Our soundfile upload service enables you to provide us with soundfiles for your works. You can access the service on our Online Portal. If you have uploaded the soundfiles there, we can pass on the audio files for your works to all monitoring service providers. This in turn ensures that if your works are played they are included in the usage reports we receive.
WAV (PCM, 16bit/48 or 44.1 kHz) or mp3 (320 kbps)
Only one audio file per work. No voiceovers – no finished commercials
Titles, work numbers, creators and commissioned compositions
After your soundfiles have been approved, we pass them on to our partner organisations (such as Soundmouse, BMAT and Yacast) for monitoring purposes. We monitor the following areas:
You log in to your account with your e-mail and password, access the soundfile upload and accept the confirmation declaration (once only).
Next, you upload the soundfile, in line with the file requirements.
Add metadata to the soundfile. Either manually or via data upload.
Have you completed all mandatory fields?
Give your approval so that the files can be released to the monitoring service providers.
Soundfile and metadata are ready for audio fingerprinting.
In the case of commercials that are used on TV, the soundfile is particularly important. Please upload your audio file in any case when you register a work.
A soundfile consists of an audio file and descriptive metadata about the work and the recording.
As soon as you expect your composition to be used in TV commercials, TV/radio programmes, clubs and discotheques and online.
The work registration process with GEMA remains unchanged. The basis for the documentation of a work continues to be your work registration.
In general, your new registered work will be displayed in the sound file upload within about 24 hours.
If a large number of work registrations are received by GEMA simultaneously, our quality assurance processes could delay the supply of your new work in the work allocation of the sound file upload.
You can upload all the different final edited recordings for a work. Should the recordings only differ in length/duration, it is sufficient to simply upload the longest recording.
wav (PCM,16Bit/ 48 or 44,1 kHz) or mp3 (320kbps)
The audio file should be uploaded in stereo.
TV commercials, TV/radio programmes, online: To obtain a clear monitoring result, the final mix of the sound file or the final master of the music track used in the production should always be uploaded.
Clubs and discotheques: In order to obtain a clear monitoring result, all distributed mixes of a sound file should always be uploaded.
A soundfile may only contain the recording of a work. Special features in TV commercials, TV/radio programmes: The sound file may not contain any dialogue or sounds, only the pure music track.
The soundfile may only contain the score's own work. Ideally, all track (cues) of a score should always be uploaded individually.
Soundfiles for cover versions are usually to be allocated to the original composition. For identification of cover versions, the artist, track version and, if available, the ISRC are to be added to the soundfile information.
If the cover version is an arrangement of the work, the relevant work version is to be allocated.
Depending on the selection of the usage category, your soundfile is passed on to the respective monitoring service providers (Soundmouse, BMAT, Yacast). For music recognition, audio fingerprints are created from the soundfiles.
Google Chrome latest major version, Firefox (latest and extended support release ESR) Safari or Edge (two most recent major versions).
The data is saved in a Google cloud platform. The computer centre is in Frankfurt.
You can download the manual as a PDF document here.