Song Submission FOR iTunes Listing.
FAQ – Artists, Labels & Publishers
For Artist and Audio Book Publisher and anyone who you create or distribute music, who wants to upload (submit) CD information to Apple iTune. Submits are free and easy, and when your music is recognized, that means any of the millions of people using these services can find your music recognized in products such as Gracenote.
How can I upload (submit) my CD to be included in the Gracenote recognition service?
First, you need the CD (we recommend using the final pressing), which you place in your CD ROM drive. Then you need software, such as iTunes or QMP, and your computer needs an internet connection.
Then you simply type in all these core details:
Year of release
Track title
Artist name
Album name
Genre
Then you hit the submit button. Your submit takes two or three days to process before it’s available in Gracenotes recognition service. Now the specifics for the three most popular submit (upload) software applications.
How do I submit (upload) CDs to Gracenote using iTunes 10?
You can download iTunes from here:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
Open iTunes and place your CD into your CD ROM Drive. (Click No when asked to import.)
Click into a track name and select Get Info.
On the Info tab, type in track name, artist name, album name, select a genre and year of release. The next button will take you to the next track. Continue until all tracks are titled.
Go to Advanced and click Submit CD Track Names.
Wait two or three days, place the CD back in the CD ROM drive, go to Advanced and click Get CD Track Names. This is a re-query button that clears your local cache, to show your CD’s information now comes from our service. Questions? Write to support.
Are there different instructions if I am using iTunes 11?
Yes, follow these instructions for iTunes 11:
Open iTunes and place your CD into your CD ROM Drive.
Fuzzy Match Dialog box may display possible matches for your new CD.
Click Cancel to open the submit screen.
Click No when asked to import.
The track name will just be listed ‘Track 01 etc…. Right click into a track name and select “Get Info” .
Open the “Info” tab, start typing in track name, artist name, album name, and then select a genre and year of release. The ‘Next’ button will take you to the next track. Continue until all tracks are titled.
Click Okay. Go to “Options” tab on top right-hand side, and click “Submit CD Track Names”.
Enter Artist Name in pop up dialog box. Hit Ok.
You will see “Accessing Gracenote” scroll bar then pop up box saying “The CD information was successfully sent to the Gracenote service” You have now submitted your CD to our service. Wait two or three days, place the CD back in the CD ROM drive, go to Options and click Get CD Track Names. This is a re-query button that clears your local cache, to show your CD’s information now comes from our service.
More questions? Write to support.
What if my CD still doesn’t show up?
If you used iTunes for your submit (upload), make sure you’ve tried the re-query (CD back in the CD ROM drive, go to Advanced and click Get CD Track Names, or see iTunes Submit information above).
Can I fix a typo on a CD?
Yes. Please contact gracenotes.com at web contact form to provide Gracenote more details. We’ll need the current (incorrect) information you see in your software (artist name, album name, track titles) as they are now, and then the corrections. Explain where you see it listed differently, such as the artist’s own website or a commerce site, and they will work with the editors to get it fixed. If you’re the artist or label write with the same details, and explain that you’re with the band.
Are there guidelines for submitting (uploading) CDs?
Yes, there are four key points to notice when you’re submitting CD information to Gracenote; 1. capitalization, 2. the use of brackets for the Album titles and track titles, 3. specifics about compilations, and 4. how to list artists, co-artists and featuring artists.
Capitalization
Gracenote’s standard is to capitalize the first letter of each word, including articles. PLEASE DO NOT TYPE IN ALL-CAPS or all-lowercase even if all titles appear that way on the CD cover. Designers of CD covers sometimes use all-caps or all-lowercase because it looks cool in a particular typeface, but it doesn’t look so cool in a text display. Rare exceptions might be artist names that always appear in all-caps or all-lowercase (such ABBA, NRBQ, k.d. lang, or eels).
Standard: For English language submits, the first letter of each word is capitalized, including articles such as “a,” “the,” “and,” etc.
Example:
Title: Party In The U.S.A.
