How credits flow to Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal

49 · 2026-09-17 · 17 min read · Español

A credit reaches a store one way: you enter it in your distributor’s form, the distributor delivers it as a name on a role in the DDEX message that carries the audio, and the store displays whatever part of that delivery it supports, as sent. Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal read the same delivery and each shows a different part of it. None of the three lets an artist edit a credit in the app; every correction is a redelivery by the distributor, and each store has its own clock for showing it.

• Every store takes its credits from the label or distributor’s delivery and nowhere else. Spotify: “We show all credits from the metadata your label or distributor sends us.” Apple’s credits are delivered with the release and updated by the label in iTunes Connect or Transporter. Tidal routes artists to their distributor.
• A credit travels as a name on a role in the DDEX ERN message the distributor sends with the audio. DistroKid delivers credits to every service that currently accepts them, and Spotify says some distributors don’t support credits yet.
• Each store shows a different subset. Spotify shows performers, writers and producers and names the source; Apple shows performers, composition and lyrics, and production and engineering at the track level, from a role list of 969 entries; Tidal’s own announcement groups credits as songwriter, production, composer and musician.
• Apple’s specification marks performer, composition and production roles required for albums and tracks, and distributors now refuse a track for Apple Music without at least one performer and one production credit.
• A wrong or missing credit is fixed by the distributor redelivering the metadata: usually within seven days on Spotify, up to five business days on Apple Music after the update, and Tidal publishes no clock.

Where does a store get its credits?

From the label or distributor’s delivery, and from nowhere else; no store researches, adjudicates or types a credit itself.

Spotify says it in one sentence, at the top of its page on credits: “We show all credits from the metadata your label or distributor sends us, from producers and engineers to songwriters and featured artists.” The day the panel launched, in February 2018, Spotify’s announcement said where the names came from and what to expect of them: “we’re showing information we have from record label-provided metadata, and we’ll also display the source of the credits,” and then, “We realize some of this may be incomplete or may contain inaccuracies.” Eight years on, the first sentence is still the whole mechanism.

Apple says it to the people who deliver, not to the artist. Apple’s page for labels and distributors states that credits “appear on Apple Music at the track level,” that they are delivered with the release, and that a label adds or changes them “in iTunes Connect or via Transporter” — the label’s tools, not an app the artist holds. Tidal, in its own announcement of the credits feature, said it was “looking forward to working with artists and labels to create an in-depth database of credits,” and its artist help page names the distributor as the artist’s best point of contact. Its profile-claim page goes further than either of the other two: a claimed profile whose name does not match the distributor’s “will be updated to match the distributor’s records.” Tidal will rename you to agree with your distributor.

So the store’s record is the distributor’s record, at all three, in their own words. What a credit is, and the three kinds a release carries, is the pillar’s subject; which artist page the same delivery puts the release on is another piece. This page follows one credit from the form to the panel, and back.

How does a credit travel from the form to the store?

As a name on a role, typed into the distributor’s form and delivered in the DDEX message that carries the audio and the metadata.

The message has a name. DDEX’s Electronic Release Notification, ERN, “enables record companies or distributors to send data to digital service providers” about “releases and resources, such as sound recordings and music videos.” Your distributor writes one per release, and the credits ride in it beside the ISRC, the artwork and the dates. The same body publishes a standard for the studio end, RIN, “developed to be integrated into studio equipment and software platforms, including Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) manufacturers, to enable their users to capture and store essential metadata” — so a credit can, in principle, begin in the session file and travel without being retyped. In practice it is retyped, by you, into a form.

The form, at two distributors. DistroKid’s credits dashboard works from an “Add new...” menu: pick a type, and for a Musician credit “a secondary menu ... allows you to select the instrument,” enter the name, then “Done, submit to streaming services.” A songwriter goes first — “you must first credit a songwriter, as this is mandatory for all songs” — and a producer can be added “at any time ... even if your release is already live in services.” TuneCore’s form asks for at least one songwriter, takes the featured artist “as a contributor rather than added to the title,” and will not deliver an artist “credited as ‘Primary’ on some tracks and ‘Featured’ on others to any store.” One rule per field, and every field on that form has its own page.

One thing survives the form as free text. DDEX carries a display string beside the role — its example is a violinist delivered as Violin with a display credit of “Johnny on the fiddle” — and says a store that receives one should print it in place of the standard credit. The role is what the store files. The string is what it may show.

