Why money gets lost in bad music metadata

When a song is played on a streaming service, on the radio or in a cafe, someone has to know who the revenue belongs to. That decision is not made by a person but by a system that compares data. If the data attached to a recording is inaccurate or incomplete, the system does not know whom to pay and the money remains unallocated.

What metadata is

Metadata is everything that describes a recording and a work: title, performer, authors of the music and lyrics, publisher, release date, and the unique identifiers by which systems recognize what it is.

• ISRC identifies an individual recording. The same song in a studio and a live version has two different ISRCs.
• ISWC identifies the musical work, meaning the composition and lyrics, regardless of who records it or how many times.
• IPI identifies an author or publisher as a rights holder.

Where it most often goes wrong

• The name of a performer or author is written in several ways, so systems treat it as different people.
• A recording is released without an ISRC, or the same ISRC is assigned to two recordings.
• Author shares are not agreed before release, so the work is registered incompletely or not at all.
• Data is kept in several spreadsheets that drift apart over time.
• When a catalogue is taken over, old data is transferred together with its errors.

How to keep it under control

• One source of truth. Keep the catalogue in one system and let everything else be filled from it.
• Data before release. Settle authors, shares and identifiers while the release is still in preparation, not after it is out.
• Consistent names. Agree on one form of the name for every performer and author and stick to it.
• Checks before delivery. Automatic checks of required fields and formats catch errors while they are still easy to fix.
• Periodic audit. Compare the catalogue with what is registered with rights organizations and what is on the services.

A tidy catalogue is not an administrative burden but a precondition for revenue reaching the right place. We build such systems with labels and industry organizations: see music business automation.