BDS (BROADCAST DATA SYSTEMS):Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems is the world’s leading provider of airplay tracking for the entertainment industry. It’s f
BDS (BROADCAST DATA SYSTEMS):Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems is the world’s leading provider of airplay tracking for the entertainment industry. It’s free to submit your music to BDS for tracking. You do not need a barcode to register with BDS. Radio formats monitored include Adult Alternative, Adult Contemporary, Album Rock, Classic Rock, Contemporary Christian, Country, Light AC, Modern Rock, Oldies, R&B (including Rap and Hip Hop), Spanish (including Latin Contemporary, Regional Mexican and Tropical Salsa), and Top 40. Additionally, Nielsen BDS monitors 7 U.S. Music Video Channels and 9 Canadian Video Channels. Nielsen BDS information is utilized exclusively by Billboard, Airplay Monitor and Canadian Music Network magazines in determining their radio airplay music charts.
How To Submit Music To Nielsen BDS
Submit CD’s and MP3’s free of charge, electronically through the secure Virtual Encode website.
Virtual Encode Access:
Please send an email with “Virtual Encode” as the subject to our Client Services Department at clientservices@bdsonline.com for a username and password.
PLEASE include the following information in the body of your email:
• Your Full Name
• Company or Label Name
• Contact Number
• Primary Email Address
• Any Additional Contact Information
You will then receive login information and instructions via email for the Virtual Encode website to upload your music.
Register Music by Mail:
Send all mixes of your single releases (preferably on CD) to:
Nielsen
8100 N.W. 101st Terrace
Kansas City, MO 64153
Attn: Encoding Department
MEDIABASE:This system is similar in concept to BDS, but instead of using computers to listen, it uses people. Also, since a human is actually doing the listening, that person can make notes of special things, like if the music was heard in a advertisement, or if the artist was talked about by DJs, or other things that a computer would miss.
MediaBase is used to make many of the charts in Radio & Records (except for the specialty and “indicator” charts, which are still done manually.) I should repeat this one point about specialty: Although MediaBase does detect specialty spins on the stations it monitors, this info is not used for the specialty charts in R&R... instead the specialty charts are made using manual reporting. MediaBase subscribers could still, however, search for and find a specialty spin if they wanted to.
MediaBase and BDS monitor about 80% of the same stations; therefore you may need to get both in order to get proper coverage.
The other major charts, FMQB and CMJ, use manual reporting for both the specialty and regular-rotation charts, and thus they are more suited to the beginning label.
Larger labels that have several projects going at once (and who are already selling 200 to 300 albums per week) might want to take a look at a BDS overall-package that let’s them log on at any time to check spins. Smaller labels will have to get the limited one-title package that just emails you the results every Monday. Mediabase, since it can be accessed at any time with even it’s smallest package, is a good starting point for smaller labels.
Mediabase has a special section for the indicator stations, called R&R Tracking. This sub-section of Mediabase is good if your genre has a lot of indicator stations, but, it’s non-real time; the results can only be had once a week.
HOW TO REGISTER WITH MEDIABASE
A: Send new music to:
Mediabase Research
Attn: Encoding Department
15260 Ventura Blvd., Ste 400
Sherman Oaks, CA, 91403
or email MP3 file to:
digitaldelivery@mediabase.com
NOTE: It is very helpful to include as much information as possible, e.g., the name of the track(s) you are working at radio, the format(s), contact name at the label, phone number, e-mail address, etc.
SOUNDSCAN:This system should not be confused with BDS or MediaBase. Soundscan is not for radio... it is for retail sales. It is the system that is connected to the barcode scanners at retail stores; it tabulates the sales data, and sells it to subscribers at a lofty price. A note about who owns whom: Soundscan, Billboard and BDS are all owned by the same company, which is the Nielsen Company. MediaBase, on the other hand, is owned by Clear Channel, the largest owner of radio stations (1200) in the world.
Nielson Broadcasting is best known as the company that rates the popularity of television programs. In addition to T.V., the company is also diversified in several music entertainment properties, and is the owner of Billboard magazine, as well as SoundScan.
SoundScan is an online service that tracks the sale of music and video releases. Any music product that carries a barcode is eligible to be tracked by SoundScan, if the retailer elects to report their sales to SoundScan. Almost all of the major independent stores, as well as the chains and big-box retailers report their sales to SoundScan. The service reports sales every Tuesday morning. Anytime you hear information about the top selling records or top selling singles for any period of time, you can be sure that SoundScan provided this information. In addition to sales produced by retail outlets, touring artists can also report their venue sales themselves to the service by faxing in reporting documents.
