Track title: Dos and don'ts
The track title is the first thing a listener sees. But it comes with rules. Read on to find out what belongs in the title and what definitely does not.
The basic rule: A title is just a title
The track title serves just one purpose – to name the recording. Nothing more. All other information (who produced it, who is featured, what the genre is, where to buy it) has its own fields in the form. Platforms read and display these fields automatically – and if you also write the same information into the title, it will be shown twice, or the recording will be rejected. The same rules apply to the release title, and for a single, the track title must be the same as the release title.
Overview: What belongs in the title and what does not
| BELONGS IN THE TITLE | DOES NOT BELONG IN THE TITLE |
|---|---|
| The song title itself Summer Night |
The featured artist's name Summer Night (feat. Jan Novák) – the platforms add it themselves |
| A version label, if it is part of the title Summer Night (Acoustic Version) or Summer Night (Live) |
The producer's name Summer Night (prod. DJ Mrkev) – the producer has their own field |
| A part number, if it is intentional Summer Night, Pt. 2 |
Your artist name Summer Night – Karel Mašek – this is filled in automatically from your account |
| A remix label Summer Night (XY Remix) – also enter the remixer in the Remixer section |
Genre or description Summer Night [Hip-Hop / Trap Beat] – the genre has its own field |
| The songwriter's or lyricist's name Summer Night (lyrics: Pepa Novotný) – songwriters have their own section |
|
| Promotional or SEO text Summer Night | NEW HIT 2025 | Official Audio |
|
| A link or a call to action Summer Night – follow on IG @karelmashek |
|
| The name of a label or distributor Summer Night [Top Best Records] |
Why do platforms reject this?
Spotify, Apple Music and other platforms have strict metadata rules. The track title must reflect how the song is actually presented – without any “padding”. Platforms automatically reject recordings whose title contains:
- Promotional or advertising text (“Best Song 2025”, “Official Hit”).
- Information that belongs in other metadata fields (featured artist, producer, songwriter...).
- Special characters used as decoration (★ Summer Night ★, ••• Summer Night •••).
- Capital letters throughout the title just for effect (SUMMER NIGHT – unless it is an intentional style).
- Emoji (the recording form will not save a title with emoji at all).
This does not work as SEO
Some artists add keywords, the producer's name or the featured artist to the title in the hope that it will make the track easier to find. It does not work. Neither Spotify nor Apple Music searches by track title the way Google does. On the contrary – such a recording will be rejected or removed, and you will lose both time and money.
The right way to be discoverable is to fill in all the metadata correctly – every piece of information has its own field, and the platforms work with them exactly as intended.
Featured artists in the title in particular
This is the most common mistake. If you have a guest on the track, never write their name in the track title. Enter them in the “Additional featuring artist” section – their name together with their Spotify URI and Apple Music ID (if they have no profile, write NEW instead of the identifier) – and the platforms will add them after “feat.” themselves, automatically, in the correct format.
The recording form will not save a title containing “feat.”, “ft.” or “featuring” at all. If the guest's name still makes it into the title (for example without “feat.”), one of two things will happen:
- The name will be displayed twice – once in the title and once automatically after “feat” = this can happen, but it is unlikely.
- The recording will be rejected as invalid metadata = almost certain.
A simple rule
If you are not sure whether something belongs in the title, ask yourself: “Is this really part of the song's title, or is it just additional information?” If it is additional information, it belongs somewhere else, not in the title. Some mistakes will be caught for you by the automatic form checks and, before the first distribution, by the Metadata check in the release detail.