If you’re serious about your music career, you need to treat your catalog like a product. That means centralizing all of your data, files, and information in a way that lets you use it.
An unorganized catalog means missed opportunities. Period.
You probably already have songs for every vibe, every audience, every platform — but if they’re scattered across hard drives, email chains, and old distro dashboards, none of that matters.
This post walks you through how to organize your music properly, using two simple spreadsheets and a cloud-based file system.
Table of Contents
Why It Matters
Organizing your catalog allows you to:
- Pitch songs to labels or sync supervisors
- Monetize publishing you forgot about
- Strategically re-promote older songs around holidays, moods, and trends
- Make content like Reels or TikToks without scrambling for files
- Consolidate messy metadata that slows down your releases
This isn’t about being a control freak. It’s about turning your music into a functional business asset.
Start With Two Catalog Sheets
We recommend two relational CSVs (or Google Sheets, or Airtable tabs):
- Releases Table — one row per album, EP, or single
- Tracks Table — one row per track
What Goes in the Releases Sheet
- Project Title
- Type (Album, EP, Single)
- Release Date
- UPC code
- Distributor
- Folder Link (cloud folder with cover art, audio, metadata, lyrics, etc.)
What Goes in the Tracks Sheet
- Song Title
- ISRC code
- Writers & Publishers
- Featured Artists
- Sample info / sample clearance notes
- Associated release (linked to Releases table)
- Licensing notes (ownership, availability, rights status)
- Suggested audience, mood, occasion, or campaign tie-in
- Folder Link (to stems, masters, cover, lyrics, etc.)
Having these two spreadsheets alone puts you ahead of most artists.
Link Everything to the Cloud
Every song and project should have a corresponding folder in Google Drive, Dropbox, or another cloud storage system. Inside that folder:
- WAV & MP3 files
- Cover art (square and banner versions)
- Stems (if available)
- Session files (optional, but ideal for licensing)
- Lyrics (plain text, properly formatted)
- Metadata sheet (optional but powerful)
Make sure your folder structure is consistent. Your catalog is a toolbox — don’t make it a maze.
Tag Evergreen Opportunities
Every track should include metadata that answers:
- Who might care about this? (Genre, audience, moment)
- Is this tied to a holiday, vibe, season, or campaign?
- Is this cleared for sync or release?
- What social or video content could use this?
This allows you to build “evergreen” strategies — reusing and resurfacing old songs with new content and context.
Example: You’ve got a love song from 2019? Set a reminder to run a new IG Reel or TikTok campaign for it every February.
Publishing, Sync, and Rights Data
If you have publishing accounts (BMI, ASCAP, Songtrust, etc.), pull in registration IDs.
If you don’t — get started. These IDs help you:
- Chase down unclaimed royalties
- Prove ownership
- Respond faster when licensing or sync opps pop up
You can’t monetize what you can’t locate.
Final Thoughts
Your catalog is your inventory. Artists who organize it properly don’t just move faster — they make more money.
If you’re ready to take this seriously, we help artists build systems just like this:
https://360promo.net/#Digital-Admin