Artist: Miley Cyrus
Album: The Time Of Our Lives
Album Title Standards
| Situation | Standard | Example |
| Multiple-Disc Releases | Add “[Disc #]” after title | 69 Love Songs [Disc 1] |
| Singles | Add “[Single]” after title | Fearless [Single] |
| Live Albums | Add “[Live]” after title | Frampton Comes Alive! [Live] |
Track Title Standards
| Situation | Standard | Example |
| Live Albums | Add “[Live]” after title | Paparazzi [Live] |
| Differentiating Information (i.e. Acoustic Version, Instrumental) |
Add info in brackets after title | Forever [Instrumental] Forever [Extended Version] Forever [Radio Edit] |
| “Clean” versions | Add “[Clean]” after title | Gangsta Luv [Clean] |
| Remix | Add “(Remix)” after title if specific remix | Whatcha Say (Bill Hamel Club Mix) |
Compilations
A compilation is an album with tracks by different artists, such as a soundtrack or sampler. The Artist Name should almost always be Various Artists. Soundtracks and scores should almost always have the genre of Film Soundtrack or Score. Please turn on the compilation checkbox and fill in the artist and genre for each track. Please do not place the song name and the artist name together in the track field.
Since many compilations gather together songs from many different periods, having the original year of release for the song is also very important. After all, just because the album was released in 2003 doesn’t mean that the Aerosmith song “Dream On” was. Now, an anthology is an album of tracks all by the same artist, but put together from several other albums or sources. Do not turn on the compilation checkbox for an anthology.
Artist, Featuring Artist, Co-Artist
| Situation | Standard | Example |
| Artist, Featuring Artist, Co-Artist | Artist 1, Artist 2, … & Artist X | Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow |
| Featured Guest Artists | Main Artist(s) Feat. Guest Artist(s) | The-Dream Feat. Rick Ross & Ludacris |
| Introductions | Main Artist Presents Other Artist | Goldtrix Presents Andrea Brown |
How can I submit (upload) a Classical CD?
Please use QMP for Classical submits. It will provide a submit option that allows you to select the Display for Classical instead of General. This opens a series of extra fields specifically chosen to encourage better classical listings.
Why don’t you provide more genres?
Each developer decides which genres of ours to include in their own product, so iTunes and Winamp do not use our full list, but QMP does. See the submit section for specifics.
Can I upload my cover art?
Cover art is a more complicated area than track listings. If you are carried by one of the major labels (e.g. Warner, Universal, Sony, EMI) or you are on an independent label that is carried by one of the major aggregators such as. IODA, The Orchard, Iris, Consolidated Independent, Koch, Finetunes, Ingrooves, etc., then gracenote should automatically receive your cover art for inclusion for recognition systems that license cover art along with music recognition. For iTunes information, please contact Apple.
Why does my new CD show as another artist and album?
Your new CD has simply “matched” another CD in gracenote database in terms of the exact length of the tracks (the TOC). If you submit the proper titles for your CD to gracenote database, then people playing your CD should get the proper music recognition. Because gracenote have a massive database, many CDs, especially CDs with very few tracks, are likely to find a possible match already on gracenote. In fact all CDs with a single track will match a CD already in gracenote database.
When software applications such as iTunes try to identify CDs in gracenote service, they will pull up a close match, or if the software can’t choose between very close potential matches, gracenote will provide “fuzzy matching” dialog asking if someone is listening to CD A or CD B.
To submit (upload) your CD, you literally type your CD information over the current information and hit the submit button (see instructions for submits above). Then you write to support with exactly what you just submitted. Gracenote Will work to get your new CD into the service over the next two days. Then when people query gracenote service, they can get proper recognition immediately or a “fuzzy match” asking whether they’re listening to CD A or CD B. The user can then select properly.
How can I include lyrics in my own book, article, etc?
In order to display copyright protected lyrics in your own work, you’ll need to obtain rights directly from the publisher. The following are industry standard online sources where you can search by song and author to locate the copyright owner, and arrange for permission:
http://www.bmi.com/search
http://www.ascap.com/
http://www.sesac.com/Repertory/RepertorySearch.aspx
You can find more permission information here:
http://www.halleonard.com/permissions/index.jsp
