Guides
Release metadata guides
Short, sourced answers to the questions that hold up releases: rejections, featured artists, ISRCs and UPCs, version titles, explicit tags, credits, AI disclosure and each store's rules. Every rule links to the platform or standard that published it.
Store guides
What each streaming service asks for, and how to fix problems there.
Spotify
Spotify Metadata Guide: Everything Spotify Asks Your Distributor For
Spotify shows your release exactly as delivered and takes fixes only from your label or distributor. Deliver every artist in a separate field with the right role (main, featured, remixer, composer, lyricist, producer) at track and release level, keep names identical across releases, keep artist names out of titles, set explicit as a tag, and set your live date at least 7 days ahead so you can pitch.
Apple Music
Apple Music Metadata Guide: The Style Guide Rules That Matter Most
Apple's style guide is the most detailed of the major stores. The essentials: one artist per field with Primary, Featuring/With and credit roles; lowercase "feat." in parentheses; title case for English; no extra information in titles; explicit and clean flags, never title text; language codes that match the metadata and the audio; and clean artwork with no URLs or logos. Some problems, like repeated submissions or misleading content, lead to editorial hides that a redelivery can't fix.
Amazon Music
Amazon Music Metadata Guide: Delivery, Artist Profiles and Fixes
Amazon Music receives releases from distributors via a DDEX ERN feed, so your distributor's metadata is what Amazon displays. Artist-profile problems (someone else's music on your page, your music elsewhere) are fixed self-service in Amazon Music for Artists with Report Issue, even without claiming the profile. Artist name changes and takedowns go through your label or distributor.
YouTube Music
YouTube Music Metadata Guide: Art Tracks, Topic Channels and Corrections
On YouTube Music your release becomes Art Tracks: YouTube auto-generates them from the audio, artwork and metadata your distributor delivers, identified by ISRC, UPC and partner. Corrections are requested by the delivering label or distributor in Studio Content Manager, so send fixes to them. To bring your Topic channel and your own channel together, ask your distributor for an Official Artist Channel.
TikTok / SoundOn
TikTok and SoundOn Metadata Guide: Audio, Artwork and Title Requirements
SoundOn distributes to TikTok and other ByteDance services. It wants full songs (WAV, at least 44.1 kHz/16-bit, under 200 MB, at least 60 seconds, no more than 5 seconds of silence at either end), square artwork (at least 1400×1400, 3000×3000 recommended) whose text matches the metadata exactly, and no karaoke, snippets, or unlicensed covers, remixes or samples. If another distributor handles your other stores, your ISRCs, UPC, artist name and titles must match.
Deezer
Deezer Metadata Guide: Delivery Specs, Required Fields and Profile Fixes
Deezer receives releases through distributors, preferably as DDEX 4.3 with FLAC audio. Every release needs a UPC, every track an ISRC, main and featured artists properly separated, explicit flags, and at least one writer role per track. Deezer tags albums with fully AI-generated tracks itself. Wrong-artist-page problems are reported as a Discography issue in Deezer for Creators.
TIDAL
TIDAL Metadata Guide: Getting on TIDAL, Artist Profiles and Credits
TIDAL gets music through distribution partners, which also receive TIDAL's payment reporting. Once you're live, claim your artist profile on tidal.com: verifying through a supported distributor (DistroKid, CD Baby or TuneCore) usually gives immediate access, while manual review can take up to eight weeks. Lyrics come from Musixmatch. We haven't found a public TIDAL style guide, so follow the cross-store rules Spotify and Apple publish.
Rejections and fixes
Why releases get rejected, flagged or misplaced, and the fix for each reason.
Why releases get rejected
Why Distributors and DSPs Reject Releases (and How to Fix Each Reason)
Most rejections come down to four things: metadata formatting (extra text in titles, artists in the wrong field, inconsistent names), artwork (URLs, logos, low resolution, text that doesn't match the metadata), audio and language mismatches, and rights the distributor can't confirm (samples, covers, AI-generated parts). Your rejection notice names the specific reason. Fix that item, check the rest of the release against the same rules, and resubmit.
