Formatting Details
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Why are lossless formats (like WAV and FLAC) better than MP3?
Lossless formats such as WAV and FLAC offer higher quality sound reproduction than MP3, as they retain more of the original details and nuances of a recording, without lossy fil...
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What Audio File Formats Can I Upload?
Audio files should be WAV, MP3, M4A, FLAC, AIFF, or Windows Media (WMA). If you're sending a WAV, 16-bit, 44.1 kHz WAV is typical but pretty much anything works. The maximum siz...
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What Are Artist Roles?
Artist roles are identifiers you can use to indicate to services what role a given artist played in the creation or performance of a given release. These roles can be indicated ...
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Can I Upload a Song/Album/Artist name in All Capital or Lowercase Letters?
Yes! You can use the capitalization/stylization that you want for your artist name, titles, etc.Please note that if you choose to use non-standard capitalization on your release...
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My Release Is a Collaboration Between Multiple Artists. Can DistroKid Do That?
Yes! You can do collaborations at both the album level and the track level with DistroKid. Album Level Collaboration If you have an album with multiple main artists, you can li...
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Can I Add A Featured Artist to My Track?
Absolutely! For new uploads, on the upload form at the track level, just select "Yes, add featured artists to track title (please specify...)" Enter your featured artists name, ...
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What is Loudness Normalization?
DistroKid's upload form includes a checkbox for "Loudness Normalization." When you select this optional extra, DistroKid will automatically adjust the level and headroom of ...
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What Are the Requirements for Album Art?
Artwork should be in the .jpg file format. The minimum size requirement for album art is 1000x1000 pixels. Ideally, album art should be perfectly square, and 3000x3000 pixels. I...
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My Release Got Rejected for a Title Formatting Issue. WASSUP?
Streaming Services don't accept song titles that contain: Too much extra information Strange things in parenthesis Odd punctuation Dates or years Primary artists listed also as...
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How Do I Upload a Clean and Explicit Version of the Same Song?
When uploading a clean and explicit version of the same song, mark the Explicit track as Explicit: And list the Clean version without the Explicit tag, specifying that it's a "...
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Should I Specify That My Album Was Previously Released?
If you already officially released your album, even as a physical release, please specify the original release date at the top of the upload form. This includes different versi...
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My genre isn't available on the upload form. Can you add it?
Our genre list is comprised of all genres accepted by all outlets we distribute to. If you don't see the genre you want, don't worry! Just select the genre that most closely de...
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Why Isn't My Language in the List of Languages?
On DistroKid's upload form, there's a list of languages. The list contains all of the languages that are officially supported by streaming services. If your language isn't liste...
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Can I Have Songs With Different Languages On the Same Album?
No. You must use uniform language throughout album/track titles to match the language selected when uploading. For multiple languages, upload separate releases.Please also keep ...
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How Do Streaming Services Categorize Singles, EPs and Albums?
What do services consider a Single? Most services consider a release to be a "single" if it contains 1-3 tracks, that are each less than 10 minutes. If you upload an album with ...
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What Does 'Explicit' Music Mean?
Many artists use profanity in their music. This is a situation where music should be labeled as explicit.This Wikipedia article explains more about Parental Advisory labeling: h...
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What's the Maximum Number of Tracks That Can Be on an Album?
35.
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How do I upload songs with licensed samples from Tracklib?
Tracklib is a service that helps artists with sample clearances. For more information, see https://www.tracklib.com/howitworks/ Tracklib requires you to add royalty@tracklib.com...
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Why Is My Record Label Name Listed as "123456 Records DK" (Or Some Other Number)?
If you don't specify a record label name when uploading to DistroKid (you must have the Musician Plus or Ultimate plan to do so), your record label may be listed as a number, fo...
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Do I Have to Fill Out the Label Field in a Musician Plus or Ultimate Account, When I Upload Music?
If you have a Musician Plus or Ultimate subscription, you can customize the "label" field on all of your uploads. The label field is optional to fill out. If you don't input a l...
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Can I Use My Label Name as My Artist Name?
Nope.Streaming services require that you enter your actual artist name in the artist name field, when uploading. Do not list your artist name as "Cool Guy Records" and your song...
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Can I Specify That Some Songs Are Available as "Album Only?"
No, DistroKid doesn't currently support this.
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Do I Need to Embed Metadata into My Tracks Before I Upload?
No.You will be asked for relevant info (track title, genre, cover art) on the upload page for your release, which is what streaming services will use for your release. Any prior...
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Mastering Questions
Please consult a mastering engineer for tips about mastering your tracks. Once you have your masters ready to go, upload away!
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