Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is there a charge to promote on LusobeatT?
A: For promotional items directly from LUSO artists in which the artist is the main profiteer and coordinator there is no charge.

Q: We are a local venue how do we get our event on LUSOBEAT and is there a fee?
A: To get your event on Lusobeat is a simple email or phone call away. Yes there will be a small charge to advertise but with over a half million page views a month and with current economic times online advertising will prove to be most effective in getting your message out and less expensive then other forms of traditional media. Contact our sales department for more details. Sales@lusobeat.com

Q: When can LUSOBEAT post my event?
A: If a "Show Poster" is provided we will post it as early as a month prior to the event. If no poster is provided we will add a text entry in our calendar of events on the week of the show (no additional fees).

Q: How do I get my link on LUSBOEAT and is there a charge?
A: No. There is no charge for posting a link to your website on Lusobeat; however we do encourage a link exchange in which our link is also on your site as well.

INTERVIEWS

Q: I am an artist/musician how do I get an interview with LusobeatT?
A: Just send us an email with your request. If you are local to the New England area we can make onsite arrangements. If you are in another state or country feel free to make your own video interview and send it to us. We'll edit it to follow are current standards. All videos are posted on "You Tube" and is the property of LUSOBEAT.com once submitted.

Q: What are the criteria for an Interview on Lusobeat?
A: Simple we are about giving recognition to those of Portuguese heritage involved in music regardless of music genre or area of business.

Q: I've done an interview with LUSOBEATT however it hasn't been aired yet when will it be aired?
A: LUSOBEATT is unable to give an exact date of when your video will be published. As long as we didn't previously contact you for logistical concerns on the video we ask that you be patient as we try to publish them in order that they were edited. There are some exceptions such as album release weeks etc. in which LUSOBEAT reserves the right to reorder any videos they wish. Negotiations are always open between Lusobeat and the artists for a more immediate release date...

AVERTISING

Q: I would like to advertise with Lusobeat how and what are your advertising rates?
A: Please contact Sales@lusobeat.com for this information.

GENERAL

Q: How do I unsubscribe from your mailing list?
A: Please send an email to unsubscribe@lusobeat.com please allow 48 hours for request to be granted.

Q: How does Lusobeat make money?
A; at this time the money we make is by our generous sponsors who support LUSOBEAT and from the club venues who advertise their event with us.

Q: How do you select: featured Myspace page or featured artist?
A: It's done in the following ways:

By fan request - If we get emails from our readers we try to accommodate as long as the artist site meets our criteria and we are able to reach out to them.
Randomly - If there are no recent requests we randomly visit our friend's page out on Myspace and keep an eye out for new Luso artists.

Q: Is LUSOBEAT a record label?
A: Don't we wish!! But the current answer is no. But you never know.

REGISTER TO WIN

Q: How do I register to win free merchandise?
A: To register just click on the "Register to Win" link on top of the page. Then input your name, email, phone (optional) and your selection.

Q: How does someone win after registering?
A: To be qualified to win you must be registered for that prize at least once for that particular month. Odds are approximately 1 and 476 people for a chance to win free merchandise.

Q: When do you announce the winners?
A: After determining proper registration we select winners at random every Friday night after 9pm EST time. Posting can be on Friday nights or Saturday mornings.

Q: How do I claim my prize?
A: You will be sent an email with the subject line "YOU ARE THIS Week's LUSOBEAT WINNER". Reply back with your mailing address and a picture (optional) in .jpg format so that we may post it on our "Winners" page.

SELLING CDS ON LUSOBEAT

Q: Is LUSOBEAT an official music store?
A: No! By no means do we say we are a "Music Store" we do however sell on behalf of the artists mostly because our LUSOBEAT readers have asked for a way to purchase their favorite artist's material. If you are looking for a CD that is not in our limited catalog go to our links page and visit our affiliated music distributors.

