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FAQ

1. Why do I need to join Keytone?

Keytone.com is the site artists and fans have been waiting for. We have rolled all the best things about MySpace, YouTube and iTunes into one easy to use, safe and exciting site. At Keytone, you can buy and sell music, video, photography, images, anything. It’s free to join and upload your content. Keytone takes 15% of everything you sell and pays you the rest into your nominated PayPal account each month. It’s that simple. Why have your music on MySpace (not earning you anything), your videos on YouTube (not earning you anything) and your photos everywhere (not earning anything) when you could have them all (and more) on Keytone.com earning you income every month?!

Keytone has all the important features of a social networking site (like Facebook or MySpace) and more. It’s easy to use and (almost) all proceeds raised through your purchases go directly to the artists who created the work - this is what makes Keytone The Ethical Solution. Join now and your first free keys are on us!

2. What are 'Keys', or K?

Keys (K) are our own online currency. Rather than adding all the content you want to a 'basket' and then entering your credit card each time you visit, you simply buy some keys and use them to download at your leisure (unspent keys remain in your account at all times). When your account runs low, you simply top it up with more – simple and all SSL encrypted so it’s completely safe. The artist that has uploaded the content you like has set the minimum price for that file. You are able to pay more (if you think it’s worth it) to support your favourite artists! Most importantly, Keys (K) are worth REAL MONEY and this is how artists get paid by Keytone. Whether you buy them with your credit card or earn them by bringing your friends to the site (and keep an eye out for other promotional events for you to earn free Keys), you need Keys to legally download the content from this site.

Check out the About Keys page for more information. To buy keys and get started on Keytone.com, click here.

3. I've heard I can sell my music, videos and photography on this site?

YES! Our unique media player (KMP) is a global, non-exclusive, digital distribution service. Through this unique system, you can upload your content (including music tracks, video files, film clips, photography, ringtones, etc) and make it available for sale to the world! In this non-exclusive agreement, you keep all the rights to your content. We simply charge a small percentage to cover site administration and deposit the rest into your nominated account each month.

You must be a member to participate (its free and easy to join, click here). Once you have joined, you simply start building your profile including uploading music, video, and photography and set the price. Then send all your fans and friends to www.keytone.com/yournickname to get their hands on your music.  

You need to know about keys though so read FAQ 2 or click here.

4. Am I allowed to upload content that is under copyright?

Yes, provided you are the copyright holder or have the appropriate license. Otherwise UPLOAD OF COPYRIGHTED CONTENT FOR SALE WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER IS ILLEGAL. The Keytone web development team continuously audits our Community. Those contravening copyright will have their profile removed and their details forwarded to the relevant authorities. Copyright infringement is something Keytone takes very seriously; after all, we are musicians too and would hate for someone to unlawfully use our copyrighted material. Keytone is a business with values and integrity and we expect our Community to value this too. Read our terms and conditions for more information.

5. What about my copyright? What licensing or agreement am I entering?

YOU RETAIN 100% OF ALL YOUR COPYRIGHT! This is a non-exclusive arrangement which means you are free to sell your content anywhere else you want. There are no set-up or ongoing fees. You simply join for free, upload your content (thereby extending us a non-exclusive license to sell it), set the price and promote your profile (www.keytone.com/yournickname). You can track your sales each day right down to links to the people buying your content. You can see who has visited, who is buying, how much, who your biggest fans are and much more! Take a few minutes to investigate the “My Account’ section from your profile page. For more information about the terms of the distribution agreement, click here.

6. How does the site work?

Joining is simple and free – click here to get started. All you need is a valid email address and you will be sent a verification link to that email address in order to activate your account. Once activated, you will be prompted to invite your friends. You will then be directed to your new profile where you can begin styling the page, uploading content, interacting with thousands of members, etc. All the links are there right on your profile page. Just click on any track or video on any profile to launch the player (or simply click ‘Launch Player’ at the top of the screen). You can browse, watch, listen, download music and video directly from the player. Having an external player means you can continue to browse the site without disturbing your listening or watching pleasure.
There’s a few other things you might find useful:

1.  Watching and listening to music, videos, photographs (etc) is free but you will need Keys to download content. We give you some Free Keys for joining but you will probably want to buy some at some point. Read FAQ 2 for more information on Keys.
2. Take a few minutes to explore the “My Account’ section. There’s lots of interesting stuff in there including all your transaction and sales reports, suspend your profile, see who’s been visiting you, your inbox and loads more!

