February 9, 2018

Spotify Will Finally Add Songwriter And Producer Credits

spotify songwriter creditsOne of the things that music consumers love about vinyl records is the liner notes on the album cover. Those of us who grew up in the vinyl era know that we’d frequently buy an album based on the credits that were listed, as many times it indicated a level of quality or taste that we’d identify with. Those credits have been sorely lacking in the digital music age, but it looks like we’ve turned a bit of a corner, as Spotify has just announced that it will now include both songwriter and producer credits for each song.

This feature is rolling out on the desktop first, with mobile to be added sometime in the future. The user can now right-click on a track to select ‘Show Credits’ from the options menu for information on performers, songwriters and producers. There will also be an indication of the source of the information as well.

That last point is important because this data is only as good as its source, and sometimes the care in adding it is lacking. Record labels often entrust the tedious chore of uploading metadata to the lowest assistant or even an intern, and mistakes will result not so much out of carelessness, but lack of knowledge.

That said, everyone realizes the importance of credits (especially the songwriter and producer of a song), so let’s hope that there’s more attention to getting the details right in the future.

The credits feature was initially part of the Spotify’s Secret Genius program that includes an ambassador program, songwriting workshops, The Secret Genius Awards, podcasts and curated playlists.

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