Songwriters and contributors

How to credit the people who wrote and produced the music, which roles the system requires on each track, and why composers, lyricists and producers need a legal name.

Beyond the primary artist and the guests, a release credits the people who wrote and made the music: composer, lyricist, producer and other contributors. You assign them with roles, on the release and on each track, from Add Artist with Roles.

The credits the system requires

To submit a release, each track (and the release) needs, at minimum:

Primary artist
Composer
Producer
Lyricist — only if the track has vocals. If it's instrumental, it isn't required.

Also:

If the track has vocals, at least one artist with a vocal role (Vocals, Backing vocals, Rap…).
If the track is instrumental, at least one instrument role (Guitar, Piano, Synth…).

On a single, these roles must be on both the release and the track, and match.

Every contributor is an artist profile

To credit someone — even if they don't sing or play, like a composer — they first have to exist as an artist in your account. You can create them on the spot when you assign the role.

The same artist can hold several roles at once (for example, primary artist and producer). What you can't do is add the same role twice to the same person.

Composer and lyricist

Composer: who wrote the music.
Lyricist: who wrote the lyrics.

If one person did both, assign them both roles.

These credits belong to the composition side of the work and are the basis for publishing administration.

Producer

Producer: who produced the recording. It's required on every track, including instrumentals.

If there were several producers, add all of them with that role.

Vocals and instruments

The role catalog includes performance functions:

Vocals: lead vocals, backing vocals, rap, etc.
Instruments: guitar, bass, drums, keys, and so on.

Use them to credit session musicians and anyone who sang without being the primary artist.

Legal name is required for some roles

Artists with the Composer, Lyricist or Producer role need a full legal name in their profile (First and Last name). For a group, each member's legal name.

If it's missing, you'll see a warning and the release can't be submitted until it's completed. The other profile fields (IPI, ISNI, collection society affiliation) are optional, but useful for the publishing side.

Roles and royalties

Some roles take part in the royalty split and carry a suggested percentage. That starting point is adjusted and confirmed in the release's Automatic splits.