CultureLoad

Music, Audiobooks, Videos, Images and eBooks as Downloads.

You can find great bands, filmmakers, photographers, authors and many labels and publishers from all over the world.

Because you will get your own account, you can then manage your downloads and money transfer. Besides, you can set up your faves and playlist, you can even contact the artists.

You still can listen to CultureLoad Webradios, music samples and audiobooks samples, you can preview some images and texts, those content are not restricted (for youth protection reason).
But if you want to download the content, even they are free, you have first to register.

There are no costs.

There are two types of downloads, the first type is costless, the second type is with cost.
For those costless downloads you can just click the button "Free Download" on the item page and download them.
For those downloads with cost you have first pay for the items before you can download them. Please click on "Add to cart" on the item page. Then check whether you have enough credits on your CultureLoad account. If the credits are not enough, you have first to add funds on your account. After adding enough funds on your CultureLoad account, you can click "Checkout", you can then download the items you just bought!

Your cart is close to "Sign in area" on the right hand side at the top. In your cart you will find the number of your bought items and the sum of your items. By clicking "Checkout" you can complete your transaction and after that you can download your items.

PayPal, Moneybookers or bank transfer. By clicking the button "MyCultureLoad", then "Add Funds", you can add funds for your account on CultureLoad.

Using the "Buy now" button you can directly purchase the items and download them, you don't need to put the items first to the cart. You need however enough balance in your account to use "Buy now"!

You can download the files five times (no time-limited)! In case you lose your files for some reason (e.g. hard disc crash), you have the possibility to download the files again!

Yes! We are concerned about the safety and security of our users. Accordingly, the transaction process on CultureLoad via Moneybookers or PayPal is encrypt and technologically protected. Besides, you can add funds via bank transfer. Please notice that your bank will charge you transfer fees (especially the users whose bank is outside Germany) that won't be taken over by CultureLoad.

No problem! Please try again to download it. You can download five times for the bought items.

No, there is no DRM on CultureLoad.

Yes! You can make backup copies of the items you bought. There is no limit of backup copies, in contrast to DRM.

All the works on CultureLoad are copyrighted. The exploitation rights include the private usage of playing, burning and copying the digital content on mp3 player, computer and end device. As far the artists chose corresponding Creative Commons License, the exploitation rights can be extended/varied. For more details see the "Info" on the item page.

First sign in, then you can upload a profile picture when you are on your profile page.

First sign in, then click "MyCultureLoad". Then click on "Account settings", you can then edit your profil photo!

Yes! As an Artist you get a free account on CultureLoad. By the way, there are not any additional publishing costs or similar. Sign up for free now!

All kind of Artists! Especially the artists whose works are digitalised (music, audio book, photography, movies, text).

No! The distribution of your works on CultureLoad is non-exclusively.

A free distribution channel to sell own digital (art-)works like music, photos, movies, eBooks and audiobooks. Additionally you have the chance to get in contact with other artists, customers and win new fans.

Pretty easy, just click the following link: As Artist register! (It takes only 2 min.)

The artists revenue share: 75%!
The other 25% consists of i) German VAT, ii) Moneybookers' or PayPal's transaction fees and iii) CultureLoad's share.
For example: You have sold your work for 10 €, you will get 7.5 € in your account.

First sign in, then click on "MyCultureLoad", you will see "Billing" and you click on it, under Billing you click on "Turnover", you will then find your revenue records.

The least sum of payout is 10 €.

You must have at least 10 € in your account (you can check it in your account), you click "Billing" after you have signed in. Under "Your current balance" you will see "Payout"! You can put your payout sum there. In case you do not have a valid  email address by Moneybookers or Paypal, you have to give a valid one.

CultureLoad uses the Creative Commons license to protect your intellectual works. "Creative Commons work alongside copyright, so you can modify your copyright terms to best suit your needs." The licenses consists of  (Creative Commons Website) the following types:
- Attribution (this license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.)
- Share Alike (this license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.)
- Noncommercial (this license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.)
- No Derivative Works (this license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.)

CultureLoad uses additionally the German GEMA licenses for musicians. Once you are registered by GEMA or their international collection societies partners, you then can not use Creative Commons.    

If you are a member of a collection society (e.g. GEMA in Germany) in your country, the usage of your works by the users is defined by the current copyright law in your country.
If you are not a member of a collecting society, current copyrights law is always valid, besides you can choose Creative Commons License, whether or not you can allow your users to remix, or/and for commercial usage. For details of the license model please see "Creative Commons Licenses" in FAQ. 

