Apple Music metadata standards

Metadata is essential to helping fans and listeners discover the music they want to hear. As a distributor or encoding house, metadata is among the most critical requirements for deliveries and ensures all collaborators are properly recognized for their contributions.

Delivering accurate metadata to Apple Music and the iTunes Store also ensures that placement on our storefronts is accurate and reduces the chance of receiving tickets. Tickets require immediate attention and can disrupt any associated marketing and promotion tied to your release.

Types of metadata

• Descriptive Metadata: Provide artist names (primary and featuring), song titles, release date, track numbers, and similar primary metadata to help listeners find your song or album to add to their library or playlist.
• Performance Rights Metadata: Your music may reach significant markets with social media, TV and film, and advertisements. This category of metadata includes other essential contributors such as performers, composers, lyricists, producers, engineers, and administrative roles.
• Secondary Metadata: With the popularity of curated playlists and advanced technology like Shazam, it’s not uncommon that listeners may find music by searching intangible secondary metadata like mood or genre.

Importance of language and localizations

Localizations enhance the worldwide discoverability of your music in different countries and regions. Accurate localizations should be delivered for all languages you have available, unless you want the metadata to appear in the primary language in all territories.