Release metadata: a credits checklist before upload
Artist names, featured artists, songwriters, producers, version titles and codes: what to check in a release's metadata before you upload it, and why it is easier to get right the first time. Educational content.
A release is more than audio and a cover. It also carries metadata: who performs, who wrote the song, who produced it, what the version is called, and which codes identify it. Listeners see part of this; collecting societies, distributors and services rely on all of it.
Spotify, for example, shows performers, songwriters and producers for a track, and states that these credits come from metadata provided by the label. For an independent artist, the label is often you.
The checklist
- Primary artist name — spelled exactly the same way on every release, including capitals and accents.
- Featured artists — only people who actually perform on the recording, each with the same spelling they use elsewhere.
- Songwriters — full legal names, matching the names on your split sheet. Split sheet: who wrote what
- Producers and other contributors — mixing and mastering engineers, if your distributor's form has fields for them.
- Track title and version — "Radio Edit", "Acoustic", "Live" belong in the version field, not invented into the title differently on each release.
- Language and explicit-content flag — set them deliberately, not by default.
- Codes — the ISRC of each recording and the UPC/EAN of the release. ISRC and UPC
- Release date and original release date — for a re-release, the original date is part of the record.
Why it is easier the first time
Once a release is live, a correction usually goes back through the distributor and then out to each service separately. Some services update quickly, others slowly, and old spellings can remain in places you do not control. A ten-minute check before upload saves weeks of follow-up.
Keep the source of truth outside the upload form
Write the metadata into a document you keep with the song's files, then copy from it into the form. If a question comes up later, the document shows what you submitted and when.
A public timestamp can record that this document existed in this exact form on a given day. DAS Proof writes a file's fingerprint (SHA-256) into a public XRP Ledger transaction; the file itself never leaves your device. The timestamp shows the file existed in exactly this form no later than a given moment — it does not establish authorship or ownership. Anyone can verify it, free: dataanalyticsystem.com/proof/verify
Related: DAS Sound Proof · Our music
Educational content. Not legal advice.
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