STEREO AUDIO SERVICING ASSET REQUIREMENTS

SUMMARY OF SPECIFICATIONS

RELEASE FORMATS

When any of these Production Master Release Formats are requested in a mastering order by UMG staff, ensure to adhere precisely to the specifications within each:

HIGH RESOLUTION AUDIO (“HRA”) PRODUCTION MASTER:

Master each High Resolution Production Master:

  • (if applicable) at a sample-rate and a bit-depth equal to the native digital resolution of each digital master mix approved for mastering 
  • (if applicable) ensuring no inappropriate sample-rate conversion (“SRC”); also known as “down-sampling or up-sampling”
    • e.g. if the master mix resolution is 192kHz/24-bit, create the “HRA” production master at this same resolution
  • The waveform audio file format (“.wav”) optimized to the Broadcast Wave File Specification (“BWF”)

COMPACT DISC (“CD”) PRODUCTION MASTER:

Master every CD Production Master:

  • In DDP 2.0 format
  • With CD-Text in “CDTEXT.BIN” format as requested
  • At 44.1 kHz/16-bit

VINYL PRODUCTION MASTER:

Master every Vinyl Production Master using one of the following methods, as directed by UMG or the Producer:

  • From the set of final, approved High Resolution Production Masters; or
  • From flat digital mixes or analog tape sources; or
  • Utilizing approved side splits.

FILE NAMING CONVENTION

Describe all Production Masters using an easy to follow naming convention, apply it to all files, and if applicable, all folders and any storage media, and use it consistently (i.e. between each production master release format) to connect and identify all deliverables.

Please remember to identify at a minimum where applicable:

  • artist
  • song title
  • production master release format
  • audio file format, sample frequency-rate & sample bit-depth
  • identify all approved production masters
  • exclude illegal characters from all folders & filenames * ? < > “ | :

For High Resolution and MFiT Production Masters, the preferred File Naming Convention is:

  • ArtistName_TrackNumber_SongTitle_ReleaseFormat_MMDDYY.wav

For CD Production Masters, preferred File Naming Convention for DDP is:

  • ArtistName_AlbumTitle_ReleaseFormat_MMDDYY