Release Editor
The release editor is where you fill in all of the required information to set up your single, EP or album. The majority of the fields are optional and not mandatory, plus you can choose from certain default options in the editor to make the process as efficient as possible. You can find all the answers to your questions in the chapters below, in order to get your release ready and out into the world!
This is where you enter the title for your single, EP or album.
You are creating an album that’s called ‘Music To Dance To’ and it has 10 tracks in total. You enter Music To Dance To in this field.
Don’t mention any additional information in this field, such as your artist name, a version (“Remix”) or any special characters. The artist name and version go in their own separate field.
If you are uploading a release that is an Acoustic Version, a Remix or a Live rendition, you can add this information to this field.
Your release is called ‘Great Song (Jean Paul Remix)’. You enter Jean Paul Remix in this field.
Don’t mention anything in this field if you are uploading an original track. Easy peasy, you can just leave the field empty.
You can select the musical genres that are applicable to your release in this field. You can choose your main or primary genre from the first dropdown menu, these are genres that are supported by all the stores you are delivering to. If you want to add a more specific (sub)genre, you can add this to the second field.
You are uploading an indie rock / punk track. You can then select Rock as the main genre and add Punk as the subgenre.
This is where you upload the artwork for your release. Your artwork should be at least 1400x1400 pixels.
Upload the highest resolution possible (max 6000x6000 pixels). Your artwork could be shown on a phone screen or a huge flat screen TV, it’s therefore best to go with the highest quality there is. Please note the file cannot exceed a size of 20MB.
Don’t mention any social media handles on your artwork or add any music store logos. These are not accepted.
If you mention a title or artist name on the artwork, make sure this corresponds with what you are mentioning in the release editor (same spelling of titles and artist names).
Mention the artist's name for your release here. You can either set a primary or a featuring artist.
You want the release to be shown as Jean Paul & Nadine ft. Lilo. You credit both Jean Paul and Nadine as a primary artist and add Lilo as a featuring artist..
Make sure the spelling is consistent across your other releases (in terms of spelling and casing).
Don’t add any additional information to the artist name field. Example: “Slash (Of Guns N’ Roses)”
Don’t add multiple artists to one artist name field. If you are uploading a track that is a duet between two primary artists, they are each added to their own field.
This page only shows optional fields that you don’t have to use but can use if you are looking to set a custom value. You can always open and overrule the default value that has been provided by Make Waves if needed.
A UPC or EAN code is given to every single release (single, EP or album) and is always unique. You don’t have to enter anything in this field, but if you want to use your own UPC / barcode for your release you can enter that here. If you leave the field empty, we will provide a UPC for you. UPC stands for Universal Product Code and is used to identify your release and to make sure the income generated for the release ends up with you.
You don’t have to enter anything in this field, but if you want to use your own Label Name for your release you can enter that here. If you do not enter a label name, Make Waves will set the primary artist name(s) as the label name.
You don’t have to enter anything in this field, but if you want to use your own Catalogue Number for your release you can enter that here. A catalogue number is an administrative code and an additional unique identifier you can add to your release.
Your label name is “Great Records”, the first catalogue number could therefore be GR001. The second release will have GR002 as a catalogue number, etcetera. You are free to pick any type of catalogue number, but it is usually a combination of a couple of letters or an abbreviation followed by a numeric code.
You don’t have to enter anything in this field, but if you want to add the recording location you can enter that here. This should be the city and country you recorded the music in, so not the name of a studio or a home address.
“Amsterdam, The Netherlands.” Adding the recording location can ensure you get your copyrights paid correctly by your country’s PRO (Public Rights Organisation). Examples of PRO’s are: Buma/Stemra (NL), Ascap (US), PRS (UK).
You don’t have to enter anything in this field, but if you want to add the original release date for your release you can enter that here. There is no need to enter an original release date if this is a new release (as this will be the same as the date of release). However, if you have released this music before, we would recommend entering the original release date here. If you are moving this release over to Make Waves from a different distributor, label or aggregator, we would also advise to enter the original release date (which will be the date the release first went live).
You don’t have to enter anything in this field, but if you want to add the copyright representative for your release you can enter that here. This could be your own name or the name of your publisher. We would advise to have this match the copyright name that is registered with your PRO (Public Rights Organisation) for matching purposes. Examples of PRO’s are Buma/Stemra (NL), Ascap (US), PRS (UK).