Then the sentence that decides more than the rest of this section put together. DistroKid: submitted credits “will be delivered to all streaming services that currently accept them, but not all services will display every type of credit or note.” Spotify, from its side of the pipe: “Some distributors don’t support credits yet.” A credits form on a distributor that does not deliver credits is a suggestion box.

Which credits does each store show?

Spotify shows performers, writers and producers; Apple Music shows performer, composition and production credits per track; Tidal sorts credits into songwriter, production, composer and musician.

Spotify’s panel opened with three groups — “performers, songwriters, and producers,” behind a right-click and “Show Credits” — and its page today says “from producers and engineers to songwriters and featured artists.” Which roles the panel prints is not something Spotify’s two pages agree on, and no third page settles it; the track on your own phone does. One kind of credit has a second door. Spotify makes a writer’s name clickable only where the writer has a Songwriter Page, and says those pages “are in beta.” The pages “are powered by publishers’ Spotify for Publishing accounts,” and that programme takes a publisher’s works in CWR and “makes song credits in the Spotify app clickable.” So a writer’s name arrives by the distributor and a writer’s page by the publisher, and neither is the registration that pays the writer.

Apple’s page says the categories and the level in one sentence: credits “appear on Apple Music at the track level and allow users to appreciate the work of everyone involved in the roles of Performers, Composition and Lyrics, and Production and Engineering.” Roles “display on Apple Music based on our complete list of Extended Contributor Roles,” and the list is a spreadsheet Apple publishes, three sheets long. Counted on the date at the top of this page: 817 performer roles, 43 composition and lyrics roles, 109 production and engineering roles. 969 ways to be on a record. The specification behind the page adds the one line that decides the cover: “Only primary artists are displayed with the album.” Everyone else is in the panel.

Tidal’s own account is its 2019 announcement, which lists the categories — “Songwriter, Production, Composer, Musician” — and the reach, “unheralded background singers and lyricists to the producers, and mixing engineers.” Tidal publishes no delivery specification for credits that a distributor can be held to, and its credits page would not serve to anything but a browser when this was written. Three stores, one delivery, and each of them has hold of a different part of the elephant.

Why is a credit on one store and missing on another?

The distributor never sent the credit, the store doesn’t show that kind, the update hasn’t landed, or the role didn’t survive the crossing.

Three apps, three panels, one delivery. From your phone it is a shitshow. From the file it is three display rules applied to one message, and the gap has four causes, each with a test.

• Not sent. Spotify: “Some distributors don’t support credits yet.” DistroKid: delivered “to all streaming services that currently accept them.” The test is the distributor’s own help page — does it say which services receive credits, and is the store on the list? If the page does not say, ask, in writing.
• Not shown. DistroKid: “not all services will display every type of credit or note,” and its own advice is that “a Songwriter or Producer credit” is the one most likely to be displayed. A mastering engineer on Apple and absent on Spotify may be exactly what was sent, displayed by one store and filed by the other. The test is the table above.
• Not yet. Spotify: “credits usually appear within 7 days.” Apple: “allow up to five business days for updated credits to reflect in Apple Music, even if the credits are reflecting in iTunes Connect.” Tidal: no clock. The test is the calendar, and the date on the distributor’s confirmation, not the date you typed.
• Not recognised. Apple: “Should you deliver a role not yet in our repertoire, we will attempt to match it to the most similar credit on Apple Music,” and the specification: “Generic roles (such as performer, artist, contributor) are not considered as a performer role.” A role typed as a free string can arrive as a neighbour of itself, or as nothing. The test is the role as you typed it against Apple’s sheet.

Three of the four end at the distributor and one at the store’s list, and none of them ends at a store’s support form. A name that nobody ever typed — left off in the studio, refused, forgotten — is a different problem, with a piece of its own to come. Everything above assumes the name went into the form.

Can a store refuse a track over its credits?

Apple can: its specification marks performer, composition and production roles required for albums and tracks, and distributors hold a track until each has a name.

The specification’s role list carries the word on three of its four groups. Performer, “such as Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals”: “Required for albums and tracks.” Composition and Lyrics: “Required for albums and tracks.” Production and Engineering: “Required for albums and tracks.” Featuring or With: “Required if there is a featured artist.” The distributors turned the word into a gate. Amuse’s page: “every track released to Apple Music must include: At least one Performer credit ... At least one Production & Engineering credit,” and, “Previously, these credits were optional - but now, they’re mandatory.” FUGA’s page, written for labels, makes it “mandatory for clients to assign at least one contributor per track in each of the following three categories,” adds that “Primary and Featuring artists do not fulfill the requirement for the ‘Performer’ credit,” exempts the back catalogue, and closes the door in one line: “Products cannot be approved until all contributor-related warnings are resolved.”

