Adding Tracks

This guide explains how to add and configure tracks for your release on LabelGrid, including audio requirements, metadata fields, and contributor information.

Before You Start

Make sure you have:

A release created - You need an existing release to add tracks to
Audio files ready - WAV, AIFF, or FLAC format (lossless only)
Track information - Title, ISRC (optional), artist credits

Track limit: Each release can contain up to 150 tracks. If your project requires more than 150 tracks, contact our support team to request a higher limit.

Accessing the Tracks Tab

Go to Catalogue → My Releases
Click on a release to open the edit form
Click the Tracks tab

From here you can:

View all tracks on the release
Add new tracks
Reorder tracks
Edit track details
Delete tracks

Adding a New Track

In the Tracks tab, click + Add Track
Upload your audio file
Fill in the track details across the various tabs
Click Save when complete

Track Editor Tabs

The track editor is organized into tabs:

Tab	What It Contains
Master	Audio file upload, preview settings, composition type, AI disclosure
Dolby	Dolby Atmos audio settings (if applicable)
Title	Track title and version/mix name
Artists	Primary artists, featured artists, remixers
Metadata	Genre, copyright info, ISRC, ISWC, explicit content
Lyrics	Song lyrics
Splits	Master splits and publishing splits (royalty shares)
Date and Territories	Override release dates for this track (advanced)
Licenses	Mechanical license information for covers

Viewing Track Details

To view a track’s details without editing:

Click the eye icon next to the track
This opens a read-only Track View panel

The Track View panel shows all track information in a summary format.

Audio File Requirements

Accepted Formats

Format	MIME Type	Notes
WAV	`audio/wav`	Recommended for best compatibility
AIFF	`audio/aiff`	Uncompressed, Mac-native
FLAC	`audio/flac`	Lossless compression accepted

Rejected Formats

The following formats are not accepted:

Format	Why Rejected
MP3	Lossy compression
AAC/M4A	Lossy compression
OGG	Lossy compression

Why lossless only? Distribution platforms require high-quality source files. LabelGrid transcodes your lossless files to the appropriate formats for each platform.

Audio Specifications

Specification	Minimum	Recommended
Bit depth	16-bit	24-bit or 32-bit
Sample rate	44.1 kHz	48 kHz or higher
Channels	Stereo	Stereo

Why higher quality? While 16-bit/44.1kHz meets the minimum requirement, we recommend uploading 24-bit or 32-bit audio when available. Higher bit depth preserves more dynamic range and detail, which results in better quality when platforms transcode your audio to various streaming formats. If you have the original high-resolution masters, use those.

Track Metadata Fields

Title (Required)

Requirement	Value
Max length	255 characters
Multiple languages	Supported via localization

Do:

Use the official track title
Include “feat.” credits in the title when appropriate

Don’t:

Add promotional text (“NEW!”, “EXCLUSIVE”)
Include release title in track title

Version Title (Important)

Version information MUST go in this field, NOT in the main track title.

Requirement	Value
Max length	100 characters
Default	Leave empty for original versions

Example Track	Title Field	Version Title Field
Original	`Midnight Dreams`	(empty)
Remix	`Midnight Dreams`	`DJ Shadow Remix`
Acoustic	`Midnight Dreams`	`Acoustic`
Extended	`Midnight Dreams`	`Extended Mix`
Live	`Midnight Dreams`	`Live at Madison Square Garden`

Display format: The platform combines these fields for display - e.g., “Midnight Dreams (Extended Mix)”

Do NOT include in Version Title:

“Original Mix” or “Album Version” - leave empty for originals
“Dolby Atmos”, “Lossless”, “24-bit” - format info not allowed
“Explicit” or “Clean” - use the explicit content flag instead

For remix tracks: You must ALSO assign the remixer in the Artists > Remixers field. The Version Title alone does not credit the remixer.

ISRC (Optional)

The International Standard Recording Code uniquely identifies your track.

Requirement	Value
Format	`XX-XXX-00-00000` (dashes optional)
Length	12 characters (without dashes) or 15 (with dashes)
Pattern	2 letters + 3 alphanumeric + 2 digits + 5 digits

Examples:

USRC17607839
US-RC1-76-07839
GBAYE0000001

Auto-generation: Leave blank to have LabelGrid generate an ISRC from your label’s pool.

