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Anyone know anymore than what the following e-mail explains? I have a couple of songs that were accepted by what was then "Pump Audio" four years ago. None have been placed yet. I haven't sent anymore songs since, for the simple reason that I don't like sending physical CD's in the mail. (just a pain in the ass). I don't mind faxing contracts as long as it's a done deal. Now they're going to start taking uploads and signing contracts online. This and any more info on this Co. appreciated. Here's the e-mail..

Pump Audio to Getty Images Music
We are excited to let you know that we are embarking on the next phase of integrating music more fully into Getty Images’ broader business. The primary aim of integration is bringing together a robust and cohesive offering that includes the range of our different content types – music, photography, video, illustration – so that each area of our business benefits from the value and strengths of the others. To this end, Getty Images has been busy building its music business and is eager to announce some new changes.

New Logo and Marketing Efforts
To increase awareness of our music offering to both existing and new customers, we’ve rebranded our music offering as Getty Images Music.

Here’s our new logo:

Watch for new marketing campaigns with our new music brand and logo.

New Getty Images Music Portal for Contributors
We have updated and significantly improved the former artist wizard and rebranded it the “Getty Images Music Portal.” You’ll be invited shortly to log into the new Music Portal to review and sign a new agreement, as detailed below. You’ll need to sign the agreement only once. Once you complete the agreement, you’ll be able to upload tracks directly to Getty Images Music through the new Music Portal submission process; it is no longer necessary to send a physical CD in the mail for submission.

A New Getty Images Music Contributor Agreement
We are also updating all Pump Audio contributor agreements to bring them more in line with our standard Getty Images contributor agreements for other types of content. Aligning agreement terms improves consistency across all contributor segments, but more importantly, this change is a significant step toward meeting new and emerging opportunities in the music licensing industry.

The Goal: innovate, create more opportunities, increase visibility in the industry and find new revenue streams. In crafting the new agreement, we sought feedback from a wide array of music contributors and included a number of valuable items they proposed. We hope you, too, will find the new agreement to be a good framework in which to work with us going forward.

The new Contributor Agreement retains the current royalty rate structure for à la carte music licensing; these rates remain as they are.

The agreement also paves the way for customers to engage with your content in manners not before contemplated, as creative, cultural and technological innovations continue to enable new licensing models. Flexibility and simplicity are the key components in developing relevant new ways to license and monetize your content.

These additional provisions will enable contributors’ content to be included in new products, services, and license models that Getty Images is developing and will continue to develop as we adapt to customer demands and future licensing opportunities. Many of these opportunities include “new media” and other businesses not traditionally familiar with music licensing.

Performance Royalty Free - Flexibility and Simplicity for Customers
Why is performance royalty free an important new license model? Music licensing is fairly complex and not all music customers or potential customers fully understand the process. Many will license music only if the process is made simpler--one size does not fit all. There are also certain customers who need a simplified and streamlined licensing process because they routinely use high volumes of tracks, usually at a lower price which will accommodate their volume. Yes, this means individual returns are small or incremental, but these users are growing in number so we expect this sector (as part of the overall market mix) to be increasingly valuable for Getty Images’ contributors. We understand that it is possible that you may not want every track to be available for performance royalty free licensing, so we have added an option that will allow you to flag a track as “not available for performance royalty free” at the time of submission. We want to make clear, however, that excluding a track from performance royalty free limits its sales potential, so keep in mind it may negatively impact the likelihood of acceptance of your track. As usual, we will weigh the value of each track against its limitations.

What’s changing in the agreement?
The new agreement supersedes all prior music agreements with Getty Images and Pump Audio. This one agreement covers all previously submitted songs and all future song submissions.

You no longer have to sign an agreement with every submission. This allows us to move to a new digital upload submission process for your music via the new Music Portal.
Only one signature is required (although that signer must have secured the rights from all other rights holders, artists, writers, composers, performers and publishers before entering into the Getty Images Music Contributor Agreement).
The new agreement includes the right for Getty Images to place your music in a wide range of license models including, but not limited to, performance royalty free or similar “direct” licenses, subscription models, pay per download, pay per listen, pay per subscriber and advertising revenue-sharing models, as well as license models that allow re-use and use in perpetuity. A direct license includes the upfront grant of all licensed rights needed and is deemed to cover all related fees or royalties – i.e., performance, mechanical, synchronization, master use, equitable remuneration, and/or other related fees. Granting these rights directly means a far simpler licensing process for customers, making it significantly easier to license your music. This also means that any performance or similar royalties (including the “writer’s share”) relating to that license will be deemed covered by the original royalty payment to you; you will not receive additional royalties for that license after the initial fee is paid.
After an initial one year term, you may terminate your agreement on a shorter notice period (90 days). Getty Images may terminate the agreement on 90 days’ notice.
The pace of change has never been faster. To accommodate future opportunities not yet anticipated, the agreement provides for the ability to introduce different or additional payment structures for new license models or to revise existing rates if needed in the form of a modifiable addendum or “rate card.” In turn, we will notify you 30 days in advance of the change, and you will be free to terminate during that time should changes in the rate card be unacceptable to you.
Payments will come twice as often. Royalty statements will be issued monthly, and payments will be made every quarter, rather than every half year.
We’ve added the right for Getty Images to issue licenses in respect of claims of unauthorized use of your accepted tracks by Getty Images customers. This allows us to provide better customer service and to collect license fees on unlicensed uses of your music by existing customers that come to our attention. Getty Images will pay royalties to you on any such licenses.