What counts as a name is narrower than the form suggests. Generic roles are not performer roles, above, so “Performer” beside a name is a blank; the drummer needs Drums. Apple’s list of production and engineering roles runs to 109 entries and includes Harpsichord Tuner. Somebody at Apple has met one. And the credit you do not have yet has its rule, already on the field map: omit it, and never deliver a placeholder — which, with a required category, means a track that cannot name its performer has nowhere honest to go but back to the session notes.

Spotify’s style guide asks for the roles without setting a floor — “All applicable artists, both performing and non-performing, must be entered with proper roles, which includes composer/writer information” — and Tidal publishes none. The rejection catalogue has the rest; this is one row on it, and the newest.

How do you fix a credit on each store?

Through the distributor: Spotify shows a resent credit usually within seven days, Apple within five business days of an update, and Tidal publishes no clock.

Spotify puts “Credits” on its list of what a distributor’s update fixes, as its own line, and follows the list with the two sentences that govern every row on it: “Your label or distributor needs to send a metadata update to us with the right info. We can’t change this manually on our end because we show music according to the metadata sent to us.” The credits page gives the route and the clock: “contact your label or distributor and ask them to resend the track’s metadata with the correct credits. After we receive the update, credits usually appear within 7 days.”

Apple gives the label the tools and the artist the wait. “You can easily add this metadata to previously delivered music in iTunes Connect or via Transporter,” and then: “If you need to update previously delivered credits, please allow up to five business days for updated credits to reflect in Apple Music, even if the credits are reflecting in iTunes Connect.” A self-released artist does not hold iTunes Connect; the distributor does. Same door.

Tidal publishes no page on correcting a credit. A search of its help centre for the word returns billing articles. What it publishes is the distributor’s standing — “Because your distributor or label is responsible for delivering your royalty data and disbursements, they are your best point of contact” — and the rename-to-match sentence above. Tidal says, in two places, that the distributor’s record is the record, and nowhere how long a corrected one takes to show.

Should a store let you fix your own drummer’s name in the app? None of the three does. Arguing with a store about what it was sent is a week spent on the wrong company, and every page quoted above says so in its own words. Spotify’s newest credit type goes through the same door: AI credits are added “through your distributor when you upload your music,” in beta, with certain distributors.

One case no ticket fixes. A distributor that does not deliver credits at all — Spotify’s sentence, not this page’s — leaves nothing for a store to show and nothing for a store to correct; the credit never left your account. Ask the distributor when it will, in writing, and keep the answer. Moving is a bigger decision than a credit, with costs of its own, and not this page’s to make for you.

What to check on your own catalogue

Open one track in all three apps, read the three panels against what you delivered, and treat each difference as a delivery to chase.

• Keep your own copy of what you delivered. Per track, name and role, in the store’s vocabulary rather than the studio’s — the three kinds, the production words, the guest role. No store keeps this half of the comparison for you.
• Read the panels, not your memory of them. Note which store shows which name, and on Spotify, who it says sent them.
• A name on one store and not another is a pipe. Run the four tests, in order. Three end at the distributor and one at Apple’s sheet.
• A name on no store is a delivery. Open the distributor’s form before anyone’s ticket, and confirm the credit is there — spelled the one way — before you ask anyone to resend anything.

That is one release. For the catalogue behind it, the audit checklist asks what the stores actually show, and this page is how the answer got there.

FAQ

Can I add credits after the release is live?

Yes, through the distributor. DistroKid’s help page says producer credits can be added at any time, even if the release is already live in services, and the same dashboard submits the update to the stores. Spotify says a resent credit usually appears within seven days; Apple says to allow up to five business days after the label’s update. Nothing about the audio or the ISRC changes.

Why does Spotify print my distributor’s name under the credits?

Because Spotify said, when the credits panel launched in 2018, that it would display the source of the credits, and the source is whoever delivered the metadata. For a self-released artist that is the distributor. The line is not a rating of the credits; it names the party that typed them, which is also the party that can change them.

Do my songwriter credits on Spotify come from my distributor or my publisher?

Both, through different doors. The names in the credits panel come from the label or distributor’s delivery, like every other credit. The clickable Songwriter Page behind a name is powered by a publisher’s Spotify for Publishing account, which takes works in CWR format; Spotify says it is only working with publishers to create those pages. Neither door is the registration that pays a writer, which belongs to the societies.

