Clients should log in to portal.factor.ca and verify that the information provided in their applicant and artist profiles is accurate and up-to-date by 11:59pm PST on this date.
Following the review, artist ratings and company ratings can go up or down. New ratings go into effect on April 1, 2018.
It’s especially important for artists rated 2 and 3, or artists hoping to increase their rating, to update the Additional Information sections of their profiles.
IMPORTANT CHANGES AND REMINDERS FOR ARTISTS:
DISCOGRAPHY:
– Discography Sales Calculator (Version 3.0) is mandatory for all clients reporting on release sales. Please use this new, simplified version.
– Upload one calculator for the artist’s discography from the past five years only (releases from March 1, 2013 to February 28, 2018) 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. Note that most digital retailers (e.g.iTunes, Tunecore, Bandcamp) report to SoundScan, so you do not need to provide additional proof documentation for those sales.
LIVE PERFORMANCE:
– The Live Performance Calculator (Version 3.0) 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, 2018, deadline date (i.e. March 2016 – August 2018) to the main Live Performance page of the artist profile.
RADIO CHARTING:
– FACTOR now recognizes charting from the Indigenous Music Countdown in the Commercial Radio category. Charting must be in the top 10.
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 or Artist 2 will move up.
You can view sample scores for Artists 2 and 3 from the last profile review deadline on our Profile & Ratings for Artists page. Remember that these values are not thresholds, and they shift after each deadline.
For further assistance with completing or updating your artist profile, you can consult the Artist Profile Additional Information Guide.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR MUSIC COMPANIES:
The purpose of this review is to ensure that all music companies are rated according to their current level of business activity. All Eligible Music Companies who wish to retain or improve their company rating must fully update their profiles in advance of the Annual Profile Review deadline. This includes providing all data in support of qualifying criteria, such as artist rosters, qualifying releases, and gross revenue as applicable.
Music companies that do not update and re-submit their updated profiles before the deadline risk losing their company rating if the mandatory information in their profiles has become outdated. If that happens, they will not have another chance to be rated until the Semi-Annual Review in August (at which point they may achieve a 2 or 3 rating), and next year’s Annual Review (to achieve a 4 rating).
For assistance updating applicant profiles, please see our Applicant Profile Tutorial.