Yes. CultureLoad has signed up contract with German Collection Society GEMA. GEMA has about 300 partners worldwide that covers almost jurisdictions. If you are registered on your country's collection society, it probably has partnership with GEMA!

No. Since the German collection society (GEMA) and their partner institution do not accept double registration (collection society + Creative Commons), once you have chosen collection society, you can then no more use Creative Commons Licenses.

As an artist you can choose on CultureLoad whether or not you allow your works for

1. Commercial use
2. Modification
3. Share-alike

You first need to sign up on CultureLoad, which is costless. After that just sign in, click on "MyCultureLoad", then click "New Upload". You can then publish your works on CultureLoad!
 

You can attach the following informations to a file: title, genre, description, exploitation licenses, sell price, number of free downloads.

You can set the price by yourself. CultureLoad sets however the ceiling price for different categories which are listed as follow:

One single music track: 0.99 €
One music album: the sum of all tracks
One image: 9.99 €
One movie: 4.99 €
One book: 14.99 € 
 
Please notice that the technical quality (solution, bit rate etc.) of your works play a important roll for your customers, works with low technical quality is not so enjoyable and useful, therefore the willingness-to-pay for such works is not so high.
If you are a member of German collection society, GEMA, or her international partner's organisation, then CultureLoad sets the floor price for one single music track for 0.19 €.

No. But please take into consideration that your account is limited to 2 GB (gigabyte) of webspace.

Audio file: MP3
Video file: MPEG, MOV, AVI, MP4, WMV
Image file: JPEG
Text file: PDF

No. We however recommand the least standards to be guaranted:

Audio file: 192 kbit/s (optimum is 320 kbit/s)
Video file: min. 640 x 480 px
Image file: min. 2 Megapixel
Text file: there is no least standard

Under "My files" you can edit the attached information (file name, genre, number of costless downloads and sell price) of your uploaded files.

Please write us a mail at label@cultureload.net, which contains:

1. Label (publisher) name
2. Contact info
3. Release catalogue
4. List of artists (autors)
5. List of current retailers

We will than contact you as soon as we have checked your information. 

CultureLoad uses two types of license systems for musicians to protect your intellectual property, one is the official collection society system GEMA, another is the Creative Commons system.

Once your releases are registered by GEMA or their international collection societies partners, you then can not use Creative Commons.   

Creative Commons license system is an alternativ to official collection society. "Creative Commons work alongside copyright, so you can modify your copyright terms to best suit your needs."
The licenses consist of  (Creative Commons Website) the following types which you can chose or reject:
- Attribution (this license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.)
- Share Alike (this license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.)
- Noncommercial (this license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.)
- No Derivative Works (this license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.)

Yes! As a label / publisher you get a free account on CultureLoad. By the way, there are not any additional publishing costs or similar. If you are interested in using CultureLoad as a distribution channel please feel free to send us a mail: label@cultureload.net

CultureLoad is liberal!
CultureLoad distributes your content non-exclusively, beside CultureLoad, you can still distribute your content through other channels. 

We are glad to see that you are interested in using CultureLoad as your distribution channel!
Please send as a mail with some basic information about your label, first (compare question "How can I sign up as a Label?"). We will then contact you immediately and talk about further important details like the remuneration model.

You can check your revenue records in your account on the page "Billing" >> "Turnover".

CultureLoad uses two types of license systems for musicians to protect your intellectual property, one is the official collection society system GEMA, another is the Creative Commons system.

Once your releases are registered by GEMA or their international collection societies partners, you then can not use Creative Commons.   

Creative Commons license system is an alternativ to official collection society. "Creative Commons work alongside copyright, so you can modify your copyright terms to best suit your needs."
The licenses consist of  (Creative Commons Website) the following types which you can chose or reject:
- Attribution (this license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.)
- Share Alike (this license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.)
- Noncommercial (this license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.)
- No Derivative Works (this license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.)

Yes. CultureLoad has signed up contract with German Collection Society GEMA. GEMA has about 300 partners worldwide that covers almost all jurisdictions. If you are registered on your country's collection society, it probably has partnership with GEMA!

No. Since the German collection society (GEMA) and their partner institution do not accept double registration (collection society + Creative Commons), once you have chosen collection society, you can then no more use Creative Commons Licenses.

As an artist you can choose on CultureLoad whether or not you allow your works for

1. Commercial use
2. Modification
3. Share-alike