Twice a year FACTOR reviews all the artist profiles in our system and reassigns artist ratings. The next profile review deadline is scheduled for Tuesday, February 28, 2017. Clients should log in to portal.factor.ca and verify that the information provided in their artist profile is accurate and up-to-date by 11:59pm PST on this date.
Please note that artists rated General only need to complete the Mandatory Information section of their artist profile. Only artists competing for an Artist 2 or Artist 3 rating should be updating the Additional Information sections in their artist profile, and reviewing the most recent sample scores of artist 2’s and 3’s from the last review round. These scores can be found on our Profiles & Ratings for Artists page.
It’s especially important for artists rated 2 and 3 to update the Additional Information sections of their profiles. These include:
- Discography – Sales and Spotify streams
- Live Performance Information – Past 24 months and future 6 months of performance dates
- Radio Charting History – Top 10 charting for national Campus/Community charts (!earshot or CMJ)
- Social Media Presence (FACTOR will pull this information for you from Nielsen Music Connect)
- Team
- Sync Licenses
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT CHANGES TO ARTIST PROFILES:
Discography
- The Discography Sales Calculator (Version 2.0) is mandatory for all clients reporting on album sales. Upload one calculator for the artist’s entire discography to the main Discography page of the artist profile.
- North American physical and digital retail sales – Clients should enter their sales numbers for North American retail (i.e. anything captured by SoundScan), but they no longer need to upload proof of these specific sales to the artist profile.
- Offstage sales and independent retail sales – FACTOR’s allowance calculation for offstage sales and other sales not captured by SoundScan has changed. Refer to the Manufactured Units tab in the Discography Sales Calculator for more information.
- Distributor reports or a Net Sales Letter from an accredited Canadian record label is now accepted as Proof of Sales. Refer to the FACTOR-Recognized Distributors List.
Live Performance Information
- The Live Performance Calculator (Version 2.0) is mandatory for all clients reporting on live performance dates. Upload one calculator for performance dates in the past 24 months and future 6 months from the February 28 2017 deadline date (i.e. March 2015 – August 2017) to the main Live Performance page of the artist profile.
Social Media Presence
- FACTOR pulls Facebook likes, Twitter followers, and YouTube streams directly from Nielsen Music Connect. As a result, the Social Media Presence page has been locked and will be removed in the future.
We suggest reading through the Artist Profile Additional Information Guide prior to beginning your profile update to ensure you have all necessary documents and information ready to go.
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. Over 95% of all 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. Remember that these values are not thresholds, and they shift after each deadline.
Note for General Artists: you can choose to provide information 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.
For further assistance with completing or updating your artist profile, you can consult the following resources:
Artist Profile Additional Information Guide