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Filling Out Your Metadata

We currently have a Simple Metadata Template and an Advanced Multi-Language (Translations) Metadata Template available to use. Make sure you have the most recent Metadata Template for your delivery, which can be downloaded on the Import Files page. Please ensure you keep the existing format to reduce the risk of error. Spotify has metadata guidelines that are important to follow. While we have included some of this information in this section, the full requirements can be found in the Metadata Style Guide for how these fields should be submitted so that they appear correctly on the service. The Metadata Style Guide section is listed for each field if you need more info, we recommend you check it out if you have any questions. Required Fields for your delivery are marked with an asterisk (*).

Product Identifiers

Primary ID*

Primary IDs are very important. They are how we identify your releases and deliveries. When making any changes to your products, you will need to keep the same primary ID.

Primary ID Type*

We also need to know what type of identifier you are sending. The type should remain the same as previous deliveries when sending updates.

We currently accept these Primary ID Types:

  • GRID

  • UPC

  • EAN

  • JAN

  • CAT NUM (Catalogue Number)

  • Proprietary

Primary ID

Primary ID Type

012345678912

UPC

Additional IDs

If you have any additional identifiers you'd like to send, use the Additional IDs + Additional ID Types fields. Both fields are separated by a semicolon (;) and should not contain spaces.

Additional ID Types

We currently accept these Additional ID Types:

  • GRID

  • UPC

  • EAN

  • JAN

  • CAT NUM - (Catalogue Number)

  • Proprietary Id

Additional ID(s)

Additional ID Type(s)

0123456788912; SPT921742

JAN; CAT NUM

Product Type

You can delivery these 4 Product Types via Uplink:

  • Album

  • Single

  • EP

  • Compilation

Metadata Style Guide: section 9

Product Artwork*

We need to know the name of the Product Artwork filename for each product. If a package doesn't contain subfolders, we only need the filename. If you have organized a package into album folders, you have to enter the name of the folder and a slash (/) before the filename.

Without Subfolders: album_artwork.jpeg With subfolders : My_Album/album_artwork.jpeg

Reminder: If you aren't using subfolders, each filename will need to be unique.

Find out more about our Artwork specifications here.

Product Title

'Product Title' is the title of your release. You mustn't include Version information or Featured Artists in the product title.

Metadata Style Guide: section 7

Product Version

You can include things like 2011 Remaster, Deluxe, 30th Anniversary Edition, etc. Product versions shouldn't contain any formatting or special characters. We also don't allow the words CD, digital, digitally, album, EP, or Single in the version title.

Metadata Style Guide: section 7

Artists - Product Level

You must send the Artist names you need in their correct fields. We accept many different Artist roles for your products. To make sure these end up on the correct Artist pages, we require:

  • At least one Main Artist must be listed

  • The full Artist name and proper spelling to be sent

  • Information other than the artist's name shouldn't be listed

  • Aliases or Translations aren't allowed

  • Multiple artists for each role separated by a semicolon (;)

  • We don't accept compounded names

  • using a comma (,) won't separate Artist names and result in a single compounded Artist allocation

Disclaimer: products with 4 or more Main Artists or Remixers at the product level will be overridden to display "Various Artists"

Artist Roles Supported in Uplink

  • Main Artist* (required)

  • Featuring Artist

  • Composer

  • Remixer

  • Producer

  • Lyricist

  • Orchestra

  • Arranger

  • Conductor

  • Actor*

Metadata Style Guide: requires at least one of the * fields Metadata Style Guide: Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14.

Original Release Date*

The original release date must be the earliest date that the original product was first released. The original release date covers all format types (for example, LP, CD, or digital-only release) and releasing labels. The date may be different from the Start Date Time you sent to us. We accept this date in YYYY-MM-DD format.

Metadata Style Guide: section 20

Genre

Spotify doesn't currently use genre information from providers, although it may be ingested and used in the future. If the provider wishes to submit genre information the following rules apply.

  • This link is a list of genres you can use as a reference. Keep in mind that the genre list could change at any time.

