Are you ready to release and share your music? Audio file distribution can be confusing for new, aspiring artists. If you are new to audio file distribution, we’ve got your back! Let us show you the necessary steps you should take to get your audio files ready for distribution. This guide will help you to understand the ins and outs of audio file distribution.
Required Format for Audio Files
All digital stores such as Amazon, iTunes or Apple Music, and Spotify, have requirements for the type of audio files they accept. These requirements ensure that your music will have high-quality sound. As a general rule of thumb, your audio file specs have to be stereo WAV files that are 16 bit in sample size, 44.1 kHz in sample rate, and 1411 kbps in bit rate.
How to Convert Your Audio Files
The iTunes app can be used to change your files into the format required. Here’s what you need to do:
Step 1: Open the iTunes application.
Step 2: Find the song in the iTunes Music Library and click on the song once to highlight it.
Step 3: Go to Preferences. On PC and iTunes Version 10 or older, you can find it under the square icon at the top left of the window. For Mac, you can find it under the iTunes drop-down menu.
Step 4: Make sure you’re on the General tab. Go down to Import Settings. On older versions of iTunes, you might need to click Advanced first before clicking on Import Settings.
Step 5: Change Import Using to WAV Encoder. Click and change the Setting to Custom. A new window will open.
Step 6: When you’re on the Custom window, switch the Sample Rate to 44.1 kHz and switch the Sample Size to 16 bit. Ensure that the Channels says Stereo and the Stereo Mode is Normal. When you’re done, keep clicking OK until you get back to the iTunes library.
Step 7: Make sure your song title is still highlighted. Right-click and click on Create WAV version. The song should begin converting. If you’re on a newer version of iTunes, you can click on File, click Convert, and then click on “Create WAV Version”.
Step 8: After the conversion is done, the currently highlighted song will be the old version. You should drag the newly converted song file from the iTunes library to your desktop or preferred folder so you can find it later.
If you’re using a different audio converting website or an app that is not a professional software, you can use iTunes to convert your audio again just to ensure your file is fit for distribution. There are converting programs that hide coding in audio files, causing digital stores to not recognize the files.
Don’t Embed Your Audio Files
You cannot embed metadata such as artwork, band websites, or composer and producer information, into the audio files. Digital stores do not accept these types of files, and embedding metadata can cause delivery and technical issues, stopping your music from going live. Instead, you should type in your important release information directly at the stores, including your album title, song title, artist name, genre, etc., and the digital stores will display the information on their store page.
Double-Check Your Audio Files
After you’ve uploaded your song to your preferred digital store, make sure to listen to it and ensure you’ve uploaded the correct file.
If you’re new to releasing music, we recommend reading about the top things to know before starting your career as a recording artist on the luke4pres blog. To learn about how luke4pres can help you with your recording artist career, get in touch with us today!