FAQ - Tapioca

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: November 22, 2023

General
Curators
Artists

General

What is Tapioca?

Tapioca is a new website where curators and tastemakers can easily create compilation albums. Rather than reviewing tracks for a few credits, compilation albums can be a source of long-term, substantial revenue for curators and artists.

How does Tapioca work?

Artists upload music to Tapioca's catalogue
Curators create a compilation album from the catalogue
Artists accept or decline their track being on the album
Tapioca distributes the album to Spotify and other streaming services
The curator adds the album to their playlists and promotes it to their followers
Album revenues are split 50/50 between the curator and each track's artist (less Tapioca's commission)

What’s the difference between Tapioca and playlisting services like SubmitHub or PlaylistPush?

Other playlisting services provide artists with the opportunity to pitch their music for playlist consideration. While valuable to the music ecosystem, these platforms represent temporary placements and value. Tapioca creates partnerships between artists and curators, providing a space for long term, mutually beneficial relationships.

Is Tapioca's model “payola”?

Simply put, this isn't payola. Compilation albums are a standard part of the music industry and have been before music streaming emerged.

Does this service conflict with DSP Terms & Conditions?

Nope! We are simply re-writing the role of a modern “label” and making it easier to connect artists with such labels.

What does Tapioca charge for fees?

There is no upfront cost to release an album on Tapioca. Tapioca retains a 20% commission on all revenues generated from compilation albums distributed through our platform. This commission includes all downstream distribution fees that we have to pay to our partners; there are no hidden fees.

How do royalty splits work? Who gets what, precisely?

For each track released on a compilation album, the artist(s) and curator each receive 50% of net track royalties (less Tapioca’s 20% commission). Curators do not earn royalties on any non-Tapioca streams of a track.

Will the compilation album version of the tracks be linked to the original versions on Spotify and other DSPs?

Yes. The tracks will share the same ISRC, meaning stream counts will contribute to the same total on your profile. However, royalties generated from clicking play on each version are distinct. Streaming the original track does not count toward Tapioca royalties and vice versa.

Can the compilation version of the tracks earn algorithmic revenue (Radio, Discover Weekly, etc.), or does it all go to the first release?

Algorithmic revenues are always attributed to the first release. Hence, compilation versions will not be eligible for algorithmic stream revenue. However, the additional streams and listeners resulting from the compilation album may lead to more algorithmic streams.

I run a record label. Can I upload my artists’ music?

Anyone who owns & controls the rights to music can upload to the Tapioca platform. However, please keep the following in mind:

Tapioca’s term is In Perpetuity, meaning when a rights holder agrees to have their track included in a compilation album, they are potentially agreeing to the track being included for as long as Tapioca operates as a business.
If your artist agreement has a finite term (e.g. 3 years), you must receive written permission from your artist in order to upload their music to our platform.
If your artist agreement expires for any of the tracks you have uploaded to the Tapioca platform, you must notify us so we can adjust the royalty splits to be solely controlled by the artist(s).

Please review our Terms and Conditions for details.

Are artists / curators considered employees or contractors of Tapioca?

No. Tapioca provides a service, for which we receive a commission. The relationship would be the same as with a distributor.

How long do compilation albums stay live for?

By default, compilation albums will remain live indefinitely. However, we may decide to remove a compilation album for a number of reasons, including but not limited to not enough activity / streams and curator take-down requests. Artists can flag an album that they believe is not fulfilling its obligations to be reviewed by our admin team. Tapioca reserves the right to remove any compilation album from stores for any reason at any time.

Curators

What are the minimum requirements for a curator?

You must be able to generate a minimum of 300 streams per song per month.

Do curators need to be able to generate streams for all of the songs on their compilation album?

Yes. We recognize that some songs may receive more streams than others, however, each track must meet the minimum stream requirement and must be consistent with what is communicated to artists.

Do curators have any obligations to artists in terms of placement ranks, duration, etc.?

You should treat each album as a long-term partnership with artists, like you are signing these tracks to your label. Be transparent - when you submit the album for artist approval, we ask you to include a message to artists. Take this opportunity to be honest with how you intend to promote the album, and for how long. This will help artists determine if it's something they want to be part of. As with everything else, we will iterate and take feedback on this topic as we build the platform.

