Question About Setting © and ℗ Year on Spotify Releases

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1

Hello,

How are you? I’d like to ask how I can set the © (C year) and ℗ (P year) for a release in Spotify through the release options.

I have uploaded some songs that were originally created in 2021, but when they are published on Spotify, the ℗ year appears as the current year (in this case, 2026).

Is there a way to ensure that both the © year and ℗ year are set to the correct year I want before submitting the release, without needing to contact support after it has already been sent?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Best regards,

2

Hi @juanp,
This is a very good question. By default, many distributors set the ℗ line to the year the digital release is created, but you can definitely adjust this in iMusician.
During the release creation process:
Look for the ‘Copyright’ section (usually at the album/EP level or in the final track details).
You should find fields for © (Copyright) and ℗ (Phonographic Copyright).
In the ‘Year’ field next to these, you can manually enter 2021. This will tell Spotify to display 2021 as the original year of the recording.
Note: If your release is already submitted and ‘in review’ or ‘delivered’, you won’t be able to change it yourself. In that case, you’ll need to contact support to request a metadata update.
Hope this helps you get your discography dates looking perfect!

3

Hey @juanp,

Can you please share the barcodes of the releases in question ?

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4

Hello @luka.tomasi ,

Do you mean that if I place the year before the label name, both the C and P year will appear as 2021 on Spotify? I’m attaching an example image for reference.

Best regards,

image
image698×200 10.3 KB

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5

Hello @juanp,
Exactly! If you enter the year ‘2021’ in the designated year field next to the Label/Copyright holder name, it will instruct Spotify to display exactly that.
To be 100% sure:
In the © (Copyright) field: enter “2021” + “Your Label Name”.
In the ℗ (Phonographic) field: enter “2021” + “Your Label Name”.
By doing this, Spotify will show ‘2021’ as the original release date at the bottom of your album page, regardless of the upload date.

Keep in mind what Carlos mentioned above: if you have a specific barcode (EAN) for these releases, having it ready helps the team track the metadata more easily if you ever need manual support!

6

@luka.tomasi,

Excellent. I just have one question: the only place where I can enter this information is in the field shown in the image I attached. Does this format apply to both the C year and the P year? I suspect it does.

If not, could you please help me identify exactly where I should enter this information so that both values appear with the correct year (2021) at the bottom of the Spotify page?

Best regards,

7

Re-hello @juanp,
Glad I could help! To answer your question: Yes, in the iMusician interface, when you fill in that specific field (as shown in your image), the system generally applies it to both the © and ℗ lines by default for the release.
However, to be extra safe and ensure Spotify displays it perfectly:
Make sure the year ‘2021’ is clearly written before your label name in that field.
If the interface allows you to click on ‘Advanced’ or ‘Edit’ for each specific track, just double-check that the year hasn’t reverted to 2026 there.
But usually, the format you showed in your screenshot is the right way to do it for the whole release. You’re all set!
Best of luck with your 2021 archives!

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8

That’s incorrect. If you enter the date directly in the text field, it will simply either be displayed next to the actual copyright year (based on the indicated digital release date or the original release date) or removed during the quality check.

@juanp I reiterate my question: can you please share the barcodes of the releases you are refering to so I can help you? :slight_smile:

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9

Sorry Carlos, I didn’t do it on purpose! I mixed up the fields/options while replying too quickly. My bad! I’ve noted the correct way now so it won’t happen again. Thanks for catching that! :pray:

10

Hello @Carlos ,

I’m not referring to any specific release — this is more of a general question.

I have two releases: one that I uploaded some time ago and later requested to be taken down (from 2021), and another one I’ve recently finished but haven’t uploaded yet (2024). What I’d like to know is whether I can enter that information manually, or if I necessarily need to contact you to have it updated.

In any case, the last release I uploaded is this one: 4069493722192. If there’s any way to set it to 2021 by default, that would be great.

11

This release was taken down as shown on your dashboard:

image

If you need to add an original release date, you can do so during the order process in this dedicated field and the ℗ year will automatically match the year you selected:

image
image945×385 14.5 KB

Best regards,

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12

Hello,

I’ve tried configuring the release as suggested, but I’m running into an issue. When I upload it this way, the copyright year (C) is set correctly to the intended year, but the phonographic year (P) defaults to the current year (in this case, 2026).

I want to make sure that both the (C) and (P) years reflect the exact year I choose.

Could you please confirm where exactly I should input this information to ensure both years are set correctly when uploading the release?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Best regards,

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13

@Carlos

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14

hi @juanp , you can expect an answer from Carlos starting from Monday :v:

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15

You cannot “input” this information as it is automatically determined by the release date you choose (or the original release date if you select one) :slight_smile:

In this case it seems to be because you had initially selected a date set to 2026 when you placed the order. I’ll ask our team to change this in the backend, you can go ahead with completing the order :+1:

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16

Just to be clear, the P year can’t be set manually, right? So is it necessary to contact the team or notify you for it to be adjusted?

17

It cannot be adjusted manually in the sense that it doesn’t have a dedicated field, but it’s automatically set based on the releae date (or original release date) you select. If you enter the right date straight away, it’s not necessary to notify us :slight_smile:

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