Don't put things in fields where they don't belong
Every field in the form exists for a reason. And every piece of information has its place.
If you put things where they don't belong, you will end up with an error, a rejected recording or nonsense displayed on Spotify.
Why it matters at all
When adding a recording for distribution, you fill in a whole range of fields – track title, release title, songwriter, producer, lyrics and more. Each field has its exact purpose and the platforms read it automatically. But if you cram something into a field where it does not belong, one of these things will happen:
- The information will be displayed twice. Platforms display the fields automatically – if you write the producer's name in the track title and also fill it in the Producer field, it will appear in both places on Spotify.
- The recording will be rejected. Distributors and platforms have automatic checks. Incorrectly filled-in metadata is one of the most common reasons for rejection. The forms in Artists Bez Labelu will not even save the most serious mistakes (feat. or prod. in the title, emoji, a songwriter without a surname) – the rest is up to you.
- Metadata cannot be corrected easily. Once a recording has reached the platforms, a retroactive correction takes a long time and on some platforms is not guaranteed at all. And some things cannot be corrected at all (see What can still be changed after distribution and what cannot).
- You will damage your profile. Inconsistent or nonsensical metadata can affect search, playlist placement and the credibility of your profile.
The basic rule for all fields
Before each field, ask yourself one question: “Is this really information that belongs in this field, or is it just an add-on?” If it is an add-on, it belongs elsewhere. And if it does not belong anywhere else either, don't write it anywhere. Every piece of information has its place in the metadata – or none at all. If you are not sure what to do, read our guides – we have plenty of them and they cover almost everything.
What goes in which field
Here is a quick overview of the most important fields, what belongs in them and what people most often get wrong:
| Field | Belongs here | Does not belong here |
|---|---|---|
| Track title | Just the song title itself, possibly with the version in brackets (Remix, Live, Acoustic…). | The name of the artist, producer or featured artist, promotional text, genre, year (without a reason). |
| Release title | The title of the album, EP or single – exactly as it is called. | The release type (EP, Album, Single) as a word in the title, the release year, the artist's name. |
| Songwriter | The legal name of the composer/lyricist (or a registered pseudonym), the name of the AI tool. | A band name, a company, the producer, the publisher, roles such as “music:”, “arr.”. |
| Producer | The name or pseudonym of the recording's producer. | The author of the work, the mixing/mastering engineer, a studio name as the producer. |
| Lyrics | The exact words of the song, line by line, with correct diacritics. | Section names (verse, chorus), a description of the song, information about the songwriters, any text for an instrumental recording. |
Field by field – dos and don'ts
Each field has its own detailed rules. Here is a brief overview – and under each card you will find a link to the full article.
Track title
- The song title
- The version in brackets – Summer Night (Acoustic Version)
- The version after a dash – Summer Night - Instrumental version
- A clean version label – Summer Night (Clean Version)
- A remix label – Summer Night (Jan Novák Remix)
- The name of the artist or featured artist
- Promotional text – “Best Song 2025”
- The word Explicit
- Producer, songwriter, genre, year
Release title
- The title of the album, EP or single
- An edition or version label – Shadows (Deluxe Edition), Shadows (Live)
- The word “Album”, “EP” or “Single” as a standalone label
- The release year – Shadows 2025
- The artist's name – it has its own field
- The number of tracks or the duration
Songwriter field
- A legal name – Jan Novák
- A registered pseudonym verified in the Requests section (Songwriter pseudonym)
- Multiple songwriters separated by a comma – Jan Novák, Jana Nováková
- The name of the AI tool – Suno AI
- A band or company name
- Roles such as “music:”, “lyrics:”, “arr.”
- The producer, the publisher
- An unregistered pseudonym
Producer field
- The name or pseudonym of the recording's producer
- The pseudonym does not have to be registered
- Multiple producers separated by a comma
- The songwriter or lyricist
- The mixing or mastering engineer
- A recording studio name as the producer
- The record label
Song lyrics
- The exact words of the song, line by line
- Correct diacritics and spelling
- Section names – [Chorus], [Verse 1]
- A description or annotation of the song
- Information about songwriters or producers
- Anything for an instrumental recording
The most common mistakes we see
After years of working with independent artists' recordings, we know what keeps coming up again and again. Here are the biggest sins:
A regular performer's name in the featured artist field
A very common mistake. A regular performer really is not a featured artist. All the options for entering artists and their roles on a recording are described in this article. You can list musicians and other performers (instruments, vocals) in the extended credits, which we enable on request (write to support).
A featured artist in the title
A featured artist does not belong in the track title – you enter them in the “Additional featuring artist” section and the platforms add “feat.” to the title themselves. The form will not save a title containing “feat.”, “ft.” or “featuring” at all. Don't put the name there as free text either: “Summer Night with Jana Nováková” or “Summer Night ft Jana Nováková” – the name would be displayed twice on the platforms, or they would reject the release.
The producer entered in the Songwriter field
The producer of a recording is not the same as the author of the work. They are two different roles with different rights and a different field in the system. The producer does not belong in the Songwriter field – they have their own field.
A description or advertising text anywhere in the metadata
Texts such as “Official Single 2025”, “Best Track of the Year”, “Available on all platforms” or “Follow me on Instagram” do not belong anywhere in the metadata. No field in the distribution form is meant for this – platforms penalise such content and, naturally, usually reject the recording straight away.
Platforms don't fix this – that is up to you
Neither Spotify, Apple Music nor any other platform edits the metadata it receives from the distributor. What you send is what gets displayed. A correction after release takes days to weeks and is not always guaranteed. So pay attention to your metadata before you submit.