# DMT Music Advertising, Sales and Royalties Policy — DRAFT Version: 1.0 | Proposed effective date: to be set when adopted | Operator: DMT Music This is a proposed policy for discussion with artists, advertisers and counsel. DMT Music should publish a final dated version, secure the necessary licences and signed artist agreements, and configure customer support and refunds before taking live payments. Where a separate signed agreement or applicable law requires a different allocation, that agreement or law controls. ## 1. Definitions and scope “Artist account” is the account submitting a recording and representing that it has authority to license the master recording and associated material. “Direct sale” is a verified Paystack purchase of a priced track in DMT Music. “Platform share” is DMT Music's contractual portion of that direct sale. “Artist share” is the amount credited to the submitting artist account under this policy, subject to the account holder's responsibilities to other rightsholders. “Royalty” means a payment owed for use of a protected work or recording under a licence or applicable law; the platform's direct-sale share calculation does not by itself clear or replace those royalties. “Advertiser” is an account buying a labelled sponsored listing. This version covers the implemented track purchases and R150 event listings. It does not introduce a paid streaming subscription, automatic per-stream royalty, download licence, automated artist payout or automated refund. ## 2. Rights and artist responsibilities Artists retain ownership of their works and recordings. An upload is a limited permission for DMT Music to store, display, promote and stream the submitted track and, if priced, to offer the track for purchase under a separately agreed listener licence. The artist warrants that it has secured permission from performers, featured artists, composers, lyricists, publishers, producers, labels, photographers and any other relevant rightsholders, including for samples, cover art and promotional uses. A platform upload or purchase does not transfer copyright. The account receiving the artist share must identify collaborators and honour its separate royalty and revenue-share obligations. DMT Music must separately establish which composition, mechanical, performance, neighbouring-rights and master-recording licences are needed for each use, territory and product. South African collecting societies may administer different rights; payment to one party is not assumed to settle all rights. DMT may pause or remove disputed content while ownership or licensing is checked. ## 3. Direct track sales allocation For each successful, verified ZAR track payment, the application snapshots the price and credits **85% of the displayed track price to the artist account** and **15% to DMT Music**, rounded to the nearest cent with the remainder assigned to the artist account. Example: a R15.00 track purchase credits R12.75 to the artist and R2.25 to DMT Music. The figures are contractual platform revenue shares, not a representation that all separate statutory or collective royalties have been discharged. DMT Music bears Paystack processing fees from its platform share in this draft. Tax/VAT treatment and invoices must be established before launch; the system currently stores the displayed gross ZAR amount and does not calculate tax. A pending checkout, an unverified browser return, a failed payment and an abandoned transaction earn no share. A payment is posted only after server verification. Reversals, chargebacks, refunds and fraud can require an adjustment or recovery under a documented statement; the present application needs manual reconciliation and does not automatically reverse a previously paid share. ## 4. Streaming and music-related advertising The current player counts initial media requests. These counts are indicative analytics, not verified complete listens or royalty-bearing plays. **No per-stream artist payment is promised or calculated by the current software.** A future paid streaming or ad-supported music service requires a separate rights schedule, eligible-play definition, anti-fraud rules, reporting period, revenue pool, rate or allocation formula, and agreements with all relevant rightsholders before launch. Revenue from a generic event listing is distinct from music usage revenue. If a future advertisement incorporates an artist's track, likeness, artwork or endorsement, DMT Music will obtain the required permissions and agree any specific fee or royalty in writing before use. Paid promotion does not guarantee playlist inclusion or organic ranking. ## 5. Event advertising The implemented event listing costs **R150 for one approved post displayed for 30 days** from the date an administrator publishes it. Payment reserves editorial review; it does not guarantee approval, traffic, leads, ticket sales or a particular ranking. Each approved placement is marked **Sponsored** and links to an advertiser-provided HTTPS destination. DMT Music may reject misleading, infringing, unlawful, unsafe or unsuitable material, ask for corrections, or remove a listing if it later breaches the policy. The R150 event listing fee is allocated **100% to DMT Music as advertising revenue**, from which DMT Music pays processing costs, taxes and operating costs. Artists do not automatically receive a share of generic event-ad fees. If DMT rejects a paid listing before publication, DMT must arrange a refund to the original payment method and document it. The present application flags the ad as rejected but **does not issue or track the refund automatically**; an administrator must complete the refund and reconciliation outside the application. For an approved listing that DMT fails to display for the full 30 days, DMT should restore the remaining display time or offer an appropriate refund. Advertiser cancellations and unlawful material are reviewed case by case subject to law and any signed order terms. ## 6. Payouts, records and disputes The artist dashboard shows verified direct-sale shares, manually recorded external payouts and the remaining balance. DMT Music should provide a monthly statement containing track, sale date, gross price, 15% platform share, 85% artist share, adjustments, payouts and closing balance. Proposed payout cycle: monthly, within 30 days after month-end for balances of at least R100; smaller balances carry forward. **The current software does not enforce that schedule or threshold.** Payouts are made and recorded manually after account ownership and bank details are verified through a secure process. Never collect banking documents through the public track upload form. An artist or advertiser should report a billing, ownership or allocation dispute through DMT Music's published support channel with the order reference and supporting evidence. DMT will investigate, preserve transaction records, correct mistakes, and explain the outcome. DMT may hold a disputed amount while investigating but should not silently reassign a collaborator's share. A verified refund, reversal or chargeback must be reconciled against affected balances and payouts with an auditable adjustment before further payout. ## 7. Transparency and changes Sponsored placements will be labelled and kept distinguishable from organic recommendations. Advertisers must provide accurate claims, lawful imagery and valid destinations; they are responsible for fulfilment and ticket terms on their own sites. DMT will not sell organic playlist placement as an undisclosed advertisement. Changes to prices or shares apply prospectively after reasonable notice and acceptance where required. The percentage recorded for an already created track order is not changed retroactively. DMT will keep a versioned copy of the adopted policy and relevant artist agreements. ## Operational launch checklist (not policy terms) - Complete rights/licensing review for compositions and masters, plus artist and listener agreements. - Implement refunds, chargeback/dispute reconciliation, tax handling, email verification and password recovery. - Configure Paystack test keys and public HTTPS webhook; test idempotency, mismatched amount, and duplicate callbacks. - Confirm payout banking verification and statement delivery before live purchases.