Most release problems we see at RMX Music do not start with the audio file. They start with the form: wrong language tag, featured artist stuck in the title, a new spelling of the same name, or an empty writer credit. Platforms read that form more carefully than your bio.
This guide covers the fields that actually matter when you upload through a distributor: artist name, featured artists, title, language, genre, ISRC, UPC and a few credits. Use it as a checklist before you hit submit.
Artist name: one spelling, forever
Pick the name you want fans to search for, and lock it.
If your first Bhojpuri single went out as "Ravi Yadav" and the next one as "Ravi Yadaw", you can end up with two profiles on Spotify or JioSaavn. Streams split. Pitching gets messier. Claiming takes longer.
Write the exact same characters every time, including spaces and capital letters. Stage name is fine. Just do not keep inventing variants. If you already have a mess of spellings, fix new releases first, then ask your distributor about merging older profiles.
Featured artists: put them in the role field, not the title
Stores want a primary artist and, separately, a featured artist. The Music Biz metadata style guide is clear on this: featured artists get the Featured Artist role. They should not be jammed into the main artist field.
Wrong: title = "Tere Bina (feat. Sunny Bhojpuri)" and only your name in the artist box. Right: title = "Tere Bina", you as primary artist, Sunny Bhojpuri as featured artist.
Same idea for a Haryanvi collab or a Punjabi guest verse. When the roles are clean, each artist gets credit on their own page, and listeners can jump to either profile. When you stuff everyone into the title, matching breaks and royalties get harder to track later.
Do not mark a featured singer as a second primary artist unless you truly mean a duo or joint main credit. Primary vs featured changes how the release shows up on artist pages.
Title: only the song name
Leave out "Official Video", "New Song 2026", "Full HD", "Bhojpuri Hit" and emoji. Those belong in your Instagram caption, not in the metadata stores index.
Remixes are the exception: the version belongs in the title version or as a clear parenthetical, for example "Payal Ki Khanak (DJ Remix)". Keep your primary artist name out of the title field.
Language: tag what people actually hear
If the lyrics are in Bhojpuri, mark Bhojpuri. If it is a Haryanvi track with a Hindi chorus, pick the language that dominates the vocal, or the one your distributor's form supports closest to it. Wrong language tags push the song into the wrong playlists and charts.
Instrumentals should be marked as instrumental where the form allows it, so platforms do not expect lyrics. Devotional albums in Sanskrit, Awadhi or Braj need the correct language too. Regional discovery on JioSaavn and Spotify leans hard on this field.
Genre: honest beats popular
Tag the genre you actually made. A Rajasthani folk tune tagged as "Pop" because Pop looks bigger often lands in front of the wrong listeners, who skip. Skip rates hurt more than a smaller genre pool.
Use a specific secondary genre if your distributor offers one (folk, hip-hop, bhajan, indie). Charts and algorithmic shelves still use these buckets. Misclassification that confuses fans can get adjusted or removed at the store's end, as the Music Biz style guidance warns.
ISRC: one code per recording
An ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) uniquely identifies a sound recording. It does not identify the songwriting composition, and it is not a barcode for the album.
Most distributors assign an ISRC automatically when you upload. That is fine. What you should not do:
- Reuse an old ISRC on a new mix, slowed version or remaster. A new recording needs a new ISRC.
- Invent a code. Codes come from your distributor or a national ISRC agency.
- Change the ISRC when you move the same exact master to another distributor. Keep the original if the recording has not changed.
If you release a DJ remix, a live take or a slowed edit as a separate product, each one gets its own ISRC. Same melody, different recording.
UPC: one code per release package
A UPC (or EAN) identifies the release product: the single, EP or album as a package. Your distributor usually assigns this too.
Keep the same UPC if you re-deliver the same release package elsewhere. Get a new UPC if you are putting out a different product (extra tracks, a deluxe, a new single). Mixing these up is how chart history and store pages get messy.
Credits that protect money later
Fill lyricist, composer and producer names with real legal or credited names, not nicknames that change every month. When a sync or a society statement shows up years later, those names are how people get paid.
For co-writes, agree the shares before upload. A short split sheet (who wrote what, percentage of the composition, signatures) saves fights. In India this sits next to how IPRS and other societies handle author and composer shares. Distribution metadata is not a full publishing contract, but empty credit fields make everything harder.
A quick pre-submit checklist
1. Artist name matches your previous releases, letter for letter. 2. Featured artists are in the featured role, not the title. 3. Title is clean. No "Official", year spam or hashtags. 4. Language matches the lyrics (or instrumental is marked). 5. Genre is accurate, not aspirational. 6. Explicit flag is honest. 7. Cover art is square, sharp, and free of website URLs or social handles. 8. ISRC/UPC: leave blank for the distributor to assign unless you already own the correct codes for this exact recording and package. 9. Writer and producer credits are filled.
Where RMX Music fits
When you upload through RMX Music, those same fields go out to Spotify, JioSaavn, Apple Music, YouTube Music and 95+ other platforms. We work with 3,000+ artists and 2,200+ labels, with 20,000+ tracks delivered. You keep 100% ownership and 95% of royalties. Label lifetime plans start at ₹4,500; Agent lifetime is ₹15,000.
Clean metadata will not make a weak song a hit. It does stop a strong song from getting lost, split or rejected. Create your RMX Music account and fill the form like it matters, because on the stores, it does.