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How to get your content on Apple Music and manage your ‘Connect’ artist profile page

Now that Apple Music is official and launching at the end of the month to replace Beats Music, artists can already start submitting music and signing up to manage their artist page. Apple Music introduces new social features under the “Connect” branding, allowing artists to share content, post updates, and connect with fans in a number of ways like never before. While some thought these features would be limited to big artists from major labels, Apple surprised somewhat and delivered for independent artists by making the feature open to all. Here’s how artists can take advantage…

1. First you have to submit your music for inclusion on Apple Music. If you aren’t with a label that already has a relationship with Apple and iTunes, that means using an aggregator, like TuneCore, that offers distribution on iTunes and now Apple Music for a fee. This is Apple’s list of approved aggregators by country.

2. Once you’ve submitted your music, you’ll be able to claim your artist profile for the new Apple Music Connect features here.

3. After signing in with your Apple ID, you can search for your artist name or band.

4. Select your role. Apple lets you pick from a ‘band or group member, solo artist, artist manager, or label representative, depending on who will be managing your artist profile.

5. Now you just have to fill out your contact info and press submit.

Apple will email you a confirmation that your request has been received and is in review. Once you’ve been approved, you’ll have access to start managing your artist page and uploading content. When someone searches for you in Apple Music, the content you upload will be presented in a “From the Artist” section next to your catalog of music.

Here’s what you’ll be able to do:

You can post a simple message, share your favorite music from our expansive catalog, and upload your own work, including audio, videos, and photos. All users, whether they are members or not, can read your posts and stream content you upload. However, only members will be able to stream the songs, albums, and music videos you share from the Apple Music catalog… You can also attach audio or videos that you upload to your existing albums in Apple Music and comment on other artists’ posts or respond to comments on your own posts.

Limitations on uploads for artist pages include up to 90 minutes of audio, videos up to 8 minutes, or photos in JPEG or PNG file formats. While some artists will post professionally produced content, Apple also notes that you’ll be able to upload videos and photos “spontaneously recorded on an iPhone or iPad” and post immediately right from within the app.

The significance of these features goes well beyond simply social network-like functionality for Apple Music. Apple is for the first time allowing artists total, on the fly control over how they market themselves through its music services, and the fact that the feature is open to all and not just major labels is a huge win for independent artists that do most of their own marketing anyway. If Apple Music, the new curated radio stations, and the Connect social features are successful with users, this could be the first music streaming service that truly embraces smaller artists. What remains to be seen, however, is how Apple might promote this content uploaded by artists and how they’ll be paying out to artists relative to competitive services. 

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Comments

  1. friarnurgle - 9 years ago

    Can’t wait to follow my favorite artists and see all the things they are up to.

    /s

  2. Will “Connect” pull some, if not all, contents from Artist’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc…??

  3. Thanks! This article was extremely helpful!

  4. Heh, no. This won’t change anything. You do realize a stream from this garbage service is worth $0.002, right? Stop fooling yourself.

  5. Craig Anthony Perkins - 9 years ago

    Was hoping you’d go a step further with this article. I am an artist with my own record label. I’ve already gone through all that was mentioned in the article and have already been verified, but I see no way of actually uploading any content to Connect through my artist profile. Any advice? I’ve already contacted Apple Connect Support, but I’m sure they are being bombarded today…

    • Craig Anthony Perkins - 9 years ago

      Interesting, I think I figured it out… Artists need to use whatever particular app needed for that particular content. For example, to upload a Photo to your artist profile on Connect, you need to use the iPhone’s Photo app as there is now an option to “Share” with the “Music” app. Not sure how to do a blog post yet (Notes app maybe?)

      • Andru Dunn (@drudunn) - 9 years ago

        What happened to your personal Apple ID when your account merged? Your account and purchases etc still intact? Did you need to pick a username for the artist page too? Only Apple Music profiles each have a “nickname”..

      • Craig Anthony Perkins - 9 years ago

        Sorry Andru Dunn, this comment system won’t let me reply directly to you, so I’m replying to myself… but yeah, my Apple ID just sort of merged and everything is still intact. Pretty cool.

        I didn’t notice that I needed to pick a nickname until I had already uploaded all of my artists (I manage several.) So I picked my usual nickname and it was available. Not sure what the nickname is for though, as for when you post, you just pick which artist you manage and it will post directly to that artist’s Apple Music Profile (which has nothing to do with the nickname.) So in my case, I just uploaded a previously unreleased track and it asked me if this was for my artist “Jido-Genshi” or “Science Patrol” or “Mielikki” etc. I chose the appropriate artist, and it uploaded the song and photo I attached as well.

