The reason why metadata is so important

…Metadata is data about data.…So in the case of a digital song, it's all the information about the song, from the…artist, to the label, to the musicians who played…on the song, to the year of the release.…Surprisingly, many copyright owners don't take the time to include that information.…As a result, you won't get paid if one of…your songs streams on a digital service like Spotify or Pandora.…Right now, there's money that sits in an escrow…account at SoundExchange for Beethoven who never recorded anything.…Instead of the orchestra that recorded one of his pieces.…

Or in the account of various artists.…Or artists unknown.…You can't pay money to someone if you don't know who they are.…So don't overlook this last piece of the recording puzzle.…Just remember that if you're self-releasing songs…online, be crystal clear about all the metadata.…If you're an artist and don't already know about SoundExchange, then you should.…The company was appointed by the US…Copyright Office to collect royalties for artists…and performers whose music is played on…