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What special guidelines apply to classical music?
What special guidelines apply to classical music?
Theresa avatar
Written by Theresa
Updated over a week ago

If it is classical music that you composed yourself, you can choose the titles freely. However, if it is famous classical music, please use this source to find the correct data for classical music and format your titles as follows:

Album title

In the "Basic Information" section.

Composer: Title 
Examples:
Mozart: "Toy" Symphony in G Major
Brahms: String Sextets, Op. 18 & 36
Debussy & Ravel: String Quartets

In case of multiple composers and titles:

Composer & Composer: Title – Composer & Composer: Title

Examples: 
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 – Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21
Debussy & Ravel: String Quartets

If your release only has one track, please stick to the correct track title formatting and use this same formatting in the basic information section.

Song title

In the "Tracklist" section.

If a track contains a movement or selection from a larger work such as a symphony or concerto, begin the track title with the name of the larger work. This also applies if a title contains part of a movement, selection, or excerpt. In this case, "selection" or "excerpt" must be indicated in parentheses at the end of the work title.

For works consisting of movements, such as symphonies, concertos, and sonatas, use Roman numerals. For example: I. Allegro and II. Adagio. For works consisting of numbers, such as songs and oratorios, and numbered movements, such as 6 songs or 3 morceaux, use Arabic numerals. For example, No. 1, Lullaby and No. 2, In the Campagna.

Title of the complete work in key, catalog / opus number: Numbering. Title
In case of multiple titles: 

Title of the complete work in key, catalog number: Numbering. Title – Title – Title

Examples:
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67: I. Allegro con brio
Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F Minor, BWV 1056: III. Presto
Three Lyric Pieces, Op. 47: No. 1. Summer Song
Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36: I. Andante sostenuto – Moderato con anima – Moderato assai, quasi andante – Allegro vivo

If a work has been altered from the original composition, the instrumentation as well as the arranger must be named at the end of the title.

examples:
O mio babbino caro (Arr. for Piano by Arthur Smith)
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 (Transcr. for Orchestra by Leopold Stokowski)

If all movements of a work have been altered to the same instrumentation by the same arranger(s), place the information in the title after the work name before the colon and movement information.

"Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22 (Arr. for Piano by Georges Bizet): I. Andante sostenuto"

Title versions may not be used.

Artist, conductor and other participants

In the "Tracklist" section, you must also enter all other participants per song under "Other contributors", such as conductor, other composers, etc.

The conductor of a choir or orchestra must always be listed as the main artist. Feature may not be used.

In the genre classical music the release is also linked to the artist page of the composer. If it is a famous classical composer, the stores decide individually if they link the release to the composer's artist page to provide a better user experience.

You can also look directly into the style guides of the stores to find more examples or if you need more general information, e.g. here: https://help.apple.com/itc/musicstyleguide.

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