DistroKid rejection fixes
DistroKid Rejected Your Release? The Fixes for Each Rejection Reason
Read the rejection email: it says what was flagged. For artwork or artist verification issues, don't delete anything. Replace the artwork or complete verification on the existing release. For most other issues, DistroKid says you'll need to delete and re-upload the release with the corrected metadata. If you think the rejection was a mistake, reply to the email.
TuneCore rejection fixes
TuneCore Release Rejected or "Needs Action": How to Fix It
A Needs Action or Denied status means TuneCore's Content Review team flagged something. Find the email from contentreview@tunecore.com, make the requested changes, then reply to that email. TuneCore only re-reviews and delivers the release after your reply.
Featured artist formatting
How to Format Featured Artists (feat.) for Spotify and Apple Music
Put each featured artist in its own artist field with the Featuring (or With) role, never in the primary artist field. Don't type "ft.", "featuring" or "w/". Where a title does show a featured artist, Apple's format is lowercase (feat. Artist) in parentheses or brackets, e.g. "Body Language (feat. Usher & Tinashe)".
ISRC codes
ISRC Codes Explained: Format, Validation and When to Reuse One
An ISRC identifies one sound recording (not a song or a release). It's 12 characters: a 5-character prefix (2 letters + 3 letters or digits), a 2-digit year of reference, and a 5-digit designation code, e.g. AA6Q72000047. Hyphens and the word "ISRC" are only for display. Reuse the same ISRC wherever the same recording appears. A different mix, edit or version needs a new one.
UPC / EAN codes
UPC and EAN Barcodes for Music Releases: Format and Check-Digit Errors
A UPC (12 digits, GTIN-12) or EAN (13 digits, GTIN-13) identifies a release: one product, the same for every track on it. The last digit is a check digit calculated from the others with the GS1 formula, so a typo almost always makes the code invalid. Every track on a release shares its UPC, and each release needs its own.
Spotify AI disclosure
Does Spotify Require AI Disclosure? AI Credits Explained (2026)
AI credits on Spotify are optional and in beta. You add them through your distributor (only some distributors support them) by marking specific roles, such as lyrics, vocals, instrumental performance or production, as AI-generated. They appear in song credits and the Now Playing view on mobile, not as a label on the whole track. Spotify also bars AI vocal impersonation unless the artist has authorized it.
Releasing AI music
How to Release AI-Assisted Music in 2026: DDEX ContainsAI and Credits
Decide for each part (lyrics, vocals, composition, instrumentation, production, artwork) whether AI wasn't used, assisted a human, or generated it. That gives you DDEX ContainsAI: None if no part used AI, All if every part was generated, otherwise Partly. Credit generated parts to a GenerativeAI contributor and keep human contributors credited. Then deliver through a distributor that supports the fields, and keep your generation records.
Deezer AI tagging
Deezer AI Tagging: How the AI Label and the AI Music Toggle Work
Deezer uses its own detection tool to find fully AI-generated tracks. Albums containing them show listeners a notice, and the AI content is excluded from algorithmic and editorial recommendations. Listeners can't switch the label off. In October 2026 Deezer announced a toggle that lets listeners remove fully AI-generated tracks, albums and artists from search, to roll out globally before the end of 2026.
Spotify spam filter
Spotify's Spam Filter and Artificial Streaming Rules: What Gets Flagged
Spotify's spam filter, announced in September 2025, targets mass uploads, duplicates, SEO tricks and artificially short tracks. Separately, Spotify charges labels and distributors per track when flagrant artificial streaming is detected, and distributors generally pass that charge on. The metadata defences: no keyword titles or generic artist names, no near-duplicate uploads, and no padding a catalog with very short tracks.
Apple Music style guide
Apple Music Style Guide: The Rules That Trip Up Releases Most
The Apple Music Style Guide's most-broken rules: title case for English titles (never all caps or all lowercase), one artist per field, lowercase "feat." in parentheses, no generic names (White Noise, Lo-Fi, Workout…), no extra text like "Official" or "Dolby Atmos" in titles, the Explicit flag instead of "(Explicit)" in titles, and no emoji. Apple adds "- Single" and "- EP" itself.
