{"id":1588,"date":"2025-05-13T11:12:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T11:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spanishpassionmusic.com\/?p=1588"},"modified":"2025-05-08T09:38:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T09:38:01","slug":"all-about-metadata-the-invisible-code-that-can-sink-or-boost-your-start-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spanishpassionmusic.com\/en\/all-about-metadata-the-invisible-code-that-can-sink-or-boost-your-start-up\/","title":{"rendered":"All About Metadata: The \"Invisible Code\" That Can Sink or Boost Your Launch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When an independent artist uploads a song to Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube Music, the focus is almost always on the cover, network promotion and release date. But there is a fundamental aspect that many overlook: <strong>music metadata<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That \"invisible\" data set can be the difference between your music ranking well or getting lost in the background of the algorithm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this guide we explain what metadata is, how it is used on streaming platforms and how to optimise it to work in your favour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"> What is music metadata?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>metadata<\/strong> are the information associated with your song. They are not part of the audio, but accompany each file when you upload it to a distribution platform. They are essential for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Identify the work<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Attributing rights correctly<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Track reproductions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Positioning your music in search engines and algorithms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"> Key examples of metadata:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Song title<\/strong> (with precise spelling)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Name of main artist and collaborators<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Genre and sub-genre<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Language of the song<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>ISRC Code<\/strong> (unique recording identifier)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>UPC Code<\/strong> (full release identifier)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Authors and composers<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Producers<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Launch date<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Name of the label or distributor<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lyrics (on some platforms)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"> What if they are wrong or incomplete?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Missed opportunities for playlisting and discovery<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If your song is not properly tagged, <strong>algorithms will not know how to classify it.<\/strong>and which audience is the ideal one to show it to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Your royalties may be lost or not attributed correctly<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If there are errors in the names, percentages or ISRCs, you run the risk of <strong>not charging for actual uses<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Your song may not appear in relevant searches<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Metadata is also key to music SEO. If your title is confusing, contains emojis or is misspelled, your music will be harder to find.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>There may be legal disputes or blockages<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If another artist has already used the same song name or collaborator and you do not correctly differentiate the credits, <strong>you may receive unjustified complaints or strikes.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to optimise your metadata for success?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Write the titles as you want them to appear publicly.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>No unnecessary capital letters, no misspellings, no strange symbols.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Make sure that all the credits are in place<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use the correct artistic names for each contributor, author and producer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Choose precise and coherent genres<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Don't just put \"Pop\" if your song is \"Alternative pop with touches of synthwave in Spanish\". Use sub-genres where possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Request or generate your ISRC and UPC code correctly<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A good digital distributor can assign or register them for you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Check language and territory<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Some errors in language selection can affect the reach of your music in automatic recommendations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Don't invent irrelevant tags or keywords.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Avoid clickbait in titles or descriptions, as it can hurt you in the long run.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pro tip: Treat metadata as your music CV<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If your song is on the radar of a playlist curator, a label or even a recommendation algorithm, <strong>metadata shall be the first source of information<\/strong> they use to rank you or decide whether it is worth giving you visibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the digital world, <strong>quality of content is not everything<\/strong>. The information that accompanies it - your metadata - can boost your launch or bury it without you realising it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an independent artist, understanding this \"invisible code\" gives you a key advantage over those who continue to publish without a strategy.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When an independent artist uploads a song to Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube Music, the focus is almost always on the cover art, network promotion and release date. But there is a fundamental aspect that many overlook: the music metadata. This \"invisible\" set of data can be the difference between your song being played and [...]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spanishpassionmusic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spanishpassionmusic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spanishpassionmusic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spanishpassionmusic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spanishpassionmusic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1588"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/spanishpassionmusic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1720,"href":"https:\/\/spanishpassionmusic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1588\/revisions\/1720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spanishpassionmusic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spanishpassionmusic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spanishpassionmusic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spanishpassionmusic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}