FAQ

Welcome to the new PRX!

What's different?

Getting Started 

Signing Up 

Paid Memberships

Searching and Listening 

Encoding and Uploading Audio 

Creating Pieces 

Auditioning, Buying and Downloading 

Communication and Promotion - New!

Getting Royalties 

Getting Started

What is PRX? 

Public Radio Exchange is an online marketplace for distribution, review, and licensing of public radio programming. PRX is also a growing social network and community of listeners, producers, and stations collaborating to reshape public radio.

How does PRX work? 

Producers of public radio content upload their work to PRX, and stations and other groups can purchase (license) and download this content directly from the site. The result is an extensive, technology-driven public radio catalog — no CD-mailing to stations required. And, everyone who loves public radio can sign up, listen, and become part of the PRX community.

Is PRX for public radio stations only? 

PRX welcomes listeners, stations, producers and networks: just sign up for an account. Listeners can stream any piece for free. Producers can post pieces for stations and stations and networks can post their work and license pieces for broadcast.

In addition, PRX welcomes any public, noncommercial community, college, low power FM station — and international broadcasters, too. We consider other acquirers, such as internet stations, commercial radio, podcasters, and libraries on a case-by-case basis.

How much does joining PRX cost? 

Signing up as an individual to listen to streaming audio on PRX is free.

If you are a producer or part of a group, and you would like to upload your pieces to sell on PRX, we have free accounts and paid memberships that start at $50 per year.

If you are with a station and would like to buy and/or sell pieces on PRX, we have a one-year free trial membership and paid memberships based on station revenue and how much content you want to buy.

If you are with a non-station entity like a podcast or an internet radio station and you would like to buy pieces, becoming an outside purchaser could be right for you.

Signing Up

Who needs a PRX account? 

Anyone who would like to listen to pieces on PRX needs to sign up for a free account. Individual producers and producer groups who would like to post their work on PRX need accounts, too. And, stations that would like to license content from PRX need accounts, and each person at the station who wants access to the station account needs his/her individual account.

How do I sign up? 

Click "Sign Up" at the top of the screen, fill out the fields, pick a username and a password you'll remember (if you forget, we can remind you) and be sure to enter a valid email address.

Then we send you a confirmation email — it's how we keep spammers off PRX. Plus, we need to have an email address in order to communicate with you (if you post pieces on PRX, we need a secure way to let you know when it gets licensed, etc.). Follow the link in the email, sign in, and start listening.

I signed up hours ago, but I never received a confirmation email. What next? 

I forgot my password. What now? 

Go here to reset your password or click "Forgot Your Password?" on our home page. We'll send you a new one to the email address you used to set up the account.

Paid Memberships

What's the difference between a free account and a paid membership? 

With a free account you get two hours of audio space for any pieces you want to upload. But, if your pieces are licensed by stations or outside purchasers, you don't make any royalties.

A paid membership gets you unlimited audio space on PRX, plus the glory of earning royalties if your pieces are licensed.

What are the different kinds of membership? 

Individual producer, producer group, and station.

Producers and producer groups upload and sell their work on PRX. Learn more.

Stations can both buy and sell pieces on PRX. Learn more.

How much does a membership cost?  

PRX charges individual producers $50/year and producer groups are charged yearly based on their budget size:

Group Budget Size Membership Cost
Below $49,999    $50
$50,000 - $149,999    $120
$150,000 - $299,999    $150
$300,000 - $449,999    $200
$450,000 - $1 Mil    $500
$1 Mil +    $1,000

Station memberships are based on total station revenue and how many hours of content a station would like to download in a year. Learn more.

What happens when my paid membership expires? 

If you're a producer or part of a producer group: Your membership will revert to a free account, which means your audio storage is limited to two hours and you will not earn royalties for any licensed pieces. You can still log in, search, listen to and comment on any pieces on the site.

If you're with a station: You will not be able to buy anything on PRX or earn any royalties if your pieces are bought by other stations.

I approach commitment with deliberation. Do you have trial memberships? 

Yes! We encourage any public radio station to try us out. Formerly called a "starter" membership, with a free trial membership a station can download two hours of content from PRX and has two hours of upload space for their own content.

If my paid membership expires what happens to my pieces? 

