Case Study: AFM Calculator for BeMusic

BeMusic needed to calculate and report its obligations to the American
Federation of Musicians (AFM). Information about sound recording
contracts, Special Payments Fund (SPF), Sound Recording Trust
Agreements and Music Performance Trust Fund (MPTF) needed to
be incorporated into an application that could handle a large volume
of data.

Challenge: Quickly, Accurately Report Obligations to AFM

RBZ&A was already familiar with the calculations needed because the company had been developing royalty applications for years. However, the real problem was in identifying the needed functionality and translating the business requirements into this calculator. Some requirements were not obvious to the customer, and therefore difficult to convey to the developers.

Also, this calculator had to both integrate with an existing database and be usable as a standalone database.

Solution: AFM Calculator Determines Payments

RBZ&A worked closely with the customer to identify the required
functionality and to assure the application would be easy to use.

The resulting AFM Calculator effectively helps BeMusic determine the
payments. The calculator can be easily added onto any existing royalty
system and profiled for both record clubs and record labels.

The multi-user application runs on a PC desktop accessing a SQL
Server database. The calculator uses SQL Reporting Services, and
produces payment reports on a semi-annual basis.

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