How to Use Albums to Organize Requests

An "album" is a collection of one or more tracks. The "album" object stores required album title and artist info, and is the foundation of every license request, even single track requests. To organize requests by album, you have two options: you can put multiple tracks on an album or always assign only one track per album (recommended). Either method is fine, although we recommend you choose one method and use it consistently. We explain each technique below and compare.

Album - the foundation of every license request

By law, we must provide an album title and artist for every license request, even singles. As such, the "album" object serves as the foundation for every license request. An album object contains the album "title" and "artist" for the request. Here's a reminder of how we structure a license request:

About this article

This article is kind of long and probably not required reading for everyone. For that reason, we feel a bit of an explanation is helpful: by default, tracks are not grouped by album, meaning each request gets a unique album ID and has unique album info (album title and artist are not shared with other requests). This makes initial requests and reorders very easy. Simply make your initial request using POST /api/requests and reorder using POST /api/tracks/{trackId}/requests. Most users will prefer the default method for its simplicity and flexibility. However, we provide the option to group tracks by album for those that prefer it. Grouping by album is more complicated and can cause problems if not implemented correctly. This article is largely written to help users that want to group tracks by album. It's also for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of their options when it comes to using albums to organize requests. At a minimum, we recommend reading the next section, "Choose a method". Depending on your choice, the rest of the article might not be necessary for you.

Choose a method

You have two options for organizing license requests into albums. Either approach is fine. We suggest you choose one method and stick to it to give your users a consistent licensing experience and simplify troubleshooting. Also, the second approach is a bit complicated, so please be sure you understand it well before implementing it.

1) One track per album method (recommended). Straightforward and flexible.

If you do not want to worry about grouping requests by album, simply create a new initial request each time and do not include an existing album ID. By default, a new album object is created for each new request. We call this the "one track per album" method since we assign only one track per album regardless how the tracks will actually be released/marketed.

2) Actual tracks per album method. More accurate, more complicated.

If you want to group and associate multiple tracks on an album, you will need to save the unique album ID from the initial request and post it on subsequent requests. If you do this, only one album object is created and the subsequent requests are linked to it. We call this the "actual tracks per album" method because the grouping of tracks by album reflects the actual manner the tracks will be released.

Each method in practice - creating the initial requests

You will POST your requests differently depending on which method you choose for organizing your albums. Let's explore how this would play out using each method of album organization and the example Album "A", an album with three tracks, shown below.

                    
{
  "track": {
    "album": {
      "artist": "Mariah Carey",
      "title": "Heroes",
      "licensee": {
        "address": "123 Chestnut Street",
        "city": "Pittsburgh",
        "companyName": "US Steel",
        "country": "United States",
        "email": "example@example.com",
        "externalLicenseeId": "ExampleUniqueID",
        "firstName": "Andrew",
        "lastName": "Carnegie",
        "phone1": "(123) 123-1234",
        "state": "PA",
        "zip": "15106"
      }
    },
    "lengthInSeconds": 301,
    "releases": [
      {
        "formatId": 1002,
        "releaseMonth": 10,
        "releaseYear": 2018,
        "releaseQuantity": 25,
        "expectedOutletsOfDistribution": "CD Baby Pro"
      }
    ],
    "song": {
      "originalRecordingArtist": "Mariah Carey",
      "title": "Hero"
    }
  }
}
                    
                

                    
{
  "track": {
    "album": {
      "artist": "Mariah Carey",
      "title": "Heroes",
      "licensee": {
        "address": "123 Chestnut Street",
        "city": "Pittsburgh",
        "companyName": "US Steel",
        "country": "United States",
        "email": "example@example.com",
        "externalLicenseeId": "ExampleUniqueID",
        "firstName": "Andrew",
        "lastName": "Carnegie",
        "phone1": "(123) 123-1234",
        "state": "PA",
        "zip": "15106"
      }
    },
    "lengthInSeconds": 301,
    "releases": [
      {
        "formatId": 1002,
        "releaseMonth": 10,
        "releaseYear": 2018,
        "releaseQuantity": 25,
        "expectedOutletsOfDistribution": "CD Baby Pro"
      }
    ],
    "song": {
      "originalRecordingArtist": "Mariah Carey",
      "title": "Hero"
    }
  }
}
                    
                

