How to name loops: a file naming convention for producers

The cleanest way to name a loop is title, key, tempo, your tag, in that order, separated by spaced hyphens: Night Drive - F# Minor - 142 bpm - YourTag.wav. It reads at a glance, sorts sensibly in a folder, and tells whoever opens it the two facts they need before pressing play (key and tempo) and whose loop it is.

This guide gives you the pattern, the rules for writing keys and tempos so nothing misreads them, what quietly breaks a filename, and ten example names marked good or bad. It builds on the short naming section in how to send loops to producers.

Why the filename matters more than you think

A loop rarely stays where you exported it. It gets dragged into a DAW browser, dropped into a sample manager, attached to an email, pasted into a chat, or uploaded to a platform that asks you to retype the tempo and key. In every one of those places the filename is the only metadata that reliably travels with the audio.

Most WAVs carry no readable tempo or key tag at all, and even where a tag exists, plenty of tools ignore it. Your name on the file is what is left when the loop is three folders deep on someone else's drive.

That last point is the one producers underrate. If a loop ends up in a session without you, a tag in the filename is a small, free trace of whose it was. It is not a legal document (see producer credits explained and the loop maker splits guide for the paperwork), but it is better than loop_final2.wav.

The recommended pattern

Title - Key - 142 bpm - YourTag.wav

Written out field by field:

Title. One to three words that mean something to you: Night Drive, Velvet, Rooftop. A title is how a producer will remember the loop and talk about it, so it earns the first position.
Key. Root note, then scale word: F# Minor, Bb Minor, C Major. Always include the scale word.
Tempo. The number, a space, then bpm: 142 bpm. The unit next to the number is what stops it being mistaken for a version number or a bar count.
Your tag. The name you want attached to the loop. Last, so it never pushes the useful facts out of view in a narrow file list.
Optional extras go after the tag, short: a version (v2), or a flag like drums out or with vocal. If you find yourself adding a genre and a mood and a gear list, you are writing a description, not a filename; put those in the place that asks for them.

A short version works too when you are in a hurry: Dark Keys F# Minor 142 bpm.wav. Spaces alone are enough to separate the fields as long as the key keeps its scale word and the tempo keeps its bpm.

How to write the key

Keys are where filenames go wrong, because there are many spellings for the same thing.

Always write the scale. F# Minor, Cmin, Am, Bb Major. A bare letter such as C could be a key, an initial, or part of the title, and a person or a program reading it cannot tell.
Pick one way to say minor and use it everywhere. Minor, min and m all mean the same thing, but a folder that mixes them is hard to scan and impossible to sort. Spelling it out (Minor, Major) is the clearest; m is the shortest but is the easiest to confuse with other letters.
Sharps or flats: choose one. A# and Bb are the same pitch on a piano. Many DAWs and tools display sharps only, so writing sharps keeps your names consistent with what you will see in a browser. If your own habit is flats, that is fine; just don't mix both in one library.
Name the key you actually hear. If you are unsure, check it against the loop with a tuner or key detector, and say so in your notes rather than guessing. A wrong key in the filename is worse than none, because the next producer layers a bassline over it. Compatible keys explains why a half-step mistake sounds so bad.
Modes are fine. F# Dorian or F#dorian says more than F# Minor if the loop really is dorian.

How to write the tempo

Number plus bpm. 142 bpm. Not 142 on its own, not x142, and not 142 BPM approx.
Whole numbers. If your project runs at 140.5, write 140 or 141 and mention the exact figure in a message. Tempo fields and filters expect a whole number, and a second dot in a filename is one more thing a careless tool can trip on.
Use the tempo you bounced at. The number should match the grid the loop was exported on; the BPM by genre guide has the ranges producers in each genre usually work in.
Half-time ambiguity. A 70 bpm loop with a hi-hat pattern at double speed might also feel like 140. Name the tempo of the project grid, and say "half-time" in a message if it matters.

