- Only use the Service to distribute recordings that you own or have the rights to. Do not upload any recordings or other content owned by others and for which you have not obtained the required permissions and licences.
- All contributors with composer or lyricist roles should be mentioned by their full, legal names. Aliases, abbreviations or artist names are not allowed for most of the DSPs.
- The DSPs do not allow content using generic artist names or descriptions (e.g., "Rain Sounds", "Baby Music", "Meditation Tracks").
- If your release is a cover or remix, make sure it is correctly marked as such and credit the original composers in the contributor fields. Find out more about cover songs and remixes here.
- Artwork must be original or properly licensed. Do not use copyrighted images, images of famous people or other third-party content without the necessary rights or permission.
- Artwork may not contain URL’s, logo’s, pricing information, barcodes, QR-codes and visual references to digital formats such as ‘Compact Disc’ or ‘DVD’ logo’s.
- If generative AI was used to create any part of your release, make sure to select the designated "AI disclosure" option. Some stores require AI-generated content to be clearly disclosed. Find out more about our AI policy here.
- Content that creates a misleading association with another artist, label or brand is not permitted. This includes content intended to benefit from another artist's name or reputation, such as sound-alike releases or misleading tribute tracks.
- Blank Audio and Silence: Tracks consisting of total silence are prohibited. Files will be removed if they contain more than 20 seconds of silence at the start or end, or if silence constitutes 50% or more of the total duration.
- Using the same artwork for multiple releases is considered spam by most DSP’s. Please make sure to use different artworks for all your releases.
- If your release contains explicit language, make sure it is marked as "Explicit".
- If you use the Parental Advisory logo on your artwork, the release must also be marked as "Explicit".
- The official Parental Advisory logo must not be altered, edited or modified in any way.
- Text on the artwork must relate to the release metadata. Additional text that is not part of the title, artist name or label name is not allowed.
- The spelling of the title, artist name and other relevant metadata must match exactly between the artwork and the metadata. Releases with mismatched spelling may be rejected.
- A single release must contain audio that is longer than 60 seconds. Singles with audio of 60 seconds or less are not accepted by Apple Music.
- The artist name may not be included in the release title or track title.
- Artwork must be clear and high quality. Artwork that is excessively pixelated or blurry may be rejected.
- Artwork may not contain logos, QR codes, barcodes, URLs, watermarks, social media handles or other elements that promote or direct users to another person, product, service or platform.
- Do not use promotional or marketing phrases on the artwork such as "Exclusive", "Official" or "Now Streaming".
- The artist name on your Apple Music artist profile must exactly match the artist name in your release metadata. If you want to change your artist name, please follow the steps provided here.
- A remixer cannot be credited as primary or featuring artist. Please credit them as a remixer in the contributor field.
- If your release is a soundtrack, this must be indicated in the release title using parentheses.
- Examples of acceptable soundtrack titles include:
- Song Title (Original Soundtrack of TV Series/Show/Film)
- Song Title (Original Score)
- Song Title (Music from the Original TV Series)
- Song Title (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
- Song Title (From 'Name of the Show')
- Examples of acceptable soundtrack titles include:
- The soundtrack genre may only be used for actual soundtracks created for other media, such as films, TV shows, video games or musicals. Releases that are not genuine soundtracks must not use this genre.
- Apple Music applies particularly strict requirements to classical music metadata. Composer, conductor, ensemble, soloist, work and movement titles must be accurately entered and follow Apple's classical metadata conventions. Incorrect formatting, missing information or incorrect role attribution may result in rejection.
For monetisation on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, you must have exclusive rights to the sound recording being delivered for fingerprinting and monetisation.
The following types of content are not eligible for UGC monetisation and may therefore be rejected:
- Any type of sound recordings for which exclusive copyrights are not held is deemed ineligible. This involves covers, unofficial remixes, karaoke or sound-alikes. Compilations, live recordings and various artist ‘best of’ releases are generally ineligible, as copyrights to all compositions are likely not held.
- If your release contains samples from royalty-free producer packs, do not deliver for fingerprinting due to potential conflicts on UGC platforms.
- Sound recordings or video footage of compositions in the public domain. Copyrights on the compositions have expired, making the content ineligible for monetisation.
- Insufficiently distinct content, also called generic content. This involves nature sounds, ambient sounds, ASMR, white noise, binaural audio, sound effects, loops, soundbeds, demos and meditative content (music for sleeping, etc).
- Royalty free production music libraries typically licensed for use in game, film, TV or other soundtracks.
- Audiobooks, podcasts, speeches, comedy recordings, film recordings, prayers, video gameplay footage.
- A continuous mix, DJ mix, mashups, countdown lists, or compilation of tracks within one asset are all ineligible.
- Sound recordings that exceed a duration of 10 minutes are flagged as ineligible.
- Sound recordings created primarily for use in a video game, such as the original score or background music accompanying a video game, which are owned by the video game’s publisher.