Twice a year FACTOR reviews all the artist profiles in our system and reassigns artist ratings. The next profile review is scheduled for Wednesday, August 31 2016. Clients should log in to their artist profile and verify that the information you have provided is accurate and up-to-date before this deadline.
It’s especially important for artists rated 2 and 3 to update the Additional Information sections of their profiles (formerly called Qualifying Criteria). These include:
- Discography
- now includes streaming data (more information below)
- Live Performance Information
- Radio Charting History
- Social Media Presence
- Team
- Sync Licenses
Please note the following recent changes to artist profiles:
- The Discography Sales Calculator is now mandatory for all clients reporting on album sales.
- Streaming data:
- Spotify: Compile your Spotify plays/streams for each album by adding up the streams for each track. Enter that number in the appropriate field on the Discography detail page.
- All North American streams: Do not enter any data in this field. FACTOR staff pulls the best available data from either BuzzAngle or Nielsen Connect for this field.
- Live Performance information must be reported using FACTOR’s Live Performance Calculator. You must group live performance info into six month periods and upload one Live Performance Calculator per six month period.
About your artist rating
Artist ratings are determined by comparing the Additional Information values provided across all the artist profiles in our system. The top-scoring artist profiles will be assigned a rating of Artist 3 or Artist 2 based on how many artists FACTOR can fund at that level.
Remember that FACTOR’s rating system is competitive. Some artists rated 2 or 3 may see their rating drop, while some artists rated General Artist or Artist 2 will move up. The majority (95+%) of artist profiles will receive a rating of General Artist.
You can view sample scores for Artists 2 and 3 from the last profile review deadline on our Profile & Ratings for Artists page at the bottom of the page. These sample values show actual data submitted by artists under each section Additional Information section. Remember that these values shift after each deadline.
Note for General Artists: you can choose to provide info under the Additional Information menu, but are not required to do so. If you only wish to complete the Mandatory Information, you don’t need to take any further action before the review deadline to retain your General Artist rating. However, please note that if you only provide Mandatory Information, the highest rating you can receive is General Artist.
To learn more about recent changes to the artist profile, please visit our news post: http://factor.ca/important-changes-artist-profiles/.
For more information about recent changes to artist profiles, including detailed instructions on how to complete the Discography Calculator and the Live Performance calculator and how to enter streaming data, check out our Artist Profile Additional Information Guide.
For further assistance with completing or updating your artist profile, you can consult the following resources: Artist Profile Tutorial, Artist Profile Additional Information Guide, and FACTOR Portal Help page for help.