In an era where music has become a global medium, artists must have a clear understanding of how they are searched, discovered and paid the appropriate royalties. One major problem that leads to this is metadata. Metadata is most commonly known to include all of the underlying information tied to a song or album. Metadata needs to be synchronized across all kinds of industry databases to make sure that when a song is played, the right people are identified and paid appropriately. This presentation will explore the role of metadata and how it can be used to solve the music rights conundrum. Artists, labels and publishers will walk away with a better understanding of the different solutions that are being implemented to make sure artists and songwriters don’t end up in the black box.