In the metadata of your MP3, you’ll see a field titled “year.”
This is a very important field to fill out correctly (if you fill it out at all) for a variety of reasons.
First, let’s define what is supposed to be in that field. The “year” means year of original public release of the song.
Many times, when people send out music for the purposes of sync, they leave the year field blank.
Some people feel stating the exact year of release may keep a music supervisor from listening to a track that may otherwise be useful for their project.
On the other hand, stating the year can help you, especially if the music supervisor is looking for music from a specific era (e.g., 2000s, 1990s, 1980s, etc.).
Personally I don’t have an issue with leaving the year field blank because if a music supervisor is going to use the song, you’ll have to confirm the year of release before it is licensed.
That said, I usually put the year of release in the metadata, especially if it is from a period of music that is in demand.
Authentic music form a specific area (70s, 90s, 2010s) is always in demand, and no matter the release date, the year is another way for music supervisors to find your music quickly if specifically searching by date.
Whether you state the release year in your metadata or leave the year field blank, you need to be honest about the original release date when asked or when you enter it in your metadata.
If you put in an incorrect year date, whether on purpose or accidentally, it complicates the work of the music supervisor, and your song (and your status as a trusted source) may be deleted.
So fill in the release year field correctly or leave it blank.
