The Music Business Buddy
A podcast that aims to educate and inspire music creators in their quest to achieving their goals by gaining a greater understanding of the business of music. A new episode is released each Wednesday and aims to offer clarity and insight into a range of subjects across the music industry, all through the lens of a music creator for the benefit of other music creators. The series includes soundbites and interviews with guests from all over the world together with commentary and clarity on a range of topics. The podcast is hosted by award winning music industry professional Jonny Amos.
Jonny Amos is a music producer with credits on a range of major and independent labels, a songwriter with chart success in Europe and Asia, a senior lecturer in both music creation and music business at BIMM University UK, director of The SongLab Ltd and the author of The Music Business for Music Creators.
www.jonnyamos.com
The Music Business Buddy
Episode 5: Maximise Your Music's Potential with Metadata
What if mastering your metadata could unlock new opportunities and streamline your music career? Join me, Jonny Amos, as I guide you through the often overlooked, yet crucial, realm of metadata in the music industry. In this episode, we break down the different types of metadata and explain why getting it right is vital for categorising music, collecting royalties, and ensuring accurate identification across platforms. With insights from Emily Jackson of Horus Music, you'll learn about common pitfalls and the importance of accuracy and timely submission. Avoid release delays and maximise your chances with digital service providers like Spotify and Apple Music by understanding essential metadata practices.
But that’s not all! We also delve into the complexities of genre definition in music creation. Find out how defining your genre early can help position your music within niche communities and boost your visibility on streaming platforms. From neo-soul to sludge metal, we'll show you how sonics, styles, and themes contribute to genre classification, enhancing your marketing strategies. Plus, I introduce a free metadata template available on my website www.jonnyamos.com to help you manage your metadata effectively. This practical tool will ensure you're ready for professional collaborations, making your journey in the music industry smoother and more successful. Tune in and elevate your understanding of both metadata and genre definition to better connect your music to its audience.
The Music Business Buddy. The Music Business Buddy Hello everybody and a very, very warm welcome to you. You're listening to the Music Business Buddy with me, johnny Amos, podcasting out of Birmingham, england. I'm the author of the book the Music Business for Music Creators, available in hardback, paperback, e-book. I'm also a music creator with credits on a variety of major and indie labels as a writer or producer, and I lecture in music creation and music business. Wherever you are, whatever you do, please consider yourself welcome to this podcast and to a part of this community. I'm here to try and educate and inspire music creators from all over the world in their quest to achieving their goals by gaining a greater understanding of the business behind music.
Speaker 1:Okay, so today we're talking metadata and genre definition. Now metadata it might not seem like an exciting subject. Well, you know it isn't an exciting subject, but it is a crucial one, right? So we're going to try and unpack and simplify this subject a little bit in today's episode before we then go into genre definition, which ties in with metadata. All right, so let's go right back to basics.
Speaker 1:You know what is? What is metadata, right? So in the context of music, metadata is information that assists the audio content of a song or recording. So it helps Think of it as a kind of translator for music, to speak. The purpose of it is to allow music to be categorized, you know, whether that's in music libraries or streaming platforms or whatever the platform it might be. Metadata enables accurate identification and also searchability, so it facilitates a smoother royalty collection as well for rights holders. So it helps consumers, it helps music users, it helps music creators to be able to actually understand where the music fits and what it is and what purpose it serves.
