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Post by RealNoob on Jan 2, 2020 20:11:00 GMT -6
Hi, so I released my EP a couple of years ago on Distrokid. I then began the journey with the live album series I was hired to engineer and produce. I have released a double CD for them through Distrokid. I DO see the 2 artists in DistroKid and when I look online with Spotify and Apple, the live series artist information seems to be on track. However, being Robert Smith, my artist information seems to be all jacked up. My music is somehow related to rap and some bad stuff. It looks like my music belongs to others and other's music belongs to me. It's a real mess. Since I don't have twitter as an artist (no need), I can't prove myself to Spotify and Distrokid is no help with getting this rectified. I was looking and it seems like there are more tools in Distrokid for uploading/adding music to make sure you are set up right but my current placement is beyond a correction. What would you do? - Are you happy with DK and would pull the EP down and put it back up in hopes of an accurate placement?
- Should I jump ship to whomever you use (hopefully costs are close) that has better tools and support?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions/insight.
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Post by Johnkenn on Jan 2, 2020 20:26:20 GMT -6
Strange you mention Distrokid. Just had an artist today saying they were going to use it and that was my first time hearing about it. As far as the common name - I hear you. Half my stuff is tied up with some guy in Ireland. Guess the next time I put something out (or set up a publishing company) I’m going to make sure to use my first and middle name.
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Post by RealNoob on Jan 2, 2020 20:36:09 GMT -6
Strange you mention Distrokid. Just had an artist today saying they were going to use it and that was my first time hearing about it. As far as the common name - I hear you. Half my stuff is tied up with some guy in Ireland. Guess the next time I put something out (or set up a publishing company) I’m going to make sure to use my first and middle name. Yes, I am considering that too. thanks for the confirmation. May be a necessity.
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Post by Blackdawg on Jan 2, 2020 20:38:47 GMT -6
what kind of meta data are you doing? This is where working with a mastering engineer can pay off. Are you getting ISRC Codes for them?
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Post by wiz on Jan 3, 2020 1:22:33 GMT -6
Strange you mention Distrokid. Just had an artist today saying they were going to use it and that was my first time hearing about it. As far as the common name - I hear you. Half my stuff is tied up with some guy in Ireland. Guess the next time I put something out (or set up a publishing company) I’m going to make sure to use my first and middle name. Mine is tied up with the Peter Knight from Gigspanner, I get his reports.... every time i read one I feel insignificant.... 8) cheers Wi
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Post by stormymondays on Jan 3, 2020 3:10:02 GMT -6
Distrokid is the best option no matter how bad it can be sometimes. Cd Baby support recently took ONE MONTH to reply to a simple problem about music on their own site.
I suggest you play “by the rules” so their tools work for you. Set up a Twitter account and link it from your website. Take it from there and untangle the mess.
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Post by Bat Lanyard on Jan 5, 2020 20:10:34 GMT -6
I know your pain. Releasing solo stuff under my name, "Matt Thompson" was a nightmare. Hell, there are like six of me at the local Walgreens. I eventually stumbled upon a unique "band" name and that took care of the mess. Seems like there's a ton of solo artists over the last decade that do the same, maybe for the reasons you're struggling with. Badly Drawn Boy was the first time I'd heard of the concept. Maybe going that route would solve your issues?
Surprised you didn't get some The Cure association.
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Post by Blackdawg on Jan 5, 2020 20:33:51 GMT -6
again, working with a proper mastering engineer and getting ISRC codes and a DDP made will solve all of the issues you guys are talking about.
You can't just bounce a wav file and upload that and expect it to just work.
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Post by EmRR on Jan 5, 2020 22:07:44 GMT -6
I forget specifics, but a client had another stupid tale of woe regarding a streaming distributor not taking a DDP file. Would only take uploaded WAV, so no metadata embed. Wish I could remember who......
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Post by stormymondays on Jan 6, 2020 3:32:09 GMT -6
again, working with a proper mastering engineer and getting ISRC codes and a DDP made will solve all of the issues you guys are talking about. You can't just bounce a wav file and upload that and expect it to just work. Not really. Digital distribution services generate their own ISRC codes, it’s impossible to distribute without them. So yes, wav files just work. Also, there are no “artist” ISRC codes. They are strictly per single song recording. If you provide your own ISRC codes it’s just an extra piece of information to enter, no practical advantage at all. It’s up to Spotify, Apple and the rest to file the songs under the correct artist if there are multiple coincident names.
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Post by stormymondays on Jan 6, 2020 3:33:15 GMT -6
I forget specifics, but a client had another stupid tale of woe regarding a streaming distributor not taking a DDP file. Would only take uploaded WAV, so no metadata embed. Wish I could remember who...... I’m not aware of any service that takes DDP files. WAV is what they ask for.
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Post by kcatthedog on Jan 6, 2020 8:44:16 GMT -6
What stormy said, distrokid provided the isrc code if you don’t supply it,
My understanding is that gives your song a unique identifier. I believe you can see it in your project info ?
I am not doing anything commercially significant but I find distrokid, bandcamp and iTunes all working seamlessly.
