Kit Morrow's single "Harbour lights" is doing well, and now there's a stripped-down acoustic take, a club remix by DJ Wren and a recording from her hometown show. Three new versions, and three chances to confuse listeners and platforms if they're labelled carelessly. A few rules keep everything clean.
Title and version are separate fields
The title field holds the song's name and nothing else. Whatever makes this version different goes into the version field, sometimes called version title or subtitle. Platforms then display it in their own format, usually in brackets or after a dash.
For Kit's song that looks like this:
- Title: Harbour lights. Version: Acoustic
- Title: Harbour lights. Version: DJ Wren Remix
- Title: Harbour lights. Version: Live
Typing "Harbour lights (acoustic version) NEW" into the title field is one of the most common reasons a release gets sent back. Keep the original title spelled exactly the same in every version, including capital letters and punctuation. That consistency is what lets listeners and platforms see these tracks as relatives.
Use the version words your distributor's form offers or recommends, and stay consistent. If one release says "Live", don't call the next one "Concert version".
Every new recording gets its own ISRC
An ISRC identifies one specific recording. If the audio is different, the code should be different too. That means a new ISRC for:
- a remix
- an acoustic or unplugged recording
- a live recording
- a radio edit or another shortened version
- an instrumental
The same ISRC is reused only when the audio is exactly the same, for example when the original single later appears on an album. Reusing the original's code for a remix mixes up the statistics and royalties of both tracks, and untangling that later is painful. If your distributor assigns codes, make sure each version is submitted as a new track rather than as a copy of the old one.
Credits: who did what
A remix is new work by the remixer, and the metadata should say so. The remixer's name normally appears in the version ("DJ Wren Remix") and in the credits with the remixer role. Many platforms also show the remixer as an artist on that track.
For acoustic and live versions, think about who actually played and produced them. If a new guitarist, arranger or producer was involved, credit them. The songwriting credits stay the same in every version, because the composition and the lyrics haven't changed. When you add credits in the CULT portal, go through each version on its own instead of copying everything from the original.
Permissions before you release a version
If it's your own song and your own master, you're mostly free to make as many versions as you like. Still check your agreements. If a producer co-owns the original master, a remix built from its stems involves them too.
Remixing someone else's song is a different story. You need permission from whoever owns the recording you're working with and from the owners of the composition. Without that it's a bootleg, and bootlegs don't belong on streaming platforms, however good they sound.
Live recordings have a detail of their own. If the show was recorded by the venue, a festival or a TV crew, find out who owns that recording before you release it.
Keeping versions linked to the original
Platforms group versions in their own way, and you can't fully control it. What you can control is consistency:
- the same primary artist profiles on every version, spelled identically
- the same title spelling, with the difference only in the version field
- artwork that clearly belongs to the same family, with the version written on it if you like
- a sensible order: the original first, then the versions, or one release that gathers the remixes
Timing helps as well. An acoustic version or a remix released a few weeks after the original, while people are still talking about the song, gives both tracks a second wave instead of competing with each other on the same day.
Mistakes that get versions sent back
- the version written into the title instead of the version field
- "feat." with the remixer's name instead of a proper remix credit
- the original's ISRC reused for a new recording
- sped-up or slowed versions not labelled as such; platforms keep tightening their rules here, so check the current guidelines
- text on the artwork that doesn't match the version in the metadata
Each of these is easy to avoid when you prepare all versions together, with one sheet listing title, version, ISRC and credits for every track.