                    
{
  "track": {
    "album":{
      artist": "Mariah Carey",
      "title": "Heroes",
	    "licensee": {
		"id": "badf45ab-041f-435b-be4b-8bf2b511c539"
	    }
    },
    "externalTrackId": "124",
    "lengthInSeconds": 214,
    "releases": [
      {
        "id": 8
        "formatId": 1,
        "releaseMonth": 10,
        "releaseYear": 2018,
        "releaseQuantity": 0,
        "expectedOutletsOfDistribution": "CD Baby Pro"
      }
    ],
    "song": {
      "originalRecordingArtist": "Janet Jackson",
      "title": "Again"
    },
  }
}
                    
                

                    
{
  "track": {
    "album":{
	"id": 1,
	    "licensee": {
		"id": "badf45ab-041f-435b-be4b-8bf2b511c539"
	    }
    },
    "externalTrackId": "124",
    "lengthInSeconds": 214,
    "releases": [
      {
        "id": 8
      }
    ],
    "song": {
      "originalRecordingArtist": "Janet Jackson",
      "title": "Again"
    },
  }
}
                    
                

Each method in practice - licensing additional units

After the initial license request, a common task is clearing additional units. This can be done using either method of album organization. There are a few scenarios to consider: licensing additional units for one track, some tracks, and all of the tracks on the album. Let's see how this works for each method of album organization.

Scenario 1 - Licensing additional units for only one track on an album (that has multiple tracks).

Continuing our example from above, let's say Track 1, "Hero" is quite popular. It achieves 100 downloads in the first month, surpassing the anticipated 25 units that were initially cleared. Let's see how this could be handled using each method of album organization.

                    
{
  "releaseQuantity": 100,
  "releaseMonth": 10,
  "releaseYear": 2018,
  "formatId": 1002
}
                    
                

Scenario 2 - Licensing additional units for a few select tracks on an album.

The solutions presented in scenario 1 for clearing additional units for only one track can be repeated as needed to request additional units for a few select tracks on an album. Below is some commentary specific to each method.

                    
{
  "releaseQuantity": 100,
  "releaseMonth": 10,
  "releaseYear": 2018,
  "formatId": 1002
}
                    
                

                    
{
  "releaseQuantity": 100,
  "releaseMonth": 10,
  "releaseYear": 2018,
  "formatId": 1002
}
                    
                

                    
{
  "releaseQuantity": 187,
  "releaseMonth": 11,
  "releaseYear": 2018,
  "formatId": 1002
}
                    
                

Scenario 3 - Licensing additional units for every track on the album.

When reordering every track on an album, there are two scenarios to consider: 1) the reorder quantity is the same for every track on the album, and 2) the reorder quantity is not the same for every track on the album. Here's how to handle these scenarios with each album organization method:

                    
{
  "releaseQuantity": 100,
  "releaseMonth": 10,
  "releaseYear": 2018,
  "formatId": 1002
}
                    
                

                    
{
  "releaseQuantity": 13,
  "releaseMonth": 10,
  "releaseYear": 2018,
  "formatId": 1002
}
                    
                

                    
{
  "releaseQuantity": 5,
  "releaseMonth": 10,
  "releaseYear": 2018,
  "formatId": 1002
}
                    
                

                    
{
  "releaseQuantity": 100,
  "releaseMonth": 10,
  "releaseYear": 2018,
  "formatId": 1002
}
                    
                

                    
{
  "releaseQuantity": 100,
  "releaseMonth": 10,
  "releaseYear": 2018,
  "formatId": 1002
}
                    
                

                    
{
  "releaseQuantity": 100,
  "releaseMonth": 10,
  "releaseYear": 2018,
  "formatId": 1002
}
                    
                

                    
{
  "releaseQuantity": 100,
  "releaseMonth": 10,
  "releaseYear": 2018,
  "formatId": 1002
}
                    
                

Conclusion

With the Easy Song Licensing API, you have two options for grouping tracks/requests by album. You can group requests by album using the "actual tracks per album" method or give each track/request its own album using the default "one track per album" method. The recommended "one track per album" method is easier to use. Simply make your initial request using POST /api/requests and reorder using POST /api/tracks/{trackId}/requests. While most users will prefer the default method for its simplicity and flexibility, we provide the grouping method as an option for when it seems to be a better fit.

Next up?

Have you posted a request yet? If not, that's a good place to start. If you've already posted, updated, and checked a request status, we recommend you read our article about using wall posts to communicate with ESL. It's an awesome way to get personal help from us and improve your customer experience.