Recording - September 2017 - 64

KeepingTrack
How to do it

If you're wondering how to fill in your
metatags for, say, an MP3, it's not difficult. Many software packages do this.
Some mastering software will let you
create tags right in the software, some
audio programs such as Audacity have
metatag features, and there are dedicated tagging packages such as MP3Tag,
TagScanner (both free), Tag & Rename
and MediaMonkey, to name a very few.
A lot of packages support various formats

like AIFF as well. You can even add metadata when using command-line MP3 encoders, if you're into that sort of thing.
Probably the easiest thing to do is
open your song in iTunes, click "Get Info"
(Command-I), and edit the tags to your
heart's content (Figure 1). When you do
this, you'll notice that you can do this to
any MP3 you have, which means that
anybody can change your tags around.
You'll have to live with this. It's how people
organize their collections.

But wait, there's more

ISRC: the unique identifier for the recording, issued by the RIAA in the U.S., or
your ISRC agency, or your distributor (this is easiest).

You can keep a lot of the data you
need to associate with a track in the
metatags embedded in the file, but you
may find that you need more data at
your fingertips. For example, if you
submit your track to a few microlicensing
libraries, you'll find yourself entering in
a description and mood over and over.
So it behooves you to keep some information somewhere connected to your
songs, so you don't have to dig around
every time you need it. You can keep a
simple spreadsheet, use a database, or
there are a number of software packages
and online solutions that can help you
keep organized.
You should keep handy all the data
you would put in a metatag, plus
more-the table at left has a big list of
data you might want to keep.

Publisher: if you have a publisher, or if it's your own publishing company, or
none if neither

All wrapped up

Metatags and More-Data You'll Want To Track
Credits: any players, engineers, studios, etc., that should be credited.
Title
Artist/Act Name: you may have more than one, so keep track if you do
Description: a short description of the song that tells people the basic topic,
mood, genre and instrumentation
Moods
Release date: you'll get asked for this a lot
Album: if it's part of an album, keep track of which
PRO #: the ID number assigned when you register the song with BMI, ASCAP,
SESAC, or other Performance Rights Organization.
ISWC: the international song identifier used across PROs, issued by your PRO.

Writers' splits: who owns what percentage of writing
Master splits: who wants what percentage of the recording
Genres: a short list of genres
Time: of the track, not the day!
BPM: tempo
Time signature
Key
UPC: if you have a UPC for the track, keep it with the track info. Keep the album
UPC with your album info. UPCs are issued by the GS1, or your distributor (this
is easiest).
Keywords : a comma-separated list of keywords so you can copy/paste when
asked for them on a form
Lyrics
Toggles: whether you've registered the PRO, copyright, Soundscan, or SoundExchange. You can use Y/N, Yes/No, 1/0, or whatever feels best to you.
Notes: some general notes

64

If you try a few different packages,
you'll see some variation in what tags
are available. iTunes doesn't include
the ISRC, URL, Publisher, or Copyright
tags, for example. This doesn't mean
they aren't there, but if you were to
open the file in a package that does use
those tags (TagScanner, for example-
see Figure 2), you'd see they're blank.
In any case, you'll edit your tags,
and hit Save. The metadata are then
embedded into the file.

RECORDING September 2017

There you go! Metadata are the nuts
and bolts of efficient communication,
and it makes all the difference when
you're building a business out of music.
Keep your data clean, handy and up-todate and you will find it a lot easier to
spread the word, engage your partners,
and make money. Even if you don't
plan to build a music business, it's nice
to know where everything is. So, fire up
the computer and get organized!
Aaron J. Trumm (trumm@recordingmag.
com) is a recording musician and songwriter with enough licenses to his name
that he wanted to be good at keeping
track of them. He's @AaronJTrumm
on Facebook and Twitter-feel free to
reach out!



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - September 2017

Contents
Recording - September 2017 - Intro
Recording - September 2017 - Cover1
Recording - September 2017 - Cover2
Recording - September 2017 - 1
Recording - September 2017 - 2
Recording - September 2017 - 3
Recording - September 2017 - 4
Recording - September 2017 - 5
Recording - September 2017 - Contents
Recording - September 2017 - 7
Recording - September 2017 - 8
Recording - September 2017 - 9
Recording - September 2017 - 10
Recording - September 2017 - 11
Recording - September 2017 - 12
Recording - September 2017 - 13
Recording - September 2017 - 14
Recording - September 2017 - 15
Recording - September 2017 - 16
Recording - September 2017 - 17
Recording - September 2017 - 18
Recording - September 2017 - 19
Recording - September 2017 - 20
Recording - September 2017 - 21
Recording - September 2017 - 22
Recording - September 2017 - 23
Recording - September 2017 - 24
Recording - September 2017 - 25
Recording - September 2017 - 26
Recording - September 2017 - 27
Recording - September 2017 - 28
Recording - September 2017 - 29
Recording - September 2017 - 30
Recording - September 2017 - 31
Recording - September 2017 - 32
Recording - September 2017 - 33
Recording - September 2017 - 34
Recording - September 2017 - 35
Recording - September 2017 - 36
Recording - September 2017 - 37
Recording - September 2017 - 38
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Recording - September 2017 - 40
Recording - September 2017 - 41
Recording - September 2017 - 42
Recording - September 2017 - 43
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Recording - September 2017 - 64
Recording - September 2017 - 65
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Recording - September 2017 - Cover3
Recording - September 2017 - Cover4
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