Apple Music is one of the main channels and one of the first ones that has established a Style Guide for content delivery. iTunes guidelines are the most strict among the DSPs. This is to ensure that Apple Music is the most complete music experience available, with a catalogue of good quality and variety and free of legal and rights issues.
Here we share a list of the most critical guidelines to consider when preparing your content for delivery to Apple Music:
Asset quality
Quality of the audio. We expect to receive the highest-quality assets available, which must meet or exceed the quality of the physical product if it is already out in the marketplace.
Artist accuracy and formatting
Pay attention to the format and accuracy of artist names and roles. The information should be correct and remain consistent across all content of the artist. The artist's name must not be generic and include any additional information. Also, take into consideration that the Songwriter/Composer/Lyricist role is considered very important and will become a mandatory role in the future.
Localizations and phonetics
Localizations and phonetics enhance the discoverability of your content. If your content is available in more than one language, localizations have to be considered. Please contact our team for more information.
Explicit or Clean version
Explicit and clean content must be flagged.
Lyrics
Lyrics can improve the quality of the content and the overall experience related to it. Promote and make sure your content includes lyrics and that they are written correctly.
This is extremely important for content that you are promoting directly with Apple itself (ie. you are in touch with the Apple Editorial team). This content has to be delivered with lyrics, otherwise, severe penalties can incur.
Content that can lead to rejections
- Public domain content.
- Misleading content (sound-alike artists or performers).
- Content with legal or rights issues.
We recommend checking the above points before delivering content to Apple Music, this will fasten up the delivery process and will ensure the successful publication of your catalogue on this channel. Not following these guidelines will result in content not being published on Apple Music and the possible Takedown of your whole catalogue from the channel.
Important Note: Take into account that these guidelines can be applied to any DSP.