Existing tracks: If transferring from another distributor, use the same ISRC to maintain streaming history.

Dolby Atmos ISRC (Optional)

If you’re delivering a Dolby Atmos version of your track, you can specify a separate ISRC for the spatial audio version in the Dolby tab.

Requirement	Value
Format	Same as standard ISRC
When needed	Only if delivering Dolby Atmos audio
Uniqueness	Must be different from the stereo ISRC

Track Artists

Artist Roles

Role	Description	Required?
Main Artist	Primary performing artist	Yes - at least one
Featured Artist	Guest appearances	Optional
Remixer	Artist who remixed the track	Optional

Important Rules

Each artist can only have one role per track
An artist cannot be both Main Artist and Remixer on the same track
Track artists can differ from release artists

Display Format

The system automatically generates display names:

Single artist: “Luna Martinez”
Multiple main artists: “Luna Martinez & James Walker”
With featured artist: “Luna Martinez feat. Sofia Chen”
Many artists (5+): “Various Artists”

Writers and Contributors

Tracks require contributor information for proper royalty distribution and metadata compliance with DSP standards.

Required Role Categories

Every track needs at least one role from each of these three categories:

Category	Example Roles
Performer	Vocalist, Musician, Instrumentalist, DJ, Background Vocalist
Composition & Lyrics	Composer, Lyricist, Songwriter, Arranger
Production & Engineering	Producer, Mixing Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Recording Engineer

How to Meet the Requirements

You can fulfill the three-category requirement in different ways:

Option 1: One contributor with multiple roles

Add “Luna Martinez” with roles: Vocalist (Performer), Composer (Composition), Producer (Production)

Option 2: Multiple contributors with different roles

“Luna Martinez” as Vocalist (Performer)
“James Walker” as Composer (Composition)
“Sofia Chen” as Producer (Production)

Option 3: Mix of the above

“Luna Martinez” as Vocalist + Composer (covers Performer and Composition)
“James Walker” as Mixing Engineer (covers Production)

Why is this required? Major DSPs use the DDEX standard for metadata delivery. This standard requires contributor credits from multiple categories to ensure proper attribution and royalty processing.

Writers (Composition Credits)

Writers are credited for the song composition and fulfill the Composition & Lyrics category:

Role	Description
Composer	Wrote the music
Lyricist	Wrote the lyrics
Songwriter	Wrote both music and lyrics
Arranger	Arranged the composition

Spotify Requirement: Composer and Lyricist fields must use full legal names - not aliases, stage names, or initials. For example, use “Robert James Smith” instead of “R.J. Smith” or “DJ Bobby”. This ensures proper rights attribution with publishing societies.

Writer fields:

Writer name (from your Writers list)
Role(s) - you can assign multiple roles to the same writer
Percentage share (for royalty splits)

Contributors (Performance/Production Credits)

Contributors are credited for performance and production:

Category	Roles
Performer	Vocalist, Musician, Instrumentalist, DJ, Background Vocalist, Soloist
Production & Engineering	Producer, Co-Producer, Executive Producer, Mixing Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Recording Engineer, Sound Designer

Adding Contributors

In the track editor, go to the Splits tab
Under Publishing Splits, click + to add a writer
Select the writer from your list (or create a new one)
Choose their role(s) - you can select multiple roles for the same person
Set the percentage share
The validation will tell you if any categories are still missing

Validation message: If you see “Each track needs at least one contributor assigned to the role of Performer, Composition & Lyrics, Production & Engineering” - check which category roles are missing and add them.

Additional Track Settings

Explicit Content

Mark your track as explicit if it contains:

Strong language
Sexual content
Violence
Drug references

Setting	Description
Off	Clean content (default)
On	Contains explicit content
Edited	Explicit content that has been edited (censored/radio version)

Genre

Field	Required?	Notes
Primary Genre	Yes	Main genre classification
Secondary Genre	No	Additional genre
Tertiary Genre	No	Third genre option

Genres are mapped to platform-specific categories (Spotify genres, Beatport categories, iTunes genres, etc.).

