Barcode, soundscan and videoscan

So now that you have received the free barcode from Hellman Production, how does it translate into tracking your CD or DVD sales?

UPC Barcode

A UPC barcode (Universal Product Code) is a unique 12-digit number that identifies your product, in this case it is a CD or DVD. The vertical lines on the barcode can be scanned through POS (point of sales) systems in most retailers out there today.

Soundscan

Nielson Soundscan (http://www.soundscan.com) is an information system that tracks the sales of music and music video products (Music DVDs included). Sales data is received from more than 17,000 retail, mass merchant and non-traditional (online, venues) outlets. Sales information is collected and compiled weekly and is available every Wednesday for subscribers.

Billboard magazine charts have been constructed directly from soundscan data. Soundscan data subscribes include almost EVERYONE in the industry, including record labels, magazines, newspapers, distribution companies, etc.

Videoscan

Nielson Videoscan (http://www.videoscan.com) collects sales data weekly from traditional channels of video distribution including mass merchants, audio/video and video specialty retailers, electronics outlets, grocery stores, drug stores, and some Internet sites. Nielsen VideoScan maintains this weekly POS data in one of the largest databases of VHS and DVD products in the country.

Nielsen VideoScan's VHS and DVD sales charts are currently published in Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Video Store Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and others.

Registration

To register your title with soundscan/videoscan, simply fill out the title addition form on the soundscan website (http://www.soundscan.com/register.html). It can be submitted by email to dbase@soundscan.com or faxed to (914) 684-5606. If you have received the barcode from Hellman Production, put us down as the parent label. Hellman Production does not get any money from the sales of your CD or DVD. It simply indicates where you got the label from. In the sub-label field, fill in your label name if you have one.

It will take about 10-15 business days for it to be processed, and that is all you need to do! Registering with soundscan and videoscan is FREE.

Tracking the sales

In order to review sales reports on your registered titles, you need to subscribe to the service. Nielson soundscan and videoscan provide different packages for their subscribers. The limited access package for smaller labels gives access to up to 20 titles. Full access lets subscribers see all title information in the database, as well as more types of reports.

Did you know?

- Soundscan now tracks permanent downloads such as iTunes, Listen.com, musicnet