The Author field: Dos and don'ts
The Author field takes a name only – no roles, no notes, no descriptions.
Just a specific person. Exactly as it appears on their ID card. A pseudonym may only be used if it is officially registered.
What the field actually is
By Author we mean the Authors section in the recording form – the Composer, Lyricist and Arranger fields. It is used to identify the person or people who actually created the musical work – that is, the composer (who wrote the music) and the lyricist (who wrote the lyrics). The composer is a mandatory field; without it, the form will not save the recording.
Authorship arises at the moment the work is created – under the Copyright Act (Act No. 121/2000 Coll.) – and it cannot be transferred or sold. That is why the Author field must always contain a specific natural person, never a company, band, studio or production company.
Author ≠ performer ≠ band ≠ producer ≠ publisher
Each role has its own field in the system. The roles may overlap, but you need to know how they differ. The author (composer, lyricist) is the person who created the work. A performer is someone whose artistic performance was recorded. The producer is usually the person who directed how the recording sounds. The producer of a sound recording is usually whoever financed or managed the recording. And the publisher – even though they work closely with authors – is not an author and does not belong in this field.
The correct format – how to fill in the field
The Author field accepts names only – no nicknames, epithets or abbreviations. Besides a first name and surname, a pseudonym is acceptable – but only if it is officially registered with a collecting society. Here is the exact format:
Basic rules
- Format: First name Surname – exactly as it appears on your ID card. A capital letter at the start of each name.
- Multiple authors: Separate them with a comma and a space. Example: Jan Novák, Jana Nováková
- Pseudonym: Only if it is officially registered with OSA or another collecting society and verified in Artists Bez Labelu via Requests (Songwriter pseudonym). Platforms penalise unregistered pseudonyms – Spotify in particular.
- The author is always a natural person – never a band (nor an orchestra or choir) as a whole, a company or a production company.
Jan Novák Jan Novák, Jana Nováková Traditional Jan Novák, Suno AImusic Jan Novák, lyrics Petr Svoboda arr. Jan Novák jan novák Band XY Beats4You s.r.o. Jan Novák & Jana Nováková Jan Novák x Jana Nováková Publisher ABCRoles do not belong in the Author field – at all
The Author field is intended exclusively for names. It must not contain role labels such as “music: Jan Novák, lyrics: Petr Svoboda”, abbreviations such as “arr. Jan Novák”, “comp. Jana Nováková” or any other descriptions. Entries like these are invalid metadata, and distribution of the recording will fail or the recording will be displayed incorrectly on the platforms.
What belongs in the Author field and what does not
| Correct | Wrong | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan Novák The author's legal name, with capital initials. |
jan novák Lower case – incorrect format. |
||
| Jan Novák, Jana Nováková Multiple authors separated by a comma and a space. |
music Jan Novák, lyrics Petr Svoboda Roles do not belong in the Author field at all. |
||
| Registered pseudonym Only if it is listed in the database of OSA or another collecting society. |
arr. Jan Novák Role abbreviations (arr., comp., lyrics...) do not belong here either. |
||
| Traditional For traditional / folk music with no specific author. |
Band XY / Studio ABC s.r.o. A band, choir, orchestra or company cannot be an author. |
||
| Jan Novák, Suno AI A human + AI as co-authors – see the section below. |
Publisher ABC A publisher is not an author – it has a different function and a different field. |
||
A pseudonym in the Author field
An artist name (pseudonym) may be used in the Author field only if it is officially registered with OSA or another collecting society. Platforms – especially Spotify – penalise unregistered pseudonyms. If you perform under a pseudonym but are not registered in any database, enter your legal name. First verify a registered pseudonym in the app under Requests → Songwriter pseudonym (the exact form of the pseudonym, its IPI number and proof of registration) – once it is approved, you can use it in the author fields.
How pseudonyms work in distribution and everything that using them correctly involves is explained in the article Pseudonyms in music distribution.
Traditional and folk music
Are you distributing a cover or your own arrangement of a traditional folk song whose specific author is unknown? In that case, proceed as follows:
How to enter traditional / folk music
Composer field: We will tell you exactly how to enter a folk song – write to us before you fill in the recording.
If you have created your own original arrangement of a folk song and want to be credited as the arranger, enter your name in the separate Arranger field. Writing “arr. Jan Novák” in the Author (composer) field is neither sufficient nor allowed.
You enter the composer, lyricist and arranger separately
The roles of the creators of a work are entered separately. When entering a recording, you have a separate field for the composer, a separate one for the lyricist and a separate one for the arranger. The lyricist and arranger fields are optional. Always fill in the lyricist when the recording has lyrics – even if they were written by the same person who composed the music. Fill in the arranger only if a separate arrangement was actually created. Each field takes only a name (or a registered pseudonym), never a description of the role.
Need an even finer breakdown of roles?
Beyond the composer, lyricist and arranger, there are also more specific writing roles (e.g. co-composer or translation). We enable the Additional writing roles block in the recording form on request – ask support for it. Everything that can be set up, and how, is covered in the article All options for entering artists and their roles on a recording.
If the work was (co-)created by AI
One firm rule applies here: The metadata must reflect reality. If artificial intelligence was involved in creating the work, this must be stated in the Author field. The basic logic is simple:
- AI served only as a technical tool (mixing, mastering, sound editing) → you list only yourself.
- You wrote the lyrics and AI set them to music (or the other way round) → you list both yourself and the AI tool, each in the field for their role (e.g. Lyricist: Jan Novák, Composer: Suno AI).
- AI generated everything based on a prompt → you list only the AI tool, not yourself.
False authorship has real consequences
If AI did everything for you and you list yourself as the author, the metadata is false – which is in direct breach of our terms. Platforms deploy AI detectors and will label the content as AI-generated anyway. The result may be limited recommendations, deletion of the recording or a blocked profile. In addition: AI music is not eligible for TikTok, nor for content platforms (neither YouTube Content ID nor Facebook/Meta fingerprinting).
Besides the author fields, also answer the question “Is it AI-generated music?” truthfully in the Track origin guide that precedes every recording. Exactly how to enter AI as an author, which tools to list and in what form – we cover all of this in detail in a separate article:
Complete guide: How to enter AI as an author correctly
There you will find an overview of the most widely used AI tools and how to enter them correctly, scenarios based on how much AI was involved, and information on how platforms and collecting societies respond.
→ How to credit AI as an author correctly
→ How to register AI-assisted music with OSA
→ Who owns the rights to AI music
Why filling it in correctly matters
The Author field is transferred to the recording metadata exactly as you fill it in – and it is displayed on Spotify, Apple Music and everywhere else. Neither the platforms nor distributors correct anything. An incorrect format, an unregistered pseudonym or false authorship shows up immediately, and correcting it after release is a lengthy process. On some platforms, a retroactive correction is not guaranteed at all. Get it right the first time.