When creating a release, a lot of information has to be entered, so-called "metadata". Metadata in music is extremely important: before you deliver a release you need to make sure that your metadata is correct. If your metadata is NOT correct, it can cause various problems. Your music can then e.g.:
not be found.
not be billed correctly, because streams and downloads cannot be assigned.
it will end up on wrong pages, because the artists have not been specified correctly
etc.
By having correct metadata, your release will also be stored, classified and identified correctly in the stores, such as Spotify or Apple Music.
Here is a list of all metadata with explanation:
Basic information
Basic information
Target price: The price of the entire release.
Track price: The price of a single track.
Title: The title of your release
Artist: The main artist of the release.
Release Date: The date on which the release will be released (Note: Applies to download stores only). If it is a re-release, just enter the original release date.
Genre: The genre of your release.
Language: The language in which most of your track titles are written. The audio language is not relevant.
Copyright: Here you can enter the data of your publisher, if available. If not, just leave the field blank or enter yourself. The year should match the release date in most cases.
Start presale: The date when the presale starts. (Applies to download stores only)
Streaming start date: The date when the release will be published in the streaming stores.
Label: If available, you can enter your label here.
Features: Feature artists involved in a majority of the tracks on a release.
Title Version: Distinguishes between different versions of the same release. So for example "Remaster", "Remix", "Live", etc.
GTIN Code: Normally generated automatically as soon as the release is completed. If a GTIN already exists (e.g. for a rerelease) you can enter it here. (Attention: After the first release the GTIN can not be changed anymore)
Catalog number: If available, can be left blank otherwise.
P-Note: Here you can enter the data of your label, if available. If not, just leave the field blank or enter yourself. The year should match the release date in most cases.
Tracklist
Tracklist
Start sample: Start of the sample. Some stores (e.g. TikTok) make the song available from this start time.
Explicit lyrics: Here you can specify if your track has explicit lines.
Title: Title of the track
Artist: The main artist:in of the track.
Features: Feature artist of the track.
Composers: The creator(s) of the track's music.
Lyricist: The author(s) of the original lyrics of a work.
ISRC: Automatically generated at the end of the release if you leave this field blank. If the track has already been released and therefore already has its own ISRC, you can enter it here. (Attention: After the first release the ISRC can not be changed anymore)
Track version: Distinguishes between different versions of the same track. So for example "remix", "instrumental", etc.
P-Note: Here you can enter the data of your label, if you have a label. If not, just leave the field empty or enter yourself.
Publisher: If you have a music publisher, you can enter it here.
Type of recording: standard, live or instrumental versions of a track can be entered here.
Other contributors: All other people involved in a song can be entered here, such as producers, remixers, instrumentalists, arrangers, conductors, soloists, engineers, etc.
Bundle Only: Here you can specify whether the track can only be purchased as a bundle of the entire release. Works in some stores only for tracks over 10 minutes.
Instant Gratification: See here.
Attention: For releases with only one track, i.e. a single release, the information in the basic information, such as artist/feature/title/title version/etc., must always match the corresponding information in the track information.