We won't delete your pieces from our site, but you won't receive royalties for any that are purchased by stations or outside purchasers.

Searching and Listening

Can I really listen to everything on PRX for free?! 

We pinch ourselves, too. Yes! All PRX pieces are available as free streaming audio. Just sign up to get started.

To make our audio player work, you will need to have Flash installed (most new-ish computers and laptops have that already). If you try to play the audio and you are prompted to install Flash, just, uh...do it.

How do I search for pieces? 

Type any keyword into the search box at the top of the screen. You can get more specific results by clicking "advanced" next to the search box. Then you can search by keyword, format, topic, tone, license, timeliness, and more.

Can I download pieces for my Ipod or other MP3 player? 

Sorry, at the moment because of copyright and payment reasons only stations and certain other types of paid accounts can download MP3 files of pieces. However, many of our members podcast and we have our own podcast.

I'm getting a buffering message or an "error opening file" message. How can I fix this? 

This is a bug that usually appears if you are using the Explorer browser (and will go away on its own eventually), but has also been known to pop up on other browsers. We recommend using Firefox, which is available for free.

Also, try checking to make sure you have installed the latest updates for your browser. If none of that works, try listening from a different computer.

I'm with a station and I still can't find what I'm looking for. Can PRX help? 

Contact us. We know the site inside and out and can help you find the right piece.

I want to click around while listening to pieces. Is there a way I can do that? 

Create a playlist! You can put pieces in an order that you like and let them play while you do other things.

Playlists are also a great a way for you to share a collection of PRX stuff that you want to recommend. Say you create a playlist called "Great Pieces for My Workday." Then, when you go to a piece you will see the option to add that piece to your playlist. You can create as many playlists as you like.

If you work at a station or you want to assemble a list of pieces just to play all at once, this is a simple method of curating selections and categorizing them.

What happened to my list of favorites from PRX 2.0? 

Don't worry, we saved them for you as a playlist. You can find them under My PRX > Manage your Playlists.

Encoding and Uploading Audio

How do I get my radio pieces onto PRX? 

Everyone on PRX, even unpaid account holders, has two free hours of audio space. Just check out our instructions and read our info about paid producer memberships first.

Does it cost anything to upload audio and post pieces on PRX? 

You can post up to two hours of pieces on PRX for free, but you will not earn any royalties if those pieces are licensed. To earn royalties if your pieces are licensed and to get unlimited audio storage space, you'll need to pay for a yearly membership.

What format must my audio be in? 

Your audio must be an MP2 file to get onto PRX. MP2s are the high-quality industry standard for public radio. You must use the free PRX Encoder application to convert your audio. If you use another method to encode your audio, the upload process might not work. Learn more.

I have an MP3 file. Can I convert that into an MP2? 

We highly, highly recommend that you start out by using an uncompressed format like AIFF or WAV, not a compressed format like MP3. (For an explanation on the difference, see compressed versus uncompressed.) Regardless, the take-home point is that when a piece of audio is compressed, it loses a lot of sound quality. It doesn't matter if it's converted back into a WAV or AIFF; it will still sound just as bad.

When I upload my audio using the Uploader, is it immediately public? 

Nope. You must attach it to a piece.

Can I upload as much audio as I want? 

Yes, if you have a paid membership. If you have an unpaid account, you have two hours of audio space.

Do I need to send you my audio before I upload it so that you can approve it for PRX? 

Nope! Just make sure you follow our Uploading Policy.

There's an "error processing" symbol () on my audio file. What now?

Don't remove your audio file. Let us know about the error message, and we'll restart the processing. When you let us know, send us your username and the web address of the piece.

Creating Pieces 

I've uploaded my audio using the Uploader. Why isn't it listed as a piece? 

If you send your audio to our site using the Uploader application, the next step is to go to My PRX to create a piece and attach the audio to it. A piece is your audio as a page on our site, plus all the information associated with it: title, producers, tones, topics, price, licensing agreement, etc. Once you are finished filling out all the info, you can publish it for the world to see.

What rights am I granting to PRX? 

We are non-exclusive, so you are still welcome to distribute your work elsewhere. For all our terms and rules, please read our Uploading Policy and User Agreement.

Who can buy my pieces? 

