Christian Digital Store FAQ's
- How long does it take to get a store up and running?
10-15 minutes
- How much will I pay to be a part of this?
$10 per month
- How much margin will I make?
Participating retailers receive 10% of all sales revenue
- Who is the technology provider?
Passalong Networks, the same company that delivers content for Songtouch.com, which is currently one of the leading “Christian-only” digital music stores online.
- How can I customize the store so my customers know they are shopping with me vs. some other retailer?
You will have your own unique URL to point customers to and you’ll have the ability to add your logo to the online store. You can further customize the look of the store by choosing from a variety of layouts and color schemes, and can also select the titles you want to feature most prominently.
- What is the privacy policy for my customers on this site?
The privacy policy will be plainly displayed as a link on the site. Customers will be able to opt-in to the store owner’s email list.
- Will anyone else have access to my customer data, and if so, how will it be used?
EMI CMG is funding the initial set-up of the technology for this initiative with Passalong. For accounting purposes, Passalong will periodically provide EMI-CMG with (1) the number of total active stores and (2) total sales for each active store. As such, we will periodically be given a view of total sales on your digital store, but we will NOT be tracking sales at a consumer level.
- Will Word and/or Provident-Integrity content be available on this site?
Passalong does have content from all major music companies – including Word and Provident-Integrity -- on their current online stores, and they are currently in dialog with those companies regarding this new service. That said, they have not yet reached a final agreement as to how that content will be used in this new application. More details will be available before the service is launched.
- Will other music companies offer DRM-free music on this site?
At this time EMI is the only major company that has released its music in DRM-Free formats. DRM-Free formats allow consumers greater flexibility and interoperability across the widest possible range of music devices, and are often delivered with higher quality 256kbps audio. Passalong delivers all DRM-enabled music in WMA files. DRM-enabled music is available from all major music companies and is also available from EMI as an option for consumers who don’t want the DRM-free option.
- Is all the music on this site safe for my customers?
Retailers have three options on the selection of music they wish to offer to their customers in this digital store: (1) Christian-only, (2) Christian and “clean,” (including “clean” mainstream songs, as evaluated by Passalong) and (3) all music (including all Christian and mainstream music). Regardless of which of these three options the retailer selects for the general store set-up, if there are ever titles that they wish to exclude, they can contact customer service at Passalong, and those titles can be deleted from their individual store.
- How can I make sure that only Christian music is promoted on banner ads and other promotional space on this site?
Christian-only music will be the only music promoted on banner ads. This is controlled by Passalong and EMI CMG.
- Will accounting for my digital store run through my EMI CMG account, or will this be a separate account?
This will be a separate account with Passalong Networks. All proceeds from sales will be distributed by Passalong to you.
- Does my PayPal account get hit transaction fees?
You will not be charged the transaction fees. Technically, you don’t need to sign up for a “business” PayPal account either, unless you are going to use this account for other business purposes. For all sales on your music store, the Vendor on record for these transactions is PassAlong, thus PassAlong’s rates with PayPal apply and PassAlong is assessed the rates/fees.
The only reason you need a PayPal account set up is so you can receive the commissions on your store due from PassAlong. The PayPal transaction fees only apply if you are the vendor, selling your own goods; however in the case of you Christian Digital Music Store, PassAlong is that vendor. You only need a basic PayPal account because PassAlong is just transferring money and this tells PassAlong where to “send the check” so to speak.
- Can I see an example of how to set up a store?
Yes, contact an EMI CMG account Representative in the booth to see a demo of how easy it is to setup a store online.