The short version: to find the record label of a song, check the small print below the tracklist on Spotify or Apple Music, or the description of the track's auto-generated upload on YouTube. One song can give you three different names: the ℗ line says who owns the recording, the Sources line in Spotify's View credits says what the release is filed under, and "Provided to YouTube by" says who delivered the file. The label that chose to put the record out is usually the name after "under exclusive license to", but to follow a label for new releases, you need the name it's filed under.
The ℗ line is the sound-recording copyright notice: under US law, it carries the year the recording was first published and the name of whoever owns it.
One song, three names
Under the tracklist on Apple Music, Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" reads "℗ 2024 Kendrick Lamar, under exclusive license to Interscope Records". The auto-generated upload on YouTube, from the Kendrick Lamar - Topic channel, opens with "Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group" before repeating the same ℗ line. And in Tracknack, which reads Spotify's label data, the single is filed under Kendrick Lamar.
So which one's the label? Depends what you're asking. For a digger, only one of those is a label in the sense you mean: Interscope, the company that took the record on. It's also not the name Tracknack files the single under, which is where it gets annoying.
Where to find a song's record label
On Spotify, open the album or single and scroll past the tracklist. The © and ℗ lines sit in small print at the bottom. To see the name a release is filed under, open View credits on a track in the web player, the same panel you'd use to find out who produced a song, and look under Sources. Everything in that panel comes from the metadata the label or distributor sent.
Apple Music prints the ℗ line under the tracklist too.
On YouTube, look for the upload from the artist's Topic channel. YouTube generates those channels itself, and the description starts with "Provided to YouTube by", followed by the ℗ line and a release date.
Outside the streaming apps, Discogs lists the label and catalog number on each release, and Beatport's release pages show both as well. Bandcamp is the odd one. A label release can sit on the artist's own page and just link back to the label, the way Arthur Hnatek's Undertow EP links to Hessle Audio.
What do the C and P mean on Spotify?
C is the copyright. P is the sound recording, or performance, copyright, written ℗.
The © line is the broad one. On a release it can cover the composition, the lyrics or anything else carrying the symbol, so don't read it as the recording. The ℗ line is narrower. It's about the recording itself, the master, and it's the line where "under exclusive license to" counts. If you only read one line of the small print, read that one.
What "under exclusive license to" means
The first name owns the master, and the second has the sole right to release it, sometimes only for a set period or in certain territories. "Kendrick Lamar, under exclusive license to Interscope Records" means Kendrick owns the recording and Interscope is the only one allowed to put it out.
Read the preposition, though. KAYTRANADA's TIMELESS Instrumentals says "℗ 2025 RCA Records, under exclusive license from KAYTRANADA". Same kind of deal, written backwards: the licensee goes first and the owner comes after "from". His 2020 single "Look Easy" has the names the other way round, "℗ 2020 KAYTRANADA, under exclusive license to RCA Records".
"Provided to YouTube by" just names whoever delivered the file: a parent group like Universal Music Group, the label itself, a distributor like DistroKid, or a slash string like KAYTRANADA/RCA Records on a TIMELESS track. For finding more music it's the least useful name in the small print. A distributor doesn't have taste.
When the artist's own label licenses to a bigger one
Floating Points' Cascade reads "℗ 2024 Pluto under exclusive licence to Ninja Tune". Pluto is his own label. Ninja Tune is the licensee, the name on the YouTube uploads ("Provided to YouTube by Ninja Tune") and the name the album is filed under. Discogs spells it out for the CD: Pluto under Phonographic Copyright, Ninja Tune under Licensed To.
After Cascade, the name keeps changing. The 2025 Elaenia reissue is filed under Pluto, while other records since have gone out under Milan, Atlantic Records UK and Deutsche Grammophon, so any one label follow catches a slice of him at best.
Pluto is a messy follow on its own, too. Plenty of artists go by Pluto, Pluto thekid or PLUTO, and their releases get filed under the same name, so following it brings in records that have nothing to do with Floating Points.
Follow XL Recordings and you'd have caught Four Tet's "Into Dust (Still Falling)" but not Three. The single reads "℗ 2025 Text Records under exclusive license to XL Recordings Ltd" and is filed under XL. Text is his own label, and Three is filed under Text Records, with Text in the ℗ line too.
Which name should you follow?
I read the ℗ line a lot, and it's how I've found out about plenty of labels, Below0 and Year0001 among them. I follow both, because each release is an introduction to whoever the label picked next. In the ℗ line, the name doing the picking is usually the licensee, unless it's a distributor: Below0's 2026 releases read "℗ 2026 BELOW0, under exclusive license to Decent Distribution".
Once you've got the name, you can browse the label's catalog on Spotify. Hearing about the next release is the harder part, because Spotify can't follow a label. Tracknack can, with a catch.
It follows the name Spotify files a release under and never reads the ℗ line. When that name copies the ℗ wording, Tracknack keeps only the first name, so:
- Follow the name it's filed under. "Not Like Us" is filed under Kendrick Lamar, so following Interscope wouldn't have caught it.
- Follow the artist too. Kendrick's GNX came out later in 2024 filed under pgLang, while the diss singles before it, "Not Like Us" included, sit under his own name.
- Big labels can split in two. Releases get filed under both Interscope and Interscope Records, and Tracknack treats them as two labels, both still releasing as of October 2026. Follow both. RCA and RCA Records split the same way. A release filed under two names at once, like TIMELESS under KAYTRANADA and RCA Records, shows up under both.
If checking a list of labels by hand every Friday sounds like a chore, here's how I track labels.
What does the P mean on Spotify?
The P, written ℗, is the sound recording copyright notice in a release's small print, shown under the tracklist. Spotify defines P as the sound recording, or performance, copyright, while C, written ©, is the broader copyright. The ℗ line names who owns the recording itself and the year it was first published. When it says 'under exclusive license to', the name after that phrase is usually the label that released the record, though sometimes it's a distributor.
How do I find the record label of a song on Spotify?
Open the album or single the song is on and scroll past the tracklist. The © and ℗ lines in the small print name the rights owners, and when the ℗ line says 'under exclusive license to', the name after it is usually the label that released it. To see the label name the release is filed under, open View credits on the track in Spotify's web player and look under Sources. The two can differ, so check both before following a label.
What does 'under exclusive license to' mean?
In a ℗ line, it means the first name owns the recording and the second has the sole right to release it, sometimes only for a set period or in certain territories. '℗ 2024 Pluto under exclusive licence to Ninja Tune' on Floating Points' Cascade means his label Pluto owns the master and Ninja Tune releases it. Watch for 'from' instead of 'to': '℗ 2025 RCA Records, under exclusive license from KAYTRANADA' puts the licensee first and the owner second.
What's the difference between a record label, an imprint and a distributor?
A record label puts out recordings it owns or licenses. An imprint is a separate label name run inside a bigger label. A distributor delivers releases to stores and streaming services.
What does 'Provided to YouTube by' mean?
It names whoever delivered a track to YouTube. The line opens the description of auto-generated uploads on 'Artist - Topic' channels, and the name can be a parent group, such as Universal Music Group on Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us', the label itself, such as Ninja Tune on Floating Points' Cascade, or a distributor. It isn't necessarily the label that released the record. The ℗ line further down the same description names who owns the recording.
Sources and notes
Checked in October 2026.
- Spotify Web API: Get Album - what C and P mean
- Spotify for Artists: Glossary of music industry terms - what © can cover
- YouTube Help: Topic channels
- US Code: 17 U.S.C. § 402 on the ℗ notice and § 101 on exclusive licenses
- Tracknack production data - label names as Tracknack files them, October 2026
