Music Video Setup

When you are ready to start talking about an upcoming release, reference the Release Calendar, and let us know what you are thinking so we can get a Google Drive folder made and begin gathering assets. 

In order to pitch to various platforms, we need 3 weeks lead time to submit music videos.

If a video has already been posted to YouTube, we cannot submit it to Vevo/YouTube again. However, regarding backcatalog, we can get music videos up on Apple Music, Tidal, etc. no problem. 

We can distribute to these platforms: 

• Vevo/YouTube

• Apple Music

• TIDAL

• Vibe Stream

• Vimeo

• XITE

• Promo Only *

• Canela Music (Latin only) *

* Promo Only and Canela Music are curated, meaning we'll deliver content to them, and their team will decide if the video will be placed on their platform. Symphonic does not process refunds if a video is not selected for placement on these curated platforms.

Click here to read more about each video DSP and what they offer

Video Distribution FAQs

Need the following release/credit info:

• Street Date

• Director(s)

• Producer(s)

• Editor(s)

• Composer(s)

•  Other Credits (ie. Production company, actors, etc.)

Important Notes:

Submit your video at least 3 WEEKS BEFORE your desired release date.

• Your Vevo artist photo, banner, channel bio, etc., can be updated by emailing this request to video@symdistro.com

• Vevo manages its channels and does not allow artists login access. Please check out our Vevo FAQ for more information!

• Videos will not be sent to Vevo if the video has already been released on another YouTube channel.

Step 1: Ensure your music is original and doesn't have third-party material. 

Your video may not contain third-party content that you do not own, including public domain footage, stock footage, news footage, etc. Here are the basic requirements to distribute your video:

• Must contain 100% original material (audio and visual).

• Must be professionally produced or have some production quality.

• Cannot contain excessive or full-frontal nudity, explicit drug use, or graphic violence.

• Cannot contain the release cover artwork.

• No logo or MTV-style credits in the corners of the video

• Lyric music videos with lyrics stylized into a produced video are accepted. Other lyric videos that fall under the following styles: karaoke, static text over graphics or stock elements, or just have the lyrics on the lower third of the video will be rejected.

• You may check out what types of videos are accepted HERE.

• All videos need to only show the music video itself with no on-screen distractions.

• NO URLs, hashtags, social handles, dates, shoutouts, or other promotional text on the screen.

• NO burn-in logos in the corners of screens throughout the video.

• NO front / ending slates, title, or end cards in the video (white text on black screen).

• NO MTV-style credits in the corner of the video.

• NO still image or a blank screen in video, videos need to have active pixels.

• End credits cannot be longer than 5 seconds TOTAL.

Step 2: Properly encode your video and audio with these specifications

Now that you've understood the idea of originality in terms of music video distribution, the next step is to properly encode your video and audio for distribution to our partners. This is one of the most important steps, so please take a moment to read through it all. If you need any assistance in terms of your encoding efforts, feel free to contact us via email at video@symdistro.com

The saying goes—the higher the quality, the better it looks on the DSPs. If your music video doesn't meet all minimum specs, delivery will be delayed until it is corrected. Please make sure your video meets these guidelines before moving forward. 

TECHNICAL SPECS (AUDIO):

• Format: AAC

• Channels: Stereo

• Sample Rate: 44.100 kHz for HD, 48 kHz for 4K

• Bit Rate: 320 kbps CBR

TECHNICAL SPECS (VIDEO):

• Compression Type: ProRes – Preferred for HD or H.264 – Also Acceptable

• File Format: .mov (ProRes) or .mp4 (H.264)

• Dimensions: 1920×1080 preferred for HD, and 3840 x 2160 or 4096 x 2160 preferred for 4K 

• Frame Rate: Native (No less than 23.98 FPS)

• Bit Rate: Unrestricted (at least 150 mb/s is Preferred for HD for ProRes (if H.264 at least 50mb/s), and (at least 400 mb/s is Preferred for 4K. If H.264 at least 250mb/s)

• The size of your video WILL be a large file due to the recommended bit rate and video format (H.264/ProRes). You may always send us a download link when you submit your video for distribution.

Step 3: Prep your delivery (Filename and Image Assets)

For Vevo and other partners, they do require some image assets and additional information to properly complete a Vevo channel for the artist. In addition, it is essential that you also label your filename correctly to avoid delays.

FILE LABELING: 

• Your file must be labeled as: Artistname_VideoTitle_Version.mov.

• No spaces and/or special characters allowed (: ! # , @ $ % ? “ ‘)

• Only English and Numbers Language alphabet

• No other languages with accent marks or unique characters are to be listed for the file name, ie. Russian, Asian, or Arabic letters)

YOUR VEVO ARTIST PHOTO AND BANNER MUST BE FORMATTED AS FOLLOWS:

• Artist image: At least 2400px x 2400px at 72dpi, and centered with some space away from the edges.

• Channel banner: 2560 x 1440 px at 72 dpi. Please ensure all logos, text, faces, etc, are in the center. There are several free websites to help you create a banner like Canva.

Step 4: Submit the video application and deliver your music video!

We realize these are a lot of steps and preparations, but following the steps in this guide will reduce the time it takes to deliver your music to some of the world's most important DSPs!

Youtube/Vevo Distribution:

To distribute to YouTube via Vevo and merge a Vevo channel to your artist channel, the following steps need to be completed: 

1. Artist YouTube Official Artist Channel (OAC) Request - Symphonic Request

• To be eligible for an Official Artist Channel, make sure that you meet the following requirements: 

  • You must own and operate a YouTube channel that represents one artist or band.

  • Have at least 1 art track (release on YouTube Music) submitted.

  • Have at least 3 videos uploaded to your personal channel in addition to the release from a distributor (IE: Symphonic).

  • Have no policy violations on your channel.

• It is possible that your request may be rejected if you meet any of the following:
  - The channel's main focus is not music
  - The channel belongs to a label and not an artist
  - The main channel and the topic channel have a different artist name.
  - The artist has a considerable amount of non-original content on their channel.
  - The artist hasn't uploaded any content to their Owned & Operated channel.
  - The artist hasn't distributed to YouTube Music via Symphonic.
  - The topic channel has content from other similarly named artists, in that case, it is necessary to request both a topic channel fix and the OAC.

• OAC requests are currently taking 1-3 months for YouTube to process. Please understand that we cannot rush the requests, but will submit yours as quickly as possible.

2. Vevo Channel Request + Link Vevo Channel to OAC  - Symphonic Request 

3. Submit Video for Artist - Symphonic Request

Additional Notes from Symphonic Rep: 

• We unfortunately cannot pitch previously released videos to our DSPs. 

• Friday releases usually do best for videos. 

• We can only adjust the release time on Vevo/YouTube. All other DSPs release at 12AM across all timezones.