You don’t have to enter anything in this field, but if you want to set a custom Master Owner for your release you can enter that here. Make Waves will enter the Label Name by default, but if that is not set we will set the Artist Name as the Master Owner.
The (P) Master Owner will show under the release in many stores such as Spotify, Apple, Tidal and Deezer.
This is where you can add and order your tracks and add more specific track information. You can read more about these fields below.
Please enter each individual track title here.
If you are releasing an album called ‘Greatest Hits By Me’ with ten tracks and track 1 is called ‘The First Great Hit’. You enter The First Great Hit in this field.
This is where you enter the track version of your release, if a version is applicable.
You are uploading a track called ‘Great Track (Yusuf Remix)’. You enter Yusuf Remix in the version field (without any parentheses).
This is where you upload your .wav audio file (mp3 files are not accepted). The standard format is 16 bit and 44.1 kHz but you can also upload a higher quality. We will send the best audio format out to the selected stores for distribution.
Here you can set the start time of the audio snippet that we will send to platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. We will deliver this preview start time to the stores, which is most often respected. Although it can happen that their algorithm might adapt your setting due to popular demand.
If there are vocals or lyrics on your track, please add the lyrics to this text field. It is beneficial to add lyrics to your track as this might help promote your release. We will send the lyrics to as many stores as possible, but we would also advise you to create a Musixmatch account (it’s free!). This platform is currently the only option to add and sync lyrics for Spotify and Instagram. Once the release has gone live, you can go into your Musixmatch account, upload the lyrics and sync this to the music. Songs containing explicit elements such as strong language, references to violence, depictions of sexual behavior, or discriminatory language in their lyrics should be appropriately labeled as "explicit."
Let us know if this is a remix or a cover of an original composition. Simply enter the name of the original artist and mention the original track here.
This is where you credit the people who have helped create the song (songwriters, composers, producers). These credits will be displayed on stores such as Spotify when you click on ‘Show credits’. We need at least one full name of a person who created or wrote the song in order to distribute your release (their first and last name).
If you're uploading an EP or Album, our 'Copy tool' will come in very handy when filling in your release metadata. If the same people should be credited on all of your tracks, you can simply enter this information for one track and then copy it to all other tracks.
If you have written the composition and the lyrics, you can give yourself the 'Music & lyrics' role.
If you wish to credit someone who has played an instrument on the track, but isn't necessarily a primary or featuring artist, you can give them the 'Musician' role.
You don’t have to enter anything in this field, but if you want to use a custom ISRC you can add this here. If you leave this field empty, we will allocate an ISRC to this track on your behalf. You will be able to find this information in your release overview after distributing the release. ISRC stands for International Standard Recording Code. This code should be unique and only used for one song / track.
You don’t have to enter anything in this field, but if the artists on your track are different from what you set on the release level, you can mention this here.
You don’t have to enter anything in this field, but if the genres on your track are different from what you set on the release level you can update these here.
You don’t have to enter anything in this field, but if you want to set a custom Master Owner for your track you can enter that here. Make Waves will enter the label name by default, but if that is not set we will use the artist name to fill this in
You don’t have to enter anything in this field but if you want to add the copyright representative for your track you can enter that here. This could be your own name or the name of your publisher. We would advise to have this match the copyright name that is registered with your PRO (Public Rights Organisation) for matching purposes. Examples of PRO’s are Buma/Stemra (NL), Ascap (US), PRS (UK).
This is the date your release will go live on the selected stores. The available options are: Release as soon as possible. Depending on the platform, your release could be live in 2 hours to 5 days. Or you can set a specific date, which will be at least one week away from when you're submitted the release to Make Waves, as we need this time to process the release to all the stores.
If you're uploading a release that has previously already gone live on stores, when migrating content over to Make Waves for instance, please tick the box that says "This release has been previously distributed through a different distributor". You can then fill in the original date of when the release first went live. If this is filled in correctly, the new version will be shown correctly and chronologically on all your artist pages.
This is where you set the territories you want the release to go live in. The default is ‘Worldwide’, but you can make a custom selection if needed.
We support all major platforms, and are always adding new ones. By default, we distribute to all our supported platforms.
- Stores and streaming providers, such as Spotify, Apple or Tidal
- Social channels like Instagram, Tiktok and Facebook
- Music recognition services such as Shazam or Gracenote