Glossary

The words of music distribution, and of this API, in a sentence or two each.

Advance#

Money paid to an organization ahead of its royalties, and recouped from them. While some is still to recoup, it is held back from what can be paid out: GET /balance shows it as advanceOutstanding.

Automatic approval#

Set per account by Stillmore Group. A submitted release whose checks are clean is approved without waiting for a person, and goes straight on to the stores.

Balance#

What an organization has earned and not been paid yet, per currency. available is the part that can be paid out now. See Earnings and payouts.

C-line#

The © line: who holds the rights in a release's artwork and text, with a year, as in "© 2026 North Records".

Checks#

Everything review looks at, run before you submit: GET /releases/{id}/checks. submittable says nothing stops a submission; clean says nothing would hold back an automatic approval.

Cover licence#

A mechanical licence for a cover: a recording of someone else's song. A track marked isCover needs one before it goes to the stores, bought through Stillmore Group or one you hold.

Delivery#

Sending an approved release to the stores. On its way it is SENT_TO_STORES, gets its UPC and ISRCs, then goes LIVE with its store links.

Draft#

A release still being built (DRAFT). It can be changed freely, and archived instead of submitted.

Event#

Something that happened, such as release.live or payout.paid. Events go to your webhooks and stay readable at GET /events for 30 days.

External id#

Your own id on a label, artist, release or track (externalId), unique per kind in your organization. List endpoints filter by it.

Idempotency key#

A unique value, such as a UUID, sent in the Idempotency-Key header of a write. A retry with the same key and body gets the first answer again for 24 hours, so nothing is done twice.

ISRC#

The International Standard Recording Code: one code for one recording, kept wherever it is released. A track without one gets one when its release is submitted or delivered.

Key#

What a call is made with: sm_live_… for your real catalogue, sm_test_… for the sandbox. A key acts for one member of one organization, within its scopes.

Label#

A name releases come out under. An organization can have several labels or imprints, each with release defaults such as the © and ℗ holders.

Live#

In the stores (LIVE). The release's delivery.storeLinks lists its pages there.

Metadata#

Up to 20 string keys of your own on a label, artist, release or track, returned as you sent them.

OAuth app#

Software that other labels connect to their own accounts. They approve it, and it gets tokens for their organization. See OAuth apps.

Organization#

An account on Stillmore Group, such as a label, an artist or a management company. Keys, releases and money belong to one organization.

Original release date#

For music that came out before, the day it first did (originalReleaseDate). A moved catalogue keeps it; see Import a catalogue.

P-line#

The ℗ line: who holds the rights in the sound recordings, with a year, as in "℗ 2026 North Records".

Payout#

A request to pay out part of the available balance to a saved payout method: a bank account, PayPal or Payoneer.

Rate limit#

How many requests a key and an organization may make a minute, and how many releases may be sent a day. See Rate limits.

Release#

A single, EP or album: its details, tracks and cover, and where it stands on its way to the stores.

Release date#

The day a release goes live in the stores (releaseDate). It must be far enough ahead for the stores to prepare; the checks say how far.

Review#

Stillmore Group's look at a submitted release before it goes to the stores. Review approves it, asks for changes with a note, asks for documents, or rejects it.

Revision#

A value that changes whenever a record does. Send it back as If-Match on a PATCH and the change is refused when someone else changed the record first. See Requests and pages.

Sandbox#

A copy of your organization where sandbox keys work and nothing real happens: nothing reaches review, the stores, payouts or anyone's inbox. See Sandbox.

Scope#

What a key may do, such as releases:read, releases:submit or finance:read. See Authentication.

Smart link#

One page for a release, with a button for each store, at its own address. It can collect fans' emails before release day, and counts clicks by store.

Split#

How a release's or a track's money is shared between collaborators, in shares adding up to exactly 100.

Statement#

A royalty statement for a period and a currency: what the stores reported (gross), Stillmore Group's share (fees) and what is credited to the balance (net), with the store lines behind it.

Store#

A service that sells or streams music, such as Spotify or Apple Music. GET /reference lists the stores and their codes.

Sub-label#

An account below a master label or a white label. A key allowed to act for sub-labels names one in the Stillmore-Organization header. See Sub-labels and white label.

Takedown#

Taking a live release down from the stores, asked for with POST /releases/{id}/takedown.

Territory#

A country where a release may be sold. Releases go WORLDWIDE unless they list CUSTOM countries.

Track#

One recording on a release, with its master file, ISRC and credits.

UPC#

The Universal Product Code (or EAN) that names a release in the stores. A release without one gets one on its way to the stores.

Webhook#

An https endpoint of yours that receives events as they happen, signed with its secret. See Webhooks.

White label#

A company that runs Stillmore Group under its own brand and address, for its own sub-labels and artists.