For Spotify, DistroKid and any real release you need the untagged beat – WAV or stems, no voice tag in the master. The tagged MP3 in the shop is only the preview. Upload that, and you publish the producer’s name in the middle of the song.

This Artist Boost answers “tagged vs untagged beat”: what you get after purchase, what streaming allows, and why the preview MP3 is never the release file.

The short answer

File	Use	Tag?
Tagged MP3 / preview	Listen in the shop, do not release	yes
Untagged MP3 / WAV	Mix, master, upload to Spotify	no
Stems (ZIP)	Vocal mix, edits, studio	no

After a purchase in the beat shop the untagged files arrive by email. The preview stays tagged on purpose – that is not a bug.

What “tagged” means

A tag is a voice or sound marker in the beat: producer name, shop, sometimes every few bars. It protects the producer before anyone pays. It does not belong in the finished song.

Freebeats often stay tagged forever. Exclusive purchases deliver the clean files separately. More on formats: WAV and stems, or is MP3 enough?

What happens after checkout

You pay, Stripe confirms, the email brings download links (usually valid for several days). Save WAV and stems locally. Put the license PDF in the same folder – not only the beat.

If only the preview arrives: write support and forward the order email. Do not upload the tagged file to DistroKid “until the other one shows up.”

Spotify, ads, YouTube

Distributors ship whatever you send. A tag in the master sounds amateur – Content ID is then the smaller problem. Ads with a tagged beat waste budget.

For mixing: untagged WAV as the beat track, vocals beside it. Stems if you need kick or 808 on their own.