!eDDS Phase 3 – Live

Hello Everyone

Patrick here from the NCRA/ANREC, your friendly !earshot Digital Distribution System project coordinator. This is the new system that is in place to remove the necessity for physical CDs and poorly formatted emails, allowing for national distribution of content online in one giant online database and archive.

Back at the end of August we finished the development of Phase 3 of the !eDDS, and pushed the updates to the live servers. With this most of the core features have been implemented into the live server. Currently, independent artists can and have been creating accounts within the !eDDS, and have been uploading music.

Independent artists finally have access to the !eDDS, and we are not planning to charge them until the end of 2019. The goal with this is to provide independent artists with a chance to upload their backlog of music, give them a chance to get to know the system, and to further expand the music library available within the system.

So far we’ve had 58 independent artists sign up, and had over 290 new songs made available on the !eDDS since the update. This has been primarily from the independent artists that I have reached out to let them know that the system was available for them. One artist I’ve been in touch with has mentioned wanted to make their backlog of 240 songs available in the system.

For any local, or budding artists within your communities now would be an excellent time to let them know about the !eDDS. The system is open for any backlog of music that musicians may have, and any genre of music that may be out there. The !eDDS is designed to be inclusive so any and all artists are welcome to use the system (remembering that it is Canadian music only at this moment in time).

Programmers/volunteers are also welcome to get accounts setup under your station’s account. This should provide them with an avenue to find music for their shows that they wouldn’t have otherwise. With the !eDDS’s search functionalities users should be able to find music for any specific niche genre for their shows. The search functionality can also be limited to a station’s specific needs so that programmers/volunteers can only find the music that matches your station.

With independent artists able to use the system now this is the best chance to build the library available within the !eDDS. As the current library of music is relatively small we are looking to make a push towards getting independent artists to use the system. If this push is successful the available music could reach the critical mass needed for the system to continue forward under its own weight.

To this end, we need the support from member stations to push the !eDDS forwards. What we are primarily looking for is simply to push independent artists towards the system, getting an account setup within the !eDDS, and checking the system every so often.

To help with the push we’ve created a banner and poster that everyone is free to use how you see fit. The poster has a spot where a referral code can be added to provide artists that sign up using it to receive a discount for their purchases. If anyone has any other ideas of what they would like to see/use let us know as I can spent time working it.

The referral system is designed to provide the users with a small discount while using the system, and provide a small kickback (based on the discount amount that the artist receives) of funds to the station that referred them. Depending on who you can refer this could provide a stream of funds for your station going forward.

On the 30th of October at 1pm EST (rough date/time) I will be hosting a video call with an overview of the !eDDS. This overview will be looking at broadcaster accounts, and demonstrating the variety of features. For anyone that has reservations about the system, or may have some questions about it this is an opportunity to get a good look at the system. Email me at edds@ncra.ca to signup!

If you are looking for a more immediate way to get an overview of the !eDDS we’ve recently developed several video tutorials that you can use to get a preview of the system. These videos don’t cover everything about the system but can be used to familiarize yourself with the system before the 30th. The playlist of videos can be found at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9JrQrgyuidPGzkKr6twp-UiPMKs210Zu. In the future, we will also develop video guides for the music industry which you can use to see how it works for the other side.

For any stations interested in gaining access to the !eDDS you can fill out the form at https://forms.gle/dcQ1YR2RboMN7Ema9 (shouldn’t take more than 2 minutes to fill out). Once filled out I’ll either create the organization and invite you to the system, or let you know that your station already has an account and provide instructions as to how you can be invited. The stations that currently have accounts setup within the system can be found at https://earshot-distro.ca/?page_id=220.

Lastly, I will be on vacation starting from Wednesday, however I will be checking my email once per day to provide answers/support interested in, or is using the system.

If anyone has any questions about the !eDDS please let me know, and I’ll get back to you when I can.

Cheers,

Patrick Grimshaw