Apm Metadata Guidelines
Apm Metadata Guidelines
Summary...................................................................................................................................................3
Supplemental Materials...................................................................................................................13
Version 1.6 | Updated 12/10/2021 2 6255 Sunset Blvd., Suite 900 Hollywood, CA 90028 | 323.461.3211 | www.apmmusic.com
SUMMARY
Included in this document are the format and submission guidelines for providing
metadata and additional assets to APM Music.
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METADATA FILE FORMAT
The metadata file can be type CSV, XLSX or XLSM. Metadata files can be re-submitted
through the Library Portal to make updates to album description, track description
and facets. Updates to album titles, song titles track titles and entitled parties must
be emailed to APM at [email protected] for review and approval. To add
tracks to an existing album, submit the metadata and audio files for only the new
tracks through the Library Portal.
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METADATA FILE FORMAT REQUIREMENTS
REQUIRED
FIELD NAME FORMATTING EXAMPLE FIELD FORMAT
Y/N
APM Album Number. Consists of the PMA library prefix, a hyphen, and a 4-digit number. If there are 2 or
CD ID Y APM-0017 String
more Albums, the additional Albums are indicated with a /2, /3, etc.
1. All Album Titles should be in proper case. Proper case means that all words are first letter capitalized.
2. Do not use carriage returns or line feeds in titles.
CD TITLE Y 3. Spell-check all titles. Checking It Out String
4. Do not begin a title with a form of punctuation, space, or any character other than a letter or a number.
5. This field has a 100-character limit.
1. Do not use “ or ‘ (double or single quotes) to emphasize or highlight items in descriptions, use all upper
case instead.
2. Do not use carriage returns or line feeds in descriptions.
3. Please note that the Album Description has a maximum field length of 250.
CD DESCRIPTION Y 4. Spell-check all descriptions. Garage Band Music String
5. Replace occurrences of double spacing (two blank spaces instead of one) if possible.
6. Do not begin a description with a form of punctuation, space, or any character other than a letter or a
number.
7. Do not put related Albums in Album description.
Leave this blank unless your tracks have a Sub-Index. Sub-Index is 1 or 2 digit number (with no preceding
TRACK SUB-INDEX N Number
zeros). The Sub-Index starts at the number 2 (the main track does not have the Sub-Index of 1).
“Song” is defined as a unique title/composition with distinct composers and composers’ shares. The Song Title field
entry should remain exactly the same for each additional row that may contain different versions of the same song
(denoted by the following column Track Title). All separate Track Title rows sharing a unique Song Title will be consid-
ered “versions” of the Song.
SONG TITLE Y 1. All song titles should be in upper and lower case, not all upper case. Over You String
2. Do not use carriage returns or line feeds in titles.
3. Spell-check all titles.
4. Do not begin a title with a form of punctuation, space, or any character other than a letter or a number.
5. Do not include Album Title in the Song Title.
6. This field has a 100-character limit.
The Track Title indicates a version of the Song. Track versions are linked by a common Song Title. Track
Title will appear as the track name on the APM Search site.
1. All track titles should be in upper and lower case, not all upper case.
TRACK TITLE Y 2. Do not use carriage returns or line feeds in titles. Over You String
3. Spell-check all titles.
4. Do not begin a title with a form of punctuation, space, or any character other than a letter or a number.
5. Do not include Album Title in the Track Title.
6. This field has a 100-character limit.
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REQUIRED
FIELD NAME FORMATTING EXAMPLE FIELD FORMAT
Y/N
STEM NAME N A row in the metadata for Stem delivery of the stems for a specific track requires only the following Drums String
fields: Library ID, CD ID, Track Number, Track Sub Index, Stem Name, Audio Filename. Stems metadata
can be delivered with the rest of the album metadata or in a separate metadata file. The Stem Name
indicates the individual or grouped vocal, instrument, audio, sound effect or other element.
