Believe: Financial & Royalty Reports Guide

Overview

Believe Backstage provides detailed catalog and revenue export reports for independent labels and enterprise partners. Because these reports contain high-volume metadata and numeric identifiers, specific file-handling procedures must be followed to avoid corrupting data.

Prerequisites & Account Access

• Account Tiers: Available to Believe Backstage label partners and white-label administrative accounts.
• Required Roles: Account Admin, Finance Manager, or Royalty Administrator (requires access to the Finances section).
• Historical Data Access: Reporting history is maintained in Backstage dating back to 2021.

How to Download Financial Reports

1.Log in to Believe Backstage:Account Sign-in.

Navigate to the Believe Backstage Portal and sign in with your administrative credentials.

2.Access Financial Reports:Section Navigation.

From the main left-hand sidebar, click the Finances tab (represented by the $ dollar sign icon) and select Financial Reports.

3.Define the Reporting Period:Timeframe Selection.

Select your desired Start Month and End Month for the accounting period, then click Next.

4.Select Report Scope & Settings:Scope Configuration.

• Report Type: Choose Single Report and select Entire Catalog (or filter by specific sub-label/artist if applicable).
• Column Settings: Keep the default column settings as configured to ensure all standard ISRC/UPC fields remain intact.
• Click Generate to enqueue the report processing.

5.Download Prepared File:File Export.

Once processing finishes, locate your requested report in the queue and click the Down Arrow icon in the Actions column to save the file.

Technical Specifications & File Details

Attribute	Details
Available Formats	CSV, XLSX
Data Granularity	Sale ID, ISRC, UPC/EAN, Track/Album title, DSP, Country, Sale type, Quantity, Net royalties
Reporting Lag	Monthly (DSPs typically report on a 30-to-60-day lag relative to stream execution)
Historical Range	Reports available from 2021 to current date

⚠️ Critical File Handling & Troubleshooting

• Excel Data Corruption Warning: Never double-click and save the raw CSV file directly in Microsoft Excel. Excel automatically strips leading zeroes and converts long numeric values (like UPC or ISRC numbers) into scientific notation (e.g., 1.23E+11), permanently corrupting your identifiers.
  • Safe Workaround: Import the CSV into Excel using Data > Get Data > From Text/CSV and set the UPC/ISRC columns explicitly to Text format before saving. Alternatively, use Google Sheets or specialized royalty processing software.
• Operation Month vs. Reporting Month: Streams executed in October may not appear on a report until December due to DSP processing windows. Always check the Operation Date column if you are reconciling real-time streaming trends against financial payouts.
• Report Generation Queue Delays: Catalog-wide exports covering broad date ranges can take several minutes to generate during peak monthly accounting cycles. Refresh the Financial Reports queue page if your download link does not appear immediately.

Turn Your Royalty Statements into Funding & Growth

Your streaming numbers tell a story—and Red Octave uses that data to help you level up. We evaluate your revenue reports to offer competitive distribution deals, funding advances, and strategic marketing budgets so you can focus on building your next project.

• Tailored Distribution Solutions built around your catalog performance.
• Financial Advances & Budgets for marketing and upcoming releases.
• Revenue Analysis to identify growth trends across DSPs.

Have more questions? Submit a request.