Five Must Haves for Your DISCO Catalog
DISCO Catalogs let anyone — artists, composers, labels, sync reps — set up a searchable Catalog of music. Once you’re subscribed and your Catalog is set up, you can opt in your Catalog to be discovered by the many music supervisors on DISCO.
We get a lot of questions about how to give yourself the best chance of getting your music discovered and licensed. Here are five key things that will make it easier for supervisors or anyone browsing your Catalog.
Get your metadata right
It seems obvious, but it often gets forgotten — if you want to get your music licensed, it’s essential that you have complete metadata for your tracks. Complete metadata means the main stuff, like title and artist, but also rights information and contact details.
Core metadata
Make sure the actual track metadata, like title and artist, is filled out. Watch out for this when you’re working with WAVs, which won’t keep metadata with them when uploaded. “Clean up the title so it’s not how it was run off in the studio,” supervisor Hugh Owens, from Level Two Music, recommends. “It looks prettier that way.”
For cover versions, it’s always good to note who popularised the track in the title: “Friday I’m In Love (The Cure cover)”.
Who owns the rights
Always list who owns the rights — both sides (master and publishing).
If your track is one-stop, say so. If you’ve got 50% of the publishing but master rights are with someone else, enter as much detail as you can. Supervisors will tend to favor tracks that you hold exclusive sync rights on, and that are simple to clear. While one stop songs will generally be preferred, tracks with rights you don’t control are fair game so long as you can clear one side as a minimum and all rights holders are clearly identified, and the other parties are contactable.
“Supervisors don’t like surprises when it comes to clearing music,” Hugh says. “Being clear and upfront on splits and rights is essential.”
Who to contact for licensing
Finally, and perhaps most importantly: always list who to contact for licensing. Contact info should include company name, email address, and the name of person who’s the point of contact. (Website and phone number are handy but not essential). If there are different licensing contacts in different regions, be sure to list the different contacts and their contact info.
The Comments metadata field is generally the best place to put rights and contact info.
Also make sure to add contact details on your Catalog “Contact us” page as well:
Give your Catalog an accurate name and description
When setting up your Catalog in DISCO, your Catalog name is important — be sure to include your artist or company name in the title, and if your name is recognizable, use it!
Your Catalog description, which you can enter in the Catalog’s settings, is also key. This description is searchable by supervisors, so make sure it’s accurate and concise: include the genres covered by the Catalog, the region the music’s from and any relevant clearance info (like if it’s all one stop).
For the Catalog description, supervisor Doug Darnell recommends: “Make it short, and say what your relationship is to the music — do you have master rights, are you one-stop, are you the artist?”
Submit the right tracks for lists
When sending music for our curated lists, think carefully about the songs you’re submitting. Try to avoid sending the same tracks repeatedly. If you’re submitting for our “new release” playlist, think about sending the strongest or most syncable tracks rather than sending the whole album through. There might be opportunities for some of the deeper cuts to go on other themed playlists, and supervisors can easily navigate to your catalog to find more from that artist or release.
Feature your strongest works and playlist for supervisors
Feature your strongest, most syncable tracks as the featured tracks on your Catalog’s home page, and update these regularly for returning visitors. “When I pop onto your Catalog,” Doug Darnell says, “the top three tracks are the only three I will listen to when I’m trying to decide if I like your Catalog or not.”
If you’ve had any tracks licensed, it’s a good idea to include them as featured tracks, or in their own featured playlist.
When it comes to the playlists you create, try to playlist the kind of things supervisors brief and search for: new releases, moods, covers, lyrical themes, and tempos. If you create scores, you could have an epic trailer playlist, for example. If you’re a folk songwriter, you could make a playlist of covers, or a playlist of love songs. If you’re an electronic producer, creating lists of tracks in a similar tempo can be useful to supervisors searching.
Get your Catalog out there!
Share your Catalog with your network — send it to your clients and collaborators in a blast using DISCO’s Email Creator, include it on your email signature, and link to it from your website and socials.
We recommend setting the permissions on your Catalog to ‘anyone can view’ so it’s easy for people to browse it without logging in.
To make it easier to link out to your Catalog from your website, here are some DISCO Catalog badges you can use.
If I do all the above, will I get a sync?
Having your music discoverable on a DISCO Catalog won’t guarantee you’ll get a license. There are millions of tracks being pitched for sync, and a comparatively small number land licenses. Your music has to be the perfect fit for a brief, and of sufficient quality for the creative. But by following the steps here, you’ll give your music the best chance of being discovered and licensed.
Want more tips on setting up your Catalog? Check out our new training videos.