See APM STEMS GUIDE for more detail on stems:
https://www.apmmusic.com/sites/default/files/pdf/apm_stems_guide.pdf
The Audio Filename indicates the unique name of the audio file associated with the metadata line item. It
AUDIO FILENAME N is optional for the delivery of Audio tracks, and not required if the audio file is named in akTrack format. BRP_Drums.wav String
It is required for the delivery of Stem Audio. See page 13 “Supplemental Materials” for more information
on Audio and Stem Audio formats.
The audio filename must include the filetype extension (.wav or .aif).
MAIN TRACK N/A This field has been deprecated and is no longer required for submission. This column can be removed N/A N/A
from the metadata file format. (January 2019)
BPM (beats per minute) field should be one predominant whole number (integer) that indicates the beats
per minute.
BPM Y 127 Number
BPM is required for all tracks.
TIMING Y Track duration in seconds. 120 Number
Version description
1. Do not use “ or ‘ (double or single quotes) to emphasize or highlighted items in descriptions, use upper
case instead.
2. Do not use carriage returns or line feeds in descriptions.
3. The field has a maximum length of 500 characters.
4. Describe the track for display on the search results grid. Indicate what is different about this track vs.
the main track. Do not just copy main track description without updating it accordingly.
5. Do not reference any other version in this description. (example: “like main version but without vocals”).
Remixes are exempt from this rule.
TRACK Y 6. If the track is a Remix of a separate song, please reference the original source cue in the track Elegant, emotional
DESCRIPTION description. piano joined by String
7. Spell-check all descriptions. strings & female vocal
8. Replace occurrences of double (two blank spaces instead of one) spacing if possible.
9. Do not begin a description with a form of punctuation, space, or any character other than a letter or a
number.
10. Do not list (repeat) facet names in the description.
11. If a facet that you would like does not exist in our taxonomy, work that facet name into the track
description.
12. Tracks with lyrics cannot have keyterms: ‘no vocals’; ‘without vocals’; ‘without voice’; ‘no voice’; ‘no
vox’; ‘novox’; ‘underscore’; or ‘instrumental’ in the track description.
13. **If track(s) have lyrics, see Facet validation rules.
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REQUIRED
FIELD NAME FORMATTING EXAMPLE FIELD FORMAT
Y/N
SUBMITTER
N The unique identifier assigned to the specific track by the submitter. S1234987 String
UNIQUE ID
COMPOSER1 Composer Capacity (Contribution) on this Track. Choose one of the following: Composer, Arranger,
Y Composer String
CAPACITY Composer/Author, Author, Arranger/Author
COMPOSER1
Y Composer Performing Rights Society Affiliation ASCAP String
SOCIETY
COMPOSER1
Y Composer Share of Song. Note: All composer shares must add to 100.00 100 Number
SHARE
COMPOSER1 This is the Publisher that represents this Composer. Publisher Name must match EXACTLY to one of the APM Collection Metro
Y String
PUBLISHER NAME Publishers listed. Park
PUBLISHER1
Y Publisher Capacity (the only option for this is “Original Publisher”) Original Publisher String
CAPACITY
PUBLISHER1
Y Publisher Performing Rights Society Affiliation ASCAP String
SOCIETY
PUBLISHER1
Y The Publisher Ownership Share of the Song 100 Number
SHARE
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REQUIRED
FIELD NAME FORMATTING EXAMPLE FIELD FORMAT
Y/N
An artist name is not required, but IF provided, ALL supplemental artist assets ARE REQUIRED for new,
unique artists (defined as: singer-songwriter or band whose main musical career/body of work is outside
ARTIST NAME N The Artist String
of the library world). This includes supplemental assets: Artist Information (CSV), Artist Bio (UTF-8 TXT),
and Artist Artwork (JPEG). Specifications found in section “Supplemental Materials”.
List the Facet Member Numbers separated by a semicolon. Do not include any additional spaces in the
list. For a full list of Facets, reference the document “APM Facet Members and Numbers Master”. See 1292;1869;
FACETS Y String
“APM FACET SELECTION GUIDELINES” starting on page 9 for more information. Facets can be added or 2582;2244
modified in the Library Portal.
