Every field on the upload form, explained.

Your cover image must adhere to the following requirements.

Important considerations

• Avoid using the same artwork across your catalog unless the release is an alternate or deluxe version.
• We highly recommend displaying the release title and artist name as text.
• You must have the explicit right to use the images, logos or artists displayed in your cover art.
• Artwork cannot be pixelated, poor quality, or contain URLs, UPCs/ISRCs, social media handles, prices, track lists, dates or pornographic imagery.
• A Parental Advisory sticker must be displayed if the audio and/or imagery contains explicit content.

If this release in its entirety was previously made available in stores digitally, provide the date it was made available. This will help stores accurately display your work in the chronological order it was made available. If this is a new release, select "This is a new release."

Reusing the same UPC is strongly discouraged and unnecessary for track linking on platforms. Unless you have a specific reason to re-use your old UPC, we will generate a new UPC for you at no extra cost.

Provide the language of the release and track titles. This may differ from the audio language.

Do not include version information in the title field. Use the Title Version field instead to indicate a Remix, Cover or Year version of your release. Including the version in the title may result in an editorial hide from Apple. Do not censor explicit language in your release or track titles with asterisks or other symbols.

If your release is a single, the Release Title and Version must match the Track Title and Version fields exactly.

Input the primary artist that is involved on the majority of the tracks in your release.

If your release is a compilation, provide the rest of the primary artists in the "Additional Primary Artists" field below.

Input the additional primary artists that are involved on the majority of the tracks in your release. They will be displayed on the release level in platforms.

If your release is a compilation, provide the rest of the primary artists from the track level in this field.

If 4 or more primary artists are involved on the majority of the tracks in your release, "Various Artists" will be displayed on the release level in platforms.

Input the key artists that are involved on the majority of the tracks in your release. They will be displayed on the release level in platforms.

Input the performers that are involved on the majority of the tracks in your release. They will be included in the metadata on the release level depending on the platform.

A producer role is always required in this section to adhere to store requirements. They will be displayed in the metadata on the release level in platforms.

The record label will be displayed in platforms. The record label saved in your account settings will appear here. Only input a record label that you have the explicit rights to. If you do not have a record label, you can provide "Independent".

Provide a genre, or genres, most closely associated with the overall audio content of the release.

Provide the copyright and publishing rights owner and year.

In general, the following applies.

Publishing ©

Publishing/Composition Copyright (The Song): owned by songwriters or publishers. It protects the melody, lyrics, and chords. There is only one set of publishing rights per song, which remain even if the song is covered by other artists.

Copyright ©

Master Recording Copyright (The Sound): owned by recording artists or record labels. It protects the specific recorded version of a song. Every new version (remix, cover) creates a new master copyright.

N.B. If a cover artist records a song, they own the master (the new recording), but the original songwriter retains the publishing (the song itself).

This is not legal advice. Consult with a legal representative for your particular case.

Your audio file must adhere to the following requirements.

The audio file must be of high quality. Silences or blank audio greater than 10 seconds at any point is not permitted.

Input this value in mm:ss format. Where supported, stores will begin a preview or clip of your track at this provided time.

ISRCs must be entered using alphanumeric characters only. Do not include hyphens, spaces or any other characters, as these will cause an error.

Do not include version information in the title field. Use the Title Version field instead to indicate a Remix, Cover or Year version of your track. Including the version in the title may result in an editorial hide from Apple. Do not censor explicit language in your release or track titles with asterisks or other symbols.

If your release is a single, the Release Title and Version must match the Track Title and Version fields exactly.

Provide the language of the lyrics in the audio. If there are no lyrics, speech or spoken word in the audio, indicate that the track is an instrumental.

If your audio content contains explicit content such as sex, drugs or violence, or contains obscene language or insults, it must be indicated to the consumer. Failure to do so may result in an editorial hide in platforms. A Parental Advisory sticker must be displayed if the audio and/or imagery contains explicit content.

Provide a genre, or genres, most closely associated with the audio content of the track.

If your release is a single, the artist information on the track level must match the release level. For information about a particular role, see that role on the release level of this guide.

A Composer role is mandatory for all tracks in your release. If a lyric language is selected, a lyricist role is required.

