How can bad metadata impact royalty tracking?

"In music, the story of every song is written not just in its lyrics and melodies, but in its metadata. When that story is incomplete or inaccurate, the rightful authors often remain invisible."

The modern music industry runs on data. Every stream, download, broadcast, and performance is logged, tracked, and monetised through identifiers such as ISRCs (for recordings), ISWCs (for compositions), and CAE/IPI numbers (for Composers, Authors and Publishers). When this metadata is correct, the system functions as it should: royalties flow to the right owners, and creators can focus their energy on making more music. But when metadata is missing, duplicated, or incorrect, the entire chain of royalty tracking is disrupted.

Bad metadata has real consequences. A misspelled songwriter name can mean that global databases fail to match a work with its rightful creator. An incorrect ISRC or ISWC can block automated royalty distribution, sending money into the so-called "black box" of unallocated royalties. Even something as simple as incomplete ownership splits can prevent collections from being processed, leaving creators unpaid for years. These are not abstract problems-they are the silent losses suffered by lyricists, composers, performers, and publishers across the world.

Globally, industry leaders have repeatedly called metadata the "plumbing" of the music business. Björn Ulvaeus, President of CISAC and member of ABBA, has championed metadata reform as central to protecting creators. Andrea Czapary Martin, CEO of PRS for Music, has emphasized the need for collective action to standardize data. And Gadi Oron, Director General of CISAC, has highlighted metadata integrity as essential to making the global royalty system fairer. Their message is clear: bad metadata isn’t just a clerical issue, it is a rights issue.

In India, the challenge is even greater. Multiple regional languages, diverse independent releases, and years of inconsistent record-keeping mean that metadata gaps are widespread. At MRM, we see this every day-artists and labels with brilliant catalogues that are not earning what they should, simply because the data attached to their songs is wrong. A song streamed millions of times on a global platform may generate no income for its rightful lyricist if their name is missing from the registration.

That is why we treat metadata not as an afterthought, but as the foundation of royalty management. Our process is hands-on: cleaning existing catalogues, fingerprinting audio to verify ownership, standardising credits, and registering works across all relevant collection societies worldwide. Only when metadata is clean can royalty tracking be consistent, accurate, and transparent.

Creators deserve to be paid fully and fairly for their work. Every rupee lost to bad metadata is a rupee stolen from their livelihood. Fixing this is not just about administration-it is about respect, recognition, and sustainability for our creative community.

"Accuracy in metadata is accuracy in payment - nothing less, nothing more."

Sherley Singh

Founder & Managing Director

Music Rights Management (MRM)