MLC ID N MLC Song Code aka HFA Song Code (alphanumeric) HA4PAA String
Album USCO N U.S. Copyright Office Registration Date (MM/DD/YYYY) 01/01/2022 String
Registration Date
UPC or EAN-13 Code. Please prepend text “UPC” to code submission (to easily handle common leading
UPC N UPC018736482113 String
zeros in CSV format). We accept delivery of relevant 12 digit UPC and 13 digit EAN. (alphanumeric)
Version 1.6 | Updated 12/10/2021 8 6255 Sunset Blvd., Suite 900 Hollywood, CA 90028 | 323.461.3211 | www.apmmusic.com
APM FACET SELECTION GUIDELINES
All bold Facets are required. Please note: 1) you must submit unique tags appropriate to each individual track; do not submit the same tags for
every track on an album unless appropriate; 2) if you attempt to submit more or less than the maximum or minimum, you will receive a valida-
tion error and must modify your entry; 3) if no entry is made; then 0 will be implied unless it conflicts with a mini- mum requirement, 4) tag to
the lowest level if applicable, and 5) Do not include more than 2 of the lowest level tags from any higher level tag. If both a parent tag and child
tag from within the same facet are tagged, the parent tag will automatically be removed.
If applicable, only the three (3) most relevant additional genres should
2 ADDITIONAL 0 7 No more than seven (7) additional genres are allowed. be added. Over-tagging may affect the ranking of a track in the search
GENRE
results.
a. Main - The fullest version of the song, meaning the original version
of the track containing all of the song’s components. Only 1 TRACK
TITLE (version) within a distinct SONG TITLE on a distinct CD ID
(album) can be selected as Facet TRACK TYPE = Main.
If a track is of cut-down length; i.e., :30/:60 but is still the most fully
realized version of the track, it is still a Main. This is to accommodate
albums with commercial length only tracks.
Track type is required.
b. Underscore - The track without any vocal or instrumental melodic
3 TRACK TYPE 1 1 Only one (1) track in a song can be tagged as MAIN. line but with the other rhythmic and harmonic elements in place.
If a track has lyrics, Track Type cannot be “Underscore”. c. Alternate - A different rendition of the main track, including but
not limited to shorter duration cut-downs (ie 60s and 30s) and tracks
that leave out certain elements or substitute one lead instrument for
another (e.g. clarinet instead of voice, guitar instead of piano). Unless
otherwise noted, an alternate version will usually be the same tempo
and key as the original main track. Often described as “instru- mental
version” when it retains the melodic line if the Main track was a vocal.
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# FACET MIN MAX VALIDATION RULES INSTRUCTIONS
You must select at least one (1). If applicable, only the five (5) most relevant moods should be added.
6 MOOD 1 20 Over-tagging may affect the ranking of a track in the search results.
No more than twenty (20) are allowed. Do not include more than 2 of the children tags from any parent tag.
You may select up to eight (8), unless youi have also selected “SOLO”, If you select SOLO, the entire track must be a single, unaccompanied
11 INSTRUMENTS 0 8
in which case you can then only select one (1). instrument.
14 AMATEUR/ 0 1
POORLY PLAYED
You may select up to five (5). If you select SOLO, the entire track must be a single, unaccompanied
15 SOUND EFFECTS 0 5 sound effect. If ‘Sound Effects SOLO’, track must also be tagged
You may select no more than one (1) if SOLO is also selected. ’Genre > Sound Effects/Atmospheres’.
COUNTRY & For Ireland, Korea & Vietnam - indicate “North” or “South” if known,
16 0 5 You may select up to five (5).
REGION otherwise, just tag for “Ireland”, “Korea” or “Vietnam”.
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# FACET MIN MAX VALIDATION RULES INSTRUCTIONS
19 TIME PERIOD 0 3 You may select up to three (3). If selecting multiple time periods, they should be contiguous.
Check “Has Lyrics” to indicate that there are spoken or sung words in
any language. You must provide the Lyric text using our submission format in
22 HAS LYRICS 0 1 the original language and translated into English if the original lyric
If “Has Lyrics” is selected, you must also select Lyric Subject, and either language is not entirely in English.
Vocals or an appropriate Instrumental/Vocal Groupings tag.
