Recording Versions in Songkeeper
Understand how recording versions separate performances, masters, files, artists, credits, ownership, and projects from the song composition.
A recording version represents a specific performance and production of a song. While the song holds data (lyrics, writers, publishing), the recording version holds everything about how that song was recorded and produced.
Use a recording version for each demo, acoustic version, remix, live take, radio edit, alternate master, or final master that needs its own files, artists, credits, ownership, project link, or recording metadata.
What a Recording Version Stores
| Area | Examples |
|---|---|
| Version identity | Title, notes, primary-version flag, and project association. |
| Performers and ownership | Primary artist, featured artists, non-featured performers, artist royalty percentages, and master owners. |
| Recording details | BPM, key, time signature, label, genre, language, explicit lyric flag, studio, recording date, first release date, and countries. |
| Credits and files | Production credits plus the demos, mixes, masters, stems, and assets attached to the version. |
Recording Version Metadata
Recording versions track production-specific information that varies between different recordings of the same song — credits, performers, master ownership, technical specs, and release details. See Recording Metadata for the full breakdown.
Lyrics, songwriters, and publishing splits live on the song because they belong to the composition. Production credits, master ownership, and audio files live on the recording version because they are specific to one recording. For composition metadata, see song metadata.
Primary Version
One recording version is marked as primary — this is the default shown when viewing the song. When you create a song, Songkeeper creates an "Original" version and marks it as primary automatically.
When another version becomes the main version, edit that recording version and set it as primary. Songkeeper clears the primary flag from the other versions for the song.
Project Association
Recording versions can be linked to projects for organization and collaboration. Different versions of the same song can belong to different projects — for example, your original might be for an album while a remix is for a client project.
Common Version Workflows
- Create or edit versions from the song actions menu. See managing recording versions.
- Add files to the selected version from the Files tab. See files and audio.
- Add recording-specific fields from Recording Info. See recording metadata.