MUSIC METADATA, WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!

Metadata is the detailed information about your masters (audio recording) submitted to an aggregator for proper distribution and helps your music to be properly stored, sorted, and identified on Digital Streaming Platforms (DSPs). 

These details include TRACK TITLE, GENRE, SUB GENRE, PRIMARY ARTIST, FEATURED ARTIST, COMPOSER, PUBLISHER, PRODUCER, YEAR OF RECORDING, RELEASE LANGUAGE, etc. 

Why is Metadata Really Important?

As an artist, Metadata is vital because it makes your music searchable on streaming platforms. Inaccurate or incomplete metadata prevents potential listeners and new fans to find you which may also affect the overall performance of your song. Digital streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify rely on metadata to organize their catalogue and curate their playlists as they rely on qualitative data such as genre, sub-genre, featured artists, additional contributors, mood and so on to determine what category to feature your song, hence, without proper information, your music will be buried in a sea of anonymous tracks and you lose getting good placements.

Also, accurate metadata is crucial in ensuring that you and other rightsholders are duly compensated for your work. You might run the risk of not being paid all the royalties you are due if your metadata is wrong. So, it is very necessary to ensure every contributor’s name is spelled correctly so they could get paid too.