Release plan: countdown, promotion and playlists.

A release does not begin on the day someone first presses play: it begins weeks earlier, when someone sets the date and starts building the materials. If you publish without a plan, you compete in the same display window as everyone else, with nothing pushing the release. The difference between a release that disappears and one that works rarely lies in the master; it almost always lies in coordination.

This guide organises the work of a small or medium-sized label release: what is decided, in what order, with which materials, and what happens once the song is out. It is not a formula guaranteeing streams, but it prevents mistakes that cost visibility: late delivery, assets not ready, playlist pitching outside the deadline, or no plans beyond release day. It works equally for a digital single, an EP or a catalogue release.

What a release plan is and what it should contain

A release plan is a working document, rather than a presentation. It fits on one sheet and answers five questions: what is being released, when it comes out, who executes it, what the budget is, and which materials are involved. If any of the five is missing, the plan breaks in the first week and everything else is improvised.

The plan starts with a release date and works backwards. That date must be realistic: account for the distributor’s quality control, metadata approval and pitching lead time. A release delivered three days in advance does not reach Spotify or Apple editorial teams in time, however good your contacts. Professional release metadata — title, version title, ISRC, UPC, credits and territories — is finalised before promotion begins, rather than during it.

Assign responsibilities by name: who approves final artwork, who configures the pre-save, who sends promo, and who responds to the press. In small labels, almost everything falls to the same person, but writing it down prevents the typical failure: two important tasks nobody remembers taking on.

The release countdown

The reference structure is an 8/6/4/2-week timeline. It is not sacred, but works because every milestone depends on the preceding one: if the master is not finished eight weeks out, you cannot commission artwork, and without artwork there is no pre-save, pitching or pre-order.

At eight weeks, the release date is finalised, the master approved and artwork commissioned. You also decide whether there will be exclusive windows: whether the release goes first to a platform, a sister label or a publication before the global date. That decision shapes the entire calendar and cannot be made at the last minute.

At six weeks, videos are produced and the press kit prepared: press photos, an updated bio and a press release. The DJ promo list is confirmed, and publications are approached to reserve the premiere.

At four weeks, the pre-save and smart links go live, editorial pitching is sent through Spotify for Artists and Apple Music for Artists, and the Beatport pre-order is reserved when the genre justifies it. At two weeks, radio promo is finalised, premieres confirmed, and snippets and reels delivered to creators. The last two weeks are for execution, rather than production.

The most common mistake is reversing the order: producing videos when you should already be promoting. If an asset is not approved four weeks out, it does not count.

Assets, artwork and press materials

Assets are everything published around the music, produced together to avoid improvisation. At minimum, you need square and vertical artwork, high-resolution press photos, short and long bios, a one-page press release, and a folder with links and credits.

Artwork must meet the distributor’s specifications: resolution, colour profile and text legible as a thumbnail. Artwork rejected during quality control delays the entire delivery and may cost you the date.

For social media, the basic material is nine-to-fifteen-second snippets, vertical reels and visualisers. A lyric video offers more mileage when there are vocals; Spotify and Apple canvases/loops complete the platform presence and are uploaded through the artist dashboard without a budget, only a well-chosen loop.

Keep everything in one folder with clear names and numbered versions. Half of release delays are caused by assets that exist but cannot be found.

Pre-save, smart links and capturing an audience

A pre-save turns interest into an automatic save on release day: whoever clicks receives the track in their library without searching again. Smart links group all platforms into one URL and, above all, provide data: which network brought each click. That data determines where to put paid media afterwards.

Configure both before the public announcement and test them on mobile and desktop. A broken link in the first post wastes the release’s highest-traffic moment.

Promo for DJs, radio and creators

DJ promo goes to a list segmented by genre and style, never an unfiltered mass mailing. Include the main version, the extended mix if there is one, snippets and a sheet with BPM, key and embargo date. A DJ receiving a file without context will not play it.

Radio promo works in specialist, local and niche circuits. If the track does not fit a radio format, it is better not to send it and to focus effort on DJ support and platforms.

Influencers and content creators are not a homogeneous channel: the former provide reach, while the latter produce content reusable for weeks. Work with a clear brief, without demanding that the song plays in every piece; when the creator has freedom, content performs better. Paid media amplifies what already works, rather than creating demand from scratch: start with a small budget on the network already bringing clicks through the smart link.

Playlist pitching: editorial and independent

There are two routes, and they should not be confused. Editorial pitching happens through Spotify for Artists and Apple Music for Artists, weeks in advance and with an honest description of the track. It is free and does not guarantee inclusion, but the system only listens if you deliver in time with correct metadata.

Independent pitching means third-party curators and playlists: direct contact, forms or pitching platforms. Here, list quality and subgenre fit matter, rather than follower count. Mass playlist pitching to irrelevant curators damages your sender reputation, gains no adds and leaves no room for a second round.

Before sending, check which playlists actually exist, when they update and who maintains them. One active curator is worth more than twenty abandoned lists.

Release day, premiere and exclusive windows

Release day is not a day to post and wait. It is a day of execution: a link in your bio, an email to your list, a message in communities, thank-you messages, and responses to everyone who shared. Have the text prepared the week before.

The premiere is the earlier peak: a publication or channel premieres the track one or two days before release. The exclusive window and premiere are negotiated together, because in some publications one excludes the other. Publish the exact time and account for your main audience’s time zone so you do not lose the first hours.

Post-release plan: what to do afterwards

The post-release plan covers two to eight weeks and is the part almost everyone abandons. Distribute unused visualisers, publish a second batch of reels from another angle, write again to curators who did not answer, and thank the DJs who played the release.

After two weeks, review platform data: streams, saves, completion rate and where traffic came from. That tells you whether there is a second paid-media round or the budget moves to the next release. What you learn feeds the next release plan and avoids repeating the same mistake twice.

The part that does not depend on third parties is your own audience. An email to the list and an active community sustain the first twenty-four hours better than any campaign. If you have not built one yet, start with the label’s audience and community before spending on paid media.

Next step

With the release published, it enters your catalogue and another phase begins: preserving it, versioning it, and losing nothing along the way. The catalogue management: reissues, licences and backups guide explains how to retain IDs, version control and backups so a release stays alive for years afterwards.