  • Don't list more than one genre in the same field, such as "Dance/Electronic".

  • Genres must be listed in English and mustn't list a translation of the genre.

Metadata Style Guide: section 25

Label

Record Label from which the album is released.

P Line*

The P Line identifies the sound recording rights owner.

C Line*

The C-Line identifies the copyright owner of everything beyond the sound recording itself.

Disc Number*

If you have a multiple disc product, you can include that information here. For single disc products, please enter 1.

Track Sequence Number*

The tracks sequence in the product. It's required to keep your tracks in order when sending them through Uplink.

ISRC

The track's International Standard Recording Code. For more information please see the ISRC guide here.

Track Audio File*

We need to know the name of the audio file for each track. If a package doesn't contain subfolders, we only need the filename. If you have organized a package into album folders, you have to enter the name of the folder and a slash (/) before the file name.

Without Subfolders: My_Song.wav With subfolders : My_Album/My_Song.wav

Reminder: If you aren't using subfolders, each filename will need to be unique.

Find out more about our audio specifications here.

Track Title*

Each track title in a product must be unique. the exception being different versions of the same track, such as Clean/Explicit. Don't include any version information or featured artists in the track title.

Metadata Style Guide: section 8

Track Version

The version field can be used to differentiate between different versions of tracks that contain terms like "Live", "Radio Edit" or "Extended Version", but mustn't list featured or collaborating artists. You must enter track versions without formatting, e.g. 2011 Remaster, instead of (2011 Remaster). Please see section 8 of the Metadata Style Guide.

However, please note that Upload does not support multiple track versions.

Metadata Style Guide: section 8

Artists - Track Level*

You must send the Artist names you add need in their correct fields. To make sure these wind up on the correct Artist pages, we require:

  • At least one Main Artist must be listed

  • The full Artist name and proper spelling to be sent

  • Information other than the artist's name shouldn't be listed

  • Aliases or Translations aren't allowed

  • Don't list Various Artists as a track level Artist.

  • Multiple artists for each role separated by a semicolon (;)

  • We don't accept compounded names

  • using a comma(,) won't separate Artist names and results in a single compounded Artist allocation

We accept many different Artist roles for your tracks.

  • Main Artist*

  • Featuring Artist

  • Composer

  • Remixer

  • Producer

  • Lyricist

  • Orchestra

  • Arranger

  • Conductor

  • Actor*

Metadata Style Guide: requires at least one of the * fields Metadata Style Guide: sections 2, 3, 4, 5, and 14

Parental Warning Type

Explicit, Clean and Cleaned tracks must be tagged correctly. Terms like (Clean), (Clean Version), (Explicit) and (Explicit Version) mustn't be used for track or product titles/versions.

Metadata Style Guide: section 23

Multi-Language Metadata - Translations

You'll be able to send us multi-language metadata by using the "Template with Translations (Advanced)."

For content with multi-language metadata, the appropriate language codes must be provided for both the original and the translated metadata. Language code should match the language of the metadata, not the audio.

Uplink currently supports the following fields for translations:

  • Product Title

  • Product Version

  • Main Artist (Product)

  • Featuring Artist (Product)

  • Track Title

  • Track Version

  • Main Artist (Track)

  • Featuring Artist (Track)

We've included one translation column for each of the above fields. To change the language of the translation, you'll need to rename the column in the correct format.

To add more languages—select the translated field and insert a new column to the right of each field you have translations for. You'll need to change the language tag of the translation field for each new language.

Product Title

ja-kata_Product Title

zh-Hans_Product Title

Happy

ハッピー

快乐

For more information on how to structure your language tags, please follow the guide here

Metadata Style Guide: section 28

Language Of Performance Metadata

The Language of the Performance (LoP) recorded in the SoundRecording (represented by an ISO 639–3 LanguageCode).

DDEX: for instructions on delivering Language Of Performance in the DDEX knowledge base, please check this link.

Uplink:

To deliver LoP code in Uplink, download the advanced template and enter the language code in the 'Language of Performance' column. Make sure you are using the language codes from the ISO639-3 version.