Music metadata is the information that travels with your audio when it’s delivered to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and the other platforms: who performs it, who wrote it, what it’s called, which version it is, which label it belongs to and which codes identify it. Platforms don’t listen to your song to catalog it: they read its metadata. A mistake in that record turns into duplicate profiles, missing credits and misassigned royalties.
The fields of a release
Release (product) data
- Release title and, where relevant, version (“Deluxe”, “Remixes”).
- Primary artist of the release and featured artists.
- Type: single, EP or album.
- Label (it can be your own name or your project’s) and the ℗ line (recording rights) and © line (artwork and text rights), with year and owner.
- Primary genre and subgenre.
- UPC of the product. See ISRC vs UPC.
- Release date and, for re-releases, original release date.
- Territories where it’s distributed (usually worldwide).
- Artwork at 3000 × 3000 px that matches the data above.
Track (recording) data
- Track title and version (“Remix”, “Acoustic”, “Live”, “Radio Edit”).
- Primary and featured artists, each as a separate artist, never inside the title.
- Songwriters and lyricists with their real names, not stage names, and producers. Spotify and Apple Music display these credits.
- Performers (vocals, instruments) where the platform supports them.
- ISRC of the recording. See what is an ISRC.
- Language of the lyrics, or “instrumental”.
- Explicit content: yes or no, track by track.
- Lyrics, if you want them shown on platforms that support them.
- Duration and order within the release.
Style rules the platforms enforce
Each platform has its own style guide; Apple Music’s is the strictest, and in practice meeting Apple’s usually satisfies the rest. The rules that prevent the most rejections:
- Same artist name every time, with the same spelling, accents and capitalization. Adding “Official”, “Music” or emojis creates new profiles.
- Featured artists don’t go in the title. They go in the featured artist field; the platform builds the “feat.” automatically.
- Versions go in parentheses with standard terms: (Remix), (Acoustic), (Live), (Instrumental). “Official Audio”, “New”, “2026” or promotional text isn’t allowed.
- Capitalization by language: in English, most words in title case; in Spanish, only the first word and proper nouns. All-caps titles are rejected.
- Explicit content flagged correctly: flag the track that contains explicit language; a clean version is marked (Clean).
- Generic names are banned: “Various Artists” only for real compilations; “Unknown” or “Untitled” aren’t accepted.
- Credits with real names for songwriters and lyricists, as registered with their collecting society.
Why consistency matters more than any single field
Platforms compare each new delivery with what they already have. If the artist name, the title and the ISRC match an earlier release, the recording is recognized and linked to the right profile; if something doesn’t match, a “new” artist or track is created. This affects three concrete things: your artist profile (duplicates that split your listeners), your royalties (plays spread across “different” tracks) and your migration when you switch distributor. That’s why it pays to keep a metadata sheet per release and reuse it on every delivery.
How metadata is delivered
When you upload a release in the Andina Music dashboard you fill in the product and track details; the distributor converts that information to the standard format the platforms use (DDEX) and delivers it with the audio and artwork. Later corrections are possible, but each platform processes them at its own pace; it’s much faster to review before delivering. Platform-specific requirements are collected in get your music on Spotify and get your music on Apple Music.
Checklist before you deliver
- Artist name identical to your profiles.
- Featured artists in the featured field.
- Title with no promotional text or hand-typed version.
- Songwriters, lyricists and producers complete.
- ISRC per track and UPC per release (reused if they exist).
- Language and explicit flag per track.
- Label and ℗ / © lines with year and owner.
- Correct primary genre.
- 3000 × 3000 px artwork consistent with the data.
- Release date with two to three weeks of margin.
Frequently asked questions about metadata
Can I correct metadata after release?
Yes. The distributor delivers an update and each platform applies it within days or weeks. Changes to the ISRC or the primary artist are the most delicate and best avoided.
What do I put as “label” if I don’t have one?
Your artist name or your project’s name. It’s the owner that will appear in the ℗ and © lines.
Do producers get royalties for appearing in the credits?
No. Credits state who took part; revenue splits depend on the agreements between the people involved, not on the metadata.
Plan the whole release
Metadata is the third step of a well-planned release. How to plan a music release has the full timeline, and digital music distribution covers the delivery process.
