Associating data with your finished sound effects products is the final step before submitting your material to sound distributors. This data, called metadata, offers interested buyers information on each sound in your library. Details about the seven main types of metadata to be used when cataloging your sound effects follow.



Initially you want to pick the right format for listing your metadata. I have found that .xls projects and the most requested format for metadata which assign each sound a row and each category a column. This type of document, as opposed to a text file, will let you search your sounds easily in the future according to each characteristic.

1. Broad categories should be used for the first Main Category column such as Animals, Machinery, and Vehicles. Be as minimal as possible in picking the main categories for maximum simplicity and organization.

3. The next main type of metadata, the Sub-Category, is intended to splice up each main category more specifically such as Tools: Hammers, Tools:Saws, Tools:Screwdrivers.

3. For excellent organization from the beginning, create a SKU number for each sound sample as you make then that begins with three unique letters, such as a personal acronym, and 5 digits like SFX00001_CarHonk. The sample which follows will begin with SFX00002 and so on giving each product a unique name. This SKU method is superior to alphabetical organization, especially if you record multiple versions of bird chirps, for example, over a number of years.

4. Simply friendly titles such as Car Honk 1 are best for the Title category because they will be displayed for interested customers.

5. A simple but significant bit of metadata is Time Length since long sound effects are usually priced higher than shorter sound effects and the buyer deserves to know how much sound they are getting for their money.

6. The quality of each sample is given by stating the Track Info which includes stereo/mono information, the sample rate, the bit rate, and file type such as Mono 44.1k 16 bit Stereo .wav.

7. The importance of Keywords cannot be overlooks, as they are the main method by which interested licensees will find your sounds. Associated sounds, plurals of the sound, misspellings, and phrases should be used such as bird, birds, bird chirp, bird chips, fly, flying, nature, berds.

Once you have successfully cataloged your sound effects with organized metadata you are ready to submit your sounds to online sound effect libraries for licensing and profit.