Equal Dreams is not a music store — all the registered artists and record labels have their own stores within our service. Equal Dreams is a marketplace in which sellers and buyers meet.
Back to top
Equal Dreams is not a record label. We enable the artist to sell their music and get funding and visibility without interfering with the creative process and without claiming ownership to the copyrights or the artists themselves. Artists are free to register and also to leave.
Back to top
No, you can buy music without registration. However, registering gives you access to all the Equal Dreams features.
Back to top
Purchasing music is available for everyone, however if you are under 15 years of age, parents' permission is required. To sell music you have to be at least 18 years old.
Back to top
Of course! There are just a few simple steps required:
Note: you need to be the copyright holder or have an authorization from the copyright holder in order to release music.
Back to top
Any that can play MP3 or FLAC file formats, which means pretty much any computer or portable MP3 player.
Back to top
You can download music in MP3 and FLAC formats
See more information below.
Back to top
FLAC is an abbreviation for Free Lossless Audio Codec which refers to audio data compression format that does not remove information from the audio stream.
MP3 is a digital audio encoding format which greatly reduces the amount of data required to represent an audio recording and still sounds like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio. It is the most commonly used and most widely supported audio format. Most people can't hear the difference compared to CD quality but if you are a die hard hi-fi enthusiast you will probably prefer the FLAC format.
More information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Lossless_Audio_Codec
More information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mp3
Back to top
MP3s are encoded with LAME using variable bitrate mode. That means that bitrate is used according to the complexity of the audio data.
For example, a simple bass line is easy to encode and a low bitrate can be used, thus leaving high bitrate to the more complex parts of the music. In short, variable bitrate (VBR) is a more efficient encoding mode than constant bitrate (CBR), meaning that you get a better quality for the same file size.
We have found encoding MP3s at about 200kbps with variable bitrate (LAME preset -V 1) to be the best compromise between portability for mobile devices and sound quality.
We also have included the possibility to download FLAC if the quality of our MP3s is not satisfactory. FLAC files are lossless and exactly the same quality as the original.
Back to top
DRM is an abbreviation for digital rights management, which often refers to access control technologies that limit usage of digital media or devices. DRM is applied by many online music distributors to restrict usage of purchased music. From the consumer's point of view that can mean that the bought content will only be playable on certain digital audio players.
All content you buy from Equal Dreams is 100% DRM free – there are no copy limits, it will work on you iPod or your mobile, and you can burn it on CD as many times as you like.
Back to top
Equal Dreams allows the sellers to set the prices themselves.
Back to top
Currently Equal Dreams does not offer banner or other promotion opportunities for advertisers.
Back to top
Equal Share is a way for artists to get funding for the production of music. A fan who supports an Equal Share pre-order gets permission to download the pre-ordered songs when they are published and a share of the profits when they are sold in Equal Dreams service after the publication.
Back to top
Equal Aid is a means for artists to support charitable causes by donating a part of the music sales profit to charities. Artists can add Equal Aid deals to songs by selecting a charity organization they want to support and setting a donation percentage. The donation will be made automatically when the song is sold.
Fans can participate by purchasing Equal Aid music.
When creating a song, the artist can add a charity project to their Automatic Profit Division. Equal Aid can be added or removed any time.
Back to top
Equal Share for the audience:
Equal Aid for the audience:
Equal Aid for the artists:
If the target amount hasn't been reached, supporters can cancel their participation in an Equal Share project by clicking "Cancel order".
Artists can cancel an Equal Share project if the target amount isn't reached by contacting Equal Dreams.
If the target goal is not reached within the specified time period, all pre-order funds are automatically transferred back to the buyers' user accounts.
Back to top
There are several benefits to registering, including:
Registering in Equal Dreams is completely free.
Back to top
Registering in Equal Dreams is possible and available to everyone, regardless of their country of residence. Equal Dreams also handles international money transfers.
Back to top
In your private profile you can "subscribe" to different charts and lists that will be visible to you in your own page, such as new releases, or most popular bands or songs. The channels can be customized for example to focus on a certain genre or geographical area you are interested in. You can also bookmark different pages within Equal Dreams.
