Reporting Sales and Streaming: Become a data provider

Reporting Sales and Streaming: Become a data provider

Luminate receives verified music consumption data directly from thousands of reporting partners across the industry and around the world. Our data partners help us maintain CONNECT as a source of trusted, essential information for the entertainment ecosystem. 

We accept music sales and streaming data from providers that register with us and meet our minimum reporting requirements. 





Back to Registration and Reporting 

Report sales data 

Want your store’s sales to contribute to the Billboard charts? Apply now to become an official Luminate Sales Provider. 


We accept the following data from approved retailers:

  • Physical product sales purchased and sold within the U.S. and Canada

  • Digital album sales in the U.S. and Canada

  • Digital song sales in the U.S. and Canada from U.S. and Canada providers

  • Digital song sales worldwide from global providers


Your data must meet Billboard and Luminate minimum criteria (see below) and be approved by Luminate Content Services. 

Requirements for sales data providers
To report product sales data to Luminate, retailers:

  • Must be prepared to provide daily sales data from an electronic point of sale system/POS (i.e. Square, Stripe, Lightspeed, Shopify, Clover, Toast) in a plain text file format that is pipe delimited or via Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). Transfer details and credentials will be provided upon approval.

  • Must be prepared to submit no less than four weeks of consecutive sales data for initial evaluation.

  • Must be capable of recurring reporting on multiple artists.

  • Must be capable of consistently reporting on a daily basis. Failure to submit reports for more than four (4) weeks without notice will render a reporter inactive. Inactive providers must repeat the four-week trial period before being reintroduced as a data provider.

  • Must screen any Online Physical Sales for bulk purchases per D2C verification guidelines.


We may specify additional requirements during onboarding. 




Tracking schedule and deadlines
Sales providers must adhere to specified policies and deadlines for various transaction types. 

SALES CHANNEL
TRACKING WEEK
REPORTING DEADLINE
Digital Sales
Friday - Thursday
Daily 1:00 PM EST
Physical Storefront
Friday - Thursday
Daily 1:00 PM EST
Online Physical Sales
Tuesday - Monday
Daily 1:00 PM EST

Final reporting for the chart week is due by Friday 1pm EST.


Product sales and Billboard chart eligibility
In addition to the above, Billboard and Luminate maintain comprehensive chart eligibility requirements for product sales reporting. Products, transactions and reporters that do not meet our criteria will not be factored into the Billboard charts. 

Please see the Chart Eligibility section of the Knowledge Base for details.



Transmitting point of sale (POS) data
When it comes to point of sale reporting, Lumiante is platform-agnostic. We do not provide direct integration with any electronic POS platform...which means all POS systems can be considered "compatible." 

No matter which POS platform you use in your stores or on your site, you'll need to convert weekly sales data into our specified file formats or use a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) for submission. Formats, details and credentials will be provided during onboarding. 






Report streaming data 

Apply to report music streaming data using the New Provider Form for streamers. Luminate Content Services will reply with next steps via email within one week of submission. 


We accept streaming data from established DSPs that have contracts with the 3 major labels in all worldwide territories. Streamers must register with us and meet our minimum qualifications (see below) in order to report data. 

Requirements for streaming data providers
    To report streaming consumption to Luminate, providers:

    • Must be prepared to provide daily streaming data in a plain text file format that is pipe delimited or via Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). Transfer details and credentials will be provided upon approval.

    • Must have licensing agreements in place with the 3 major label groups (UMG, Warner and Sony).

    • Must be capable of recurring reporting on multiple artists.

    • Must encode music and report activity using ISRC and ICPN information. 

    • Must require users to log in. All reported activity must be generated by users logged into your service with a user ID and password. 

    • Must report streams within the following parameters:

      • All reported streams must meet or exceed a minimum continuous duration per stream.

      • Streams must be capped at a certain amount of plays per ISRCs per day per user. If a user streams an ISRC repeatedly within 24 hours, only the plays up to that cap may be reported.


    We may specify additional requirements during onboarding. 

    Streams and Billboard chart eligibility
    In addition to the above, DSPs must meet our chart eligibility requirements for reported streams to be factored into official Billboard charts.

    See Chart Eligibility for more. 

     



    Provider registration steps

    If you meet the above requirements and want to apply to become a sales or streaming data provider, here’s what to do. 


    1. Complete the New Provider Form

    Sales providers: Complete all required fields. Edit pre-filled fields or remove selections that do not apply to you.


    Streaming providers: The top of the form applies mainly to Sales providers. Scroll down to the Streaming section and complete all required fields. Select “No” or enter “n/a” for any required field that does not apply to you as a streamer (ex. physical location and sales information). Edit pre-filled fields or remove other selections that do not apply to you.


    2. Confirm eligibility with Luminate

    Our Partnerships team will contact the email provided and confirm your eligibility status after reviewing your submission.


    3. Execute a Sales Provider agreement

    If you meet initial eligibility requirements, you will execute a sales provider agreement with our Partnerships team.


    4. Receive technical specs and reporting requirements

    Once the sales agreement is executed, Luminate Content Services team will email you with guidance on technical specifications, reporting requirements, and instructions for a test data share.


    5. Perform a test data share (4-week trial)

    Perform a test data submission of at least four consecutive weeks of data using the correct format provided by the Content Services team. (Test data shared during this trial will not be included in CONNECT).


    6. Start reporting data as an Official Luminate Reporter

    Congratulations: after successful completion of steps 1-5, you will be designated an Official Luminate Reporter. Content Services will finish onboarding and provide you with SFTP login credentials. All providers must then share daily data according to the requirements given during onboarding.







    Registration troubleshooting

    Not sure if your application went through? Getting form submission errors? Here’s how to troubleshoot and/or contact Support.


    Go to: Troubleshooting music registration and reporting





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