You can have a great song and still lose streams, royalties and credits if one thing is wrong: your metadata. It’s the least glamorous part of releasing music and one of the most important. Here’s what it is and how to get it right.
What is music metadata?
Metadata is all the information attached to your release that isn’t the audio itself — the data that tells streaming platforms, stores and royalty systems what your music is, who made it and who should get paid. Every time someone searches your name, reads your song credits, or a royalty gets paid out, metadata is doing the work behind the scenes.
What it includes
- Track title and version (e.g. “Sunset (Acoustic)”)
- Primary artist and any featured artists
- Songwriter(s) and producer(s)
- ISRC (per track) and UPC (per release)
- Release date
- Genre and sub-genre
- Label name (or your artist name if you’re independent)
- Copyright lines (the ℗ and © info)
- Language and the explicit/clean flag
Why it matters
- Getting paid — royalty systems match plays to rights-holders using metadata like the ISRC and songwriter credits. Errors here mean misrouted or lost royalties.
- Discovery — consistent artist names and accurate genres help platforms surface your music and keep your whole catalogue under one profile.
- Credits — correct songwriter and producer data makes sure everyone who worked on the track is credited and paid.
- Professionalism — sloppy metadata (wrong capitalisation, missing features) looks amateur on your release page.
How to get it right
- Be consistent with your artist name — pick one spelling and use it on every release, or platforms may split your catalogue across two profiles.
- List every contributor — featured artists, songwriters and producers, all spelled correctly.
- Match the title exactly across versions and credits.
- Double-check before you submit — most distribution mistakes happen here, and fixing them after release can be slow.
- Don’t keyword-stuff titles — cramming extra words into the title field can get your release flagged or rejected.
Quick FAQ
- Can I change metadata after release? Some fields, yes, through your distributor — but updates take time to roll out across platforms, so get it right first.
- Does metadata affect playlists? Indirectly — accurate genre and clean data help editorial and algorithmic systems understand and place your track.
- Who fills it in? You do, when you upload through your distributor.
