Release timeline: from upload to release day

A release date is not the day the work ends; it is the day the work becomes visible. Most problems on release day come from steps that were left too late. This timeline works backwards from the date.

• Master files exported in the format your distributor asks for. Which files to keep
• Cover art checked against the store rules. Cover art for streaming
• Metadata written in one document: names, credits, version titles, codes. Release metadata checklist
• Split sheet signed by every writer. Split sheet

Distributors deliver releases to many services, and each service processes them on its own schedule. Your distributor's help pages state how far ahead they recommend uploading; follow that, and add a margin in case the release comes back with a question.

Spotify's own guidance is to deliver the music at least 7 days before its release date if you want to pitch an unreleased song to its playlist editors. The same guidance says a pitch submitted that early can place the song on followers' Release Radar. It also states plainly that pitching does not guarantee placement.

• Check the release page previews that your distributor or the services show, where available.
• Prepare the links you will share: one per service, or a single page that collects them.
• Prepare the announcement texts in advance, with the correct title spelling.

1. Open the release on each service and compare title, artist name and cover with your metadata document.
2. Play the full track once on each service.
3. Note anything wrong with the time and a screenshot, and send it to the distributor in one message.

Keep the final files, the metadata document and the screenshots together, dated. If the same song is released again later — on an album, for example — this folder answers most questions in advance.

Related: Where our songs appeared · Our music

Educational content. Not legal advice.