Artist fields are incredibly sensitive in that they can determine not only how a product or track is displayed at music services, but also how search results are returned, and how artist pages are generated and linked to products at the music services.
Music services often have different approaches to artist display and linking, so it is extremely important to adhere to the rules outlined below to ensure the best results across all music services.
Artists are entered on both the product and track level by using separate fields for each artist with an assigned role chosen for each. These entries are automatically combined based on their roles to create the Display Artist. The Display Artist field is used by some – but not all - music services as the primary visual representation of the artists on a product or track.
Artist Roles
Main – Describes a primary performing artist
Featured - Describes a guest appearance by a given artist
Remixer – Describes an artist responsible for a specific version or adaptation of the track, usually created by adding to or rearranging parts of the original recording
1-1 Spelling and Format - Each instance of an artist name should have a consistent spelling and format, both within the product and across other products on which the artist appears.
1-2 Additional Artist Information - Artist fields should not include any additional information beyond the name, such as aliases, former bands, birth/death dates, websites, roles or instruments.
1-3 Product Multiple Main Artists – If a product has four (4) or more Main Artists on the
product level, Various Artists must be entered on the product level with a Main role.
Note: See Various Artists and Continuous Mix sections for more information.
1-4 Crediting Featured Artists - Featured Artists must always be entered separately from Main artists and not combined into Title, Version or any other field.
Note: Music services combine featured artist information in a variety of ways after they receive all the artists in separate fields. Some display them as part of the Title while others display them next to Main artists. Do not attempt to mimic what you see on certain music services directly in the Title or Artist fields in Central. Always keep artists in their appropriate Artist fields, and the music services will display them according to their own policies.
1-5 Product Level Featured Artists - If a Featured Artist appears on all tracks on the product (including single-track products), they must also be included as a Featured Artist on the product level.
1-6 Crediting Remixers - Remixers must always be entered separately from Main artists and not combined into the Title. Unlike other roles, the Remixer’s artist name can be included in the track Version field in addition to being entered as a Remixer artist. Example:
- Peverelist Remix
A remix does not necessarily require a credited Remixer or reference to a Remixer in the track Version. Examples:
- Remix
- Extended Remix
- Dance Remix
- House Remix
Remixers may be entered as Artists on these types of remixes but are not required. If a remix Version references the Remixer artist, then it is required that they be entered as an Artist with role Remixer as well.
1-7 Crediting Main Artists as Remixers - If a track’s Main artist also remixed the track themselves, enter them only once with role Main.
1-8 Crediting Product-Level Remixers - If every track on a product (including single track products) has the same Remixer, the Remixer artist must also be included as a Remixer on the product-level.
Display Artist
The Display Artist field cannot be directly edited. It is automatically generated by including all Main artists separated by commas, then inserting “feat.” followed by all Featured artists if any are present, separated by commas.
Artists with the role of Remixer are not included in the Display Artist.
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