Provide artist and contributor metadata

These features are only available to partners who use YouTube Studio Content Manager.

This article describes how to deliver artist and resource contributor metadata, along with related identifiers.

Artists and Contributors

For tracks or albums that are collaborations between multiple artists, you can specify individual artists by using a separate <DisplayArtist> composite in <ReleaseDetailsByTerritory>. Each composite should have <ArtistRole> set to MainArtist.

This example shows how to communicate 3 collaborating artists:

<ReleaseDetailsByTerritory>

…

<DisplayArtist SequenceNumber="1">

<PartyName>

<FullName>Artist 1</FullName>

</PartyName>

<ArtistRole>MainArtist</ArtistRole>

</DisplayArtist>

<DisplayArtist SequenceNumber="2">

<PartyName>

<FullName>Artist 2</FullName>

</PartyName>

<ArtistRole>MainArtist</ArtistRole>

</DisplayArtist>

<DisplayArtist SequenceNumber="3">

<PartyName>

<FullName>Artist 3</FullName>

</PartyName>

<ArtistRole>MainArtist</ArtistRole>

</DisplayArtist>

Note: We ignore the SequenceNumber attribute and list artists in the order they’re sent in the XML.

Featured artists

To communicate featured artist(s) for a release, the artist name should be sent as a <DisplayArtist> with <ArtistRole> set to FeaturedArtist in the <ReleaseDetailsByTerritory> for the album.

This example shows how to communicate a featured artist for an album:

<ReleaseDetailsByTerritory>

…

<DisplayArtist SequenceNumber="1">

<PartyName>

<FullName>Album Primary Artist</FullName>

</PartyName>

<ArtistRole>MainArtist</ArtistRole>

</DisplayArtist>

<DisplayArtist SequenceNumber="2">

<PartyName>

<FullName>Album Featured Artist</FullName>

</PartyName>

<ArtistRole>FeaturedArtist</ArtistRole>

</DisplayArtist>

To communicate featured artist(s) for a track, the artist name should be sent as a <DisplayArtist> with <ArtistRole> set to FeaturedArtist in the <SoundRecordingDetailsByTerritory> for the track.

This example shows how to communicate a featured artist for a track:

<SoundRecordingDetailsByTerritory>

…

<DisplayArtist>

<PartyName>

<FullName>Track 1 Primary Artist</FullName>

</PartyName>

<ArtistRole>MainArtist</ArtistRole>

</DisplayArtist>

<DisplayArtist>

<PartyName>

<FullName>Track 1 Featured Artist</FullName>

</PartyName>

<ArtistRole>FeaturedArtist</ArtistRole>

</DisplayArtist>

Various artists

If a release has tracks by 5 or more unique artists, the main artist for the release should be set as "Various Artists".

You can also provide a translation for “Various Artists”. Learn more about how to provide localized metadata for art tracks.

“Various Artists” shouldn't be sent for the individual tracks, every track should be sent with at least one main artist.

This example shows how to communicate various artists as the main artist for an album:

<ReleaseDetailsByTerritory>

…

<DisplayArtist SequenceNumber="1">

<PartyName>

<FullName>Various Artists</FullName>

</PartyName>

<ArtistRole>MainArtist</ArtistRole>

</DisplayArtist>

All tracks on the album should have at least one artist name with role MainArtist:

<SoundRecordingDetailsByTerritory>

…

<DisplayArtist>

<PartyName>

<FullName>Track 1 Primary Artist</FullName>

</PartyName>

<ArtistRole>MainArtist</ArtistRole>

</DisplayArtist>

Resource contributors

In order to communicate contributors besides Main Artist and Featured Artist for a release, you can use either the <ResourceContributor> or the <IndirectResourceContributor> composite in <SoundRecordingDetailsByTerritory>.