Speaker 1:Lots of sectors of the music industry use metadata, but they might use it in different ways and therefore, as music creators, it's important that we understand the differences, some of those key differences in expectations of how metadata should be delivered and therefore used, of how metadata should be delivered and therefore used. So, for example, record companies and distributors would focus more on the metadata around recordings and product releases, where perhaps a sync agent would be more interested in mood and lyrical themes and that kind of thing. Music publishers, by contrast, would perhaps be more associated with who the songwriters are and what their percentage of ownership is, and who the co-writers are and what their ipi numbers are and who their music publishers are. So there's all sorts of different key components to metadata, but let's try and simplify it by putting it into different categories, okay, so there are kind of four different categories that we can kind of put all the metadata into. The first one to think about is fundamental metadata. This is number one. So this is the title of the song or the EP or album. It's also the primary artist name, the featured artist name, the release date, the release year and also the lyrics and the language that the lyrics are in. Perhaps the secondary metadata is the technical aspects of the metadata, so this would be more kind of codes and numbers. So this would be such things as the ISRC number, the International Standard Recording Code, also the product code or UPC unique product code that would be set up by a distributor, the BPM it could also perhaps be so. The BPM beats per minute, so that's the tempo of the track. That would usually be a number, but it can also be categorized in subcategories such as down tempo, mid tempo and up tempo, the key of the song, the length, the duration of the song and also such things as who the music publishers are, who the record company is, perhaps even the distributor.
Speaker 1:The next area would be the metadata of the music creators. So not so much the artists, because that's already been kind of listed in the basic metadata fields, but the music creators. So we're talking about the songwriters, with an outline of their splits, and the co-writers that they may have worked with. Also the producers, engineers, mastering engineers and any other performing musicians that may have recorded on that particular song. And the fourth category would be creative metadata.
Speaker 1:Now, this is what gives the descriptors to the song or recording. So this could be such things as the mood or the theme, the lyrical theme, key words from the lyrics and, most importantly, the primary genre and the secondary genres. Another crucial aspect is the artwork. I wasn't quite sure where to fit that into those four, but the artwork it's a prerequisite that that would be delivered along with the song and recording. Okay, so there's quite a lot of different facets to that. So what I wanted to do was to bring in an expert that understands this field very, very, very well. So I've asked a few questions to emily jackson from uk-based music distribution company horus music, and I asked her about some of the pitfalls and problems with delivery of metadata, and this is what she said having accurate metadata is super important.
Speaker 2:So, first of all, ensuring that the artist metadata is correct. This will ensure that the back end system of the DSPs so Spotify for artists, apple Music for artists, all of those places they will recognise the release and assign it to the correct profile. So for the artist centric pitching tools, like on Spotify for artists, this gives you access to the to the release to pitch ahead of time. So if the artist metadata is incorrect, then the release may not end up on the correct profile, it may not then be available to see in your back end spotify for artists and, you know, ultimately you may miss the pitching deadline. So that's why the artist metadata is really important.
Speaker 1:OK, very useful. This also falls in line with what I was talking about on the digital distribution episode, where we talk about speed of delivery and range of stores. It's very important that the delivery is done as early as possible so that the editorial teams at the DSPs can listen to the music and assess whether or not they want to be able to curate it into existing playlists. Okay, so I also asked Emily about genre definition, because this can be a very problematic area and we're going to pick this up in a few minutes' time on this episode. But I asked her about the importance of understanding genre and where that fits into metadata delivery other release.
Speaker 2:Metadata in general, which includes the genre information, is really vital, because a lot of the playlists are based on mood or genre um, so ensuring that your release is tagged correctly really ensures, then that the platforms can see that your music is suitable for a certain playlist and gives you a better chance of being placed on that playlist okay.
Speaker 1:So one of the things that I've always wondered about is what can distribute? How much flexibility do distributors have once product has been delivered to them? You know? Like for example, if you were to submit something to your distributor and you make some kind of administrative error. Right, we're only human, right, we all make mistakes. You know, how much flexibility does a distributor have? Is it just they can't do anything, or is it other things that they can still do?
Speaker 2:I asked this to emily and this is what she said so as a distribution company we can make some updates to the delivery once a release has been sent to the stores. But if we do have to do that update after the pitching has done, then it can affect the original pitch, it can affect the editorial support if things are being changed last minute and therefore may impact your chance of being placed on the playlist.
Speaker 1:OK, good insight there, and thank you, em, for taking part in that, I must just say, by the way, so Emily's a past student of mine which is how I know her and she was one of my students are when she studied music business um a degree level and she was brilliant. It's so nice to see how well she's doing at horus music. We will be hearing from em again in future episodes, especially in regards to subjects like ai and fraud, streaming and stuff like that. Anyway, let's move over to a slightly different area that is still interlinked with the same subject, and that is the subject of genre definition. Okay, this is a difficult subject, right, because let's just zoom out and simplify things for a minute.
