01
Lock the product
Final , clean/explicit versions where needed, artwork, title formatting, featured-artist credits, and release configuration should be finalized before delivery.
Release Guide
Release Readiness Checklist
Get audio, artwork, ownership, metadata, distribution, profiles, links, audience communication, and follow-through ready before launch.
Choose Your Lens
Why this matters
Current View
Fan
Release day is usually the end of a long chain of work, not the beginning. By the time a song reaches a listener, the artist may have spent months writing, recording, clearing ownership, preparing artwork, delivering metadata, and planning the release.
01
Understand
Start with what the concept means and why it shows up.
02
Work It Through
Move through the practical decisions, tradeoffs, and moving parts.
03
Ask Better Questions
Use the prompts to catch assumptions before they become expensive.
04
Take It With You
Finish with a checklist you can use outside the page.
02
Lock the rights and metadata
Confirm writers, splits, producers, ownership, , UPC, label name, copyright lines, genre, release date, and any territory restrictions.
03
Deliver with enough runway
Distributor ingestion, platform processing, editorial pitching windows, profile claiming, lyric delivery, smart links, and pre-release marketing all require time. Avoid making an arbitrary release date the most important constraint.
04
Prepare owned channels
Have the website, email list, direct fan channels, merch or physical product, and social assets ready. Streaming platforms are valuable, but they should not be the only place an audience can find or hear from the artist.
05
Plan after release day
Most songs do not stop mattering 24 hours after launch. Build follow-up content, live integrations, playlist outreach, direct-fan asks, press/radio activity, and catalog connections beyond the first week.