Before You Upload Anything
Most release mistakes happen before a single file is uploaded. Get this layer right first.
Your master recording needs to be loudness-normalized to roughly –14 LUFS for streaming (Spotify and Apple Music apply their own normalisation on playback, so mastering louder hurts more than it helps). Export a 24-bit WAV at the original sample rate of your session — don't upsample. Most distributors accept 16-bit WAV or FLAC; 24-bit is fine and preferred.
Metadata lives inside the file. Embed the correct ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) for every track before export. If you don't have ISRCs yet, your distributor will generate them — but if you self-generate via a registered agency you own them forever, which matters for royalty tracking across DSPs.
Write your credits in the file tags: songwriter(s), producer(s), mixer, mastering engineer, featured artists. Streaming platforms pull these on import. Getting this wrong means someone doesn't get paid.
key points
- Album artwork: 3000 × 3000 px, sRGB, JPG or PNG, under 10 MB. Courier and USPS logos, QR codes, and URLs are banned by most DSPs.
- Register the song with your PRO (ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC in the US; PRS in the UK) *before* release, not after.
- Add UPC/EAN at album level. Your distributor assigns one if you don't have one.
Choosing a Distributor
Independent distributors get your music onto Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon, YouTube Music, and dozens more. The main decision is: pay an annual fee and keep 100% of royalties, or pay nothing upfront and give them a cut.
DistroKid ($22.99/yr) and TuneCore ($14.99 per single / $29.99 per album) are the two flat-rate stalwarts — pay once, keep everything. CD Baby charges per-release ($9.95/single, $29/album) but also takes 9% of streaming royalties, which is a bad deal for catalogue with long tails. Amuse and RouteNote offer free tiers but take 15% — use these only when you have zero cash and want to test a release.
For most working independent artists: DistroKid at the Musician tier is the best unit economics. TuneCore is worth it if you also want their sync licensing pitching.
Higher-tier services like AWAL, Stem, or [PIAS] offer label-services, playlist pitching, and advances — but they're selective and take 15–20%. Worth pursuing once you have meaningful monthly listeners.
key points
- Always check whether the distributor also collects neighboring rights (performance royalties from radio/streaming) or whether you need a separate deal with SoundExchange (US) or PPL (UK).
- Set your release timezone to UTC. Releases go live at midnight UTC globally, which is 8 pm EST / 5 pm PST the night before.
Building a Release Around the Date
A release without a window is a tree falling with no one nearby. Build backwards from your release date.
Six weeks out: pitch editorial playlists via Spotify for Artists (minimum 7 days before release, ideally 3–4 weeks). Only unreleased tracks are eligible. Write a pitch that tells the curator what the song *feels like* and why it fits their playlist — not where you've been featured before.
Four weeks out: set up a pre-save link using ToneDen, Hypeddit, or Linkfire. Gate the pre-save against a follow-for-download or playlist-save to grow your Spotify following before release. Send this to your existing email list and socials.
Two weeks out: pitch music blogs, Substack writers, and playlist curators independently. One genuine pitch to someone who covers your specific microgenre is worth more than a hundred templated emails to major blogs. Find the writers who covered your five favorite recent albums and email them personally.
Release day: post consistently across platforms, but prioritise the channels where you have actual engagement. Send your email list. Ask your team (if any) to add the song to their personal playlists — this triggers algorithmic signals on Spotify.
Week 2 onward: submit to editorial in markets you haven't saturated. Pitch sync placements (Musicbed, Artlist, Musicbed, Marmoset). Upload a visualizer or lyric video to YouTube for searchability.
What Actually Moves Streams
Spotify's algorithm is driven by saves, playlist adds, and repeat listens — not total plays. One listener who saves and replays a track signals more than fifty who skip at 25 seconds.
Taste profile matching matters: the more precisely you describe your genre on your profile and in distributor metadata, the better the algorithmic playlists (Discover Weekly, Release Radar) can route you to people who will actually like the record.
TikTok and Instagram Reels drive more DSP streams per impression than any other current platform — a genuine 15-second hook placed correctly can move thousands of saves in a week. You don't need production value; you need specificity and truth.