buncha/time & productivity/release-checklist

Music Release Checklist

—pick a date below0/23 · 0% ready · on track

Release date

Release type

Produce & prep

6+ weeks out0/5

Finalise the master

Sign off the master, and bounce a clean/radio edit and an instrumental while you’re there — you’ll want them later.

Lock the cover art

3000×3000 px, RGB, square. No web addresses, prices or unapproved logos — DSPs reject art that breaks their rules.

Lock your metadata

Track titles, features, producer/writer splits, genre, language, explicit flag. Get it right now — changing it after upload is painful.

ASCAP/BMI/PRS/APRA so you collect songwriter royalties; add a publishing admin (e.g. Songtrust) to chase the rest worldwide.

Claim your artist profiles

Spotify for Artists and Apple Music for Artists — you need both to pitch, customise your page and read your stats.

Distribute & pitch

~4 weeks out0/4

Upload to your distributorTime-critical

DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, Amuse… set the release date at least 4 weeks out so you’re eligible to pitch. They assign your ISRC + UPC.

Pitch to Spotify editorialTime-critical

Through Spotify for Artists, while the song is still unreleased. This is the single most time-sensitive task — miss it and you lose the editorial consideration AND the Release Radar placement.

Set up a pre-save campaign

Pre-saves convert to day-one streams, which feed the algorithm. Use your distributor’s tool or Feature.fm / ToneDen.

Submit your lyrics

Via Musixmatch so they appear on Spotify; add them in Apple Music too. Synced lyrics lift engagement.

Build the campaign

1–3 weeks out0/6

Announce the date + reveal the art

Give people a reason to care before it’s out. Pin the pre-save link everywhere.

Pitch indie playlists + press

SubmitHub, curator DMs, local blogs and radio. Start early — good curators book up weeks ahead.

Prepare your press kit (EPK)

One page: short bio, the story behind the release, photos, links, contact. Reuse it for every pitch.

Make short-form video clipsTime-critical

3–5 TikTok / Reels / Shorts built around the strongest hook in the song — this is where discovery actually happens now.

Upload your Spotify Canvas

A 3–8 second 9:16 looping video on the track measurably lifts saves and shares.

Schedule release-week posts

Don’t wing it on the day. Queue the “out now” posts across every platform in advance.

Release week

Release day0/4

Check it’s live everywhereTime-critical

On release morning, confirm every DSP actually has it — and the right version — before you post the link.

Post “out now” + the smart link

One link to every platform (your distributor provides one). Pin it on every profile.

Set Artist Pick + add to your playlists

Free real estate on your Spotify and Apple profiles — use it on day one.

Email your list + thank early fans

Reply to every comment. First-day saves, shares and completion rate matter most to the algorithm.

Keep it alive

After release0/4

Re-pitch playlists now it’s live

Many curators only accept already-released songs — go back to the ones who couldn’t take it before.

Read your Spotify for Artists stats

See which playlists, cities and sources are driving it, and double down on what’s working.

Keep the content goingTime-critical

Most releases die because the artist goes quiet on day two. Keep posting clips for weeks — momentum compounds.

Plan the next move

A music video, an acoustic/remix version, or simply the next single keeps the release cycle alive.

Add your own task

2 wks before

A strong default timeline for an independent release — your distributor’s and the DSPs’ exact deadlines are the source of truth, so check them (the 4-week Spotify pitch window especially). Labels and PR teams run longer lead times. Nothing here is uploaded; your plan and ticks are saved only in this browser.

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About Music Release Checklist

Plan a music release properly with a dated checklist that works backwards from your release date. Pick the date and whether it is a single, EP or album, and the tool lays out every task with its own “do by” date across five phases — produce and prep, distribute and pitch (including the all-important four-week Spotify editorial window), build the campaign, release week, and the post-release follow-through most artists skip. Tick tasks off to track readiness, see what is overdue, add your own tasks, and copy the plan out. Saved in your browser; for independent and self-releasing artists.

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