What breaks a filename

Characters Windows will not allow. < > : " / \ | ? * cannot appear in a Windows filename, and some of them (a colon, a slash) cause trouble on other systems and in URLs too. Stick to letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens and underscores.
Hash signs and ampersands. F# is the standard way to write F sharp and it works in most places, but it can need escaping when a filename is turned into a web link. If a link ever misbehaves, the # is the first suspect; the fix is F-sharp in a link, not in your library.
Very long names. Long names are cut off in narrow browsers, so your tag disappears first. Long folder paths can also hit operating system limits. Keep the whole name short enough to read in a sidebar.
Ambiguous single letters. A title like A Minor Detail reads as the key A minor to a program, because that is exactly the shape of a key. Give the title a different first word, or leave the key out of the title.
Version soup. final, final2, final_REAL, final_USE THIS. If you must version, use v1, v2, v3 and keep only the latest in the folder you send from.
Different separators in every file. Underscores, hyphens and spaces all work, but pick one style. Mixed styles make a library look random and make batch renaming harder.
Emoji and accented characters. They usually survive, but some older tools and upload forms turn them into question marks. If the file is going to travel, keep it plain.

Stems and versions

If you export more than one file from the same idea, keep the loop's name identical up to the point they differ, so they sit together in a folder:

Night Drive - F# Minor - 142 bpm - YourTag.wav for the full loop.
Night Drive - F# Minor - 142 bpm - YourTag - drums out.wav for a version without drums.
Night Drive - F# Minor - 142 bpm - YourTag - v2.wav for a revised bounce.

Say what changed in the suffix and nothing else. A collaborator should be able to tell, from the name alone, which file is the one to open first.

Ten example filenames

First, the shapes ColabLoop's filename reader understands. Each one below reads correctly when you upload it, and you can test them yourself:

Night Drive - F# Minor - 142 bpm - YourTag.wav (good): title, key, tempo and tag, all readable. Reads as F# minor, 142.
Dark Keys F# Minor 142 bpm.wav (good): no hyphens needed, spaces are enough. Reads as F# minor, 142.
Bb Minor 145 bpm.wav (good): clear key and tempo; the flat is stored under its sharp spelling, so this reads as A# minor, 145.
Velvet - Bb Minor - 145 bpm - YourTag.wav (good): the full pattern with a flat key. Reads as A# minor, 145.
Rooftop - Cmin - 90 bpm.wav (good): short minor spelling is understood. Reads as C minor, 90.
Sunday - Am - 85 bpm.wav (good): Am is read as A minor, 85. Fine, as long as it really is a key and not part of the title.
Haze F#dorian 100 bpm.wav (good): modes work too. Reads as F# dorian, 100.

Now the ones that cost you something:

Night Drive - C - 142 bpm.wav (bad): a bare C with no scale word is deliberately not guessed as a key. The tempo is read; the key is left blank for you to fill in.
loop_final_final2.wav (bad): no key, no tempo, no tag, and nothing to say which of the two finals is the real one.
Mix: Night Drive / v2 *new*.wav (bad): a colon, a slash and an asterisk, none of which a Windows filename can hold, and nothing useful about the sound.

How ColabLoop uses your filename

When you upload a loop to ColabLoop, it reads the tempo and key from the filename and fills them in for you, so a file named like Night Drive - F# Minor - 142 bpm - YourTag.wav arrives with 142 and F# minor already set. It looks for bpm next to the number, and for keys such as F# Minor, Cmin, Am and F#dorian. Flats are stored under their sharp spelling, so Bb becomes A#. A bare natural key with no scale word, just C, is deliberately not guessed.

You can still correct the tempo and key before you publish; the filename only saves you retyping them. Browsers of loops can then filter by tempo and key, which is why getting them right is worth the few seconds. If you make trap, browse the trap loops to see how other producers tag theirs.

Questions producers ask

What is the best naming convention for loops?

Title, key, tempo, then your tag: Title - F# Minor - 142 bpm - YourTag.wav. It sorts well, reads quickly, and carries your name with the file.

Should I put the BPM and key in the filename?

Yes. They are the two things a producer needs before deciding whether to open the file, and most WAVs carry no tempo or key that every tool can read. Write the key with its scale word and the tempo with bpm next to the number.

Should I use sharps or flats in the key?

Either, as long as you are consistent. Sharps are the safer choice if you want your names to match the sharp-only display in many tools; Bb and A# are the same pitch.

Do special characters matter in a loop filename?

They can. Windows rejects < > : " / \ | ? * outright, and other characters can break when the file is turned into a link or opened by older software. Letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens and underscores are always safe.