This example shows how to communicate producer information:

<SoundRecordingDetailsByTerritory>

…

<ResourceContributor SequenceNumber="1">

<PartyName>

<FullName>Joe producer</FullName>

</PartyName>

<ResourceContributorRole>Producer</ResourceContributorRole>

</ResourceContributor>

…

</SoundRecordingDetailsByTerritory>

This example shows how to communicate composer information:

<SoundRecordingDetailsByTerritory>

…

<IndirectResourceContributor SequenceNumber="1">

<PartyName>

<FullName>Joe composer</FullName>

</PartyName> <IndirectResourceContributorRole>Composer</IndirectResourceContributorRole>

</IndirectResourceContributor>

…

</SoundRecordingDetailsByTerritory>

YouTube doesn’t support all resource contributor role values from the DDEX standard. Below is the list of currently supported roles. If the role you want to communicate is not in this list, you can deliver the role by using a user defined value:

<ResourceContributor SequenceNumber="1">

<PartyName>

<FullName>Jane CoMixer</FullName>

</PartyName>

<ResourceContributorRole Namespace="DPID:PADPIDAZZZZXXXXXXU" UserDefinedValue=”CoMixer”>UserDefined</ResourceContributorRole>

</ResourceContributor>

Note: You’ll need to add the <ResourceContributor> and <IndirectResourceContributor> composites to all <SoundRecording> composites where the party was a contributor.

List of supported contributor roles

Actor

Adapter

Architect

Arranger

Artist

AssociatedPerformer

Author

Band

Cartoonist

Choir

Choreographer

Composer

ComposerLyricist

ComputerGraphicCreator

Conductor

Contributor

Dancer

Designer

Director

Engineer

Ensemble

FeaturedArtist

FilmDirector

GraphicArtist

GraphicDesigner

Journalist

Librettist

Lyricist

MainArtist

Mixer

MusicPublisher

Narrator

NonLyricAuthor

Orchestra

OriginalPublisher

Painter

Photographer

PhotographyDirector

Playwright

PrimaryMusician

Producer

Programmer

ScreenplayAuthor

Soloist

StudioMusician

StudioPersonnel

SubArranger

SubPublisher

SubstitutedPublisher

Translator

Identifiers

Proprietary Partner Artist IDs

To aid in artist reconciliation (the process of attributing releases to the correct artists), it's recommended that you provide your proprietary artist ID (or PSAIDs) as a <PartyId> for each <DisplayArtist> whose <ArtistRole> is MainArtist. This PartyId should be included for releases in <ReleaseList>, resources like <SoundRecording>, and videos in the <ResourceList>. Your proprietary artist IDs should be unique for each artist.
In addition, the artist’s name should be included within the <PartyName> composite. The DPid specified using "DPID:PADPIDAZZZZXXXXXXU" must match that of the <MessageSender> tag (or the <SentOnBehalfOf> tag, if provided).

There's no need to redeliver content and artists you’ve already delivered to send proprietary artist IDs. If you wish to provide your proprietary partner artist IDs, you can do so for future deliveries containing new artists or new content for existing artists.

The XML example below specifies that the message sender with DPid PADPIDAZZZZXXXXXXU is delivering PROPRIETARY_PARTNER_ARTIST_ID to be associated with main artist Artist_Name:

<DisplayArtist SequenceNumber="...">

<PartyName LanguageAndScriptCode="...">

<FullName>Artist_Name</FullName>

</PartyName>

<PartyId Namespace="DPID:PADPIDAZZZZXXXXXXU">PROPRIETARY_PARTNER_ARTIST_ID</PartyId>

<ArtistRole>MainArtist</ArtistRole>

ISNIs

ISNIs can be specified through <PartyId> by using “IsISNI” and can be delivered for both artists and resource contributors.

The XML example below communicates that ISNI 000000012345678X identifies the main artist Artist_Name:

<DisplayArtist SequenceNumber="...">

<PartyName LanguageAndScriptCode="...">

<FullName>Artist_Name</FullName>

</PartyName>

<PartyId IsISNI="true">000000012345678X</PartyId>

<ArtistRole>MainArtist</ArtistRole>

</DisplayArtist>

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Provide artist and contributor metadata

Artists and Contributors

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Identifiers

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