Does an AI credit travel the same way?

Yes. Spotify’s AI credits are added through the distributor when the music is uploaded, the feature is in beta and available with certain distributors only, and the credit appears in the song credits and in the Now Playing view on mobile. It does not appear on artist profiles or as a track-level label.

Sources

• Spotify, Clickable song credits on Spotify — that all credits are shown from the metadata a label or distributor sends; that songwriter credits are clickable where a Songwriter Page exists, in beta; the correction route and the seven days; and that some distributors do not support credits yet.
• Spotify for Artists, Spotify Now Displays Songwriter Credits (2018-02-02) — the panel’s launch: performers, songwriters and producers; label-provided metadata; the source displayed; and the caveat that some of it may be incomplete or inaccurate.
• Spotify for Artists, Fixing problems with music metadata — “Credits” as its own line on the list a distributor’s update fixes, and that Spotify cannot change metadata manually.
• Spotify for Artists, Songwriter Pages on Spotify — that the pages are powered by publishers’ Spotify for Publishing accounts, on CWR data, and that Spotify is only working with publishers to create them.
• Spotify for Artists, Spotify for Publishing — that the programme takes works in CWR and powers Songwriter Pages and clickable credits.
• Spotify for Artists, AI credits on Spotify — added through the distributor at upload, in beta with certain distributors, shown in song credits and Now Playing on mobile.
• Spotify, Metadata Style Guide (v2.3) — §4.1, that all applicable artists must be entered with proper roles.
• Apple Music Provider Support, Deliver credits to Apple Music — that credits appear at the track level in three categories; the Extended Contributor Roles list and the matching of unknown roles; iTunes Connect and Transporter; and the five business days.
• Apple, Extended Contributor Roles (spreadsheet) — three sheets, Performer, Composer and Lyricist, Production and Engineering; the counts on this page were computed from the file as downloaded on the date at the top.
• Apple, Apple Music Specification (5.3.26, April 2026) — the four role groups and which are required; that generic roles are not performer roles; that only primary artists are displayed with the album.
• Amuse, Apple Music Credits — a distributor’s statement that every track released to Apple Music must carry at least one performer and one production and engineering credit, and that the credits were previously optional.
• FUGA, Apple Music Contributor Credit Requirements — a label distributor’s validation: one contributor per track in each of three categories, primary and featuring artists not counting as performers, the back catalogue exempt, and no approval until the warnings clear.
• TIDAL, TIDAL Launches Enhanced Credits Feature (press release, 2019-07-02) — the four categories, the reach of the feature, and that the database is built with artists and labels.
• TIDAL Support, Artist Resources — that the distributor or label is the artist’s best point of contact.
• TIDAL Support, Claim Your Artist Profile — that a profile name is updated to match the distributor’s records.
• DDEX Knowledge Base, Electronic Release Notification Message Suite (ERN) — what the message is and who sends it to whom.
• DDEX Knowledge Base, Recording Information Notification (RIN) — the studio-side standard and its interoperability with the rest of DDEX.
• DDEX Knowledge Base, Role code synonyms and credits — the display credit string that may replace the standard credit, with the fiddle example.
• DistroKid, Adding Producer and Songwriter Credits or Liner Notes to Your Songs — the dashboard, the mandatory songwriter, delivery to every service that accepts credits, and that not every service displays every type.
• DistroKid, Adding a Producer to a Release — that credits can be added at any time, even to a live release.
• TuneCore, How do I credit artists, songwriters, and other contributors on my release? — the mandatory songwriter, the featured artist as a contributor, and the primary-or-featured rule.

Every page cited here was read on the date at the top of this piece. Store pages and distributor help pages change without notice, and the help centres of DistroKid, TuneCore, Tidal and FUGA serve their articles to a plain fetch only through their own API, so a reader checking by hand may meet a browser check first. Tidal’s credits page itself would not serve without a browser and nothing on this page is attributed to it. Confirm anything operational against the stores’ own pages before you act on it.

Keeping the register

Three stores, three panels, one delivery, and no store keeps your copy of it. CatalogTracker does: every credit per track and per release, in a contributor vocabulary of nineteen roles, with a history of who changed what and what it said before, and an import that reads credits from MusicBrainz and Credits.fm. It will not show you what Spotify shows. It will show you what you delivered, which is the half of the comparison nobody keeps. In development for iPhone.