Pseudonyms in music distribution
Not all pseudonyms are the same
Performing under a different name is completely normal in music. But it depends on which role you use it in – because the same rules do not apply everywhere.
It depends on the role – the same rules do not apply everywhere
When adding a recording, you fill in several different fields in the form. Each of them has different rules about what belongs in it:
Author
(composer, lyricist)
Strict rules
Must be a legal name or an officially registered pseudonym (e.g. via OSA). Platforms reject unregistered pseudonyms (because of the matching of author royalties).
Performer
(Primary Artist)
Free
An unregistered pseudonym is fine – this is the name listeners search for you under on Spotify, Apple Music and so on. It is visible on every album and recording.
Producer
& Featured Artist
Free
An unregistered pseudonym is fine here too – just as for mix, mastering and remixer. The producer is the person who directed how the recording sounds or oversaw the whole production. A featured artist is the guest artist after “feat.”
Where is this information actually visible?
Many people worry that their legal name will be visible “everywhere”. In reality, that is not the case – it depends on the role:
Visibility of the individual details on the platforms
Worried about your privacy?
Realistically, you have two basic options:
1. Register your pseudonym – via OSA or an equivalent collecting society abroad. Then you can also use it in the Author field and the platforms will accept it. It can be done; it just takes a bit of paperwork.
2. Perform under your legal name – and bear in mind that the author's name is only seen by people who actively open the credits. It is not on the front page of your profile.
The third option – entering an unregistered pseudonym in the Author field – does not work. The platforms will reject the recording.
Why do platforms check authors' pseudonyms?
Platforms have strict rules – and they have good reason to
Faced with a huge volume of new recordings and incorrect metadata, platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music are taking tough measures – and one of them is automatically rejecting recordings with incorrect or unverifiable metadata.
The platforms check international pseudonym databases. If your pseudonym is not there, the recording is simply not accepted. This is not a whim – it is a logical consequence of the fact that metadata is legally binding and is used to pay out author royalties.
Moreover, experience has shown that people enter names inconsistently – once with a space, once without, once with a hyphen, once with a lower-case letter. This causes chaos in the databases, and the platforms respond with increasingly strict filters.
How do you register a pseudonym?
More about the author's role and how it works with us
Who is an author? Composer and lyricist – the basics of authorship in music
The arranger has their own field in the recording form. If you need to distinguish further roles (e.g. a sub-lyricist or translator), we will enable extended credits for you on request – you will find an overview in the article All options for entering artists and their roles on a recording. And if you are not sure exactly what to enter in each field, contact our support – we will be happy to advise you.