Mazufa Records is an independent label and free distribution platform for classical performers, ensembles and composers. You keep ownership of your recordings, and we take 5% of royalties. Access is invite-only, and each application is reviewed by a person who listens before deciding.
Repertoire areas and where they sit
Classical covers repertoires with different audiences and different recording cultures. Historically informed performance of baroque and earlier music has its own circuit, largely European, built on period instruments and edition scholarship. The nineteenth-century orchestral and operatic repertoire sits with larger institutions. Chamber music, solo piano and art song are recorded on a much smaller scale, often self-produced. Choral and sacred music runs through cathedral, collegiate and community traditions. Contemporary composition splits again into minimalist and post-minimalist strands, spectral and post-serial writing, and electroacoustic work. Say which of these your recording belongs to, because the listeners barely overlap.
Works, movements and how albums are built
The unit here is the work, not the track. A four-movement symphony is one work delivered as four tracks that belong together, and a complete cycle of sonatas or quartets may run across several discs. Recital albums pair works by different composers around a programme, so each work needs its own composer data. Sessions are built from multiple takes and patched, with a producer following a score, and a live concert recording is a legitimate release when the hall, the players and any broadcaster have agreed. Single movements can be released as singles, but the full work should follow.
Metadata: work, movement, catalogue and role
Separate the work title from the movement title. A track is normally titled as the work, then the movement number and tempo marking, for example Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67: I. Allegro con brio. Include the catalogue number the repertoire uses: BWV for Bach, K. for Mozart, D. for Schubert, Hob. for Haydn, RV for Vivaldi, and opus numbers elsewhere. The composer is a separate role from the performer, so Beethoven belongs in the composer field, never the artist field. Credit soloist, conductor, orchestra, ensemble and choir in their own roles. The artist field is contested precisely because several of these have a claim to it.
How classical is categorised and surfaced
General streaming services treat classical as one genre with thin sub-tagging, usually period-based labels such as baroque, romantic and contemporary classical, plus mood surfaces that pull in quiet solo repertoire regardless of intent. Dedicated classical applications, including Apple Music Classical and Idagio, expect much richer data: work, movement, composer, catalogue number, soloist, conductor, ensemble, recording date and venue. Where that data is missing, a recording can be hard to find even though it is present. Deliver the full set once and it serves both surfaces. Editorial and algorithmic placement remains subject to current availability and platform rules.
Dynamics, gapless playback and artwork
Classical masters are the most dynamic in commercial music, and a symphonic recording may keep a dynamic range of fifteen to twenty, with the quiet passages genuinely quiet. Do not limit that away to hit a loudness target, since normalisation only adjusts level and cannot restore what compression removed. Deliver 24-bit files at the session rate. Mark releases gapless and place track boundaries in the silence between movements, never inside an attacca transition. Decide consistently how to treat applause and hall noise on live recordings. Artwork should name composer and performers legibly at small sizes, and licensed images need clearance.
Is the music public domain if the composer died centuries ago?
The composition usually is, but the edition may not be. Modern critical and urtext editions carry their own copyright in some territories, and so do editorial realisations, cadenzas and continuo parts written by someone else. Your recording is separately protected regardless. Check the edition you played from, credit any editor or arranger properly, and keep documentation. Works by composers still in copyright need permission from the rights holder or publisher before release.
Who goes in the artist field: the soloist, the conductor or the orchestra?
Put the performers there and never the composer. For a concerto that usually means soloist, conductor and orchestra together, and for a chamber record the ensemble name. Then fill the individual roles properly, since soloist, conductor, orchestra, ensemble and choir are separate fields. The composer goes in the composer field, which is what lets a listener search for the work rather than for you. Keep your performer name spelled identically on every release.
Do I need different metadata for classical streaming apps?
You should deliver one complete set of data that serves both. Dedicated classical services expect work and movement separation, composer, catalogue number, performer roles, and often recording venue and date, while general services use a smaller subset. If you supply the full set at delivery, nothing needs redoing later. Availability of any particular service or field is subject to current availability and platform rules, and requirements change over time.
Should I master my recording louder for streaming?
No. Playback normalisation adjusts level for the listener, so raising the average level of a classical master mainly destroys the dynamic contrast the performance depends on. Keep the quiet passages quiet, avoid limiting peaks, and let the hall balance stand. If the same recording is going to a physical release, expect a separate master for it, and send us the digital master rather than a disc pre-master.