Plan Your Release: A Music Release Timeline and Checklist

A release is planned backwards from the release date. Your music has to be finished, reviewed and delivered to the stores before you can pitch it on Spotify or get the link for pre-saves. Spotify, for example, asks you to deliver your music at least seven days before release if you want to pitch a song, and a song pitched at least seven days ahead also goes into your followers' Release Radar playlists (Spotify for Artists). Submit in the final week and you have missed that window.

Below is an example plan with a checklist for each phase: finishing your music and assets, submitting, pitching and promotion, release week and what comes after. Store processing times aren't fixed, so the more slack you build in, the less can go wrong at the last minute.

Why you plan backwards from the release date

Between clicking submit and being able to pitch a song, there are steps you don't control:

1. Crystal Distribution reviews your metadata, rights and media. If something is missing, the status changes to Action needed and you resubmit once you've fixed it.
2. The distribution partner checks the release and delivers it to the stores. How long that takes is up to each store.
3. Once Spotify has received your release, it appears in Spotify for Artists under Music → Upcoming. According to Spotify, that can take around 48 hours after delivery (Spotify for Artists).
4. Only then can you pitch, add a Canvas and get the link for pre-saves.

No one can promise you a fixed live date. So only pick your release date once your music is genuinely finished, and leave room for a question or a correction.

The timeline at a glance

This is an example plan, not a store rule. The only fixed deadlines in it come from the services themselves, such as the seven days Spotify gives for pitches.

Phase 1: Finish your music and assets

Start with everything you need in order to submit. Use this checklist:

• Masters: final mix and master as WAV or FLAC, at least 16-bit/44.1 kHz, stereo. Listen to every file all the way through.
• Artwork: square, at least 3000 × 3000 pixels, JPG or PNG in RGB, with no URLs, prices or misleading logos. If the title and artist name are on the cover, they match your metadata (cover art requirements).
• Metadata: titles and versions, artists and featured artists, songwriter and producer credits, genre, language, explicit content and the ℗ and © lines (release metadata checklist).
• Rights: know for each track whether it is an original composition, a cover or public domain, whether it contains samples and whether AI was used. A cover needs a mechanical licence; uncleared samples block submission (covers, samples and remixes).
• Splits: agree in writing with producers, featured artists and co-writers who gets which share (royalty splits with collaborators).
• Songwriting: if you write your own songs, register them with your collecting society (for example PRS for Music in the UK, or ASCAP or BMI in the US), or have a music publisher do it.
• Promo assets: press photos, a short text about the song, visuals for social media and a plan for what you'll post when.

Only set your release date once this list is done. A date that is fixed while the master isn't finished puts the whole plan under pressure.

Phase 2: Create and submit your release

Create the release in the portal via Releases → New release and work through the six steps of the wizard: Basics, Tracks, Artwork, Schedule & stores, Rights, and Check & submit. Each step shows what's still missing, and you can save along the way. The full walkthrough is in how to release music on Spotify and Apple Music.

Under Schedule & stores you set the release date and choose the countries and stores. Think about social platforms here too: the TikTok and Instagram/Facebook music libraries and YouTube Content ID are separate choices in your distribution agreement and require exclusive rights to the recording. If you opt in, choose where the TikTok and Reels clip starts before you submit, so the most recognisable part of your song is heard. At least 30 seconds of the track must remain from that point (Content ID, TikTok and Instagram).

In the final step you sign the rights declaration and submit. That version is then locked. If you change anything afterwards, a new version is created and you sign again. So only submit when everything is finished, but do it in good time.

Then follow the status of your release. If you get Action needed, read the comments and fix things as quickly as you can: while the release is waiting on you, your plan stands still. What each status means is explained in release status.

