Planning an independent release, week by week

The short answer: plan an independent single at least eight weeks ahead and ideally twelve. Finish the masters and artwork first, deliver to your distributor early with complete credits, register the song and the recording, pitch to editorial playlists well before release day, brief press and prepare content, then keep working the release for at least a month after it comes out.

Releases rarely fail because the song is not good enough. They fail because the pitch window closed, the artwork arrived late, the credits were wrong or the registrations were never made, so the royalties went nowhere. This is the calendar we work to for an independent single. An EP or album follows the same order with more room at every step.

Twelve weeks out

• Final masters approved, with a clean version if needed and an instrumental for sync and live use.
• Artwork and photography commissioned, with the rights to use them cleared in writing.
• Release date chosen against the calendar: other releases, shows, holidays and anything else competing for attention that week.
• Splits agreed between everyone who wrote the song and everyone who owns the recording, signed on one page.

Ten weeks out

• Delivered to the distributor with complete metadata: titles, writer and producer credits, featured artists, genre and language. Late or incomplete delivery is the most common reason a pitch fails.
• ISRC assigned to the recording. Your distributor can usually issue one.
• The song registered with your publisher or collecting society, for example PRS for Music in the UK or Buma/Stemra in the Netherlands, so songwriting royalties can be paid.
• The recording registered with the neighbouring rights society, for example PPL in the UK or Sena in the Netherlands, so performers and the rights owner are paid when it is broadcast or played in public.

Eight weeks out

• Press and radio briefed, with the track, a short biography and photographs. Many outlets plan weeks ahead, so this is not early.
• Video and content in production: the video if there is one, plus short clips, a live or acoustic version and the story behind the song.
• Pre-release link live so fans can save the track before release day.

Four to six weeks out

• Editorial pitch submitted through Spotify for Artists and the other platforms’ artist tools. On Spotify, a track pitched at least seven days before release day reaches followers’ Release Radar; pitching several weeks ahead gives editors far more time to listen.
• Announcement and first content published, pointing to the pre-release link.
• A show around release day confirmed if possible. A date gives press and fans something to attach the release to.

Release week

Everything goes live together: the track, the video, the content and the announcement to your mailing list, which is still the most reliable way to reach the people who already care. Tell press, playlists and partners on the day. Watch the first numbers without reading too much into them; the week after matters as much.

After release

Keep working it for at least four weeks: new content, live versions, sessions and thanks to everyone who shared it. Check that the credits and registrations appear correctly. Then write down what worked and what did not, while it is fresh, because the next release starts from that note.

If you want this done for you, it is part of what we do in release strategy. If you are doing it yourself, the order above is the part to keep.