Feel free to ask questions! That’s how we improve the site so we love questions. Click here to email the webmaster.

7. How do I convert my films for the Keytone Media Player?

Until we are able to convert your video footage for you, our unique player is only supporting .flv format for video. If you have a video you want to upload to your profile, you’ll need to convert it to .flv format before you can upload it.

• Visit Mediaconverter.org
• Select Upload Video From Local Hard Disk
• Choose the video from your computer and click Next Step
• Choose FLV from the drop down box.
• Skip the next steps to keep the same video and audio settings
• Mediaconverter.org will convert your video for you and allow you to download the converted FLV file

That’s it, file converted and ready for upload. Go through the Keytone ‘Upload’ process and make sure you pick the newly converted video for upload. There are no restrictions on bitrate but the file size must be under 100MB; remember, the higher the quality the file you upload, the longer your video will take to stream!

8. You can advertise your gigs on Keytone.com too!

Simply click ‘add my gig’ on the gig guide (homepage) and fill in the form. Every member is free to advertise their gigs on our site. On top of featuring on your profile (to be launched in a month or so), they will also feature on our homepage! This exposes your gigs to tens of thousands of people each month (and growing fast)!

9. What will you do with the information I have given you or uploaded?

We respect your privacy and your rights under the Privacy Act. We only keep absolutely essential private information on our records and DO NOT PROVIDE THIS INFORMATION TO ANYONE WITHOUT YOUR EXPLICIT PERMISSION OR UNLESS REQUIRED BY LAW. Keytone takes no responsibility whatsoever for any content uploaded onto our site. Any member found in breach of copyright or other laws will have their profile removed and their details forwarded to the relevant authorities. Please refer to our privacy policy for more details.

We do not store copies of your files on our system. The content you upload for sale is encrypted in its original format then a ‘streamable’ file is rendered if necessary. Streamable files are what you are watching and listening to on the site. The file you actually download is the original file in the exact quality it was uploaded. If you choose to remove or delete any of your content from the site, it is completely removed from the server. This is also all you need to do to end your agreement with Keytone.com.

10. How do I edit my Profile?

We have tried to make using your profile as easy as possible. We’ve done away with the traditional approach of having a ‘back-end’ (administration area) and ‘front-end’ (publicly visible page). Instead, we have combined the two into one easy to modify page. From your profile page, you edit each section with the ‘edit’ buttons that appear. You can change the text in your info section by clicking ‘edit text’. This ‘text editor’ is found all over the site (in comments, messages, emails, etc) so once you learn how to use it, it’s pretty simple. Using the editor, you can add text, pictures, hyperlinks, etc (as you may have seen with other similar editors). We have built a few extra bits in to make things even easier for you. For example, to embed your favourite YouTube video, simply copy the URL of the YouTube video, go to the editor and click the ‘YouTube’ button, paste the URL into the box that appears and then click save. Done. You can also enter flash code (using the ‘flash’ button) edit the source code (click ‘source’) to modify or paste html code into your page. The ‘edit style’ button brings up a style editor which allows you to change the colours, fonts, size, box headers, upload background images and much more! We are continuously upgrading the edit style functionality of the site so you will find new things all the time. Keep an eye on the newsletter for new features and tips.

Soon, we will be opening the site for designers and programmers to contribute page layouts, designs and applications. We’ll be sure to keep you posted when this happens.

11. I think I/we are good enough to be on the Keytone label. How do I submit material?

Keytone is focused on giving the power back to the musicians and the fans. Submissions can be sent along with a press-kit to the address below. Remember, Keytone is very selective with the artists we represent. We are determined to develop a label that fans know only has the best of the best. If they are on Keytone, they must be good!

If you want to send some material for consideration, please use the following alternatives:
                - send your CD/demo along with promo material to:
                                -              PO Box 8176
                                                Woolloongabba
                                                Qld 4102
               
- email us at support@keytone.com - send links to your MySpace, sonicbids or website          
- Let us know when your gigs are - upload them into our international gig guide then send an email to remind us!

Please remember, we get a fair amount of material and it may take some time to get back to you. Please be patient.

12. I have a great idea that I want you to know...

Got a suggestion on how Keytone can improve its services? Send us an email - we always generously reward ideas we end up using. Click here to send us an email with your ideas.