Version titles (remix, live…)
How to Format Remix, Live, Acoustic and Other Version Titles
Put version information in parentheses after the title, not after a dash: "Summer Rain (Acoustic Version)". If there's more than one reference, the first goes in parentheses and the rest in brackets: "Love Letter (Live Version) [Radio Edit]". Credit remixers in the Remixer role. Never put version text on the standard original version.
Artist name rules
Artist Name Rules: Generic Names, "Official", Consistency and Compound Artists
An artist name must be the artist's real performing name, spelled exactly the same on every release, with one artist per field and nothing else in it: no "Official", role, instrument, band affiliation or website. Generic or keyword names such as "Sleep Music", "White Noise" or "Lo-Fi" are rejected by Spotify and Apple.
Spotify metadata rejected
Spotify Metadata Rejected? The Rules Behind It and How to Fix It
Spotify displays your music exactly as your distributor delivers it, and only your distributor can send corrections. Most problems trace back to a short list of published rules: every artist in its own field, consistent artist spelling, no artist names in titles, no SEO artist names, explicit set as a tag rather than typed into the title, and no references to the original artist on covers. Fix the field your distributor flagged, check the rest of the release against the same list, and redeliver.
Apple Music violations
Apple Music Style Guide Violations: Tickets, Hidden Releases and Fixes
Apple distinguishes fixable metadata problems from editorial hides. A formatting issue (extra text in a title, a featured artist in the wrong role, all-caps titles, an explicit word censored with asterisks) is fixed by your distributor redelivering corrected metadata. An editorial hide, for repeated submissions, misleading content or sound-alikes, can't be fixed by a redelivery or metadata update. Read which one you got before you change anything.
Explicit tagging
Explicit Content Tagging: Explicit vs Clean Flags on Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer
Explicit is a metadata flag, not title text. Flag a track Explicit if it contains explicit content. Flag it Clean only if it's the edited version of a track that also exists as explicit. Otherwise leave it unflagged. Never add "(Explicit)", "(Clean)" or "(Edited)" to a title, and don't replace letters with asterisks: Apple censors words itself.
Capitalization rules
Title Capitalization Rules for Music Releases (Apple Music and Spotify)
Use title case for English titles: capitalize every word except a, an, and, as, but, for, from, nor, of, or, so, the, to and yet, and prepositions of four letters or fewer, unless they are the first or last word (also inside parentheses). No all caps, all lowercase or random casing unless that's the artist's established style. Other languages follow their own rules: French, Italian, Swedish and German use sentence case.
ISRC/UPC errors
ISRC and UPC Errors: Invalid, Duplicate and Reused Codes (and How to Fix Them)
The common errors are: an ISRC that isn't 12 characters (or is delivered with hyphens), a UPC/EAN with the wrong length or check digit, one ISRC on two different recordings, and a new ISRC on a recording that already has one. Each recording keeps one ISRC for life, across distributors and releases; each different version gets its own. Validate codes before delivery, because stores use them to match tracks and releases.
Wrong artist profile
Music on the Wrong Artist Profile? Fixing Mismatched and Merged Artist Pages
Releases usually land on the wrong profile because the artist name matches or nearly matches another artist, or because spelling, casing or accents differ between releases. Each store has its own fix: Spotify's content mismatch form, Amazon Music for Artists' Report Issue tool, Deezer for Creators' discography issue report, and on YouTube a change request from your distributor. To prevent it, keep the name identical on every release and ask your distributor to deliver with your existing artist ID where it can.
Cover song credits
Cover Song Metadata: Titles, Credits and Licensing Before You Distribute
Title a cover with the song's real title and credit yourself as the artist. Never put the original artist in the title or any artist field: no "Originally Performed By", "In the Style of" or "Tribute to". Credit the original songwriters as composer and lyricist. Get the composition licence before distributing, and don't make it sound or look like the original: Apple hides sound-alikes.
Songwriter credits
Songwriter and Composer Credits: What Stores Require and Why They Matter
Credit the people who wrote the song at track level with the right role: composer for music, lyricist for words, or both. Use full, correctly spelled names, never placeholders like "TBD". Deezer requires at least one writing role per track, Apple requires accurate composition credits, and consistent writer data is what publishing registrations are matched on.
