TRACK TITLES:
Versioning is the information in a Track Title that denotes that it is a different version of a similarly titled track by the same artist (but with a different sound recording...ie: a remix, a different genre version like Pop, Folk, Acoustic, etc.).
An artist should never have different versions of a song that share the exact same track title as it causes customer confusion and can lead to improper sorting within the music platforms.
Therefore, an artist who has multiple versions of a track should use versioning information in their titles using parenthesis and brackets.
Examples of different Track Title versions:
There and Back Again
There and Back Again (Live)
There and Back Again (Pop Version)
There and Back Again (Acoustic)
There and Back Again (Folk Version)
There and Back Again (Remix)
*Please note, the original version of a song should never have any versioning, and "(Original Version)" in a track title should never be used. If the version is a Remix, then a Remixer Artist <strong>must</strong> be assigned to the track and the Remixer Artist <strong>cannot</strong> be the Primary Artist.
ALBUM TITLES:
Versioning should also be used to denote a different Album version since you cannot have duplicate album titles in the music stores.
Examples of different Album Title versions:
A Rush of Blood to the Head
A Rush of Blood to the Head (Live)
A Rush of Blood to the Head (Deluxe Edition)[Live]
A Rush of Blood to the Head (The Remixes)
Any versioning information (That which distinguishes an album or track from the original album or track) must be placed within parenthesis or brackets like the examples above. This includes all versions such as "Remix", "Remastered", "Deluxe Edition", "Live", etc. To designate a different version of an album or track, you must denote it first with parenthesis. Any additional versioning information must be denoted with brackets following the parenthesis. Parenthesis must always come before brackets.
Example of incorrect versioning without parenthesis:
There and Back Again REMIX <---This is wrong because versioning must be inside parenthesis
Example of correct versioning with parenthesis:
There and Back Again (Remix) <---This is correct use of parenthesis for versioning
Example of correct versioning with parenthesis and brackets:
Lover (Deluxe Edition) [Live] <---This is correct use of parenthesis and brackets for versioning
*We may alter album or track titles during processing to conform with these guidelines.
** Aside from most major music stores, Spotify handles versioning a little bit differently at least in the way it is displayed in their store to the final customer. Spotify will use dashes (ie: " - ") to denote versioning inside of a track title instead of parenthesis and brackets. But you should still use parenthesis and brackets when submitting them into Catapult (Don't worry, they will look correct in Spotify using dashes).