Image Credit: Apple

What are the rules for correctly formatting your artist name on Apple Music?

When you upload your music to Apple Music with a music distributor like RouteNote, you need to make sure that all the metadata of your release is up to scratch. The wrong information will lead to your release being delayed – and you’re too excited about getting your music out worldwide to be held up now, right?

Naming an artist incorrectly makes it harder for your content to be found on the streaming service, which will affect your ability to build an audience. With that in mind, here are some boring but necessary guidelines to follow when uploading to Apple Music.

How to format artist names on Apple Music

What’s the right way to name an artist on Apple Music? The formatting of your artist name should always be “First name / Last name” – for example: “Joe Bloggs”.

Also, you don’t have to put in what instruments your bandmates play – you wouldn’t need to write “Adele (Singer)” or “Dave Grohl (Drummer)”. Similarly there’s no need to note the band name every time you credit a contributor (so “John Lennon (Of The Beatles)” would be incorrect).

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Image Credit: Apple

Names should stay the same throughout all your uploads, written in full, and of course be spelt correctly.

Be original and avoid giving a name that describes a generic genre. You can’t name your artist “Acid Jazz”, but “Acid Jazz Big Band” would be fine.

Multiple artists

Compound Artists are another thing to watch out for. You can’t put two artist names in one field, even if they’re equal collaborators – so instead of “Elton John & Dua Lipa (Primary)” enter the artists separately as “Elton John (Primary)”/”Dual Lipa (Primary)”.

Image Credit: Apple

Then there’s the case of Reverse Compound Artists, which means artists whose names are listed together within a band name. So that’s “Hall & Oates” or “Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young” or “Siouxsee and the Banshees”, listed together not as individual Compound Artists.

The Apple Music Style Guide is available online if you need a bit of extra guidance. Paying attention to the little details could mean the difference between your music being discovered and listeners missing out on hearing your songs.

Thinking of switching music distributor? Want your songs on Apple Music for free?

RouteNote is an independent music distributor covering over 90% of the digital market, uploading songs by unsigned artists and independent labels to all the major streaming services and stores. Get your songs worldwide, keep all the rights to your music, and don’t pay a penny. Sign up today.