What are the different requirements for vinyl distribution vs. digital distribution (i.e. Apple Music, Spotify, etc.)?
Vinyl comes with a few key differences you’ll want to account for when building your release:
- Track/Release Duration
Distributing for physical mediums means that there are stricter rules on the duration of your release. Each release will have two sides (A and B) which can include up to 8 tracks per side, each side no longer than 22:00 minutes of music.
- Audio Guidelines
Because your approved release would be printed on vinyl, there’s a few more audio considerations to keep in mind. We’ve created this article for additional audio guidelines that will help you prepare your tracks.
- Content Ownership/Proper Licensing
We won’t be able to approve any content you’re not sharing proper documentation for. You must own and/or control all content, or have the necessary rights for physical distribution. It’s extremely important that if you’ve used anything you didn’t create entirely, whether that be a beat or a stem or any small piece of content you’ve licensed, you need to upload licensing agreements for everything. Make sure you’re uploading documentation for them - it’ll make your review process simpler if you start with uploading everything you can.
- Publishing Information
We want to make sure all the right people are getting paid when you’re distributing on vinyl. We’ll ask you for all of your contributors’ publishing information, including their full names, which MRO and PRO they’re registered with as well as any registration number you have. You want to get this right, so if you know this information, make sure to include it.
- Artwork Guidelines
We recommend your artwork file be 3000x3000px, though we can accept files with a minimum of 2000x2000px. Your file must also be RGB color space, 300dpi and less than 300 MB.
Your artwork should not include any offensive imagery or contain text that doesn’t match the metadata you’ve already entered in your release details. Similar to the music you may have added to your release, you must outright own or have proper licensing for artwork you didn’t create yourself.
The spine and back cover on your vinyl will be autogenerated for you. You’ll see a preview of these autogenerated elements when you’re uploading your cover artwork.