Speaker 1:Right, when we create music, we don't always necessarily think what it's going to be defined. As you know, very often we just make the music and then we kind of figure that out afterwards. Now, there's nothing wrong with that, right, but generally when it works the opposite way, it does tend to yield greater results. For example, if we were to go right, okay, we're going to make this specific theme over here and then we go ahead and try it and we get close to it, then it helps our ability to be able to categorize it, which then helps its ability to be able to find its placement and its niche community and its scalability and its visibility in the streaming platforms. Now, when I say those last couple of sentences, all of a sudden it kind of takes some of the art out of it, right? Because the art comes from when we're not thinking about those things and when we're just following our heart rather than using formula, right? But there comes a time where we start having to go OK, what is this? And that can be difficult. And of course we can ask people and we can get people's views, and sometimes that can be useful, and sometimes it just kind of leads us down a garden path of becoming very confused about what it is that we're trying to sell. So it's good to get an understanding of what the primary genre is and the secondary genre. So, for example, if you've made a neo-soul record, then its primary genre would be R&B and its secondary genres might be neo-soul and maybe even hip-hop. Maybe you know that it has its roots in hip-hop and it's kind of like a boom-bap rhythm at sort of 90 BPM. So when we just strip a song back down to its drums and its bass. It could be a hip-hop record, but what defined it to be neo-soul was some of the chords and some of the harmonies and also some of the lyrical themes. So when we start to kind of characterise songs and recordings, it helps us to be able to think about three different things the sonics, the stylistics and the theme.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's add a little bit more context to this, because sometimes when we just talk generically about genres, it can just feel a little bit confusing and a little bit boring as well, right? So let's imagine you were in a metal band, right, and you go and you go. Well, you know, yeah, what we're doing is. You know, it might be, it might be like doom, or it might be hardcore or progressive hardcore. You know, we're not really too sure. We just do our thing and we hope that it finds its audience. Fine, great, but what? But what about this? What about, actually?
Speaker 1:When you start to research the characteristics of different styles, you figure out that what you've been doing all along is sludge metal. And how do you know that? Well, you know that by understanding how to research the characteristics of those different genres, by looking at sites, I'd say Wikipedia, right for all its faults, is actually quite good for this, because we can look at different genres by looking at sites. I'll tell you, wikipedia, right for all its faults, is actually quite good for this, because we can look at different genres on there and then search its characteristics. So, for example, sludge metal, also known as sludge doom or simply sludge, is an extreme sub-genre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. Now, the genre is kind of it's slower tempo, it tuned down guitars, and very often the lyrics are kind of more discussing poverty, drug addiction and pollution. So, do you see, those three things came into practice there straight away. So the sonics, the stylistics and the theme, the lyryrical theme.
Speaker 1:Now, all of a sudden, when we kind of go, oh, ok, yeah, we've been making sludge music or sludge metal all this time, then it enables that band to be able to go OK, now that we know what this is, we can go, you know, primary genre rock and metal. Secondary genre, sludge metal. Not only does that then add further classification, but it also changes the marketing. For example, you could then start to go right, what niche communities are out there? And again, this is research what communities are out there, whether that's facebook groups or or spotify, curators or youtubers that actually kind of display and curate and share this music to its community. By categorizing your music, not only does it help the metadata, but it also helps the music to connect to its audience.
Speaker 1:Ok, so let's take a different example. Let's assume that there is a producer or a producer and a vocalist, or maybe even a band, and they've worked together on, you know, a hybrid genre, right, and we're in the golden age of hybrid genres, right. So you know, we can easily kind of combine two or maybe even more than two genres into one cohesive and conceptual thing, but then it becomes hard to categorize. So maybe we go, ok, yeah, well, you know there's kind of rock guitars in this and there's male vocals, but you know it's kind of rock guitars in this and there's male vocals, but you know it's kind of future bass and it kind of sits at like 140, 150 BPM. So what do we do? Do we call this like metal and rock music or do we call it future bass? Well, you know, all of a sudden we start to go, yeah, let's start having a look at the characteristics of that. Let's have a look at some playlists that curate it.
