As we head into 2026, we wanted to take a moment to talk about our music distribution platform, My Music Distribution Zone, or MMDZ for short. And in particular, how you, as an independent artist or record label, can upload your audio releases for distribution.
We’ve put together a short help guide to take you through the upload process and highlight some best practices for uploading music. If you require more support or would like to get started with your music distribution journey, get in touch with one of the team on +44 (0)116 253 0203 or email us on alr@horusmusic.co.uk
What is MMDZ?
My Music Distribution Zone is Horus Music’s very own custom built music distribution platform. This allows independent artists and labels signing up to Horus Music to upload their tracks and distribute their music to over 150+ digital streaming platforms worldwide. Through the platform, artists and labels are able to see their track analytics and receive royalty payments.
Check out the platform and create an account here:
Creating an audio release
Once you’ve logged into your artist account, navigate to the dashboard. This is located on the left hand side of the screen, and should be at the top of the list.
Here you should see a large yellow button that says ‘New Audio Release’. It’s important to remember that you will ONLY be able to create audio and video releases on artist profiles.
When creating a new audio release as a record label, you will first need to create a sub-profile for your artist and then enter this sub-profile to create a new release submission. To create a sub-profile, head to Sub Profiles >> New Sub Profile
What is product-level metadata?
Once you’ve clicked ‘New Audio Release,’ you will then be taken to a page to input the product level metadata. This is essentially all the details about your single, EP or album as a whole.
Anything that has an * next to it, is a mandatory field and must be filled out. However, if you don’t currently have a barcode or catalogue number for your release, leave these blank as the system will automatically generate a barcode once your release has been fully submitted.
Here you will be prompted to upload your released artwork. You should ensure that this is in accordance with the guidelines on the right side of the page (3000px by 3000px, JPEG file at 300 DPI). Once everything is complete, click save and continue to proceed to the upload.
During the product level metadata, you will be prompted to fill out the following fields.
- Title: This should only be the title of your release.
- Version Description: if your release is a deluxe edition or an alternative version (such as a radio edit) or an extended version that is already in stores. If your release is the original version of the single, EP, or album, please leave this section blank.
- Artists: This is the artist name that you perform under, and any other credits that are needed. If you are part of a band, you don’t need to list each band member’s name – instead, you can just add the band’s name.
Within this section, you will also be able to assign each creative a role on the release, for example:
- Composer: The overall composer of the release.
- Featuring:Featuring artists on all tracks of the release.
- Lyricist: The person who writes the lyrics for the release.
- Mixer: The mixing engineer on the release.
- Performer: This is the main performing artist. Add an extra performing artist. You can add extra performers here, and add who the main artist is by ticking the box next to them. If your release has 4 or more main performers, then you must use ‘various artists’ and the individual artists can be added at the track level.
- Producer: The producer of the release.
- Publisher: The publishing company behind the release. If, however, you are self-publishing, you don’t need to add on, although you can input your own name.
- With: If you’d like the artist to appear as ‘Artist 1 with Artist 2’ on stores, enter the second artist with this role.
Here, you can also add the Spotify ID and Apple ID to let us know what profile you want your release delivered to. If the field is left blank, the system will assume you don’t have a profile and will make one for you.
Note: when adding these credits at product-level, you state that these composers, artists, etc are credited on all tracks on the release. If you are uploading an album that has a featuring artist on one track, we recommend that you only add the featuring artist as a credit at track level, not at product level.
- Display artists: this field will automatically update with the formatting stores recommended as you fill out the artist’s role. But if you’d like to change the display name, you can do that here.
- Barcode and Catalogue: A barcode or UPC (Universal Product Code) is one of 2 codes that are required by stores and are used for identifying releases. A catalogue number is another identifier that can be used to track releases. You only need to enter the barcode and catalogue number if you have already been assigned to the release.
- Release format type: This is where you let us know what kind of release you want us to distribute for example:
Singles (1-3 tracks, but each track must be under 10 minutes)
EPs (4-6 tracks, but the total running time is less than 30 minutes)
Albums (7-99 tracks)
- Price band: As prices between stores can differ for products, they ask for prices to be submitted as bands rather than figures.
We usually would recommend either selecting the full or mid price. These translate to:
Full = 79p
Mid = 69p
But you can also select premium or low which are the following:
Premium: 99p
Low: 59p
- Licensed territories to include: This is where you can choose where you’d like your music to include. If you want it to be worldwide, then select ‘world’.
- Licensed territories to exclude: This is where you can choose which territories to exclude. If you don’t want it to be excluded anywhere, you can leave the field blank.
- Original release date: This is the date you’d like your release to be available in stores. Each streaming platform will operate on different timelines; however, on Spotify, it’s recommended that all clients prepare music releases and submit for delivery at least 5 business days before the earliest release date as specified in the metadata. This means that your music should be submitted to us a week before your chosen release date.
However, we recommend allowing more lead time just in case our submission review team spots any issues with your releases.
- Pre-order Date: Through MMDZ, you are able to set up pre-order dates. All you need to do is fill out the pre-order date field when creating a new release.
Provided that we have been given enough time in advance, this date will be when your pre-order starts and will be displayed in iTunes, Amazon, and 7Digital, as these are the only stores that currently support pre-orders.
A minimum of two weeks in advance should be enough time to get everything in place. It is best practice to send over your release as far in advance as possible.
