Music Distribution

Music Distribution

Do you know what metadata means? Are you confused by what distribution or licensing refers to?

General music industry terms include:

• Distribution
  • The process, after your music is completed, to create a release with a distributor (in this case, Mix Vibe Records), and having them deliver that music to digital stores like Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon, as well as social media platforms like Instagram.
• Aggregators / Distributors
  • In order to distribute music to the digital stores, platforms coordinate with aggregators (or distributors) like Mix Vibe Records who host, verify, and process the musical content in the same way that a restaurant partners with farms that supply and deliver quality food.
• UPC (EAN) / ISRC
  • To keep a record of digitally distributed releases and their sound recording(s), a unique code called a UPC (or EAN) and ISRC(s) are assigned to releases and their track(s) respectively.
    • UPCs are digital bar codes for your releases
    • ISRCs act as the individual identifiers for a track's sound recording. These codes ensure the integrity of your music at the stores and accountability for royalty payout to artists.
• Licensing
  • Licensing means obtaining permission to use someone else’s copyrighted musical work (a song's underlying composition, a sample, a mix, an audio recording, etc.) in your own creation.
• Metadata
  • Metadata refers to all the information about a release that makes it unique. Just like you have a name, eye color, height, and weight, your music has that personal info too: the track name, artist name, genre, etc.
  • Metadata is NOT digital music or cover artwork files.
  • Metadata exists for your music on two levels: the release (such as a release date) and the track (songwriter credits) and/or both (label name.)
• Cancellation
  • When released music needs to be removed, the distributor submits a removal request to the platform(s). This is referred to as a “cancellation”. Here's an article with more info about the cancellation process.
• Monetize / Monetization
  • Music monetization means getting paid for the use (not the sale or stream) of your music. This can include the number of views on a video that uses your music or the number of videos created using your music.