What does "generic" mean? My release was rejected for being too generic.
Most streaming platforms do not accept generic releases as they already have an abundance of these releases available elsewhere.
In truth, there are many things that can make a release be considered “generic”. But context is important when it comes to distinguishing something that is generic from something that is purposefully intentional and/or artistic. Consider the following parameters, or a combination of the following parameters, to be generic:
Audio: music that is not unique in its nature. This includes tracks that have very minimal production with no vocals, or releases with multiple tracks that sound too similar. Examples below.
- Looped sound clips created either by a person or artificial intelligence
- Nature sounds
- White noise, brown noise, etc.
- Tibetan bowl sounds, meditation music, relaxation music, etc.
- Binaural beats
Artist names: anything that is not identifiable to a specific individual or a group of individuals. Label names are not generic, but they should not go in the artist name field. Examples below.
- “Yoga Studio”, “White Noise Industries”, “Smooth Waves”, “Music Studio”, etc.
- “Dave”, “Linda”, “Mary”, “Jack”, etc. (Not all of us are blessed with an iconic first name like Madonna or Cher or Prince)
- “Band 14”, “Cool Dudes” (Really, that’s the best you can come up with?)
Release titles or track titles: anything that is not specific or too broad
- Examples of release titles: “Lo-Fi Chill Beats to Study”, “Relaxing Chill Meditations Music”, “Pump Hits: Best Hits for Running”, “Soothing Relaxing Music”
- Examples of track titles: “Demo”, “Track 1", “Original”, “Recorded on 4/17/22"
- Again: Context is key! If you have an album with many tracks with different names, but one track has a short general name for artistic purposes, we can allow it. Just look at “Song 2” by Blur, or “Track 10” by Charli XCX.
Artwork: anything that is not identifiable to a specific piece of music, an artist, or a release. Examples below.
- A blank image or a solid color (Yes, the artwork of Donda is very generic!)
- A cover art template from a website with no text (If you add your artist name and release title, then this is okay.)
- If the image is acquired from a website such as PosterMyWall.com, be sure to remove all watermarks. Streaming services will not accept artworks with watermarks.
- Wallpaper or screen saver images
- Clip art
- Thumbnails
In order to avoid your release unintentionally falling under the “generic” category, we recommend elevating the production on your tracks to make it sound more unique. Try to add different instrumentation to each track, add some variation to the arrangement, and making them longer. You may even add vocals if you wish. Create your own designs for your artwork, or hire a friend to make a design for you. Try to make your track sound and look different from anything else!
If you feel as if your music might fall under the generic parameters, please reach out to our support team for assistance.