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The AWAL Uploader Guide

Basics

Overview

In the Basics section of the Uploader, you should enter a release title and upload your desired cover art. If your release only has one track, then the release title and the track title should be the same.

Fields & rules

  • Release Title (mandatory): The name of your release. Your title should not contain extra information such as version (e.g. “Live” or “Remastered”) or artist information (e.g. “feat. xxx”).
  • Cover Art (mandatory):
    • At least 3000x3000px
    • JPEG
    • DPI 72
    • Max 15MB
    • RGB colour format
    • Should adhere to cover art guidelines found here.

 

Audio Files

Overview

The Audio Files section is where you will upload the audio files for your release. Once you’ve added audio files, new tracks will be created. Your upload will start in the background when you leave this section. Please upload the highest quality audio file you have (we accept as high as 24 Bit / 96kHz).

Fields & rules

If you'd like to add previously approved tracks to your product, please use the Existing Tracks feature here instead of uploading the audio from scratch.

 

Release Artists

Overview

The Release Artists section of the Uploader is where you will add primary artist information for your release. The Primary Artist on your release is the main performing artist on your product (you can have a maximum of three). These artists will be displayed on your release when live on digital services.

Be sure to enter at least one artist name per field, and without using separators like “and” or “&” unless the artists always perform together (e.g. “Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds” should be entered as one artist, but “Nick Cave” and “PJ Harvey” should be entered as two).

Fields & rules

  • Primary Artist (mandatory):
    • Choose an existing artist from your catalogue or create a new one
    • Can be a maximum of 250 characters

 

Release Information

Overview

The Release Information section of the Uploader is where you’ll add all the details about your release, such as language, copyright information and genre.

Fields & rules

  • Release Title (mandatory): The name of your release. Should not contain extra information such as version (e.g. “Live” or “Remastered”) or artist name.
  • Release Version (optional): If your release is not an original version you can add the version title here. For example “Live”, “Remastered” or “Remix”. The version will appear in brackets next to the Release Title when live on digital services.
  • Release Label (mandatory): If you’re a label then you will have to choose the label or sub-label on which this product will be released. If you’re an independent artist then this will be the same as your artist name. Please note we cannot accept ‘Independent’, ‘N/A’, or ‘AWAL’ as a label name on your product.
  • Release Agreement (mandatory if you have multiple agreements): If you have multiple agreements with AWAL, then you will have to select which agreement this release should be released on.
  • Release Language (mandatory): The language that the majority of your release’s track titles are in. For example, if your release has ten tracks and eight have English titles, choose English. This is not necessarily the same as lyrics language (you can edit the lyrics language when editing individual tracks on the Track Information section)
  • Sound Recordings Copyright ℗ (mandatory): Refers to the owner of the sound recordings for this release and the year it was recorded, or remastered, in the case of a remastered release.
  • Release Copyright © (mandatory): Refers to the owner of the cover artwork, packshot, packaging etc.
  • UPC (mandatory): Stands for Universal Product Code and is a unique identifier for your release. If you do not have one, just select “No” and we will supply one for you for free. The UPC has to be 13 digits. If you have a 12 digit UPC, just add a zero at the beginning.
  • Catalogue Number (mandatory): Is a unique identifier for the release within your catalogue. If you do not have a digital catalogue number, just select “No” and we will supply one for you for free. The Catalogue Number must be a maximum of 20 characters and consist of capital letters and numbers only.
  • Main Genre (mandatory): Pick the genre that best describes your content.
  • Secondary Genre (optional): Pick a secondary genre if you want to be more specific in describing your content. Note that this won’t be displayed on most digital services but can still be useful for search purposes.
  • Main Extended Dance Genre (optional): The option to pick a Main Extended Dance Genre will appear if you have chosen Dance or Electronic as the main genre. This genre selection is required for any products you’d like delivered to Beatport. Please note that Beatport may change the genre if they do not agree with your choice after delivery.

 

Track Information

Overview

On the Track Information section, you will be able to edit details for your individual tracks, such as track artists and contributors, lyrics language and track titles. You will have to open each track individually and add your details.