Stems Not Check “Stems Not Available” to indicate that Stems are not and will not Generally used for orchestral recordings where there is no separation
23 0 1
Available be available in the future for this track. or archival recordings where the original session is not available.
24 Explicit 0 1 Check “Explicit” for any track that has explicit language.
Indicate up to three (3) lyrics subjects. Use ‘Other’ if there is not a facet
25 LYRIC SUBJECT 0 3 You may select up to three (3) relevant subjects. available for the subject of the lyrics. Use ‘Uncategorized’ if lyrics do
not have a subject.
The artist name must be included in the track description, at the very
beginning, followed by a colon (:). The track must be contemporary
Check ”Artist Driven” when a track is a contemporary work by an artist
26 ARTIST DRIVEN 0 1 popular music (i.e., rock, pop, hip hop, electronic, etc.). Any library
(i.e., singer-songwriter or band whose main musical career/body of
submissions tagged as Artist Driven will go through the Music Team
work is outside of the library world.)
review process. If a track does not fit within the guidelines set forth by
APM, it will not appear in the Artist-Driven section.
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# FACET MIN MAX VALIDATION RULES INSTRUCTIONS
Select the starting or majority key for this facet if there is a key
28 KEY 1 1 change in the piece. There is also a new KEY CHANGE facet nested
under Character > Key Change - if there is a key change, please denote
the number of changes in the track description.
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SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS
DELIVERY DELIVERY FILE FILENAME FILENAME
ASSET REQUIREMENTS
FORMAT METHOD NAME DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE
LIBRARY_SUBLIBRARY_
CD#(4 digits)_TRACK(3 digits)
SUBINDEX(2 digits). Lack
of sub-index is ‘01’, do not
deliver ‘00’. Additional CDs
48 kHz, 16 or 24 bit, Stereo, WAV or AIFF (Do not akTRACK.wav or to the same CD num- ber
Audio WAV or AIFF Library Portal APM_APM_0001_00101.wav
zip for upload) akTRACK.aif are to be desig- nated with
~2, ~3, etc. Example: APM_
APM_0001~2_00101.
OR
Must be unique as indicated
in Metadata Column I.
48 kHz, 16 or 24 bit, Stereo, WAV or AIFF (Do not stemname.wav or Must be unique as indicated
Stem Audio WAV or AIFF Library Portal BRP_Drums.wav
zip for upload) stemname.aif in Metadata Column I.
LIBRARY_SUBLIBRARY_
Lyric Text in UTF-8 TXT file. Includes: Lyrics in CD#(4 digits)_TRACK(3
proper case, with commas and periods as written digits) SUBINDEX(2 digits).
Lyrics in the original song. Each Verse, Chorus or Bridge akTRACK.LAN- Lack of sub-index is ‘01’, do APM_APMA_0001_00201.
UTF-8 TXT Library Portal should contain a paragraph break.
(Non-English) GUAGE.txt not deliver ‘00’. Additional FRENCH.txt
CDs to the same CD number
Include a translation and transliteration when are to be designated with
available. ~2, ~3, etc. Example: APM_
APM_0001~2_00101.
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DELIVERY DELIVERY FILE FILENAME FILENAME
ASSET REQUIREMENTS
FORMAT METHOD NAME DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE
VECTOR (EPS or AI) & JPEG; 1500 x 1500; 300 dpi;
RGB; Non-Progressive. (Do not zip for upload).
Please note some of our distribution systems
Library Logo VECTOR (EPS or AI) FTP require a square version so please also provide akLibrary.jpg LIBRARY_SUBLIBRARY APM_APM.jpg
& JPEG a treatment showcasing your logo in a square
that is readable at small, thumbnail sizes. Also, if
you have a Style Guide for logo and brand usage,
please send that along as well.
Composer Name; Bio Text (Must limit to 2500 ComposerName. ComposerName (No Spaces)
Composer Bio UTF-8 TXT FTP ComposerName.txt
characters) txt
Composer Artwork FTP JPEG; 2400 x 2400; 300 dpi; RGB; Non-Progres- ComposerName. ComposerName (No Spaces) ComposerName.jpg
JPEG
sive jpg
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