Uploading music feels simple.

Audio.

Artwork.

Metadata.

Submit.

Behind that button, however, distributors may perform numerous checks before sending a recording to streaming services.

Audio quality

The recording needs to meet technical requirements.

Checks can include:

  • file type;
  • sample rate;
  • corruption;
  • silence;
  • obvious audio problems.

Metadata

Stores need structured information about the release.

That includes:

  • artist;
  • title;
  • contributors;
  • label;
  • copyright;
  • language;
  • explicit status.

Poor metadata creates problems long after release day.

Artwork

Artwork can be checked for:

  • technical quality;
  • misleading information;
  • copyrighted material;
  • prohibited content;
  • inconsistencies with the release.

Ownership

The most important question is simple:

Do you have the right to distribute this recording?

Potential issues include:

  • uncleared samples;
  • stolen masters;
  • unauthorised remixes;
  • leased beats outside their licence;
  • impersonation.

Audio recognition

Some distributors use audio fingerprinting to compare uploads with existing recordings.

This can help identify copied or altered audio before it reaches stores.

Account behaviour

Modern anti-fraud systems increasingly examine account-level patterns too.

Identity

Some accounts may need identity verification.

This helps connect a real person or business with the music being delivered.

AI disclosure

AI-generated content is increasingly becoming a metadata question.

Artists may be asked whether generative AI was involved in a release.

Human moderation

Automated systems are useful because distributors process music at enormous scale.

But an algorithm cannot understand every legitimate edge case.

Human moderation remains important where something unusual needs context.

Final thoughts

Distribution moderation is not designed to make releasing music difficult.

Its purpose is to answer three fundamental questions:

Is the release technically valid?

Does the metadata make sense?

Does the uploader appear entitled to distribute it?

Getting those three things right makes everything downstream easier.