The Most Common Metadata Mistakes Musicians Make (and How to Avoid Them)

Music metadata can be described as the information embedded in your audio file that identifies, organizes, and tracks your music across digital platforms. It’s the invisible data backbone that tells streaming services, publishers, and royalty societies exactly what your track is, and who should get paid for it.

Every song you release carries a collection of data points, such as:

• Track title and track number

• Artist and featured artist names

• Album name

• Genre and subgenre

• Release date

• ISRC and UPC codes

• Songwriting and producing credits

• Track duration, sample rate, and bit rate

• Cover art

Altogether, metadata acts as your song’s digital ID card. It travels with your track wherever it goes: across streaming platforms, download stores, and royalty databases. Most of this information is stored in metadata containers (most commonly, ID3v1 and ID3v2 tags), which can hold hundreds of text-based tags about your music.

Metadata might seem technical, but it’s absolutely essential for your music career. It ensures that your songs are:

• Discoverable: Metadata helps digital service providers (DSPs) like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music categorize and recommend your music to the right listeners.

• Credited Correctly: It tells publishers, PROs, and collaborators exactly who did what – from writers and producers to featured artists.

• Monetized Properly: Royalty collection societies rely on metadata to track plays and distribute mechanical and performance royalties.

Metadata also plays a crucial role in music licensing and sync deals, providing a verifiable record of ownership and rights, which is vital for sync licensing in TV and film. When your metadata is clean and consistent, music supervisors, playlist editors, and DSPs can easily identify and use your tracks with confidence.

Now that we’ve covered why metadata matters, let’s look at what happens when it goes wrong. In today’s digital landscape, approximately 120,000 new songs are uploaded to streaming platforms every day. With that level of saturation, even the tiniest metadata mistake can make your music disappear into the noise. A misspelled name, wrong release date, or missing ISRC code can significantly impact your income, visibility, and credibility.

Incorrect metadata can prevent artists from receiving royalties as streaming and download platforms rely on accurate metadata to track usage and distribute payments. When your metadata doesn’t match, your streams may not get counted, or worse, your royalties could be credited and thus paid to another artist entirely. Over time, poor metadata management can damage your financial record, complicate reporting, and even impact your ability to secure label deals, sync placements, or publishing opportunities.

Metadata mistakes don’t just hurt your revenue – they also confuse listeners and streaming algorithms. Platforms that auto-generate artist pages (like Spotify or Last.fm) may create duplicate or incorrect profiles if your name is misspelled or formatted inconsistently. That means fans might struggle to find your music, and your overall visibility and reputation as an artist can suffer.

When metadata isn’t consistent, DSPs may treat your releases as separate identities. This can split your catalog, streams, and followers across multiple artist pages, disrupting your analytics and making it harder to build momentum. Consolidating these profiles later can be time-consuming and frustrating – and sometimes not even possible.

As AI-generated music and automated scraping tools become more common, incomplete or inaccurate metadata makes your tracks more vulnerable to misuse. Without clear ownership and attribution data, it’s harder to prove that a song is yours, or to take action if it’s used without permission.

Accurate metadata is also essential for editorial playlist pitching. Both music distributors submitting releases on your behalf and editorial teams reviewing them avoid sloppy submissions. Inconsistent and messy metadata not only wastes the time of playlist professionals and curators but also makes your music and its presentation appear unprofessional. Remember that it’s absolutely essential for your track to stand out in the playlist pitching process.

In short: wrong metadata doesn’t just cause technical issues – it can cost you money, fans, and future opportunities. Treat metadata with the same care as your mastering or artwork; it’s an integral part of your professional identity as an artist.

Unfortunately, metadata mistakes are incredibly easy to make. Here’s what to watch out for when preparing your next release.

It sounds obvious, but typos happen all the time. A single typo can split your catalog into two different artist pages or make it impossible for fans to find you.

And there are real-life examples, too! For instance, releasing "Jonh Smith – Broken Hearts" instead of "John Smith – Broken Hearts." Spotify may treat these as two different artists, fragmenting your listener base and making it harder to build momentum.

Even minor inconsistencies like "The Midnight" versus "Midnight" or "DJ Khaled" versus "Dj Khaled" can cause confusion across platforms. Once your music is live with incorrect spelling, fixing it requires manual intervention from your distributor – and updates can take days or weeks to reflect across DSPs.

Pro tip: Always copy and paste your name and track titles from a verified master spreadsheet. Never rely on memory or manual typing. Consistency across every platform is key.

Your ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is your track's unique digital fingerprint. Think of it like a social security number for your song. Without it, your plays can't be tracked or monetized.

Two common mistakes:

• Incorrect or missing ISRCs during the upload process. This can happen when artists choose to enter their own ISRC but forget to include it or type it incorrectly. While most modern distributors automatically attach the ISRC to your release metadata, it’s still good practice to keep your master files tagged correctly – especially if you share them outside of your distributor’s system (e.g., for sync, radio, or press).

