The core features of Apollon software
1. Get remuneration data the easy way
With its huge amount of information and its modern user interface with some powerful workflow and productivity enhancements tools Apollon makes it easier for you to get what your clients or members have earned.
With all the right holder and repertoire information you need
In the Right Holder Information Database you will find names and contact informations of producers and performers, record companies, CMOs and MLCs, banks, recovery agencies, heirs, mandate informations and some very practical CRM features with a correspondence repository. The Repertoire Management Database handles recordings, products and line-ups. So you’ve got everything on your hands to get your remunerations done quickly and easily.
Distribution becomes comprehensible
When it comes to Distribution it’s very easy to miss something. But not with Apollon. Because it keeps a close eye on this and helps you to get your accounting done correctly. And you can set all the rules and parameters to match your needs perfectly.
- Matching of actual usage to repertoire
- auto-matching on server
- matching rules fully customizable
- matching memory (no redundant manual work)
- manual match suggestions in real time (using Apache® Lucene™ technology)
- Distribution rules and parameters
- Distribution calculation and accounting (incl. costs, revenues, deductions)
- Value attachment to recordings, per usage type/right (for prioritization)
- Payout (including tax handling, domestic/foreign, bank transfer etc.)
- Reporting, financial statements, analytics (with Business Intelligence tools)
Sharing your information with your clients
With Apollon authenticated customers can also view their detailed remuneration and usage statements on a special web portal. There they can also control and change their personal information available to CMOs and MLCs.
Using external data sources
It’s also very easy for you to integrate external data sources for your repertoire information database because SDEG and IPD are already fully integrated, VRDB2 will be as soon as it is available.
Reports and analyses that will thrill your clients
Thanks to Apollon and the integration of IBM® Cognos® CMOs and MLCs can now easily create customized reports and statistics with drill-down capability. These reports can be used to generate detailed customer statements as well as high level of statistical and financial overviews for your annual reports.
Apollon as a Performer Management tool
2. All there is to know about your stars
Apollon also works as a Performer Management tool with detailed information about mandates and line-ups. It offers the direct integration of IPD via web services, a fully implemented SDEG workflow and is ready to integrate the new VRDB2.
The benefits of the Producer Management feature
The Apollon Producer Management feature enables a very fine-grained depiction of the very complex situations found in producers’ rights ownerships. The rights management structure allows you to cover any situation, across multiple territories, for different periods, and for different rights, with multiple producers (co-productions), represented by multiple societies/agents, and to allocate and pay out funds to the correct right holders for any right.
Mandate & Producer infos
- Territory
- Time period
- Rights (PP, BR, CR, PC, etc)
- Mandate holder
Line-Up & Producer infos in recordings
- Featured/Non-featured artist
- Role/s, instrument/s
- Territory
- Time period
- Rights (PP, BR, CR, PC, etc)
- Shares/factor for distribution
- calculation
3. A portal to your clients
Apollon gives your clients a nice and easy way to keep current with their information. The web portal not only gives essential information, it also allows your clients to update basic information directly.
The benefits of the Producer Management feature
The Apollon Producer Management feature enables a very fine-grained depiction of the very complex situations found in producers’ rights ownerships. The rights management structure allows you to cover any situation, across multiple territories, for different periods, and for different rights, with multiple producers (co-productions), represented by multiple societies/agents, and to allocate and pay out funds to the correct right holders for any right.
ACCOUNT DATA
A change of address, a new bank account, signing up for newsletters – easy and quick. Even for agents representing multiple clients.
REGISTERED RECORDINGS
A complete overview over all a client’s recordings Apollon knows about – just to make sure.
PLAYED RECORDINGS
Tell your clients when and where their works were used.
ACCOUNTING
Probably the most important part for your clients – detailed information about how much money was earned for what usage.
REGISTER NEW RECORDINGS
Since producers are probably the best source for information about their recordings, they are more than welcome to tell us all about them!
RDX
First-ever system to enable record companies to exchange authoritative data with music licensing companies through a single, centralised hub. Apollon has been part of the RDx project team from its inception.
RDx is the recording industry’s new data exchange service. RDx provides a supply chain for performance rights data among record companies and music licensing companies (MLCs) to help improve the accuracy of revenue distribution to rights holders when their music is used. Apollon has been directly connected to the database since the launch of RDx. BIConcepts has developed a smart interface that downloads only the recordings that are relevant for the distribution of the royalities. These saves the need to download millions of recording data. All relevant information about the data exchange with RDx is visible on a dashboard and thus the processes can be moni- tored accordingly.
Multi Data Source
Apollon provides a worldwide unique function for processing recording data from various sources. The core functions are a specially developed fuzzy matching logic and a rule-based function for merging of data from various sources, such as RDx, VRDB2, SDEG or directly from record companies. Apollon allows for customer-specific parameterization, so that a high level of automation is achieved when inserting and updating data. Due to the high degree of automation, tracking of data changes is necessary. Therefore, in Apollon it is always visible which source has changed which data at which point of time.
Rating
Broadcast times can be evaluated differently in Apollon. This is done on the basis of ratings. These can e.g. evaluate certain times of the day (night, morning, noon, evening) with a factor. Likewise, listener statistics can also be imported on a quarter-hour basis, so that the broadcasting time is evaluated based on the number of listeners. The rating functionality can also be used to weight national and regional channels.
Advanced Payments & Advanced Distributions
Apollon can create advanced payments based on last year’s distribution. These advance payments will be considered accordingly in the final statement. Moreover, Apollon can also manage several preliminary distributions, which will be taken into account in the final distribution.
Matching
Apollon can match usage data against multiple recording databases. If a broadcast time is not found in the local repertoire, the search can be carried out in other local databases (e.g., Unregistered Repertoire) as well as in external databases such as RDx or VRDB2. The determination of recordings takes place in the background after the import of the broadcast times, so that the user immediately sees all possible candidates during matching and can assign the broadcast time directly to a recording, regardless of whether it exists in the local repertoire database or not.
SDEG
Optimized workflows are available for processing SDEG data. The matching or creation of new recordings always takes place via all SDEG processes, so that the steps are only carried out once, even if the usage have been claimed by several companies. The claimed data and the existing recording data are clearly displayed in a wizard so that the user can easily identify any differences and update the local recordings intuitively.
Payments
Apollon charges more than just artist and producer royalties. Apollon offers a complete accounting system in which all types of taxes can be calculated, and payments made. All direct payments can be sent directly to the bank using SEPA files. Corresponding reports for taxes can be created for the tax office.
A direct connection to the tax office can also be established by means of customizing, so that all tax-relevant information is reported via web services.
Web-Portal
The web portal offers all relevant information for performers and producers. In addition to the recording data, detailed usage information and financial details are provided. In the customer dashboard, the artists and producers can see the most important information (such as the 10 most played recordings) immediately.
Repertoire data can also be reported via the web portal. Via an optional review process by the MLC, the repertoire data can be inserted directly into the local repertoire database.
Reporting and Dashboard
Apollon also offers an optional reporting solution including a dashboard that displays the most important information at a glance. The reporting solution is implemented with IBM Cognos, which directly accesses the IBM DB2 database used by Apollon.