The AJ Community Guide #3: Content Identification (CID)
As mentioned in Chapter #1, CID (Content Identification) is a system which can scan Youtube, Facebook, Instagram (and other services in the nearest future) for videos with your music and verify if the content creator has license for your track. If not, you can monetize ( = you can earn money!) or even block his video. CID system also makes it possible to collect additional performing royalties by PRO organisations (more about PRO royalties in the Chapter#2: PRO).
This is important: if you do not register your tracks in CID, somebody can illegally register them before you. It can make a huge mess like here.
Facebook and Instagram CID called Rights Manager is quite a new thing. It allows you to block illegal use of your music but it doesn’t allow to monetize it yet. Identifyy allows you to scan Facebook/Instagram and wait for the launch of the Facebook monetization.
So what can you do?
You have to find a CID partner like Identifyy (Haawk) and… upload tracks. After few months It will show Youtube projects with your music and… you will earn easy money. You will also have to check what kind of services this partner provides you. Be careful, some services like 3rd party sync-licensing are restricted for Exclusive authors! Registering with Identifyy is recommended, because it seems that they do not offer any additional services which are forbidden for AJ authors and are pretty efficient. More info about the official AJ requirements regarding CID here.
The most popular CID service which used to accept AudioJungle authors was AdRev. Nowadays we recommend much efficient Identifyy (Haawk). Here you can read more about it, including how to move tracks from AdRev to Identifyy.
Hints:
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Use this awesome tool to make a super quick batch edit of whole portfolio.
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You can find your music in Youtube videos by searching in Google Video your registered with CID artist name and CID service name (e.g. “redoctopus” and “haawk”). You can search for registered in CID track titles as well. It will show all videos with active claim info before you get the official report from CID.
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try to avoid uploading music inelligible for Youtube CID. Elligibility criteria change from time to time but usually the most important thing is to avoid uploading public domain tracks. You can find full description here
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Keep in mind that Youtube CID system is far from being perfect and usually doesn’t scan both: uploaded videos and registered tracks which are shorter than 30 seconds. Yet.
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you probably wonder what is going on with the double name Identifyy-Haawk. Haawk is a company providing wider copyright protection services. Identifyy is a part of this company as a self-administration tool for the CID protection. But keep in mind that “Haawk” is the name which appears in the CID claims.
Which files do I have to upload?
Mp3 of all variations (even kit demos) without watermark. Do not upload logos shorter than exact 30 seconds (!) which are ignored by Youtube CID even when CID partner approves them.
What about CID - PRO relation?
It’s hard to say how exactly PROs collect money from online services like Youtube. The thing we know is that track has to be registered with CID partner like Identifyy, accepted by Youtube, tracked in videos by Youtube and monetized. Afterwards all info about views from each country has to be sent by Youtube to each country PRO. Each PRO has another few conditions which have to be met to pay you royalties. Phew! A very long way to make it inefficient. That’s why some of us receive small royalties, some do not receive them. Though it’s a thing which should be more efficient in the future, that’s why it’s good to register tracks properly right now. Keep in mind that smaller local PROs are less efficient in collecting internet royalties than e.g. ASCAP or BMI.
This topic is very vague but what we can say right now is that you should:
- register with PRO tracks as soon as they are approved by AudioJungle
- same with CID
- register all used titles
How much can I earn from AdRev?
Usually authors report that they earn regularly 2, 3 or even 4 digit numbers per month. There are reports about single month earnings up to 5500$ (!).
Will this affect your overall sales?
Many authors stated on forum that joining CID didn’t affect their sales. It has to be said that very small number of buyers present the “just-to-be-safe” attitude and prefer non-CID tracks. In fact it’s the most risky attitude because every composer on Earth has right to register his tracks in CID whenever he wants. This means that non-CID track can become registered-CID track anytime and make a claim for music in already existing video. On the other hand some buyers might prefer CID registered music because they don’t want to be surprised by claims in the future.
How it can affect buyers?
Owner of the Youtube video might receive a standard copyright claim, afterwards he will have to upload a license which he received from the AudioJungle. It’s a standard procedure and buyers solve claims surprisingly well. In fact if you have been selling music in thousands, some single buyers might have a problem in finding old licenses. Though such cases are very rare so if you’re not an old non-CID Top Seller, you don’t have to be worried about joining CID at all.
Will my buyers loose money during a claim?
No. But they shouldn’t wait with the claim clearance dispute. Whole system is well-thought, here’s more about it.
What is a false positive?
If you use 3rd party long samples like melodic phrases or drum loops, automatic algorithm may mistakenly match it with other tracks using same loops. Simple user claim will solve the problem.
Is there anything I should be aware of?
Some CID partners ask you to sign contract which is hard to terminate for x years. For example Identifyy (Haawk) asks you for a three years contract. Usually it shouldn’t bother you unless you try to move your tracks to other library which doesn’t allow CID registration. By the way, we do not recommend moving to such libraries.
Is it worthy?
Yes. You will find many videos with your music and earn money from illegal use.