        It’s all going really smoothly and I’m quite impressed! Here is how something like an unreleased song looks like on Connect – https://itunes.apple.com/us/post/idsa.609c7eb7-1f7d-11e5-b6eb-c9f5d2b9553c

      • Joe Grind (@JoeGrindSN1) - 9 years ago

        Thanks, your comment really helped with the information I was searching for :)

      • Romy Harber - 9 years ago

        Hi Craig,

        Are you registered as a Label Rep? For some reason I cannot get this option:

        as for when you post, you just pick which artist you manage and it will post directly to that artist’s Apple Music Profile (which has nothing to do with the nickname.) So in my case, I just uploaded a previously unreleased track and it asked me if this was for my artist “Jido-Genshi” or “Science Patrol” or “Mielikki” etc. I chose the appropriate artist, and it uploaded the song and photo I attached as well.

        I can see the ‘Post To:’ box but no options become available when I try and click on it or post.

        Thanks

    • Socki (@socki4HTX) - 9 years ago

      How long did it take you to get verified? I submitted it this morning and I’m still waiting ….

      Thanks!

      • Craig Anthony Perkins - 9 years ago

        It only took about 5 days for me to get verified. And I actually have several artists on my record label (but mostly all me, under various band names.) If you get the chance, search for “Science Patrol” on Apple Connect and you’ll see the first test posts I made. One photo, one video and finally one blog post (which you do write directly from the Music app.)

    • Here is a video tutorial that goes into further detail and steps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty_6r77fv_k

  6. Connect is not allowing me to post a song. Whenever I click ‘Upload Song’ and pick ANY song, the “Done” option in the corner is greyed-out and I can’t press it. Anyone else having this problem, or better yet, a solution?

    • Astra Zero - 9 years ago

      i think you have to write something above the song for the button to be pressable

      • Michael Harren - 9 years ago

        I’m having the same problem – I wrote something in every possible window and still, that “done” stays grayed out. Anyone find a solution?

  7. Anyway to do any editing of connect from within iTunes on Mac, there doesn’t seem to be any way to interact at all with my artist profile.

  8. alienskinmusic - 9 years ago

    Hi Craig, as an artist I cannot access Apple Music to add content via my desktop. All I currently see is my Artist Profile on a white blank page. Do you know whether this is an issue of the service NOT being available via a Desktop. I do not use a phone for the internet. cheers…

  9. Amelia Blake Garner - 9 years ago

    I am in the same boat as some others – I am a “verified” artist, as is my band – but when I sign in, all I get is a blank page with both of our names listed as “verified”, but nowhere to upload or do anything at all with either profile. I am on my laptop, which is not a mac. I also have a droid, not an iphone. Is that the problem – that you have to be using their products access the profiles? When I search Apple Music, neither I nor my band are found, except that it says we are on itunes. I am lost and frustrated.

    • alienskinmusic - 9 years ago

      hi Amelia, i also put this question to CDBABY who did a podcast on Apple Music. I was told that it appears the service is only available on an iOS device at present. Hopefully Apple will extend it across the board for the rest of us soon:) I agree, totally frustrating, I spent much of my day a few days back troubleshooting on my desktop, researching via Google etc, chatting online to Apple (who ended up not helping or being informative at all), now the bottom line appears that it is only accessible through one of Apples’s devices.

  10. how do i change the banner image on my artist page on apple music ??

  11. I can’t even make a post. There is no create post button in connect tab

  12. How long is it typically taking for Apple Music to approve an artist’s profile? I submitted to them on July 29 and got his email “We received your request to be a part of Apple Music Connect. You’ll be contacted soon about getting access to the following account(s).” I’ve heard nothing since. Should I panic or be patient?

  13. Tomek O. (@tominatrance) - 8 years ago

    Publish your previews (quickly and effectively) on Vimeo (or YouTube if you like), SoundCloud etc. To sell and easily manage your offered tracks (and informations about them) use services like bandcamp.com. Apple Music Connect is a mistake, artists are not interested in using it, many of them even cancels Connect accounts. Publishing from GarageBand on iOS or uploading from iCloud Drive app does not work (you can’t finalize last step, “Done” button is always grayed out). I spend 9.99€ on “never known before” service CDBaby.com (which I am not interested to use at all) to have Connect account (and not to making money in the 1st place(!), but to share — just to publish — music on Apple Music), and… for 9.99€ it just does not work. Keep in mind, that you have to be a kind of geek/hacker to start using Apple Music as an artist.

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.