How long do I need to support each album for?

By agreeing to our terms and conditions, you agree to support the album to the best of your ability for a minimum of 1 year. However, as long as the album is up, you can keep supporting the album and generating revenue for it indefinitely.

How long should my compilation album be?

Albums must be between 10 and 25 tracks long.

How can we ensure artists actually have the full rights to upload their tracks? Who is liable if it turns out that an artist did not have the permission to upload their tracks?

There’s no way to guarantee that artists have the rights to upload their tracks. If an artist uploads something they shouldn’t, they are liable to pay any due royalties or damages to other collaborators, labels, or relevant parties.

I typically leave tracks on my playlists for only a week or two to ensure that the playlist doesn't become stale or oversaturated. How will this work with Tapioca?

Tapioca is about longevity - longevity of the health of your playlists, artist relationships, and earnings. We hope curators will slow down and focus on supporting only the music that perfectly fits their playlists. Constant turnover of your playlists is not necessarily a good thing - most popular playlists have a good balance of freshness and consistency. We suggest adding a small number of new tracks every few weeks to introduce new music while keeping listeners' old favourites around.

Artists

Where will these compilation albums appear on my Spotify page?

Any albums released through Tapioca will be shown under your “Appears On” section.
Appears On Section of Spotify

Can I upload music from my multiple artist profiles through the same account, or do I need to create a new account?

We recommend that you do everything through one profile. Your profile is not linked to any particular artist profile, so it’s best to do everything from one account (and email) so you can more easily keep track of things like album requests, etc.

How come I can only upload my previously-released music?

Simply put, contracts are much more simple when it comes to previously-released music, and we think it’s better for you as an artist. This way, you continue to own & control your masters rights while giving us a license to reproduce your music on compilation albums.

How can a track be distributed by two different distributors? How can they both collect royalties for the same song?

Streams and royalties are tracked through a combination of ISRCs and UPCs. While the ISRC for your music distributed through your distributor and through us may be the same, the UPC for your original release will be different from the UPC for the compilation album containing your music. Through this difference, DSPs are able to send royalties to the corresponding distributor.

Why do I need to include a YouTube link when I upload my music?

We use YouTube for streaming tracks on our platform. If you do not include a YouTube link, curators will only be able to listen to a 30 second Spotify preview of your track, which will lead to less compilation requests. If your track is not available on YouTube or YouTube Music, we recommend you upload the song to YouTube as a video, and include that link for preview purposes.

Why do I need to upload a .wav file to your platform right at the beginning? Can’t I just upload the file when I agree to a compilation request?

Our Tapioca philosophy is that everything should be as smooth as possible for curators, with as few roadblocks as possible. If we have everything up front, we can distribute albums much more quickly!

How specific should I be when adding genre tags to my music?

If your music overlaps into a few genres, we encourage you to make use of the maximum 3 genre tags so that curators have an easier time finding your music!

Is there a limit to the number of compilation albums my track can be on?

Presently, there is no upper limit. However, we will be working closely with Spotify and other DSPs to better understand how we can best work with their platforms and style guides.

How does the approval process work if one of my tracks is added to a compilation album?

As soon as the curator clicks “Submit” on the compilation album, included artists will be notified and have 7 days to either accept or decline the offer. After 7 days, no response will be considered as a decline. The list of accepted tracks will return to the curator, who can then add more tracks (which will require another round of artist acceptance requests) or submit the compilation album for distribution as is. An artist’s music will never be included in a compilation album without their express consent.

Can artists submit their work to curators?

Not at this time.

How can I ensure the right curators are finding my music?

The most important thing you can do is tag your music with the appropriate moods, genres, and instruments. Curators use these tags to find the perfect tracks for their albums.

What happens if I’m not happy with the level of support I’m receiving for a compilation album that my music is on?

Unfortunately, this is a risk. We can’t guarantee any amount of success for any compilation album. We encourage transparency from everyone involved, especially curators, about how they intend to support compilation albums and for how long.

Can I request my music be removed from a compilation album once it’s live?

Unfortunately, there’s no way to do this on the distribution end. Once a compilation album is live, we cannot remove tracks without removing the entire album permanently, which would be unfair to the other artists involved. We encourage you to make sure that you are 100% certain that you would like your music included in the compilation album when approving a request.

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