This paper examines what metadata schemes are needed for radio material using the example of the LARM project. Based on several user studies in 2011, a metadata scheme has been implemented, which consists of three layers: archival metadata, LARM metadata and project-specific metadata. In late 2013 follow-up online interviews assessed the adoption of the metadata schemes and users’ understanding of the underlying philosophy. The interviews showed two things: first, despite being involved in building the scheme up, participants used the current metadata scheme on a trial and error basis and did rarely understand the underlying philosophy. Secondly, participants showed a surprisingly high accountability working with metadata meaning that archive providers should worry less about misuse of metadata and instead embrace user participation.