In digital music distribution and rights management, accurately crediting songwriters and lyricists is one of the most critical steps for the success, discoverability, and long-term monetization of your music. Publishing metadata does not just determine who receives credit on digital streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, or Tidal; it acts as the direct link between your music and the collection societies that collect and pay out your global royalties.
1. Core Crediting Guidelines
When preparing track metadata for distribution with 1M Music Group / DISTROMASTERS, keep these essential rules in mind:
- Mandatory for all tracks: Every vocal track must clearly identify both the composer (music) and the lyricist (words). If one person wrote both the music and lyrics, they must be credited in both capacities.
- Instrumental tracks: On purely instrumental tracks (beats, electronic music, film scores, or classical compositions without vocal performance), you must only include the composer. Never add lyricist credits to songs without lyrics.
- Single-track releases (Singles): On single releases, songwriter and lyricist details must be entered at both the individual track level and at the album/product level to guarantee complete consistency across global DSP ingestion pipelines.
2. Exact Registered Name & Performing Rights Organizations (PRO)
One of the most frequent and costly mistakes indie artists make is submitting credits under nicknames, unverified aliases, or informal spelling variations.
Always enter the exact name under which the creator is officially registered with their Performing Rights Organization (PRO, such as BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, PRS for Music, SACM, SGAE, or SOCAN). This can be their full legal name or their registered stage name, as long as it matches their official PRO member profile and IPI/CAE records character-for-character.
3. The ISWC Code (International Standard Musical Work Code)
While an ISRC code identifies the physical sound recording or master, the ISWC (International Standard Musical Work Code) is the unique global identifier for the underlying musical composition and songwriting work.
We always recommend adding your track's ISWC code to release metadata. As the universal identifier recognized by collecting societies worldwide, it provides two vital safeguards:
- Flawless royalty distribution: It ensures composers, lyricists, and music publishers collect every penny of mechanical and public performance royalties owed to them.
- Eliminates ambiguity: It prevents matching errors and payment delays when tracks share identical or similar titles, or when songwriters share common names in international databases.
4. Crediting Cover Songs
When recording and releasing a cover version of an existing song written by another songwriter, strict compliance standards apply:
- Artist responsibility: You are fully responsible for researching and locating the correctly registered name of the original songwriter(s).
- No guessing or informal aliases: Never guess spellings, and never use informal stage pseudonyms that differ from official registrations. Search the public repertory databases of BMI, ASCAP, or The MLC to verify exact names before submitting.
- Mechanical licensing: Learn how mechanical rights apply to cover releases in our guide on mechanical licenses and distributing covers legally.
5. Bands Cannot Be Credited as Songwriters or Lyricists
A widespread error among indie bands, ensembles, and music groups is entering the band's collective moniker as the composer or lyricist.
If four band members co-wrote a song, each member must be added as a distinct contributor with their specific role (music, lyrics, or both). The band's name belongs exclusively in the Primary Artist (Main Artist) field for the sound recording, never in songwriting credits.
6. Traditional and Unknown Authorship
What should you do with public domain folklore, historical folk songs, or traditional pieces with no documented author?
- If a track's authorship is genuinely unknown (such as an ancient folk melody, an anonymous centennial lullaby, or a Gregorian chant), enter Anonymous or Traditional in the composer field.
- Never list yourself as the composer of a traditional public domain work you did not author, unless you have written a substantially original arrangement, in which case you should credit yourself specifically as the arranger according to your PRO's guidelines.
Key Takeaways for Release Success
Taking a few moments to verify the exact legal and PRO names of your songwriting team will protect your catalogue from QA rejections, store takedowns, and lost royalties. If you have questions about submitting songwriting credits for your next release, our Operations and A&R team at 1M Music Group is always available to help.