Phase 3: Pitch to Spotify and Apple Music

Spotify

Once your release shows in Spotify for Artists under Upcoming, you can pitch a song to the playlist editors: choose the song and fill in the pitch form. Spotify's pitching page sets out these rules:

• You pitch one song at a time; once that song is live, you can pitch another.
• Deliver your music at least seven days before the release date, so the editors have time to listen.
• You can't pitch compilations or songs on which you're only a featured artist.
• You can edit your pitch up to release day, but there's no certainty an editor will see the changes.
• A pitch is no promise of a playlist spot, and the editors may pick a different song from your release.
• Once a song is live, it can no longer be pitched.

How should you fill in the pitch? According to Spotify, more detail gives your song a better chance. Describe in plain language how the song sounds, what it's about, its mood and instrumentation, and what promotion you're doing yourself. An honest, specific description is more useful to an editor than big words.

Still can't see your release under Upcoming a few days after its status in the portal changed to Live? Spotify recommends checking with your distributor that the release was sent to the right artist profile. At Crystal, you do that by creating a ticket via Help → Tickets.

Apple Music

Pitching works differently at Apple Music. Apple Music Pitch sits in Apple Music Connect, Apple's platform for labels and distributors, so a pitch to Apple goes through a label or distributor. Apple asks for pitches at least ten days before release for full consideration, and at least seven days before release for late adds. A pitch includes, among other things, the format, mood, genre, language, release date, territories and promotion plans (Apple Music Connect). So check in good time how your label or distributor handles pitches to Apple, and have that information ready.

Phase 4: Promote before the release

Promotion starts as soon as you have a date and a link. With music under Upcoming in Spotify for Artists, you can already do a few things:

• Pre-save link: use Copy URI to get the link to your release for pre-save and marketing campaigns.
• Countdown Page: if you're eligible, create a Countdown Page; Spotify sets its own conditions for this.
• Canvas: add a Canvas, the short looping video that plays with your song in the Spotify app, even before the music is out.

Beyond that:

• Announce the release with the cover and the date, and share the pre-save link again in the days before.
• Make short videos around the clip you chose for TikTok and Reels, so fans already know that part of your song.
• Send your newsletter and approach blogs, local media and radio with a short, personal email.
• Plan your posts: what will you share in the week before release, on release day and in the weeks after?

Release week

On release day you want to be sure everything is right. Run through these points:

• Check in the portal that the status is Live. That means the distribution partner has confirmed delivery; availability in a particular store can still take hours to days.
• Look up your release on the major services: is it on the right artist profile, with the right title, cover and tracklist?
• If something is wrong, report it in a support ticket, including the release name and the store.
• Share your links once the release is visible, and update your bios and links on social media.
• Reply to messages and thank people who share your song.
• Keep some of your material back for the weeks after release.

After the release

A release isn't finished on release day. The weeks that follow are when you learn what works:

• Numbers: Spotify for Artists shows your listeners and which playlists your song is on, among other things. You can only claim your artist page in Apple Music for Artists once your content has been live on Apple Music for at least five business days, and you need to be the primary artist on the album (Apple Music for Artists).
• Keep making material: a live video, an acoustic version or a remix gives you a new reason to post. A new version is a new recording; give it the right version label, such as Acoustic or Live.
• Royalties: stores usually report one to three months later. After that, you'll see your royalty statement in the portal, by period, track and store. The minimum payout amount and how often settlements happen are set out in your royalty agreement.
• Review: note what worked, such as which posts, playlists and cities stood out, and take that into planning your next release.

Common planning mistakes

• Announcing a release date before the master is finished. A delay in the studio then pushes back your entire plan.
• Submitting in the last week before release. By then you're too late to pitch on Spotify.
• Trying to pitch a song that's already out. That's no longer possible after release, so plan the pitch before release day.
• Changing something just before release. That creates a new version, which is reviewed again.
• Putting all your energy into release day. Plan content for the weeks after as well.
• Discussing splits only after release. Agree them before you submit.

Planning your next release with Crystal Distribution? See how distribution works at Crystal and start with the Phase 1 checklist.