AI music rejected
AI-Generated Music Rejected or Hidden? What Each Platform Enforces
None of the major stores covered here bans AI music outright. What gets AI tracks rejected or hidden is how they're presented: impersonating a real artist's voice without authorization, misleading titles or artist names, spam patterns (mass uploads, near-duplicates, very short tracks) and inaccurate disclosure. Declare AI use honestly (DDEX ContainsAI None, Partly or All), credit generated parts by role, and keep generation records.
DDEX basics
DDEX Basics for Artists and Labels: What ERN Is and Why It Matters
DDEX publishes the standards the music industry uses to exchange metadata. The one that matters for releases is ERN (Electronic Release Notification): a message, usually sent by a record company or distributor to a DSP, that describes the release, its recordings and the terms on which it can be made available. Your distributor turns your upload form into ERN, and Amazon, YouTube and Deezer all describe ingesting releases this way.
Classical metadata
Classical Music Metadata: Composers, Performers and Work Titles
Classical releases follow different rules. Every track needs a composer at track level, and the composer is not a main artist unless they also perform. Soloists, ensembles and conductors are the main artists, with no Featuring or With roles. Album titles start with the composer, a colon and the works. Track titles carry the full work, key, catalog number and movement, formatted consistently.
Various Artists
Compilations and 'Various Artists': When to Use It and How to Credit Tracks
Use Various Artists as the album-level artist only when there are many main artists: four or more on Spotify, five or more Primary artists on Apple. On Apple it must be the only album artist; on both it's never used at track level and never abbreviated (no "V/A", "V.A." or "Various"). Every track still lists its real artists, and a compilation should be delivered as type Compilation.
Remix credits
Remix Metadata: Remixer Credits, Sped Up and Slowed Versions
A remix keeps the original artist as primary, adds the remixer in the Remixer role, and puts the remix name in the version in parentheses or brackets, e.g. "Song (Kai Lane Remix)". Apple applies this to sped up, slowed down and lo-fi versions too. Each remix needs its own ISRC and the rights holders' permission.
Karaoke & tribute
Karaoke, Tribute and Instrumental Releases: Formatting Rules That Avoid Takedowns
Karaoke and tribute releases are accepted only when they don't trade on the original artist's identity. Keep the original artist out of every artist field; don't start titles with their name; mark the release type Karaoke or Tribute; and in karaoke track versions write "Karaoke Version Originally Performed By [Artist]". Avoid anything that sounds or looks like the original: Apple hides sound-alikes.
Cover art rejected
Cover Art Rejected? Artwork Rules Across Apple Music, TikTok, Deezer and Distributors
Artwork is rejected for extra information (URLs, social handles, logos, QR codes, prices, release dates), references to CDs, vinyl or stores, text that doesn't match the release metadata, low quality (blurry, pixelated, off-centre, cut-off text), generic templates or images you don't own. Fix the image, keep it square and high-resolution, and make any artist name or title on it match the metadata exactly.
Duplicate content
Duplicate Content Rejections: Re-uploads, Near-Identical Releases and Repeated Tracks
Stores treat the same audio delivered more than once as spam or duplicate content: re-uploads with slightly different titles or artists, the same album with a rearranged track list, near-identical compilations, and repetitive short tracks. Release one canonical version, give genuine new versions a distinct version title and their own ISRC, and take an old release down before redelivering it elsewhere.
Metadata language
Metadata Language Rules: Language Codes, Translations and Transliteration
There are two language settings: the metadata language (the language your titles are written in) and the audio language (what's sung or spoken; instrumentals use zxx on Apple). A mismatch is a common rejection reason. Write each field in one language, with no "Title / Translation" side by side, and put translations and transliterations in the store's localization or phonetic fields.
Original release date
Original Release Date vs Release Date: Reissues, Remasters and Back Catalog
The original release date is when the recording or album was first released anywhere, in any format, and it stays the same through reissues and remasters. The live date (sales start date) is when it becomes available on the store. For a remaster, keep the original date and put the year in the version, e.g. "2012 Remaster". Previously unreleased material uses the date it first became available.