Public and non-commercial radio stations in the United States remain the primary users of pieces on PRX, but we have started adding national shows, podcasts, Internet radio, and other organizations who come to PRX and want access to the wonderful work you have put on the site. We call these non-station distributors outside purchasers.

All stations on PRX can license your pieces, but we understand some producers may not want to sell to outside purchasers. You can adjust all your purchaser options when you create a piece.

What types/formats of pieces are stations looking for? 

Stations are looking for all sorts of content of all types and formats. But we do know what types and formats are most popular: one-hour programs and programs that fit easily into Morning Edition and other network clock slots. Music and music-related programs are the most licensed types of programs. Check out more info and tips.

Should I break my piece into multiple segments? 

If you have a program that is a half-hour, one hour or longer, the short answer is yes. This makes it easier for stations to input your show into station automation systems. BUT, we also urge you, if you have time, to post a non-segmented version that plays straight through for those stations that don't have automation system. Take a look at the network clocks for some ideas on how to segment longer programs.

How is the price of my piece determined? 

The price of a piece is determined by its length; longer pieces carry higher PRX point prices than short ones. But all pieces are based on a default price of $.50/minute. The price is what a station pays in points.

You have three options when choosing the price of your piece:

  1. Accept the default price of $.50/minute
  2. Double your price to twice the default rate
  3. Triple your price to triple the default rate

Can I give my piece away for free? 

Make your piece "free" by setting the price to zero points. Some producers are funded by grants, for example, that do not allow any kind of income to be made from distributing the piece. If you'd simply rather not receive payment, however, you can always set your piece to the standard rate and donate those points back to PRX.

Who covers the license fees for music? 

PRX distributes pieces public on public (non-commercial) radio stations, which have blanket music agreements. They just need to report the music they play, so you have be certain to fill out all the musical works information when you create your pieces on PRX.

NOTE: You may not upload self-contained, complete musical works or excerpts, except if the music is contained in a longer piece. For legal reasons, pieces may contain music as background, transition, or featured (as in an interview with a musician about a song), but you cannot post a stand-alone, complete or excerpted musical work to PRX. For example, you cannot upload The Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" to PRX, but you can post a program about the Stones that contains all or part of "Satisfaction."

How do I take down a piece that I've published? 

There are two options: unpublishing the piece so that all the information and audio stays on PRX, or deleting the piece entirely.

To unpublish a piece:

  1. Go to My PRX
  2. Click Manage All Pieces
  3. Click the title of the piece you want to make private
  4. Click Preview
  5. Click Make Piece Private

To delete a piece:

  1. Go to My PRX
  2. Click Manage All Pieces
  3. Check the box to the left of the piece you want to delete
  4. Click Delete

NOTE: Deleting a piece will not send your audio back to your dropbox. Deleting a piece removes the audio and the piece information from PRX.

Auditioning, Buying and Downloading

I've lost my audio file and need to get it from PRX. Can I download my own audio?

Yes, if you're logged in. From the piece page, click "Edit Piece" on the right sidebar. Then, from the Basics tab of piece edit, scroll down to the piece audio, which is shown as a yellow bar. Right-click the length of the piece audio on the yellow bar. Choose "Save Link As..." to save it to your computer.

Who can buy a piece and how? 

Stations need either a trial or paid station membership. We also consider other purchasers such as podcasts and internet radio on a case-by-case basis.

I'm not with a radio station but I want to buy a piece. How does that work? 

We have a growing list of outside purchasers including podcasts, national shows, internet radio, and more that we consider on a case-by-case basis. Learn more.

We have a paid membership but I don't see the "Buy this piece" link. 

You must be a station admin in order to buy a piece. Your station admins can designate other admins by going to your station profile and clicking Manage Members on the right.

To find out who your station admin is, go to your station profile and scroll down to view the members. Admins will have "(Admin)" next to their name. We can also adjust your admins if you contact us.

How can we preview a piece before we buy it? 

Stations and outside purchasers, in addition to being able to stream audio on any piece, have access to downloadable, audition-only MP3 files. This gives flexibility to station programmers who need downloadable files in order to plan programming away from their computers. Stations are NOT ALLOWED to play MP3 audition files on the air. Doing so would violate the PRX User Agreement and the piece licensing agreement. It would also rob the producer of royalties and would put low-quality audio on your airwaves. Just don't do it.