Q: I'm an artist and would like to sell my CD on your site. How do I do that?
A: Just send us an email to Sales@lusobeat.com and as long as it meets our criteria we will be glad to work the compensation rate.

Q: What are the criteria for selling CD's?
A: Here are the guidelines:

CD cannot be more that 2 years old from the date of inquiry with Lusobeat with the exception that it might have been created years earlier but only recently officially released. However if the CD is older we can always negotiate.
Artist must own the proper copyrights and licenses to their music.
Artist or at least one musician if artist a band must be of Portuguese heritage.
Artist agrees with sales terms presented by LUSOBEAT.

Q. How are you able to sell your CD's at such a low price?
A. We are able to sell at a low price because of the fact there is no "Middle Man" we try to work directly with the artist. We do this to guarantee that you are getting the original CD and not a pirated copy. Also we are able to ensure the artist gets more of the profits for their hard work. So by buying direct we save you money.

Q. Does LUSOBEAT work with Distributors for local artist CD's?
A. It depends. Again we try to work directly with local artists however there are some artists who might have separate contracts with other agencies in which we are forced to purchase from a third party agency.

Q. Will LUSOBEAT work with Distributors for non-local artists?
A. ABSOLUTELY!! Everything is negotiable and we want to ensure we are giving our fans what they ask for. Currently we are not able to provide such an infrastructure however we are working to get the best deals so that we can save you money on all your CD purchases.

Q. Is there a return policy?
A: Yes Lusobeat does have a return policy which is posted at the bottom of our store page.

RETURN POLICY CDs purchased from LusobeatT can be returned within 15 days of receipt of shipment. CDs must be UNOPENED and still in their original plastic wrap. Defective CDs will be exchanged for the same CD title. Please allow an additional 14 days for any defective items as this will need to be ordered from the artists directly. Lusobeat is not responsible for any lost or mis-shipped items as all CD's are delivered by first class US Postal Service.

PRIVACY AND SECURITY

Q: When I purchase a CD how is my personal information protected?
A: We utilize the PAYPAL infrastructure regarding security. Lusobeat does not and will not have access to any credit card information at anytime. Lusobeat is only provided with mailing information, and product information.

Q: Will Lusobeat sell my personal information to other companies?
A: NO NEVER! We've been asked and have been made many tempting offers but we refuse to give up your information. The way we look at it is you trusted us enough to share this information with us. It's the least we can do to maintain that trust relationship.

Q: Why does LUSOBEAT send out so many emails?
A: OK! That we get all the time. We do it for a couple of reasons: 1. We are committed to informing you of all local events. Since we are a weekly magazine we want to ensure you're informed of all the latest news. 2. Even though we try to be on top of things sometime we get last minutes updates from artists, musicians, fans and or other media. So if we feel it's important we like to share this information with you. 3. We do it as to not be forgotten. It been proven that with repetition people retain things longer.

However we do listen to your advise and we've now cut it down to only 2 emails a week to best of our ability. So far our readers have not been minding 2 a week. But we are always looking to make improvements as we continue to grow. In the near future we are working on introducing a monthly newsletter which should reduce the email frequency.

Q: How do I unsubscribe from your mailing list?
A: Come on stick around you know you don't want to get rid of us. ;-) BUT if you must go just send us an email and make sure the words "UNSUBSCRIBE" or "REMOVE ME PLEASE" is in the subject line. We've also now included this privacy policy to every email we send. We are sad to see you go but now I don't ever want to hear you say the words "OH I didn't know about THAT event? ;-)

Q: What is your E-Mail Protection policy/disclaimer?
A: Here it is: Protection of Your Privacy. You are receiving this email either because you have registered with us by mailing list, to win, purchase or referred to by a friend. We are committed to protecting your right to privacy as a reader of LUOSBEAT. Your personal information will be kept confidential and will be used for our business purposes only and we will not trade, sell or in any way divulge your contact information to anyone outside of LUSOBEAT.com. We shall send you information about our various products and services that we feel may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive any unsolicited mail you can unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time by responding back to this email and typing "UNSUBSCRIBE" or "PLEASE REMOVE ME" in the subject line. Please allow up to 48 hours for your request to be completed. Thank you.