Audio Language

Specify the language(s) of any vocals or lyrics:

Use ISO language codes
Multiple languages supported
Required for DDEX compliance

Preview Settings

Control what fans hear in audio previews:

Setting	Default	Constraints	Description
Preview Start	0 seconds	Minimum: 0	Where the preview begins
Preview Length	60 seconds	Minimum: 30 seconds	Duration of preview clip

Composition Type

Type	Description	Additional Requirements
Original	Your own composition	None
Cover	Recording of another artist’s song	Mechanical license required
Public Domain	Works no longer under copyright	None (verify public domain status)

Cover songs: You must have a mechanical license to distribute cover songs. For complete requirements and step-by-step setup, see Cover Song Licensing.

AI Disclosures

Two AI disclosure fields are required on every track:

Generative AI Disclosure — covers the sound recording (vocals, instruments, beats, mixing, mastering):

Option	When to use
No generative AI was used in creating this track	Traditional recording and production
Minor AI assistance only	AI-assisted mastering, synth sounds, production tools
AI generated material portions of this track	AI-generated vocals, melodies, or beats
This track was entirely generated with AI	AI was the primary creative force

Composition AI Disclosure — covers the underlying song (melody, lyrics, structure):

Option	When to use
No generative AI was used in creating the composition or lyrics	You wrote the song without AI
Minor AI assistance only	AI helped with brainstorming or rhyme suggestions
AI generated material portions of the composition or lyrics	Significant parts of the melody or lyrics were AI-generated
The composition or lyrics were entirely generated with AI	AI wrote the song

For full details on AI policies and platform requirements, see AI-Generated Content.

Commercial Samples

You must disclose whether your track contains commercial samples:

Option	What it means
No	The track does not contain any commercial samples
Yes, Exclusive Samples	The track uses commercially licensed samples with exclusive rights
Yes, Non-Exclusive Samples	The track uses commercially licensed samples with non-exclusive rights

If you select either “Yes” option, you must upload your sample license documentation in the Licenses tab of the track editor.

Track Date Overrides (Advanced)

By default, tracks inherit the release date settings from the release. However, you can override these settings for individual tracks - useful for releasing singles from an album at different times.

Accessing Date Overrides

Open the track editor
Go to the Date and Territories tab
Select Override settings instead of “Release default”

Available Override Settings

Setting	Description
Enable advanced release date control	Allows setting track-specific release dates
Enable exact release time (GMT 0)	Set a specific time for the track to go live
Original Release Date	When this track should be released (can differ from album)
Pre-Save / Pre-Order Date	When fans can pre-save this specific track

Use Cases

Releasing singles before an album:

Set your lead single to release weeks before the album
Other tracks use “Release default” to release with the album

Staggered track releases:

Release tracks one at a time over several weeks
Build anticipation for the full album

Regional timing:

Use exact release time to coordinate global releases
Tracks go live at midnight in each timezone or at a specific GMT time

Track Order

The order tracks appear in your release matters for albums and EPs.

Reordering Tracks

In the Tracks tab, drag tracks to reorder
Or use the track number field to set specific positions

Field Reference Summary

Field	Required	Max Length	Notes
Audio File	Yes	2GB max	WAV, AIFF, FLAC only
Title	Yes	255 chars	Per language
Version/Mix	No	100 chars	Default: “Original Mix”
ISRC	No	15 chars	Auto-generated if blank
Main Artist	Yes	-	At least one
Primary Genre	Yes	-	From genre list
Explicit	No	-	Default: Off
Writers	Recommended	-	For royalty splits
Contributors	Yes	-	At least one with roles from each category
Preview Start	No	-	Default: 0 seconds
Audio Language	Recommended	-	ISO codes

Common Issues

”Invalid audio file format”

Your file is not in an accepted format. Convert to WAV or FLAC before uploading.

To convert:

Use a digital audio workstation (DAW) to export as WAV
Or use a free converter like Audacity

”ISRC format invalid”

Check your ISRC follows the correct format:

2 letters (country code)
3 alphanumeric characters (registrant)
2 digits (year)
5 digits (designation)

“Cannot add tracks to distributed releases”

The release has already been distributed. To add tracks:

Recall the release from distribution
Make your changes
Redistribute

”Track artist can only have one role”

Remove the duplicate artist entry and add them with a single role.

What’s Next?

After adding all your tracks:

Validation and Review - Submit for distribution approval
Lyrics and Credits - Add lyrics and contributor credits
Multilanguage Metadata - Add translations for international audiences
Distributing a Release - Choose your platforms

Need help with track setup? Contact our support team

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