If you're an artist or a record label looking to distribute your music across digital platforms, uploading your release through a distribution service is the key step to reaching a global audience. This guide will take you through the process, step-by-step, ensuring your release is prepared and uploaded correctly.
Prepare Your Material
Before starting the upload process, make sure you have all the necessary materials:
Audio File: A high-quality, lossless WAV or FLAC file is typically required. Ensure it's mastered and ready for distribution uploaded on Google Drive.
Artwork: The cover art should meet the platform's size and format requirements (usually 3000x3000 pixels, JPEG, and less than 10MB).
Metadata: Gather information such as the release title, track titles, artist names, and track writers.
Step 1: Go to Releases Menu
This menu displays the releases you have created, along with their status and other information. To create a new release, click the "New Release" button.
Step 2: Fill The Metadata
Main Album Metadata
Cover Art: Make sure your cover art is JPEG format with a minimum size of 3000x3000 pixels.
Album Title: If your release is a single, make sure the album and track titles are the same.
Primary Artist: If your primary artist is 4 or more, your release will go to various artists. Make sure you enter the correct artist profile link for mapping to take place.
Featured Artist: This is a optional field, if you don't have featuring on your release, leave it blank.
Additional Album Metadata
Album Language: The language of your release, if your track contains multiple languages, use the most commonly used language.
Album Genre: Use the genre of your release, if your track contains multiple genres, alsouse the most common language.
Label Name: The name of the label you want to display in DSPs, if you don't have one, use the artist name.
UPC Code: This code is the identification code of your release, it is used if you want to move your release from your old distributor to Soundmera. If you don't have one, leave it blank.
Release Date: The date on which your release will be available on DSPs, make sure you choose 2 weeks ahead to avoid delays.
Original Release Date: The date on which your release was released, this is used when you want to move a release to Soundmera. If this is a new release, leave it blank.
℗ Line: The publishing tag of your song, usually filled by the record label name or artist name. Make sure the year follows the release year.
© Line: The copyright owner of your release, usually filled by the record label name or artist name. Make sure the year follows the release year.
Album Documentation
Album Documentation: This field is used to help us review your release. For example, if you use royalty free instruments/beats/samples, you can explain and send us the proof with link.
Track Link: Upload your track in Google Drive and fill this field with your track link. Make sure the link is set to public so we can access it.
After that, you can click the Create button which will redirect you to the page for adding tracks. You can see the explanation below:
Step 3: Add a Track(s)
After you click the create button, you can add the track to your album, it's at the bottom of the metadata you've filled in before. If you have any changes at album level, you can also change them and click 'Save Changes'.
You can choose the option to attach an old track or create a new track. In this case, we will create a new track, click 'New track'. A modal will appear to fill in with your track metadata, the fields will be more or less the same as the album level. But there are a few things you need to pay attention to:
Writers: Enter the name of the lyricist of your track, if your release is instrumental, this name will serve as the composer. Make sure to use a real name in first and last name format, never fill it with an artist name.
ISRC: This code is the identification code of your track, it is used if you want to move your release from your old distributor to Soundmera. If you don't have one, leave it blank.
TikTok Start: This is used to mark the start time of your song on UGC platforms like TikTok, Meta, and Shorts.
Lyrics: Make sure you pay attention to writing the lyrics correctly, incorrect writing will not be delivered to DSPs. Make sure to read Apple Music's full lyric style guidelines here.
Once you click the create button, the track will be linked to the release you are creating. If you change your mind, you can edit it directly or detach it for later use. If your release consists of multiple tracks, you can also reorder the tracks.
After you've made sure your release is ready, you can click the 'Send Release' button in the top right corner of the metadata you've filled in.