Here, we detail the basic steps during the Quality Control process as well as the timing applied.
Quality Control Process
- A release is created and distribution to the channels is requested.
- The release will be pending the review of our Quality Control team. You can see this from tab 1 "Release Info":
You can also check the QC Tab to check all your releases that are pending QC. - After the corresponding review, if there are no issues and all metadata has been properly updated the release will be approved. In case modifications are needed, you’ll be contacted to your Support email by the QC team.
- Once the release has been approved, the pending deliveries will be automatically processed by the platform. The status of the deliveries can be followed from tab 5 “History”.
QC Timing
The term validation is used for all the content that has been already reviewed by the Quality Control Team. In order to start the process, a distribution order has to be made from the admin or end-user.
The process of validation usually takes between 24 and 72h (working days). In the event that there are exceptional cases at the content level for which the period of review by the QC team may take longer than the agreed period, the validation timing may increase.
⚠ Our QC timing is indicative and only affects content validation before the distribution step. Here you can find information about how long it takes to publish content into DSP's platforms.
*QC timing is not applied for Bulk Upload releases.
*The QC review time will be affected by the quality of your platform's catalog, so we recommend being aware of possible fraud or suspicious users.
Content validation
During the validation step of the release, one of the following events may occur, depending on the status of the content under review and the support level of your service:
- Approval: it means that the content fulfills industry quality standards, therefore it is approved and automatically distributed to the requested Digital Music Services.
- Pending: this status means that the content is pending QC approval and is under review. It is recommended to check the release during this status so you can make sure it meets the DSPs guidelines and is approved for distribution.
- Reject: this means that the content does not meet DSPs content guidelines and is therefore rejected and automatically taken out of the QC queue.
- Ticket to the admin. When content is not approved, a ticket explaining the reason why it is not eligible to be approved is created, so to give the end-user the information and fix the issue.
Since the creation of the ticket, the end-user has a period of 30 days to fix the content and communicate with the Sepulchral Silence QC team. Otherwise, after 30 days the content will be rejected.
The standards for the QC team to approve a release are detailed in the Content Style Guide. Any content has to follow these guidelines in order to be approved and distributed to all channels.
Once the release is approved, it will enter our distribution pipeline and will be delivered according to each DMS timing. Our QCT is only for the validation before the distribution.
For fraud notifications, the admin/end-user has a maximum of 3 days to give some feedback before a strike or blocking of the account that distributed the content is applied.
In the following article, you can find further information about quality control best practices.