Introducing… Recoup Rules
Enter Recoup Rules, a new simplified way to track and recoup your expenses before the splits are paid out.
So, how does it work? When you set up a Recoup Rule, you tell Stem the total recoupable amount you have fronted and Stem will divert sound recording earnings from releases to recoup those costs. For example, say that you have fronted $20,000 for a music video and other marketing expenses. Stem will now make sure that you get paid back first. Once you’ve recouped that $20,000, any additional earnings go into a reserve account for review. If you have additional expenses to support marketing, you can raise your total recoupable amount. Or if you’re done there, you can close the rule and Stem will pay shareholders according to the splits you’ve set up. You’ll also be able to:
- Recoup across multiple releases
- Recoup from external earnings such as sync, physical sales, vinyl, publishing, etc.
- Provide shareholders with monthly recoupment updates
- Control when recoupment ends and splits are applied to pay out royalties to your shareholders
Getting paid back has never been easier! To begin a Recoup Rule you simply enter the total recoupable amount (this can be increased later), select the releases that you will recoup from and then start your rule! That’s it.
Now… we know what you’re thinking.
What if I have other revenue sources I’m recouping from? Stem has got you covered with our “Add Other Earnings” feature. Any Stem Direct member using Recoup Rules can add earnings outside of Stem to pay down the total recoupable amount. We can’t pay out earnings generated outside of Stem (yet) since the payment went to you directly, but we can include it in the running total so you and your shareholders have visibility into the income and status of the project.
Not only do Recoup Rules ensure that you get paid, but they also alleviate the burden of having to report to your shareholders. For the first time ever, your producers, songwriters, artists, featured artists, etc can see exactly the status of the recoupment when they log in to their own Stem account. By visualizing the recoupment status on Stem, everyone knows just how much is unrecouped and can anticipate when they’re going to get paid without having to bug you about it. Say goodbye to those awkward “Where’s my money???” texts! We’ll make sure everyone’s bag is secured.
Our goal is to get you out of those spreadsheets and back in the studio. We want to help you stay focused on the creative and strategy and we’ll do the math. Recoup Rules brings us one step closer to becoming the platform that you trust to get everyone paid.
10 ways we support our Unstoppable Ukrainian teammates
Including several of our Unstoppable team members.
On this date, Ukraine was invaded causing the need for civilians to enlist in the army.
Others were forced from their city, region, or even country, leaving loved ones, livelihoods, and belongings behind.
Every day since, we’ve been doing everything in our power to protect and support our ever-growing Ukrainian team, currently comprising more than twenty people.
Here are some of our Ukrainian colleagues at a team building meeting last year 🇺🇦
Our support strategy is informed by direct, continuous communication with our Ukrainian teammates to help ensure their safety, psychological relief, and financial stability during the most unstable of times.
There’s a famous quote that feels more applicable to us now than ever:
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
So, in the spirit of “shining a light” on the realities in Ukraine, we wanted to provide visibility into the life-changing challenges that our team has overcome to this point and ten ways in which Unstoppable Domains was able to provide assistance.
The war in Ukraine is ongoing.
And to our friends and colleagues there, we can’t overstate how inspired we are - and always will be - by your bravery. We’re here for you, and always will be.
This is the structure of our internal Ukraine Support file
1. Financial Support
The current events are putting an unbearable financial strain on the Ukrainian population.
That’s why we’re, firstly, offering our employees relocation stipends. At this time, almost all our Ukrainian colleagues have been able to reach safer locations.
Furthermore, in accordance with our policy, our employees can request a virtual credit card in order to subsidize a co-working space. We offer a stipend to purchase home-office equipment.
We’ve also been paying our Ukrainian employees using cryptocurrencies whenever requested.
2. Mental Health Relief
Understandably, mental health is a top priority in Ukraine.
We encourage our employees to take mental health days, as needed, without having to submit PTO.
Also, we’ve internally shared a list of more than ten resources that Ukrainian employees can refer to for free psychological support.
3. Health Care
We’ve been adding stipends to cover health insurance to the paychecks of our Ukrainian employees who haven’t left the country.
For those who have relocated internationally, we will continue to support health benefits for them and their dependents.
4. Time Off
We’ve been encouraging everyone to take time off to relocate and to protect their mental health, and we’re facilitating our employees who want to volunteer to support the war efforts or the humanitarian crisis by suspending the need for formal PTO requests.
The same goes for those employees whose work is impacted by war-related external circumstances, such as power outages, or the need to relocate to a bomb shelter.
5. Housing and Shelters
We have collected a list of housing support organizations for emergency housing, a bomb shelter map, and more.
6. Legal Counsel
We support our Ukrainian employees’ short-term and long-term relocation goals by connecting our team with immigration counsel, and we’re sponsoring visas as needed.
“I facilitate the interactions between our Ukrainian team and our People team. Not everything that works in the USA or in the European Union can be applied to Ukraine. Our actions must follow the local rules.” - Viktoriia Litvinchuk, People Operations Specialist at Unstoppable Domains
7. Trusted Information
In times of war, trusty sources of information can be difficult to access.
That’s why we’ve shared a list of over 20 reliable sources that can keep our employees informed. Among others, these include the President of Ukraine’s, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’, and the Parliament of Ukraine’s official social media accounts.
8. Ways to Stand with Ukraine
We’ve also gathered a list of resources to make it easier for our employees to stand with Ukraine. The list includes websites to donate, protest, and volunteer.
9. Crowd Sourced Support
We’ve shared links for everyone to contribute resources to ensure that the lists of resources we share are as complete as they can be.
10. General Help
Other than the internal document we’ve created, in which we’re continuously collecting different types of relevant information, we’ve created a dedicated internal Slack channel, as well as a Google group and an internal email address. Additionally, one of our colleagues has been interacting directly with the Ukrainian team on a regular basis to ensure that all concerns are addressed.
"Currently, our Ukrainian employees are more or less in safe places, but when it all started, it was pure chaos. That’s why the People team and I tried to be in touch with our Ukrainian teammates as much as possible.
Chatting with our Ukrainian colleagues is effective. The way they phrase their answer to a simple “how are you?” helps you understand their frame of mind and reminds them that we care about how they feel in the midst of all this.
We all lived through unimaginable things. Someone’s home was ruined by a rocket. Someone’s family has gone missing in a city that was bombed. Someone had to enlist in the military to defend our country. Someone volunteers and teaches people how to make Molotov cocktails.
Each of us have our stories, and without direct communication you couldn’t see what lies underneath. You couldn’t help as much. I believe that the mental health support that we are trying to provide our Ukrainian team with is vital, right now.” - Viktoriia Litvinchuk, People Operations Specialist at Unstoppable Domains
TL;DR and Conclusions
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, we’ve worked hard on providing the best support we can to our Ukrainian team.
These include providing financial support, mental health relief, health care, time off, housing and shelters, legal counsel, sharing trusted information, a list of resources to stand with Ukraine, and crowd-sourced sources to support Ukraine, and more.
Hopefully, this article has helped you gain a clearer picture of what unstoppable support means to us — it’s more than a belief, it’s actionable, impactful, and thoughtful efforts.
Our Ukrainian team is ever-growing, and we’d like to invite you to look at our vacancies - you might be or know someone who’s the right fit and we’d love to welcome you aboard.
You can’t find the perfect role? You can still submit your application, and if you’re the right fit we’ll reach out to you to discuss possibilities.
Explore the current vacancies on our career page 👈
Apply to general roles per department:
