Most release delays aren't caused by anything dramatic, they're caused by small metadata errors that trigger a manual review or an outright rejection.
Spelling and capitalization
Your artist name needs to match exactly, character for character, across every release you've ever put out. Even small inconsistencies can split your streaming stats across two separate artist profiles.
Featured artist credits
Featured artists need to be listed correctly in the metadata itself, not just in the title. "Song Title (feat. Artist)" typed into the title field without the proper credit field can cause platform-level rejections.
Genre and mood tags
Accurate genre tagging affects both your algorithmic placement and your eligibility for genre-specific editorial playlists, mistagging a genre can actively hurt your discoverability.
Explicit content flags
Failing to correctly flag explicit lyrics is one of the more common causes of last-minute takedowns or delays, always mark this accurately at submission.
Ten extra minutes checking metadata before you submit saves days of back-and-forth if something gets flagged after the fact.