Your public profile contains information about you that is visible to other users. The information includes for example your name (or nickname), your location, your contact information and your favorite artists. You can also choose to give more information in the free text area, or include recommendations. You can manage the degree of privacy/disclosure freely, e.g. only choose to show your nickname, or, alternatively, give your whole name and contact information. Please choose carefully the information you choose to provide to other users.
Back to top
Yes. All personal information collected by Equal Dreams is protected with the utmost care. We ensure that all personal information supplied is held securely. We do not distribute any personal information to outside parties.
Back to top
You can change your personal information in the "Personal" page once you have logged in.
Back to top
You can remove any content you have uploaded except for open Equal Share deals any time you like. If you wish to remove your profile and/or your account entirely, please contact us.
Back to top
When you want to make a deposit choose deposit on the My account page and enter the amount of money to be transferred. Then you can choose the payment method (credit card or online bank).
For withdrawals, you have to be verified. In verification process we will send you a PIN code list via registered mail. We charge a small handling and postage fee for the verification (currently it is free of charge for the first 500 orderers of PIN letter). With the PIN codes you can access and manage your banking information. Equal Dreams needs your IBAN bank account number and a BIC/SWIFT code for the payments. Withdrawal is subject to a service fee.
Back to top
We accept Visa, MasterCard, Paypal and Finnish online bank payments (Nordea, Osuuspankki, Sampo-pankki, Sp/pop). Additionally we offer a private Equal Dreams customer account to which you can transfer money using the payment methods mentioned above.
Back to top
If you are a registered user, all music you buy will be stored in your music library. With every purchase you get 5 downloads, to be used for any item in your library.
Back to top
It depends on several things, including the music format you use (MP3, FLAC), the internet connection you have, and the length of the song. For example:
If you are not a registered user, you can download the file again within 30 minutes of the purchase — do not close your browser! If you are a registered user, you can download the file again from your library whenever you like.
Back to top
You can download the song again just to make sure. In case of any defective content, you can contact the seller directly and/or contact us.
Back to top
No, the free samples are of lower quality to ensure quick downloads. Purchased files are high quality MP3s and FLACs.
Back to top
The prices will become visible once the encoding of the music files is complete. Encoding usually happens within a few minutes, although it can occasionally take as long as few days if our encoding queue is long.
Back to top
You can choose from the following formats:
Record labels can set up an account and create a record label shop and also create and maintain artist pages if they have the authority from the artist. To fully benefit from our Automatic Profit Division function, we suggest that your artists will also create accounts of their own.
Back to top
Yes, you can send CD's via mail. We will upload the music to the service for you. For the time being we will give this service for free.
When you send the CD package, please also provide your user name in Equal Dreams. Address information can be found here.
Back to top
Registering as a seller and uploading music is free. Our commission fee is 10% (excluding VAT) or a minimum of 0.10 € per recording sold.
Please note: if you are VAT registered your sales are taxable revenue. Also note that VAT is not applicable to sellers outside the EU. Please check the VAT rate for your country here.
More about VAT here.
Back to top
Yes. Copyrights will remain with the artist or the copyright holder.
Back to top
Automatic Profit Division (APD) helps artists easily manage their profits and royalties. It's a simple and hassle-free way to direct earnings to
Artists or their representatives can create an APD rule and manage the profit division on the project pages by assigning the desired percentage to each recipient.
For example if you have a band of four members you can decide to share the revenues however you like, for example 25% each. Equal Aid and Equal Share deals are also managed through APD. In order to fully utilize the automatic functions all members who receive money need to have their own Equal Dreams accounts.
The APD rule can be edited any time as necessary. A notification about any changes will be sent to all parties using a private message within Equal Dreams.
Back to top
Seller gets paid monthly and the money is divided automatically with Automatic Profit Division, if it is used. Otherwise all the revenues are paid to the seller.
Back to top
We ask for this information to ensure legitimacy of transactions and safety for both sellers and buyers.
Back to top
In order to publish music you need to own the copyrights or be authorized by the copyright owner.
Copyright is a legal right that protects creative content. The original creator of the content owns the copyright but can give someone else permission to use the content or even sell the copyright to someone else. Only the copyright owner can copy, upload, display, distribute, publicly perform, and sell the content.
By purchasing music you do not become eligible to distribute or resell it.
Uploading songs to which you do not have copyright is a violation of the artist's rights and against the law.
Back to top