All writers involved on the track level must be a full legal name consisting of a first and last name, and each name must be at least two letter characters.

Provide the publishing rights owner for the track. In general, the following applies.

Publishing/Composition Copyright (The Song)

Owned by songwriters or publishers. It protects the melody, lyrics, and chords. There is only one set of publishing rights per song, which remain even if the song is covered by other artists.

Master Recording Copyright (The Sound)

Owned by recording artists or record labels. It protects the specific recorded version of a song. Every new version (remix, cover) creates a new master copyright.

N.B. If a cover artist records a song, they own the master (the new recording), but the original songwriter retains the publishing (the song itself).

This is not legal advice. Consult with a legal representative for your particular case.

It is important that you indicate who owns the publishing, or the composition, of the track in this field.

Original Work

This is a composition original to you and you are not using another artist's composition (including melody, lyrics and structure). While a remix often uses the original composition, it is considered an original work if it substantially changes the original recording.

Cover Song

You are creating a new performance of a song previously recorded by another artist and you are not substantially changing the original composition (including melody, lyrics and structure). A mechanical license will be required if you are distributing to download stores or in other particular cases.

Public Domain or Traditional

Any music or content that is in the public domain, where the copyright has expired or that is otherwise out of copyright. This includes religious music and traditional songs and melodies.

If you are using someone else's work in any way, provide the proper documentation and/or licenses in the Copyright Documents section of the upload form.

It is important that you indicate who owns the recording, or the master, of the track in this field.

Remix or Derivative Work

Anytime you are altering or creating a new version of an existing work, it is considered derivative. This includes heavily modified versions such as sped up or slowed content. The proper clearances will be required whenever you are using someone else's work.

Contains Samples, Beats, Loops or Stock Sounds

Recordings that contain a royalty-free beat, a beat purchased from someone else, samples from sample packs or a Digital Audio Workstation. If your sample was obtained through a third party, including a producer, through a platform like Splice or from a Digital Audio Workstation like Logic or Ableton, you should provide the clearance for the audio in the Copyright Documents in the upload form.

Alternate Version of an existing track

Versions of tracks that you have distributed before, including Live, Remastered, Lofi or Radio Edits.

Special Genre

White noise or sleep music, ambient, new age or meditation, karaoke or instrumental, classical (not contemporary music in the classical genre), or any other similar genre where your recording is likely to be mistaken for another recording in User Generated Content platforms.

Non-Musical Content

Including ASMR, sound effects, nature sounds, speech, spoken word and similar.

Includes AI generated or assisted content

Includes music generated through artificial intelligence (AI), either in whole or in part. The AI model must have disclosed its training data.

Whenever you are using someone else's work, it is imperative to provide the proper documentation and/or licenses that display where you obtained the material and that you have the explicit rights to distribute it digitally. To prevent any unforeseen issues and delays distributing your release to stores, provide this information at the time of distribution in this section. All licenses and documentation must be clear and detailed.

Input the date you wish for the release to go live on platforms.

Input the time and time zone you wish for the release to go live on platforms.

Input the date you wish for the release to go live on platforms for pre-order by your fans, where supported by download platforms.

This date must be at least one day before your Release Start Date.

Input the territories you wish to include or exclude from distribution for this release.

Different store types have their own set of requirements that you must adhere to in order to make your entire release available on the platform.

Streaming

Streaming platforms allow fans and consumers to stream your release digitally. As these actions are monetized, it is important that you have obtained the proper rights to distribute the product if you have used third party material.

Download Stores

Download stores such as Apple and Amazon give fans and consumers the ability to purchase and download content available in their platforms. If you are releasing a cover song, for example, it will be necessary to have obtained a cover song license before distributing your content to the platform.

User Generated Content (UGC) and Exclusive Deliveries

Platforms such as Facebook, Snap, TikTok and YouTube Content ID have a strict set of requirements for what can be monetized for digital fingerprinting. In order for your release to qualify for these platforms, you must have the exclusive rights to the entire audio, among other requirements, as these platforms will scan their libraries and user content against your reference files for monetization. Attempting to claim a sound that does not belong to you in these stores will result in negative actions taken against your catalog by the store. If your release does not qualify, you can always upload the audio directly to the platform for fan use and discovery.