Featured Artists and Version Metadata for Music Releases
For a compilation, enter one release-level product record and keep each recording’s artist, contributor, date, identifier, and rights fields on its track record. Use Various Artists only as the album-level primary artist when Apple’s five-or-more-primary-artist rule applies, never as a track artist. Keep each recording’s first-release date separate from the compilation date.
Lead visual
Release metadata preflight
Title casing
Check before delivery, not after stores ingest the release.
Featured artist role
Check before delivery, not after stores ingest the release.
ISRC format
Check before delivery, not after stores ingest the release.
P line owner
Check before delivery, not after stores ingest the release.
Explicit tag
Check before delivery, not after stores ingest the release.
Fix before deliver
After delivery, corrections move through store updates, cache delays, and royalty systems that may already have recorded the wrong data.
Key takeaways
- Treat a compilation as one product record containing separate recording records. Do not flatten track artists, credits, dates, identifiers, or rights into the album row.
- Use the album-level primary-artist rule for the release record, then name the actual primary artist and contributor roles on each track.
- Keep the compilation release date separate from a recording’s first-release date where the delivery form asks for both.
- Carry an ISRC forward only for the same unchanged recording. The compilation itself needs its own product identifier.
- If a credit is wrong after delivery, route the correction through the label or distributor that supplied the metadata and verify the public display.
Start with a product record and recording records
A compilation is one release product made up of multiple recording records. The release row can hold the compilation title, the album-level primary artist, the compilation release date, and the product identifier. Each track row keeps its own artist, contributor, version, date, identifier, and rights data.
This is the field boundary that prevents a collaboration or an older recording from being mistaken for a new album-wide credit. Use the release metadata overview for the broader correction path, then audit the release and track rows separately before your distributor submits them.
| Release product record | Recording record | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary artist | Album-level compilation artist | The actual primary artist for that recording |
| Date | Compilation release date | Recording’s first-release date where requested |
| Identifier | Product identifier for the compilation | ISRC for that recording |
| Credits and rights | Release-level information only | Featured artist, remixer, composer, lyricist, producer, and recording rights |
Put artist roles where the DSP expects them
Spotify’s metadata guidance separates artist roles from titles. A featured artist belongs in the artist or contributor role for the track. The same role model can identify a main artist, remixer, composer, lyricist, or producer. If the platform builds the display from that role, typing the feature into the title as well can create a duplicate credit.
For a compilation with five or more primary artists, Apple’s current guidance requires Various Artists as the only album-level primary artist. It prohibits Various Artists as a track-level artist. Keep the actual artist on every recording row, even when the album row uses that release-level label.
Do not use the album label as a track credit
“Various Artists” describes the release-level compilation case. It does not identify who performed or contributed to an individual recording. Resolve that distinction before delivery so a track does not inherit the album row by accident.
Keep version labels out of the base title
Put Remix, Live, Acoustic, Instrumental, Radio Edit, and Extended Version in the structured Version or Subtitle field. Apple’s style guidance uses that field to control the parenthetical display. Leave the base title as the song title, and leave Original Mix out because the original is the unqualified version.
| Base title | Version or role field | |
|---|---|---|
| Studio recording | Blue Hour | Leave empty |
| Featured collaboration | Blue Hour | Featured artist role: Mira Lee |
| Remix | Blue Hour | Version: Remix; remixer role: Sol Vale |
| Instrumental | Blue Hour | Version: Instrumental |
A version label describes how the recording differs in the catalog. It does not decide the ISRC by itself. For a remix, edit, live take, or other new recording, follow the recording-identity rules in the ISRC guide and the deeper remix metadata guide.
Constructed example: a five-artist compilation
Constructed example
Imagine a five-artist compilation called “Night Bus, Vol. 1.” The release record uses Various Artists as its album-level primary artist and carries the compilation release date and its product identifier. The track records then identify Ari North, Jun Park, Mira Lee, Sol Vale, and Kito Rivers in their actual artist and contributor roles.
If “Blue Hour” was already released and the compilation uses the same unchanged recording, its existing ISRC stays with that track record. The compilation gets its own product identifier. If the compilation uses a new remix of “Blue Hour,” the remix is a new recording and needs its own recording-identity decision.
Correct a credit through the supplying partner
Spotify displays credits it receives from a label or distributor. If a featured artist, producer, or other role is missing or wrong, ask that supplier to resend the metadata. Spotify says received updates usually appear within 7 days, and it notes that some distributors do not support every credit type.
Keep the original delivery record, the corrected field, the supplier request, and the public result together. A display correction does not replace composition or royalty registration, so keep those systems aligned separately. The UPC versus ISRC guide covers the product and recording identifiers to check alongside the credit.
Primary sources for these field rules
Frequently asked questions
How do I list a featured artist on a compilation track?+
Put the collaborator in the featured-artist role or equivalent contributor field. Do not type the feature into the title and also send it as a role, because the DSP can append the credit twice. Spotify receives and displays these roles from the label or distributor delivery.
Where should Remix or Live appear in a track title?+
Use the structured Version or Subtitle field for Remix, Live, Acoustic, Instrumental, Radio Edit, or Extended Version. Leave the base title clean so the platform can render the version consistently. An original recording does not need an Original Mix label.
Can an old single keep its ISRC on a compilation?+
Yes, when the compilation uses the same unchanged recording. IFPI’s rule is attached to the recording, while the compilation is a separate product that needs its own product identifier. A remix, live take, edit, or other new recording needs a separate identity decision.
Does a compilation need its own UPC?+
A compilation is its own release product, so give it its own product identifier. The track identifiers belong to the recordings inside it. Keep that distinction alongside the UPC versus ISRC rules in the release metadata overview before delivery.
How long do corrected credits take to appear on Spotify?+
Ask the label or distributor that supplied the metadata to resend the correction. Spotify says received updates usually appear within 7 days, but some distributors do not support every credit type. Check the public display after that window instead of assuming the correction propagated.
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Keep reading
Topic overview
Release metadata guide
A field-level metadata audit and correction-versus-takedown decision for live releases, products, recordings, credits, dates, UPCs, and ISRCs.
Related guide
What is an ISRC
What an ISRC code is: the 12-character ID for one recording, why a remix needs a new one, and how to carry it across distributors so you don't split your streams.
Related guide
UPC vs ISRC
UPC vs ISRC, plain: the UPC names the release, the ISRC names each recording, and swapping the two fields is the error that costs you.
Related guide
Remix metadata and credits
A fourteen-field remix delivery specification and seven-gate metadata chain that preserves the original relationship while creating a separately identified, correctly credited, publicly verified remix recording.
Check your metadata before your distributor does
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