to you, please do not hesitate to email support@haulix.zendesk.com and ask for additional information. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
There is a hard truth to life as a musician that you might as well face now: Your music, be it a future single or the album that follows a few months later, will sooner or later fall victim to music piracy and be freely available to anyone with a working knowledge of Google. It has happened to countless artists from every corner of the planet millions of times before you came along and it will, unfortunately, continue to happen to artists who deserve better for the foreseeable future. We are doing our part to put an end to music piracy, but until it’s wiped from the internet for good artists and groups of all sizes need to be prepared for the worst.
When that frustrating day comes, and it pains us to confess it will more than likely happen to every artist one day, you need to have a plan in place that can be enacted on extremely short notice. These plans will vary greatly from group to group, but there are several universal steps every artist can follow to minimize the damage done from their album reaching blogs before iTunes or Bandcamp. Let’s take a look at them now:
1. Stay calm and remember that the world is not coming to an end.
Album leaks are usually cause for disappointment, but there is a strange sense of comfort to be found in the fact people around the globe want to hear your music so badly that they are willing to risk being in trouble with the law in order to enjoy it before the scheduled release date. That comfort does not take away from the fact those same individuals have completely screwed the carefully crafted marketing plan you had in place, or course, but focusing on the negatives is not going to do anyone any good.
Whether your album leaks a day early or a two months in advance it is important to remember that your career has not been blown to tiny bits of completely free digital dust. It is only a minor setback, thanks in part to the fact you properly prepared for such unfortunate events after reading this article, and with a little focus you will be able to recognize that you’re in a unique position to capitalize on fan-driven curiosity in your album. Embrace it.
2. Recognize the fact your album has leaked, and ask those who enjoy it to support you any way they are able.
Will everyone who downloads your album eventually purchase a copy if they enjoy it? No. What may happen, however, is that a number of people who otherwise may have never encountered your art might come to appreciate your work as a result of the leak, and in time those newly converted followers will begin to show their support by attending a concert, buying merch, or possibly even picking up a record or two. Remember: Your album is as much a product as it is a marketing tool for your brand, and like it or not your band is a brand at the end of the day. If you cannot sell your album to consumers, you might as well try and sell those who take it for free on seeing you live. If they come, great! If they come and buy merch, even better! Either way they will come away from engaging your band with the outlook that you appreciate them simply for being a fan, and even though you wish people bought your music you can understand it’s not something everyone is capable of doing. That kind of outlook makes you appear more human than rockstar, and being viewed in that context is often far more rewarding longterm than any short term financial gains.
3. Revisit your marketing plan and make changes where necessary.
A lot of artists believe that if they choose to ignore the leak of their album and forge ahead with their originally scheduled promotional efforts that their sales will not be hurt. That may apply if you’re someone currently topping the charts, but for those of you on the come up each and every promotional effort made can mean the difference between advancement and career stagnancy. Album leaks should change your marketing plan because the circumstances surrounding the availability of your latest material has changed. Song premieres, for example, are not going to have the same impact now that fans can download the full record with a few clicks, so it is of the utmost importance to take time as an artist or group to try and further refine what is already scheduled it order to make that content more appealing to those who accessed your material early. Offer a behind-the-scenes look at your time in the studio, or put together a track-by-track rundown of the record. If you’re going to continue with songs premieres then make sure you have a lyric video or similar accompanying item to make the exclusive more enticing to fans who have already heard the full album, as well as the blogs who are hosting that content. If you know your album leaked it’s more than likely the bloggers do as well, and they also recognize how unlikely it is certain exclusives will bring in much traffic if the material is freely available elsewhere.
Challenge yourself to do more than you thought necessary, or even possible, and you will succeed. Stay the course and your release may very well be forgotten by the time it hits iTunes. It’s that simple.
4. Make a stream of your album available and direct all traffic to that stream.
This is kind of a continuation from the tip above, but it’s worth highlighting on its own. You can choose to look at album leaks as something people have to hunt for on the vast plains of the internet and try telling yourself that not many people will be willing to go through such efforts in order to hear a few songs a little earlier than everyone else, or you could choose to be realistic and reclaim a little control over how your fans access your new material by hosting your own stream of the record. Use Soundcloud or Bandcamp and, after recognizing the leak, direct all curious parties to hear the album through your link. Ask fans and friends and industry people to do the same.
