DSPs apply editorial and content policies to ensure that the material they publish is legally compliant, culturally appropriate, technically valid, and safe for users. Failure to meet these requirements can result in delayed ingestion, temporary holds, or full rejections depending on the severity of the issue.

These restrictions operate in addition to metadata formatting rules. Even perfectly structured metadata can be rejected if the underlying content violates editorial policies. The guidelines below summarize the core restrictions enforced by major DSPs. Each DSP has its own specific rules, but the principles described here are common across streaming, download, UGC, and social platforms.

Why These Restrictions Matter

Editorial and content restrictions are applied by DSPs during both automated and manual review stages. They operate independently of metadata formatting and can block an otherwise compliant Release.

Preparing legally clear, editorially neutral, and technically compliant content upstream significantly reduces the risk of rejections, ingestion delays, and regional blocks across all delivery channels.

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Important Note
This document summarizes common editorial and content restrictions enforced by major DSPs, based on publicly available style guides, industry standards, and best practices. It is provided solely as an informational resource to help you prepare compliant metadata and assets. These guidelines do not constitute legal requirements, distribution obligations, or binding rules imposed by Reprtoir. You remain fully responsible for ensuring that your content complies with the specific editorial, legal, and technical policies of each DSP or distributor you work with. DSPs may update their rules at any time and may apply them differently depending on territory, content type, or internal policy.

Legality and Rights Compliance

DSPs reject any content that raises legal, copyright, or ownership doubts.

Content may be rejected if it includes:

uncleared samples or interpolations,
unlicensed sound recordings appearing without proper rights,
unauthorized remixes or edits,
recordings that imitate another artist to create confusion,
uploads of public domain compositions that falsely imply exclusive ownership,
recordings that mislead DSPs into believing they are official versions of well known works.

DSPs also prohibit metadata that references rights holders or original artists in a way that implies endorsement, authorship, or official affiliation. Covers must not include the original artist name in the Title, Subtitle, or any metadata field.

Misleading or Manipulative Metadata

DSPs enforce strict rules against metadata that misrepresents the content or attempts to manipulate users, search results, or algorithms.

Prohibited metadata includes:

adding unrelated trending keywords or artist names,
inserting DSP names such as Spotify, Apple Music, or TikTok,
including release years or program schedules that are not part of the artistic title,
using exaggerated claims such as Official, Exclusive, HD, New Release, Viral Hit,
metadata designed to imitate high profile artists, labels, or franchises,
deceptive wording intended to drive search traffic.

Metadata must describe the content accurately and avoid any elements that could be considered promotional or misleading.

Prohibited Content Categories

DSPs do not allow content that includes or promotes:

hate speech, harassment, or discriminatory content,
graphic violence or encouragement of violence,
explicit sexual content involving minors,
extremist organizations or propaganda,
disinformation campaigns or coordinated harmful narratives.

Even non explicit content may be rejected if artwork, titles, or lyrics imply association with sensitive or harmful themes.

Platforms such as YouTube Music, TikTok, and Facebook may enforce additional restrictions for regions with local cultural or regulatory requirements.

Artwork Restrictions

Artwork is scanned independently from metadata and is subject to its own editorial review. DSPs reject artwork containing:

nudity or sexual imagery,
violence or graphic content,
drug use or paraphernalia,
trademarks or copyrighted logos not owned by the artist,
political symbols, national emblems, or controversial slogans,
QR codes, URLs, and social handles,
pricing information or marketing banners,
low resolution, stretched, or distorted images.

Artwork must represent the release in a neutral and professional manner. Stock images are acceptable if properly licensed.

Audio Restrictions

DSPs may reject audio for reasons related to quality, rights, or technical validity.

Common rejection reasons include:

recordings shorter than 30 seconds that are intended for monetization,
excessive silence padding at the beginning or end,
incomplete or corrupted audio files,
distorted masters, clipping, or non standard channel configurations,
AI generated voice or music when prohibited by the platform,
white noise, nature sounds, or low value content that does not meet internal quality thresholds,
recordings designed to exploit recommendation or royalty calculation systems.

Fingerprinting is routinely used to detect duplicates, unauthorized samples, or recordings that attempt to imitate well known masters.

Political, Cultural, and Regional Sensitivities

Several DSPs enforce regional restrictions based on cultural, legal, or geopolitical rules. Content may be blocked or limited in availability if it includes:

political messaging, endorsements, or campaign material,
references to protected historical events,
culturally sensitive terminology,
themes restricted in specific regions such as alcohol, gambling, or religion.

International DSPs such as QQ Music, NetEase, Anghami, Boomplay, and JioSaavn apply additional local requirements depending on jurisdiction.

Covers, Remixes, Re recordings, and Public Domain Content

Editorial rules differ depending on the nature of the recording.

Covers

Do not mention the original artist anywhere in the metadata.
Credit composers and authors correctly.
Use a Subtitle only for descriptive terms such as Acoustic Version or Live.

Remixes

The remixer must be credited in the contributor field.
The version descriptor must appear in the Subtitle only.

Re recordings

Must not misleadingly imitate the original artist or imply affiliation.
Must avoid confusing metadata such as New Version or Re recorded if it suggests ownership of the original.

Public domain works

Public domain compositions may be recorded freely, but metadata must never imply ownership of the composition.
Artwork must not reproduce copyrighted editions, logos, or publications.

Classical works follow specific conventions provided in the Classical Metadata Guidelines.

AI Generated or AI Assisted Content

Many DSPs now enforce restrictions on AI generated recordings.

Common limitations include:

synthetic vocals imitating real artists,
fully generated compositions with no human creative input,
cloned voices of public figures without authorization,
AI outputs that intentionally mimic copyrighted recordings.

Some platforms allow AI assisted content if it does not imitate identifiable artists and if rights are cleared. Others block AI content entirely. Always verify licensing status before delivery.

UGC Exclusivity and Fingerprinting Rules

UGC platforms such as YouTube Content ID, TikTok, Meta Audio Library, Meta Fingerprinting, and Twitch Rights360 apply strict exclusivity constraints. These platforms require that only one entity delivers fingerprinted content at a time.

Violations include:

delivering the same recording through multiple distributors simultaneously,
delivering fingerprinted content when you do not hold exclusive rights,
re uploading previously distributed content under a new distributor without a proper takedown.

These situations can cause blocks, shared revenue issues, or global fingerprint conflicts.

Low Value or Spam Content

DSPs reject content that does not meet artistic, editorial, or technical quality standards, including:

white noise playlists uploaded in bulk,
low effort generative loops,
excessively repetitive recordings,
sound effects intended solely for algorithmic manipulation,
artificially inflated catalog volumes.

Many DSPs now operate spam detection systems to prevent catalog abuse.