What Kind of Information Is Considered Metadata?
Metadata is essential for correctly identifying, organizing, and distributing your content on digital service providers (DSPs). It typically includes:
🎵 Track or album title
👤 Primary artist and featured artist names
🎼 Songwriters, composers, producers
🏷️ Genre and subgenre
🆔 Unique identifiers such as ISRC (track) and UPC (release)
📅 Release date and year
🌍 Language, origin country, and distribution territories
💬 Optional descriptions or extended credits
What Is NOT Considered Metadata?
The following are not part of metadata:
🔊 The audio file itself (e.g., MP3, WAV)
🎬 Any video files
🖼️ Visual content like album covers or thumbnails
In simple terms, metadata is “data about the data” — it provides context and structure, but it’s not the media content itself. 📊
Why Is Metadata Important?
✔️ It allows your music to be easily discovered on DSPs
✔️ Ensures correct royalty and credit attribution
✔️ Helps maintain compliance with platform requirements
✔️ Prevents distribution errors or ownership conflicts 🧠⚖️
🎯 In Summary:
✅ Included as Metadata | ❌ Not Included as Metadata |
Titles, artists, writers, ISRC/UPC | Audio, video, or visual content |
Genre, credits, release year | Editing of sounds, images, or videos |
Territory, language, descriptions | Raw multimedia assets |