Frequently Asked Questions

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Working with FUGA

Content Ingestion

Distribution, licensing and contracts

Costs

FUGA network

Content Delivery

For online stores

Technology

Working with FUGA

Do I need to have direct deals with online stores?

Using FUGA makes more sense when you can get your own direct deals with online stores. This means that you will need to have at least a few releases ready to be sold, and a proven track record of sales. It also means that you will have to sign and administer the contracts yourself. FUGA is also ideal when you want to work with a combination of direct deals and aggregated deals (see next question).

I can’t get a direct deal with iTunes | eMusic | Amazon.com, can I still use FUGA?

Yes. There are a number of digital distributors and aggregators in FUGA that can get your content into any online store. Everything is integrated within FUGA, so you can combine direct deals with aggregated deals in a single interface. Currently we’re working with:

Will FUGA help me get in touch with online stores to make direct deals?

Yes, you can use the FUGA network or get in touch with your FUGA account manager.

I only release 2 Albums and 4 Singles a year, can I still use FUGA?

Absolutely. Monthly fees start as low as €65 per month.

I already have a direct deal with iTunes/eMusic/Amazon MP3, do I have to cancel those deals to use FUGA?

No, you don’t have to cancel your current deals. Your existing commercial relationships with the online stores will not change.

What if I want to connect to a store that’s not connected to FUGA?

If you have a direct deal with an online store that is not in our list, we’ll connect to it free of charge.

My releases don’t have UPC/EAN codes, do you really need those? My tracks don’t have ISRC codes, do you really need those?

Yes, UPC/EAN codes and ISRC codes are required by most online stores. You’ll also need them later to calculate your artist royalties.

Content Ingestion

Can I send you CDs?

No. We only work with your content in digital format, not physical. You can upload your tracks in WAV and FLAC and type your metadata into FUGA. You can also upload both tracks and metadata to FUGA using FTP. If you have a large amount of data to be ingested you can also send us a hard drive, using our ingestion format.

Do you accept metadata in spreadsheet format?

We prefer if you use either the web interface or XML for your metadata. Spreadsheets are very error prone.

Will my catalog be empty when I start working with FUGA? How can I send you my existing catalog so I don’t have to start from zero?

When you start with FUGA we’ll get you in touch with our ingestion team to populate your catalog so you don’t start with an empty catalog. This process is called “Initial Ingest” and it’s free when you sign up for FUGA. Our engineers will agree with you on the easiest format for getting all your data into FUGA at once.

What formats can I use to upload my music into FUGA?

We only accept tracks in WAV and lossless FLAC format. This master format gives us the best quality and we can convert from it into any other format the stores require.

I already have a label copy system that produces XML, do you accept metadata in XML?

Yes. Have a look at our ingestion specifications.

Distribution, licensing and contracts

We are a digital distributor/aggregator, is FUGA a competitor?

No. “Au contraire”, since we don’t license your content for digital distribution, but provide you with the technology to run your own distribution business, you can consider us more like your technology partner.

Are you a digital distributor/aggregator?

No. We don’t license any content from our customers for digital distribution. See the answer above, we’re a technology provider.

Costs

What are the initial costs?

There are no initial costs. We will also make sure that your catalog is added to FUGA when you start, free of charge.

What are the ongoing costs?

Our fees for FUGA are based on usage. We will charge you a service fee based on the number of products stored in FUGA, and a delivery fee based on the number of deliveries made every month.

Your monthly fee covers the complete FUGA service which includes:

  • Unlimited access to FUGA and the FUGA network, including a growing number of stores joining the network.
  • Training.
  • Personal advice on digital strategies.
  • Account management, technical support and troubleshooting through email and telephone.
  • Uploading of tracks into FUGA.
  • Initial ingestion of your back catalog

Get in touch with us for a personalized quote.

Are there any hidden costs?

No. You will only be charged monthly for your usage of FUGA.

FUGA network

What online stores are connected to FUGA?

Check our growing number of stores.

Who’s using FUGA?

Check our list of reference customers.

Content Delivery

What formats do support for delivery? do you deliver in MP3 / WMA / etc.?

We deliver in many, many formats.

Can you deliver XML to the stores?

Yes. We deliver to all our stores using XML. But we make it easy for you: It’s very easy to enter metadata through FUGA’s web interface. It even makes sure that you’re not making mistakes like typing a double ISRC code.

Do you support exclusive release dates to Beatport?

Yes. And to many other stores. With FUGA it is possible to create release schedules and specify when a release has to be delivered, and when it can be sold to the public.

Can I use FUGA to create exclusive products to be delivered only to a few stores?

Yes. You can exclude as many stores as you want from the delivery list. FUGA also makes it very easy to reuse your existing tracks and metadata, minimizing the amount of typing and uploading that you have to make.

For online stores

I have an online store, can you get me in touch with your labels?

If you are connected to FUGA, absolutely not a problem.

I have an online store, and I want to receive content from FUGA, what do I have to do?

Get in touch with us via email.

Technology

Can I integrate FUGA with my existing website to sell music directly to my fans?

No. FUGA is a Business to Business software application. We will format and deliver the music to online stores, but we do not deliver directly to consumers, or handle billing or credit card transactions. Think about it as the delivery truck that brings the good into the stores: we deliver the goods but we don’t sell them from the back of the truck directly to consumers.

Is FUGA a white label online music store?

No. See the answer above. There are a number of great companies doing this for you, and some of them are also connected to FUGA:

Can I install FUGA on my own server?

No. FUGA is a hosted web application, like for example Gmail, Salesforce.com and MySpace. The advantage of this is that you don’t have to pay for servers, hosting, bandwith and IT staff to wake up at 3.00 am in the morning when the servers go down. Sharing these costs with the many users of FUGA is what makes it a very attractive and cost-effective solution.