Industry Terms
What Is Metadata?
Metadata is all the descriptive information attached to your music — artist name, track title, album, genre, release date, ISRC, credits, and more. It's what tells every platform in the world who made the song and who gets paid.
Metadata is the structured information that describes your music to digital platforms, royalty systems, and listeners. It is the data about your data — and in music distribution, it is critically important. Incorrect or missing metadata is one of the most common causes of lost or misattributed royalties.
Core metadata includes: artist name (and any variations), track title (exact spelling and formatting), album or EP title, release date, genre, explicit content flag, ISRC (per track), UPC (per release), label name, copyright line (℗ year, owner), and publishing credit line (© year, owner).
Extended metadata includes: featured artist credits, producer credits, songwriter credits, composer credits, publisher information, language, country of origin, and liner notes. While not all of this is required by every DSP, complete and accurate metadata ensures your music is properly credited and your royalties are correctly routed.
Best practice is to finalize all metadata before submitting your release to SoSouth. Double-check artist name spelling (exactly as it appears on your other releases), confirm ISRC codes, and ensure all co-writers and featured artists are credited accurately.
Official Resources