Timeliness is next to godliness as far as this tip is concerned, but if you have a good relationship with any music writers this may be the perfect time to call in a last minute favor. Getting a blog or site to host your premiere ensures even more people with social influence will be directing fans to content you essentially control. You can survive without their help, but if it’s available to you then you might as well use it.
5. Make the album available for purchase as soon as possible and consider offering it for a discounted price.
There may be two weeks until your physical product comes in for pre-orders, but if your album leaked before you got out of bed today you better do everything in your power to make it available for sale before sundown. Services like Bandcamp makes this type of immediate change incredibly easy.
You will also want to consider discounting the price of a digital download of your album for a short amount of time. It may seem counter-intuitive to ask for even less money on an album you’re already losing sales on due to piracy, but lowering the cost may actually increase the chances of fans supporting the album financially. Most people pirate because it’s both affordable and incredibly simple. You cannot beat free, but you can combat it by lowering the price of your downloads, or even making the record available on a pay-what-you-want basis and appealing to fans to contribute whatever they feel they are able.
You can also take things one step further and offer a discount on all your remaining pre-order packages. How much to offer will vary based on your overall costs, but any amount will help to further entice listeners on the fence over whether or not they should purchase an album all their friends have received for free.
As an example of someone taking back control of their release, please take a quick look at this message released by our friends at Topshelf Records following the leak of You Blew It’s new album near the beginning of 2014:
Wow. The response to yesterday’s premiere has been overwhelmingly awesome — thank you!
I noticed a ton of “leaked” copies of the record being shared everywhere within an hour of that premiere going up, though, and just wanted to post about that. We don’t mind that, at all. We get it, and that doesn’t bother us — we’re excited people want to share this. However, when “this” is a 92kbps 2003-Myspace-dot-com-era-quality-sounding rip of a stream, we get kinda bummed how that’s what people might be hearing and sharing. So, we’ve now sent out the high quality downloads to everyone who pre-ordered the record. We’re not gonna be download cops about it — share it, enjoy it, tell your friends about it — sing it when you see them on tour this month.
This messaging recognizes the leak, then immediately directs everyone’s attention back to the band and what the band has going on in the immediate future. It’s about the band’s stream of the album, the band’s store with pre-order options, and the band’s upcoming tour dates. Bring the focus back to the you and your music. Don’t let pirates steal the spotlight.
It’s worth mentioning that those who choose to put their album on sale early will have a few additional decisions to make, including whether or not to distribute album downloads to those who pre-ordered the album prior to the leak. There are pros and cons to both sides, so the best advice we can offer is figure out what is best for your audience and run with it.
6. Be proactive in fighting music pirates. Submit take down requests and whatever else needs to be done in order to keep your music away from leak sites.
Fighting an album leak is forever an uphill battle. It only takes one person to leak an album on one site or social media service before files begin spreading like the common cold across the web. You may not be able to completely erase every trace of your early album leak from the net, but with time, dedication, and a little help from Google you can make it a lot more difficult for pirates to locate your stolen material.
First, set up notifications through you favorite digital alert service to notify you anytime someone mentions your album online. You will (hopefully) be inundate with news and reviews most the time, but this service will also peak up leak blogs/sites running your album. You may also want to search for your band name and album title, both together and separately, with the phrases ‘zip’ and ‘rar.’ As soon as you find a link you need removed, contact the blog owner, as well as the site hosting the file download (Mediafire, Sharebeast, Zippyshare, etc.) and politely request that your content be removed with the help of a DCMA take down letter. Then use this form and ask Google to remove links from search. It may take a few days, but most people and sites will comply with your requests. As soon as one goes down, however, another one or three will likely appear. Keep pushing. Keep fighting.
You can also ask fans to join in your anti-piracy efforts. Lady Gaga, for example, called on fans in 2013 to report any early leaks of her Artpop album, and thousands sent Mother Monster links in response. It did not plug the leak entirely, but it delayed the majority of music fans from hearing the material until much closer to the intended release date, and in doing so forged a stronger connection between Gaga and her fans.
7. Live to create another day
When all the take downs have been issued and you have told the story of how the leak impacted your plans for the future to the last blogger and fan willing to listen the time will come when you simply need to move on with your career and begin working towards the future. There are more songs to be written, more albums to be recorded, and more many more shows to be performed. People all over the world now have access to your music and no matter what happens from this point forward that will never change. The discovery of your art is going to continue, every day, week, and month for as long as there are people online with a passion for music. There is something beautiful about that, even if it is also financially frustrating, and it offers a rare opportunity to connect with others that many never receive. Make the most of it and forge ahead. Live to create another day.