• Reusing the same ISRC for different versions (like the remix, live version, or remaster)

Each version of a recording needs its own unique ISRC. If you release an acoustic version, a radio edit, or a live recording of the same song, each one gets a separate code. Reusing codes confuses royalty systems and can result in underpayment or misattribution.

Pro tip: Let your distributor generate unique ISRCs automatically. Never recycle one. Most current distributors, like iMusician, handle this for you, so you don't have to worry about assigning ISRCs manually.

Producers, featured artists, remixers, songwriters – they all deserve proper credit. Leaving out or mislabeling contributors can lead to disputes later, fewer chances for playlist placement, unpaid royalties, and even damaged professional relationships.

For example, if you forget to list your featured rapper in the metadata, your track won’t appear on their artist page. This means you miss out on their fans discovering your music, and they miss out on your fanbase, proper credit, and royalties.

Credits are about respect, but they're mainly about money. Publishing royalties are calculated based on songwriting and composition credits, while performance royalties depend on accurate performer information. If you don't list everyone who contributed, you risk legal issues and financial losses down the line.

When adding collaborators, make sure you’re using the correct naming and formatting so that platforms display the information properly and link the right artist profiles. Here are the most common collaboration formats:

• (feat. Artist Name) — for featured artists who make a guest appearance.
  Example: Track Title (feat. Artist Name)

• Artist A & Artist B — for joint main artists with equal billing.
  Example: Artist A & Artist B – Track Title

• (with Artist Name) — for softer or background collaborations.
  Example: Track Title (with Artist Name)

• (Artist Name Remix) — for remixes, listed in parentheses.
  Example: Track Title (DJ X Remix)

• Artist A vs. Artist B — for mashups or battle-style collaborations (common in electronic genres).
  Example: Artist A vs. Artist B – Track Title

• Artist A presents Artist B — when a producer or label introduces another artist or alias.
  Example: Artist A presents Artist B – Track Title

Pro tip: Keep punctuation and spelling consistent. Always use the exact artist name from previous releases, avoid abbreviations like “ft.” or “w/” in official metadata, and double-check all contributor details before submission.

Choosing the wrong genre is one of the most common mistakes artists make. Streaming platforms rely on genre tags to recommend your music to listeners and power their algorithms, personalized playlists, and radio features. If you mislabel your trap beat as "pop," platforms’ recommendation engines might never serve your track to the right audience.

Genre misclassification also hurts your chances with playlist curators. Editorial teams often filter submissions by genre first. If your indie rock song is labeled as "classical," it won't just stop it from reaching the right editor's inbox, but it will also likely exclude it from consideration by the music distribution team that typically pitches your music directly to playlist editors.

Keep in mind that every misclassification – even minor ones within sub-genres – can harm your chances of being featured on an editorial playlist or recommended by the algorithm to the right audience.

Pro tip: Research how artists similar to you are categorized on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, and mirror that structure. Be as specific as possible. For instance, don't just use "Rock" – select "Alternative Rock" or "Hard Rock" if those sub-genres are available. The more accurate your tagging, the better your algorithmic performance and the higher your chances of landing a spot on an editorial playlist (learn more about that in our playlist pitching guide)!

Adding "EP" or "Album" directly into your title is a common rookie mistake. For example, writing "Night Drive EP" instead of just "Night Drive" (with "EP" selected in the release type field).

Streaming platforms automatically format your release based on the metadata you provide, so manually adding "EP" can make your title look awkward and confusing – e.g., "Night Drive EP EP."

The same goes for track numbering. Don't add numbering like "01 – Intro" in your track title field. That information belongs in the track order section. Overformatting can confuse DSPs and clutter your release.

Pro tip: Keep your titles clean and let your distributor's metadata fields handle formatting and release type. It looks more professional – and ensures consistency across all platforms.

Only a few things can kill momentum faster than setting the wrong release date. If your single goes live early or late, your promotional campaign can collapse before it even starts. Imagine announcing your single for Friday, but it accidentally drops on Tuesday. Your fans show up, but can’t find your track, and your first-week numbers take a hit. Or it drops earlier than you thought, and you've wasted days of potential promotion.

Territory mistakes are just as painful. Accidentally excluding countries where you already have fans can tank your first-week numbers and hurt your algorithmic ranking. Meanwhile, releasing in territories where you haven't built an audience yet may dilute your engagement metrics and overall impact.

Release timing can also influence whether your track is considered for playlist pitching and placement. Editorial teams across streaming platforms review submissions weeks in advance (for example, Spotify requires playlist pitching at least 2 weeks before the release, while Beatport requires at least 3 weeks). If you decide to pitch your track late or change your release date at the last minute, you will most likely miss your opportunity.