There are 'Apply' and 'Add' buttons located on particular aspects of the track metadata section, such as the 'P line', which will allow you to easily add that data to all tracks on your release. Don’t forget to click “Save” when you’re done editing a track. You can also re-order and delete tracks on this section. 

Fields & rules

  • Track Title (mandatory): The name of your track. Please don’t include extra information in the track title field, such as version titles or artist names - you can add this information in the appropriate text field further down on the page.
  • Track Version (optional): If this is not the original version of the track you can add the version title here. For example “Live”, “Remix” or “Remastered”. The version title will appear in brackets next to the track title when live on digital services.
  • Lyrics Language (mandatory): The language your lyrics are in. If your track does not have any lyrics you should select “(none) Instrumental”. Please note that this isn’t necessarily the same as the Release Language.
  • Parental Advisory (mandatory): If the track’s lyrics contain any rude/derogatory language or swearing, you need to mark your track as “Explicit”. See below for some guidelines on what option you should pick:
    • Not Explicit: Select this if the track’s lyrics do not include any swearing or rude/derogatory language. Please keep in mind that your release might be delayed and/or require further editing if you choose this option but your lyrics are considered explicit by the digital services.
    • Explicit: Select this option if the track includes any swearing or rude/derogatory language.
    • Clean: Select this option if the track is a clean version of an explicit track, i.e. if an explicit version of this track already exists.
  • Sound Recordings Copyright ℗ (mandatory): Refers to the owner of the sound recording for this track and what year it was recorded or remastered.
  • ISRC (mandatory): Stands for International Standard Recording Code and is a unique identifier for your track. If you do not have an ISRC (i.e. this is a new recording), then select “No” and AWAL will supply you with one for free. If the track has been released previously, it is crucial that you enter the original ISRC here. Otherwise stream counts, playlisting and registration information will be lost. The ISRC has to be 12 characters long and match the standard ISRC format.
  • Primary Artists (mandatory): Choose an existing artist from your catalogue or create a new one.
  • Featured Artists (optional): If your track features an artist you can add them here. A featured artist will be displayed on the track when live on digital services. If you have the same featured artist on all tracks they must also be displayed at the release level.
  • Additional Contributors (optional): Add people who have contributed to this track.  Contributors will not be displayed on all digital services but we encourage you to add them to enrich the user experience for fans and help future proof your catalogue. For example, Apple Music and Spotify display the Producer credit and any digital service that features voice-activated search will benefit from having the additional metadata, making your music easier to find.
  • Songwriters (mandatory): Adding songwriters to your tracks will benefit you, the songwriter and your fans. Songwriter credits are now displayed on certain digital services, including Apple Music and Spotify. Note that in the case of a band, the Songwriter should not be entered as the band name (e.g “The Beatles”). Instead, list the names of the individual band members who contributed to the writing of the song (e.g. “John Lennon”, “Paul McCartney”). We have more information about adding songwriter credits to your release here.

  

Release Plan

Overview

Pick your own Release Plan based on your marketing and promotion plans. The Simple plan allows you to pick a release date only, while the Custom plan enables you to create a pre-order plan for your release. We've used color coding to flag some of the subtleties around the timeline from within the uploader. These are explained here. You can change your plan during the pre-approval process by clicking “Change Plan” at the top of the page. If you’d like to change your plan after your release has been approved, please reach out to our Community Support team to action this change in the ‘Contact Us’ section of your Portal. For more information on timelines, go here.

 

Territories

Overview

This is where you can control which territories your music will be distributed to. We will distribute your release Worldwide by default, but you can exclude territories by clicking “I want to request further exclusions” and deselect any territories you don’t want to distribute your music to. Please keep in mind that by excluding territories you risk earning fewer royalties.

 

Review your release

Overview

You should carefully review all the information you have entered about your release and tracks to make sure you’re happy with it. You will also be notified of any issues that you need to fix before finally submitting your release. Please note that requesting changes to your release after submitting it might cause delays or even require you to upload it again.

Stay up to date with your release's progress through our approval and delivery processes in your Portal. Learn more about monitoring delivery of your release here.

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