Speaker 1:Ok, and we figured that out after we made it, so that could fit for playlists on Spotify like Rocktronic. Now, if you're working with a distributor that has access to DSPs or you would like to just pitch it through the pitch tool to Spotify for artists, you could very well mention that playlist Right, a lot of people do that and find success by doing that. Now let's go a layer deeper than that. Let's imagine that you go actually yeah, I've listened to rocktronic and I've listened to some of the things that are on there and actually what seems to be more trending right now is not so much the future based stuff, but more the melodic dubstep side of things. So, in to do that, I'm going to go into the sound design and change some of the synth patterns and maybe change some of the way that it's stuttered or gated or whatever it might be, or change the drum sample slightly, do this to the vocal or whatever it might be on a stylistic and sonic level, to then be able to go OK, this is now more in line with where things are at right now.
Speaker 1:Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to surrender yourself to the fashions and follow the fashions that exist right now. However, there is a balance to be struck between kind of going right this is the music I'm making and this is what I'm enjoying, but over here, if we do this little tweak over here, then it can fit, and that, by the way, is exactly what A&Rs do. Right, amongst other things, is to be able to go right. This is great, but if we do it like this, maybe it can fit there and we can sell it over there because it's like this and it's in this format. The more that music creators can do that, the more clued up they become and the more success their thinking starts to yield.
Speaker 1:Now, the key thing that underpins all this is that understanding of genre definition, and by that I don't mean that, you know, we all have to have the answers to be able to listen to something and go, oh, it's this or it's that. But when we start to use a system that helps us to be able to categorize things and that might be asking people or a trusted source, but also it might be looking at the plethora of information that we have around us through the internet to be able to go okay, let's understand the characteristics of this style. Right, what have we created? Okay, yeah, it's not really that. Oh my god, it's this over here. Wow, never thought about that whilst we were making it. That's okay. As long as we now know what it is, it helps us to be able to classify it and connect it with people.
Speaker 1:One of the key things, perhaps as well, to stay away from is using kind of woolly, subjective terms. For example, this song is kind of jazzy soft rock, it's like. That does describe it to a certain extent, but remember, what we're having to battle with is algorithms. Right, not so much humans, but algorithms. Algorithms is how we reach humans through music. Right, rightly or wrongly, it's just the way it is. So to do that, we have to be able to use terms that are recognizable and, no matter how hard it might be to try and categorize something, it can, it does and it will help your music. If you can figure out what it is that you're selling. Now, even if you've made music and you think, hmm, not really sure where that fits, that's okay. You know, there might be somebody else that can kind of help you to shape that answer and your understanding of it. But at very worst, your research into this subject will then lead you into informing your creative processes as to what you then might want to do with your next songs and your next recordings. Ok, lots to think about there.
Speaker 1:I hope I didn't get too kind of lecturey or too preachy or anything like that on here, just to try and be useful to you, if I can that on here, just to try and be useful to you, if I can.
Speaker 1:Um, so, just going back to metadata for a moment, if you would like to have a play around with this and try and actually contextualize this, test it out for yourself. You can download a metadata template free from my website, johnnyamoscom. That's j-o-n-n-y-a-m-o-s, johnnyamoscom. You click on that website, click to music industry resources and you'll see a downloadable metadata template. It doesn't cost anything. It's there for free for anyone to grab. If you click that, download it and then try and import some data on there to see what's missing from your songs or your recordings, it's a really useful exercise and it also then means that you're prepared for then for working with distributors and sync agents and record companies and anybody else that requires metadata from you. Okay, I hope that's been useful. Thank you for being here as part of this community. I will see you again soon. May the force be with you.