Pro tip: Always plan at least 4-6 weeks ahead. Triple-check your dates and distribution regions before hitting "order," and always preview your release in your distributor’s dashboard before publishing.

If your cover art doesn’t match your metadata, your release can be rejected. For instance, if your artwork says "Midnight Sun" but your metadata says "Midnite Sun," you likely have a problem.

Beyond spelling, DSPs have strict technical and content requirements. Most platforms require:

• Square artwork (3000x3000 pixels is standard) in JPG or PNG,

• No blurry or pixelated images – sharp when viewing it on 100%

• No copyrighted images or logos

• No social network symbols

• No contact information, such as email addresses

• No website URLs

• No pornographic images

• No explicit parental advisory labels unless the track is marked explicit in the metadata.

Remember that cover art is also part of your branding. Inconsistent or low-quality artwork can hurt your credibility, reduce click-through rates, and affect listener perception.

Pro tip: Keep a side-by-side checklist of your artwork text and metadata fields. They must match 100%. Use tools like iMusician's Cover Art Generator or follow our Release Artwork Guidelines to ensure your visuals meet platform standards.

It’s natural to want your track to stand out. However, stuffing your title with emojis or unusual symbols ("💔Love Song🔥🔥") might look great on Instagram or TikTok, yet most streaming platforms reject or misread these characters.

Special characters can also break search functionality. A fan typing "Love Song" may not find your track if it's officially titled "💔Love Song🔥🔥." Algorithms can't interpret emojis the way humans do, so your discoverability could suffer.

Some limited special characters such as accents, punctuation, and apostrophes (e.g., “Café” or “Don’t”) are usually fine, but over-styling risks rejection. Also, what works on Spotify might not work on Apple Music or Deezer. Generally, it's safer to keep things simple.

Pro tip: Keep your title clean and reserve emojis and decorative characters for social media. Always test your metadata across platforms before finalizing your release to make sure it doesn’t cause issues.

If your song title is in Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, or any non-Latin alphabet, you need a transliteration – a Latin alphabet version of your title. Without it, global fans won't be able to search for your music.

For example, a Bulgarian artist releasing a song titled "любов" (meaning “Love” in English) should also include "Lyubov," as the transliterated title. Otherwise, non-Bulgarian-speaking fans searching for the artist might not find the track.

However, it’s important to handle transliteration correctly — doing it the wrong way can lead to your release being rejected or displayed incorrectly.

“If you’re a Bulgarian artist and select "Bulgarian" during your upload process, the titles of your tracks must be written in Cyrillic. If, in addition, you want the titles to appear in Latin characters for specific territories (e.g., Spain), our team can enable what's called a localization during distribution, which will display the transliterated titles in specific countries,” says Carlos, Senior Artist & Label Relations Executive at iMusician.

“Side-by-side transliterations using parentheses – for example, любов (Lyubov) – will be rejected by most DSPs like Apple Music”, he adds.

Also, don’t use quotation marks unless you want them to literally appear in the title, and avoid adding “translation” words like “love” unless you want that visible — keep in mind that transliteration and translation are different.

Remember that even if you sing in your native language, your music isn't only for those who speak it. Music is universal, and language isn’t a barrier. Many people don’t understand English well, yet they still enjoy listening to English-speaking music. The same is true for songs in any other language – even if that language is less spoken or less widespread.

Language metadata is also critical for lyrics. If your lyrics are in Spanish but you don't tag them as such, platforms won't likely show your track in Spanish-language playlists or recommendations.

Pro tip: Add both original and transliterated titles when possible, and always specify the correct lyric language in your metadata. This ensures your music is discoverable to fans worldwide.

Here are a few tips on how to keep your metadata tight:

1. Create a master spreadsheet for all your tracks (titles, ISRCs, UPCs, credits, release dates). This becomes your single source of truth and accuracy.

2. Copy and paste instead of typing names each time. Remember that manual entry invites mistakes.

3. Always review your release before submission – most distributors, like iMusician, let you do that in the last steps of the release upload process.

4. Update mistakes quickly. Mistakes can always happen. What matters then is how quickly you manage to fix them. So, don’t wait months – the sooner you fix an error, the less damage it does.

5. Stay consistent across releases. Use the same artist name spelling, the same credit format, and the same genre tags every time you upload and release new music.

6. Communicate with collaborators. Make sure everyone agrees on credits, splits, and formatting before you submit your music for release.

Metadata isn't glamorous — but neither is missing out on royalties, playlists, or fans. A few extra minutes of care today saves months of frustration later.

Think of metadata like your tour manager: invisible, but essential to getting you where you need to be. It's the infrastructure that connects your creativity to the world. Without it, your music might as well not exist.

So before you hit "publish" on your next release, take a breath. Double-check your spelling. Verify your ISRCs. Review your credits. Make sure your metadata is as polished as your final mix.

Your future self will thank you.