Can we broadcast the MP3 audition file? 

No. Stations must broadcast the high quality MP2 files available with each piece. The MP3 file and the streaming audio file are for audition purposes only. As part of the User Agreement, you must follow all license terms set up by the producer and only broadcast the MP2.

When we buy a piece, does it download automatically? 

No. When a station buys a piece, it has access to high quality, broadcast-ready MP2 audio file for a year. The station can download it at any point within that year from the piece page and can re-download it if necessary.

Can my station get free pieces off PRX once my station membership expires? 

We have a question about the audio. How do we get in touch with the producer? 

You can contact any member on PRX by going to his or her profile and clicking "Message me."

How can we keep track of the pieces our station has bought on PRX? 

Go to My PRX > Purchased Pieces.

Can we pre-purchase pieces to play at a later date? 

Yes, we encourage you to plan ahead. It's always best to buy pieces early if possible, especially if it is your first time downloading pieces and you think you may need help (our help desk-ers do sleep). You should also use up your station points before they expire (they're good for a year).

Communication and Promotion

Will stations see that I've created a new piece on PRX? 

All new pieces appear on our home page after they are published and on our pieces page. But, you can't be sure that at that moment the right station staff member will be looking and see it. You should still target specific stations and check out more tips for bringing attention to your pieces.

How do I let a station know I have a piece up on PRX?

From a station's PRX profile (which you can find by searching for the station's call letters or name), click "Contact [station call letters]" on the right.

Make it easy for a station to understand why you are contacting them about a piece. For example, if there's a music festival going on in their town, and you interviewed one of the bands in that festival, be sure to briefly explain the connection. And, send them a direct link to the piece on PRX!

Can I message all of the stations on PRX about my pieces?

Sorry, but we can't allow mass-messagings of all the PRX stations. With as many members and pieces we have, you can see how that might get out of hand. But, you can target and contact specific stations through PRX messaging.

How do I get my piece featured on the PRX home page or in the Editors' Picks? 

All newly posted pieces end up automatically on the home page in the list of New Pieces. This list changes all day every day as new pieces are added to PRX.

Then there is the manual way you end up on the home page. PRX site editors make an editorial decision about what might capture the attention of stations; we see your piece appear and listen to it and say "Wow, that should be on the home page! I bet a station would find that interesting." We look for items and subjects that are timely and relevant for listeners and stations, demonstrate superior craft or uniqueness, or coordinate with national marketing efforts.

How can I spread the word about my pieces outside PRX?

Take a look at our Promoting Your Work to the Outside World page, which details targeting your message to Facebook, Twitter, blogs and more.

What are PRX contacts?

Contacts are like PRX's version of "friending" — they allow you to keep track of who you know on PRX. Plus, some PRX members keep their contact info, work experience, etc. private and visible only to their contacts. To add a contact, go to his or her PRX profile and click "Ask me to become your contact" on the right.

Getting Royalties

What's a royalty? 

That's when we pay you for the pieces you've sold to stations and outside purchasers on PRX. You must be a paid PRX member in order to receive royalties.

What will I make in royalties? 

It depends which station bought your piece. PRX guarantees a royalty rate of at least $.10 per point ($.50/minute).

If you or your station sells a program through PRX to a station with a substantial budget, PRX will pay you at a higher royalty rate. Sell to a more modest station and your royalty rate will be smaller, but never below $.50/minute.

Does PRX take a cut out of royalties? 

No. We take a percentage of station membership fees and calculate the rest into the royalty rate we pay to producers and stations whose work is purchased on PRX.

Do I get royalties if I have a free account? 

No. Only paid members will be credited for pieces they sell on PRX.

Do I get royalties if my paid membership has expired? 

No. Only current paid members can receive royalties.

When do I get my royalty checks? 

PRX pays royalties via check after the end of each calendar quarter — March 31, June 30, Sept. 30 and Dec. 31.



Getting Started

Signing Up

Paid Memberships

Searching and Listening

Encoding and Uploading Audio

Creating Pieces

Auditioning, Buying and Downloading

Communication and Promotion - New!

Getting Royalties