Hello,
I hope to receive a reply from the iMusician team and some feedback from those users who publish classical music.
I recently launched a label focused on releasing a substantial amount of classical music. I am currently subscribed to Ditto, but my experience with them has been very problematic due to their lack of understanding of classical repertoire and rights structures.
I attempted to release my own original performances of works by Poulenc and Messiaen. Despite providing clear documentation proving that these are my recordings and that my label owns 100% of the master rights, Ditto has repeatedly caused issues. They claim that public-domain repertoire is a “grey area” and appear reluctant to distribute my album.
This is particularly concerning, as Poulenc and Messiaen are actually not yet in the public domain, and in such cases royalties must be correctly split between the composer’s rights holders via collecting societies and the owner of the sound recording.
Before considering a switch to iMusician, I would therefore like to clarify whether your team has sufficient expertise in handling classical music releases. Specifically:
• original interpretations of public-domain repertoire
** • new recordings of works by composers who are not yet in the public domain, with proper rights and royalty handling**
One additional concern is processing speed. With Ditto, reviews often take so long that I miss Spotify pitching, even when submitting releases four weeks in advance.
Could you let me know your typical review times, and whether tracks submitted well in advance can still be approved close to the release date if no changes are required?
A clear answer on this point would be very helpful in deciding whether iMusician is the right long-term partner for my label.
Kind regards,
Denis Zhdanov
Arteprism Studios GmbH
