Non-Primary Artist

2.13. Special Guests or Featured Artists. Special guests or featured artists must be given the Featuring or With role. If the featured artist is the same on every track, the featured artist must also be listed at the album level. Artists with Featuring or With roles must not be marked Primary. If the credited primary artist is a collective, do not credit performing members of the collective with a featuring artist designation.

Formatting of "feat." and "with" in titles must be lowercase, in English, not localized, and in parentheses or brackets. Do not use any other spelling (for example, “featuring,” “Featuring,” “Feat,” “w/,” and so on).

Correct Examples:

Incorrect Examples:

Note: If Featuring or With artist roles are used in the initial delivery, the featured artist name will automatically be added by Apple Music or iTunes to the album or track title.

2.14. Non-Primary Performers. Performing artists, as well as individual ensemble or other performance contributors, must be credited accurately at the track level with their specific instruments and/or roles. These artists must not be given the Primary or Featured/With roles at either the album or track level unless they are also Primary or Featured/With artists on the recording. There is no need to credit a band as a performer when the specific performers or band members are known. To ensure consistency, refer to Recommended Contributor Roles in the Apple Music Specification. If an instrument or role is not listed, you can still deliver it.

Non-performing presenting artists must only be named in the title and not marked as Primary artists. Credit these artists as Presenting artists.

Example: The Beatles - Rubber Soul [Album Level]

Example: The Beatles - “In My Life” [Track Level]

Example: Johnny Aloha - Lavapalooza (Richard Cheese Presents Johnny Aloha)

2.15. Composition and Lyrics. Roles related to the underlying composition or lyrical content of a recording must have the appropriate roles listed at the track level. If a single artist has written all words or lyrics for all recordings on an album, the appropriate roles must be listed at both the album and track levels. If an artist is also a composer, credit them with the Composer role as well.

When the breakdown of contributions to a work is known, use the Composer role to credit the creator of the music composition, and the Lyrics role to credit anyone who contributed to drafting lyrics of a song.

If a contributor was involved in both composition and lyrics, or if their specific contribution to the work isn’t known, use the Songwriter role.

If the album contains selections of unknown authorship, such as a folk song or Gregorian chant, use Anonymous or Traditional as the composer. Any delivery found using this role erroneously will be hidden.

2.16. Production and Engineering. Use the Producer, Recording Engineer, or Graphic Designer roles when crediting a release. If credited consistently across all tracks, this role must also be credited at the album level. Credit the personnel that assisted with producing or engineering the release, rather than crediting a production company or studio. These artists must not be marked as the Primary artist at either the album or track level.

When Dolby Atmos is delivered, specify the Immersive Mixing Engineer or Immersive Mastering Engineer.

2.17. Administrative. Contributions to a recording from label, management, and related personnel for example, Product Manager, A&R (Artist and Repertoire), Artist Manager, or Publisher should be delivered if available.

2.18. Credits Accuracy. You must supply complete and accurate credits. If credits are not yet known or participants are anonymous, omit the credit entirely. Do not submit placeholder credits, such as TBD or Pending.

2.19. Licensed Verses, Licensed Beats, and Samples. When licensing audio, such as a verse or a beat, credit the artist the content was sampled from with the role Licensed Verse or Licensed Beat, not as a Primary, With, or Featuring Artist. If using pre-existing audio (i.e., a sample or stem) that is free, or can be purchased or leased, credit the artist the content was sampled from with the Sampled Artist role.