Alternate Collection Launch Guide - Teaser Collection

A step by step guide to launching your MUSICat collection in three stages. This guide is for libraries launching with a small, directly invited “teaser” collection before running an open submission round. For the standard launch guide, go here.

STAGE 1: Planning, Configuration, Branding

In this first stage, your end goal is to launch your MUSICat site (it won’t have artist or album content in it yet, but it will have your branding and copy), and open your first submission round.

Create an Artist License

It’s good to start working on this as early as possible. Check out our artist license guidelines.

Pick a Collection Name, URL, and email address

Example URL formats:

playback.spl.org (integrated with library domain)
librarymusicproject.com (entirely custom domain)
hclib.musicat.co (musicat integrated domain)

Your email account will be used to send artist emails from MUSICat (e.g. to thank artists for submitting, invite artists to the collection, etc.). We recommend setting up an email account using your library’s domain, like: playback@spl.org

Unless you chose a musicat.co domain (or, if you chose a custom domain and a domain integrated with your library’s domain), put Rabble in touch with the team member who handles DNS for the library, and we’ll coordinate setup with them. Detailed DNS instructions are here.

Branding

Get started on a name, logo, and brand identity using the Designer Guidelines here.

Guidelines for Marketing and Promotion are here.

Juror/Community Curator Outreach

Best practices and guidelines for building your Community Jury guide here

Begin Authentication Work

Rabble will work with library folks to set up library card authentication for your collection. We’ll need a contact about 4 weeks in advance of a collection launch.

Community Member authentication via single SSL web service call with 1 or 2 factors — either card barcode alone (preferred) or barcode and pin from MUSICat API servers to a web-reachable Library authentication endpoint — is best. SIP 2 is also supported by default. For authentication endpoints that require custom integrations, 4 hours are included Additional hours are billed at $125 rate per hour. No custom authentication integration is required to configure and run the Library’s MUSICat Collection.

Artist Payments

Determine how to pay artists with your finance department or work with Rabble to set up artist payments through us.

Select artists/albums and communicate in advance

Determine which artists you want to include in the teaser collection.

Communicate early with artists to let them know about the collection, and either request that they share a specific album, or ask them which album they would like to share. Note that it’s best to have the album title before you send them an invitation. Let them know approximately when they can expect a formal invitation (which you will send at the beginning of Stage 2).

Colors and Favicon

Provide Rabble (via email) with 5 RGB values for 5 brand colors that will populate the loading graphic, highlighting, and text on your site. See PlayBack and Capital City Records for two different approaches.

If you want to customize your site’s favicon (optional), share a PNG file (via email) that’s approximately 150x150 with us.

Instructions for setting up this banner are in the Admin User Guide here.

Instructures for configuring your site logo and “no collection banner” are in the Admin User Guide here.

Set up your carousel banners using instructions in the Admin User Guide here.

Configure Site Elements

Walk through the settings in your Configuration guide here with us to get a sense of the options there including genres, optional site sections, artist information collections, and jury settings.

Create FAQ, About, and Curator Pages

Create these pages in Site Page Templates, guide here.

Create emails that go to artists

Create these in the Email Templates, guide here.

Set up your license

Set up your artist license in the License Templates, guide here.

STAGE 2: Invite Artists

In stage two, your goal is to send invitations to artists so that they can share assets and information for their artist and album pages and sign a license with the library

Send Artist Invitations

In your MUSICat site, go to the Invite Stage by clicking on “Invite” in the Admin Nav bar.

Click the button in the upper right hand of the Invite Stage interface that reads “Create Invitation.” This will take you to a form that allows you to send an invitation to an artist. Simply fill out the form and click “Save and Send Invitation.” W

Complete Submissions

When artists receive their invitations, they will access MUSICat via a link in their invite email. This link sends them to a series of forms where they will provide all the images, tracks, and information needed for their Artist and Album pages, and where they will sign a license with the library. You can monitor their progress in the “Complete Submission” stage, found in the Admin Nav Bar.

When artists sign licenses, the library sends payments to musicians. (Contact Rabble if you are interested in using our MUSICat Artist Payments Service to pay musicians.)

STAGE 3: Prepare for your teaser collection launch

Almost there! Your goal for this final stage is to publish your collection and promote it to your community.

Review and Publish your Collection

Album and artist content appears in the “Review and Publish” stage, found in the Admin Nav Bar, as soon as an artist signs a license with the library in MUSICat. Look over the artist and album pages, make any edits needed, and Save & Publish (you can also save your changes and come back later to publish). Note that you must publish both the artist and album pages. Go ahead and leave the “List Artist/Album publicly” option checked - the pages will not appear on the site until you make the entire site open to the public.

Finalize Authentication

Confirm that authentication is working as it should.

Open Site to the Public

When you’re satisfied that your carousel banners, artist and album pages, and authentication are all ready to go, head to your Configs page, check “Open site to the public” and save your new configuration at the bottom of the page.

Congrats! You’ve launched your teaser MUSICat collection!

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