A release is not an audio file. It is metadata, artwork, credits, identifiers and a date — and every platform checks all of it before a track goes live. Most delays are not about the music; they are about one field that was filled in differently the second time.
Track titles, artist names, featured artists, genre, language and explicit flags are set once and delivered consistently — so one artist does not end up split across three profiles.
Each release carries a UPC and each recording an ISRC. These are the codes platforms and royalty systems use to recognise a specific recording, and they are what later reports are matched against.
Artwork and masters are checked against platform requirements before delivery, because a release rejected at ingestion loses its date, not just its place in the queue.
A date is set in advance so the release reaches the platforms before it is due to appear, rather than going live whenever processing happens to finish.
An ISRC is the international code that identifies one specific recording. It travels with that recording everywhere, which is how streams and royalties are attributed to it. Every recording you release needs one, and a new recording of the same song needs its own.
Distribution and ownership are separate matters: delivering a release to platforms does not by itself transfer the rights in the recording. What each party may do is set out in the agreement between them — read it before you sign, whoever it is with.
Artist profiles are matched by identifier, not by name. If your name is already in use, the release is linked to your profile rather than to the other one — provided the profile is identified before delivery, not after.
Metadata and artwork can be corrected after release. Some fields, such as the release date and certain identifiers, are much harder to change once platforms have accepted them — which is why they are checked first.
Register your recordings into YouTube's Content ID, review every match automatically, and decide whether it is monetised, tracked or blocked.
Claims and disputes answered before their deadline, metadata corrections, platform rule changes and ownership transfers — after release.
Send the tracks and the credits as they should appear, and we will tell you what the release still needs.
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