Meta the Devil You Know: Educating Artists About Getting Their Metadata Right

Incorrect metadata has long been a problem in the music industry, but being aware it is a problem and actually fixing that problem are still far from synonymous.

Incorrect or partial metadata means incorrect or partial payments. That is the brutal reality of the situation. Metadata might seem “boring” or “unsexy” as a topic (something reinforced by some industry conference panels that are so dry they are practically desiccated): it is, however, critical.

Trying to put a number on it all is, of course, impossible, but there are multiple indicators out there of the financial scale of what is at stake. The Mechanical Licensing Collective in the US has, since 2021, distributed over $2 billion in royalties to publishers and songwriters; but it could also soon be sitting on $1 billion of black box money (for “unmatched songs” resulting from poor metadata).

The track blizzard: more songs = even more need for correct metadata

As more tracks are released, the need for watertight metadata grows exponentially. But this is not just a matter of grappling with historic recordings (back when metadata standards were much lower, or even slapdash); it is an ongoing problem with new releases.

“With tens of thousands of new recordings released every day, a significant amount of metadata needs to be processed in order to keep track of music use and make sure the right people are paid, whether that be on radio, TV, in public places, streaming services or elsewhere,” says Mark Douglas, CIO at PPL. His organisation currently has information on performers and sound recording rightsholders across 25 million separate recordings and it receives details on 45,000 new recordings every week.

As more artists self-release and sidestep the traditional label or label services models, the need for them to do metadata housekeeping themselves becomes increasingly critical. Recent data from Luminate shows just how big this particular class of artists is becoming.

(There have been claims that 120,000 new tracks are ingested by DSPs every day, although, back when that number was claimed to be 60,000 a day, it was disputed. Everyone agrees, however, the number of tracks released each day is in the tens of thousands now.)

“Metadata is currency,” is how Jamie Hart, founder and CEO of Hart & Songs, snappily summarises it. “I often compare an ISRC to a driver’s licence or social security number. Without accurate information to identify a composition or a sound recording, collecting 100% of what is rightfully yours becomes impossible. Simply keeping track of the important information about a song can mean the difference between a $30 royalty cheque and a $5,000 royalty cheque.”

Emily White, a partner at Collective Entertainment, says porous metadata is, unfortunately, a growing reality for musicians who have phenomenal demands on their time. “I think the modern/digital music industry is just super overwhelming,” she says. “So a lack of understanding by artists on this topic unfortunately makes complete sense.”

Mili Smith, Senior Business Developer at amra, understands why lax metadata persists, but also outlines why this “admin” side of creativity should not be skipped over or rushed through by musicians.

“To be fair, it is quite overwhelming and may even be detrimental to their creative journey to deal with something that may be perceived as ‘bureaucratic’ work,” she says. “The trend of being uneducated in this area can be a result of all of those dynamics combined. With many tools available online and the rise of more and more artists taking more of the autonomy with who and how they work, they are becoming more and more familiar with the processes.”

What metadata does is to ensure the right people are paid exactly what they are due. At a time when many, many musicians talk about how difficult it is to make a living from music, this is one area that they can and should take greater control over.

“Getting metadata right can be the difference for many artists in turning music from a hobby into a sustainable career,” says Douglas.

Education, education, education

To get metadata at least much closer to a state of perfection requires ongoing education: creators need to educate themselves, but equally the wider industry has to take proactive steps to democratise that education.

Douglas mentions PPL’s own investment in education here (such as running sessions and appearing at conferences). The organisation also supports the global Credits Due initiative set up by the Ivors Academy, the Music Rights Awareness Foundation and the recently updated Get Paid Guide, which it co-produced with PRS for Music, The Ivors Academy, the Music Publishers’ Association and the UK Intellectual Property Office which was designed to “demystify metadata for creators”.

He also cites other important initiatives like the Repertoire Data Exchange (RDx) that was set up in 2020 by the IFPI and indie label trade body WIN.

On top of this, Synchtank’s own Artist Portal gives labels using the platform the ability to provide their artists with a section of the system where they can upload their own content, including managing their own metadata.

“The industry has a collective role to play in educating and empowering the creative community on managing its metadata and we believe we have an essential part to play,” says Douglas.

White argues that solid education here will have a profound ripple effect across the business, where creators can look to other creators for guidance and best practice here.

“It is our responsibility in the music industry, as well as music business programmes, to educate artists on metadata in a clear, straightforward and step-by-step manner,” she says. “From there, artists will naturally educate their peers and fellow musicians until hopefully all are fully informed.”

These are more than mere platitudes as White wrote a book, How To Build A Sustainable Music Career & Collect All Revenue Streams, about these very issues. 

AI and the next points of attack

The latest twist of the problems tied to incomplete metadata is not just that creators might see their money end up trapped in black boxes, it could also lead to them being directly ripped off.

Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl recently spoke about how metadata problems could make the industry even more vulnerable to AI. He argued that incomplete or mismatched metadata is “incredibly important” for efficient revenue flows, not just today, but in a future where AI technology is even more central.

“If we set the rules of the road correctly with the platforms, it will have to depend on ownership information,” he said. “It’s one of the things that we really need to focus on.”

Hart takes this point further and says the music industry itself can gleefully benefit from bad metadata.

“Rights management can feel like the Wild West, and if you’re not on top of your metadata, bad actors can easily collect what is rightfully yours,” she suggests. “The responsibility falls on anyone educated in this area who has the means to give back. Unfortunately, the industry often benefits from creatives’ misunderstandings of these topics. Those who do not properly understand rights management are less likely to collect what is theirs, contributing to the large pool of black box royalties that get paid out based on market share.”

Smith says that there has been a “collective push to increase awareness on this topic to the music creators from all angles” with regard to metadata, but this issue does not exist in a vacuum. Fixing metadata should be moving in lockstep to make the entire royalty flow and payment system more egalitarian and accountable.

“There is, however, room for improvement and the need for higher transparency in terms of royalties flow,” she says. “The more we collectively work on from all angles, the more achievable it will become.”

Discussions about enduring metadata problems can feel dispiriting or dystopian, but it really should not be. Getting it right should be just as important as getting the actual recording of the song right. It is an eminently fixable problem – but it requires everyone putting their shoulders to the same wheel. In data management is the term Garbage In, Garbage Out: this should be retooled for the music business to read Garbage Metadata In, No Money Out.