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Post by RealNoob on Jan 6, 2020 23:13:01 GMT -6
Thanks for the replies guys. I do have a proper ME. I do have IRSC codes and a barcode. Distrokid provides those. I think I agree with the consensus to stay with DK but pull it down and put it back up with clearer information. I think that when /I put the live album up, I upgraded service providing more posting options. It sure seems that way.
Many thanks!
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Post by stormymondays on Jan 7, 2020 8:22:16 GMT -6
You are not going to solve the problem by pulling it down UNLESS that's what Distrokid support advises you to do. It will get reuploaded under the same artist, 100% guaranteed.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jan 7, 2020 10:07:43 GMT -6
I haven't heard much of anything about Distrokid before. I purposely added my middle name, became Martin John Butler to avoid this issue. My previous 2007 solo album was just as Martin Butler. There's a famous British classical guy and a comedian with that name too, and we were getting confused. I will have to remaster my first album someday and re-release with a John in order for it to show up in searches. PITA, but worth it in the long run.
I'd use your middle name Rob, or a nickname like Rob "____" Smith if you have one. (I'm sure T-Bone wasn't born T-Bone ;-)
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Post by RealNoob on Jan 7, 2020 22:12:35 GMT -6
You are not going to solve the problem by pulling it down UNLESS that's what Distrokid support advises you to do. It will get reuploaded under the same artist, 100% guaranteed. I understand why you’d say that but after reviewing the updated interface, I can generate new ids and all. It even asks you to identify yourself as an artist with choices they found or to create something new. This was not there 2 years ago when I first uploaded. I would do it the same day. I think it will work.
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Post by EmRR on Jan 7, 2020 22:50:04 GMT -6
Good luck
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Post by stormymondays on Jan 8, 2020 1:03:31 GMT -6
Alright but get in touch with support first. They are pretty quick lately, I’ve gotten responses in less than one day.
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Post by johneppstein on Jan 9, 2020 21:09:46 GMT -6
I forget specifics, but a client had another stupid tale of woe regarding a streaming distributor not taking a DDP file. Would only take uploaded WAV, so no metadata embed. Wish I could remember who...... I could be mistaken, but I belive that when I get DDP back from Bob O the individual song WAVs have ISRCs embedded (I furnish the numbers.)
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Post by RealNoob on Jan 9, 2020 21:24:40 GMT -6
I forget specifics, but a client had another stupid tale of woe regarding a streaming distributor not taking a DDP file. Would only take uploaded WAV, so no metadata embed. Wish I could remember who...... I could be mistaken, but I belive that when I get DDP back from Bob O the individual song WAVs have ISRCs embedded (I furnish the numbers.) Funny. I haven't gotten codes from any MEs.
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Post by johneppstein on Jan 9, 2020 21:32:29 GMT -6
I could be mistaken, but I belive that when I get DDP back from Bob O the individual song WAVs have ISRCs embedded (I furnish the numbers.) Funny. I haven't gotten codes from any MEs. You register with the ISRC people, who give you a master code and the rules for generating ISRCs. You generate the codes for each song and send them to the ME to embed.
It is NOT the ME's responsibility to register your songs for ISRCs, just to embed the codes you provide.
You only have to pay a modest fee to the ISRC people ONCE, after that you can generate as many codes as you want for free.
If you don't send ISRCs to your ME you're not going to get embedded ISRCs back. And since they're metadata their presence won't be obvious unless you use some sort of metadata reader.
This is one of the reasons I use (and pay) Bob O. If you use a "bedroom" ME it's likely he won't know about ISRC.
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Post by Blackdawg on Jan 9, 2020 21:40:14 GMT -6
Funny. I haven't gotten codes from any MEs. You register with the ISRC people, who give you a master code and the rules for generating ISRCs. You generate the codes for each song and send them to the ME to embed.
It is NOT the ME's responsibility to register your songs for ISRCs, just to embed the codes you provide.
You only have to pay a modest fee to the ISRC people ONCE, after that you can generate as many codes as you want for free.
If you don't send ISRCs to your ME you're not going to get embedded ISRCs back. And since they're metadata their presence won't be obvious unless you use some sort of metadata reader.
This was what I was refering too. I don't see how Diskcord or whatever giving you ISRCs makes it work if it isn't part of the file. That's how you can ID the file as yours.
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Post by stormymondays on Jan 10, 2020 7:10:52 GMT -6
ISRC are not embedded in WAV files. Only on CD (which requires specialized software to read) and on the formats delivered to digital distributors by the aggregators, which I suppose differs between services. I just found some extra info here: www.soundonsound.com/forum/viewtopic.php
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Post by EmRR on Jan 10, 2020 7:27:08 GMT -6
ISRC are not embedded in WAV files. Only on CD (which requires specialized software to read) and on the formats delivered to digital distributors by the aggregators, which I suppose differs between services. Just about to say that. Anything other than song title is stored in the supporting DDP info, so if someone won't take a DDP you have to supply a document with all details.
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Post by johneppstein on Jan 10, 2020 15:35:41 GMT -6
ISRC are not embedded in WAV files. Only on CD (which requires specialized software to read) and on the formats delivered to digital distributors by the aggregators, which I suppose differs between services. I just found some extra info here: www.soundonsound.com/forum/viewtopic.phpThat's interesting. To me, that URL delivers a "This page does not exist" message.
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