VOTING

Q: I'm an artist how do I get my music heard on your Player and on the Lusobeat Countdown?
A: Feel free to send any music that is from your current album that meets the music criteria. If you can provide us with the original song and also a ONE minute version with a "fade in" and "fade out" that will save our team time and avoid any delays in posting your song.

Q: Who selects the songs from the Lusobeat Countdown?
A: The LUSOBEAT fans have total control regarding votes. They vote for your music so if you want to increase your votes inform all your family, friends and fans to vote for you on a weekly basis on Lusobeat.

Q: How does the voting process work?
A: We use a third party company call Polldady.com which handles the voting process. Every week we reorder the countdown per the previous votes and we allow only one vote per machine per IP. As this is tracked by cookies and IP address to avoid any vote tampering.

LUSOBEAT COUNTDOWN SHOW

Q: Do our votes really count?
A: ABSOLUTELY! With out your votes we don't have a countdown. Without a countdown we don't have a show. We are working directly with Radio station WHTB 1400AM in Somerset, MA. You can here the radio station 24/7 live on the web at www.radiovozdoemigrante.com.

Q: When is the Lusobeat Countdown Show?
A: The LUSOBEAT COUNTDOWN SHOW can be heard every Monday from 7pm - 8pm (EST). In which the show is hosted by hosted by Ricardo Farias and your's truly Jimmy Jam. (Shameless plug). www.radiovozdoemigrante.com.

Q: I don't get 1400AM on my radio how can I hear the show?
A: Listen live on the web at anytime on www.radiovozdoemigrante.com.

Q: Why AM radio?
A: They were the only ones at this time to give the countdown a chance. Thank you Ricardo Farias and Frank Baptista for your support.

Q: Why THIRTY vs. 10, 20, 40 etc..?
A: Simple TOP 10, Top20 or Top 100 all seem to be over used. So why not top 30?

Q: Who picks initial songs to be voted on?
A: LUSOBEAT picks the songs from the artist's most recent albums.

Q: Why do some artists have more than one song on the countdown?
A: At different times their songs were introduced if you continue to vote on them they stay on the countdown as we continue to bring you their next hit single.

Q: When does an artist drop off the list completely?
A: All artist activity is tracked weekly. If a particular song gets 0 votes for three consecutive weeks we take them off the main voting list.

Q: Why even do the countdown?
A: Why not? Gives us something to do and talk about? Listen to etc..

Q: How did the Countdown Show come about?
A: Well the concept is not new. But it was on a drunken night at the PAC... J/k. It was just an idea influenced by current billboard shows. We figured try one in Portuguese and we have numbers that show people are voting and listening.

THE SURVEY

Q: Why do a survey?
A: It's the only way we can learn more about you to provide you what you want. More importantly to develop a marketing plan to get future advertisement from local businesses and products that you buy.

Q: But it's so long?
A: Why THANK YOU! Hmmm! You're right the survey is bit long we are working on shortening it. It is my first time so be gentle. ;-)

THE PHOTO GALLERY

Q. Hey the Photo gallery is so cool!
A: Yes it is! Isn't? The photo gallery is buddy John Bolarinho's idea and a great idea at that! As fans love it as we bring you closer to the artist.

Q: How do you get these pictures?
A: Simple we use a camera. LOL we have a staff that goes to your event and we involve you in as many photos as that camera battery will take us.

VOLUNTEERING

Q: You look like your having lots of fun doing this how do I get involved?
A: We are always looking to include more people in the fun. If you are creative, easy going, can follow directions, have some spare time and LOVE Portuguese music then sign up I'm sure we can use your help.

So if you wish to VOLUNTEER check out the details and send us an application. http://www.lusobeat.com/images/ads/2008/lbvolunteer.html