- iTunes Instant Gratification: We do support instant gratification tracks on iTunes. This means that when a fan pre-orders your new release on iTunes, they will be given a new track instantly.
If you’d like to set up instant gratification tracks on iTunes, please send our email over to our distribution team at alr@horusmusic.co.uk
- GRid: A GRid is another code used to track a release. This isn’t a mandatory field, so if you don’t have a GRid leave the field blank.
- (P) Holder and (P) Year: Under the (P) holder write the copyright holder of the music, and in the (P) Year add the year they have held the copyright from. This could be multiple people, depending on your situation.
However, if your track is completely self-produced and master rights aren’t owned by a label, you can add your own name here. If you are signed to a label and they hold the master rights to your release, add them here.
- (C) Holder and (c) year: Under (C) holder, add the name of the copyright holder of the artwork, and in the (C) Year, add the year they have held the copyright from. If your artwork was completed by someone other than yourself, you need to add the original creator here.
- Label: If your release is being released through a label, you should add that information here. If you don’t have a label, you can leave this section blank.
- Genres: In the ‘Main Genre Primary’ field, add the main genre that your release lies within. If there is another genre that your release fits under, you can type this in the ‘Main Genre Sub’ field.
In the ‘Alternative Genre Primary’ field, you can add the main alternative genre that your release fits into, and likewise, if it fits into another alternative genre, you can add them to the field ‘Alternative Genre Sub.’
Filling in this field will help your tracks appear in the store’s search results.
- Explicit content: if your music contains explicit language, violent content, or adult themes (including the mention of drugs, sex or swearing), mark as ‘Yes.’ You will still need to mark the release as yes if only one song; failing to mark the release with explicit content could lead to your release being taken down.
Furthermore, incorrectly marking releases could affect how your release appears in stores. We also reserve the right to refuse any content that we do not deem appropriate for release.
- Services: This is where you can select which stores you’d like your release to be delivered to.
Uploading the audio release
Once you have filled in all your ‘Product Level Metadata’, you will move on to the ‘Edit Audio Release’ page. Here you can begin uploading audio files for your tracks and add track-level metadata for each song.
Once your track has fully uploaded to My Music Distribution Zone, you will be able to preview the track, view the bit depth of the track, as well as the name of the file as it was saved on your computer and the track number.
You will also have the option to edit, download, upload and delete the track. To change the track title and add all relevant track metadata, click edit.
When you first upload your tracks, there will be a ❗️ icon. This means that you need to add all relevant metadata to this track.
What is track-level metadata?
Now that you’ve uploaded your track and included the product level metadata, you’re going to need to input your track level metadata.
Hit the “Edit” Button to begin adding metadata for that specific song.
We’re going to go through some of the information you’ll need to include below; some of the entries will be similar to the data you’ve already input on a product level.
- Title
- Mix version (If your song is the original version of the song, please leave this section blank.)
- Artists
- Display artists
- ISRC: An ISRC is the second code that is needed by stores to track your releases. You only need to enter this if you have your own International Standard Recording Code (ISRC); otherwise, the system will automatically generate one for you when your release is submitted.
- GDid
- (P) Holder and (Y) Holder
- Genres
- EXplicit content
- Producers, Mixers, Composers, Lyricists, Publishers: Here is where you can credit any producers, mixing engineers, songwriters or publishers who were involved in this track. Please list them under the relevant field.
- Lyrics: If this track has lyrics and you would like them to be available on stores, please submit them here. Please note that not all stores display lyrics.
Select a music package.
Once you have added all the tracks for this release and added all the relevant track metadata, you will then be brought to the extras page, where, at the top, you will be notified if you have yet to set up a subscription for distribution.
Here’s a quick rundown of the Extra packages you can choose from:
Album Mastering – This package allows you to have your album mastered by a professional mastering engineer.
Apple Digital Masters – Apple Digital Masters is a standard of high-quality audio by Apple. To have your releases and tracks marked on the Apple Store as an Apple Digital Master, you need to have your music mastered by an Apple-approved mastering engineer.
Horus Music is proud to partner with an Apple-approved mastering engineer who can master your release before delivering it to Apple. Purchase this package and submit your release to us. We will then download the audio file and send it to our mastering engineer.
Whilst we are waiting for them to update the file, we will un-submit your release back to draft status and let you know the progress. When the update is complete, we will send the Apple Digital Masters track to you via a WeTransfer link.
Replace the audio file in your original release and resubmit it to us, and we will then be able to process it and send it to Apple as an ADM.
You will also have the option to pay per release, whether that be for a single (£25), and EP (£35), or an album (£45), if you decide to go down this route, you may need to email alr@horusmusic.com with your full name and address so we can raise an invoice for your package.
Submitting your release
After you click Next on the ‘Packages’ page, you will be sent to the Audio Release Summary page. Here you can review all of your product level metadata, your artwork, tracks, packages and the total cost.
If all looks good, go ahead and click ‘Submit’. If you’ve spotted something you want to change, you can click ‘Edit’ to go back and change things.
Start your distribution journey today!
If you’d like to start distributing your music, create a FREE account here today, and get your music heard on the global stage!
If you’d like more information or are interested in our artist and label services get in touch with us on alr@horusmusic.co.uk or phone us on 0116 253 0203.