A perfect bite-sized introduction to your music, singles are a great way to gain new fans and build up to a longer release. Here’s everything you need to know about how to release a single to maximize engagement and build momentum.
Prepare for distribution
Before you submit your single to a distributor like CD Baby, prepare your materials and information to ensure a smooth submission.
Finish your music: Make any final tweaks to your mix, then master your recording, and ensure it meets audio specifications for distribution. Obtain licenses for any samples in your music.
Organize your metadata: Create a track title, artist name (if it’s your debut), note any featured artists, and confirm producer and songwriter credits.
Format your cover art: Ensure your cover art follows distributor and partner platform guidelines. Read more about cover art best practices here.
Submit your music for distribution
Once you’ve prepared your materials, you’re ready to share your music with the world!
Choose a distributor: CD Baby offers worldwide distribution to over 150 streaming platforms for a one-time payment per release and we provide you with marketing guidance and tools to help you take your music further. We’ve served independent artists in 1998, paying out over $1 billion in royalties to date. Learn more about CD Baby here.
Upload your music, metadata, and cover art: Take your time to review all your details and assets before submitting for distribution. Inaccuracies or mistakes in your submission can cause delays, rejections, and even jeopardize your pay.
Schedule your release date: Set your release at least 6 weeks in the future to allow adequate time for promotion and distribution.
Set up pre-save, pre-add, and pre-order links: As soon as you’ve submitted your music, you can set up links to allow your fans to save or order your release in advance.
Plan a world around your release
Before you start generating promotional content or pitching the press, take the time to reflect on your release and identify the main themes, ideas, experiences, and emotions you want to communicate through your campaign. Taking this all into account will ensure all your assets cohere into a compelling artistic statement that resonates with your audience.
Consider the following:
- Extend the visual identity of the cover art across all creative materials — including photo shoots, music videos, and short-form social content — to create a cohesive aesthetic.
- Define the message and emotional tone of the release, clarifying what you’re trying to communicate and how the audience should feel when engaging with it. Consider narrative points or ideas that a journalist or fan could latch onto to describe your release.
- Identify the target audience and analyze the release strategies of overlapping/comparable artists to draw inspiration and adapt effective rollout ideas.
Once you have a solid idea of what your release represents and how you can translate it across media, you can start generating assets for your rollout.
Create visual content for promotion
Between short-form videos behind the scenes, music videos, and press shots, you’ll need a lot of visual content to promote your release.
Organize a photoshoot: Plan a location, key shots, and themes ahead of time. Use a mood board of references to give your photographer a sense of what you’re looking for. Get a mix of landscape, portrait, and square shots so you can use the photos across formats. Extra points if you capture behind-the-scenes content from the shoot
Shoot a music video: You don’t need a major budget – just aim to have fun. Today’s music videos vary from scraped together b-roll to entire productions. Do what feels authentic (and practical) for your rollout.
Start creating core short-form content assets: Create short-form content for platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. These can be cuts from your music video, behind the scenes clips from your photoshoot, and new footage that drums up interest in your music: play a snippet live, overlay audio on engaging footage, or even make a 30 second intro clip.
Get professional shots of your merch: Nothing accompanies a release better than shiny new merch for sale. Make it enticing by getting professional photos of your latest offerings for socials.
Create variations of your cover art: You may need to post your cover art in different places and contexts – it can help to mock it up in banner and portrait formats with a call to action and a QR code, an abstract zoomed-in version to serve as background for text, an alternatively colored version for a remix or alt version, etc. Having variations of your cover art means you can slip it into any media without rough crops or redundancy.
Constantly collect b-roll: From the studio to late night planning sessions, make it a habit of turning on the camera. You never know what you might organically capture on film — this footage can provide valuable filler when you don’t know what to post.
Prepare your digital streaming assets
Claim your streaming profiles: As soon as you’re able, claim your profiles on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music and customize every available function for your profile from imagery and bios to playlists or Q&As.
Upload Spotify Canvases and Apple Music Album Motion Art: Add some engaging visuals to your release. CDB Video Creator allows you to create looping visuals and animations for your releases on Spotify and Apple Music.
Update your website: Add a pre-save/add/order link to your website along with the cover art and your release date. Consider updating your website to match the coloring of the cover art.
Plan a playlist around your release: Create a draft of a playlist that includes songs that inspired you to write or have sonic overlap with your latest release.
Gather your written content for promotion
Next, it’s time to get your written content together to promote your release across text-first channels.
Create or refresh your electronic press kit (EPK): Your electronic press kit contains all the essential information for someone in the industry to learn about your music and accomplishments. Read our guide to EPKs to build yours.
Write a press release: Create a press release containing key information about your release, artist quotes, a private listening link, photos, and your cover art.
Draft an email to your fans: Draft two emails to engage your fans around your upcoming release: one to send a few weeks ahead of release with pre-save/add/order links and one for release day to let them know it’s out (with a link to stream it on their preferred platform). If you don’t yet have an email list, get started with our guide here.
Draft a social media caption for release day: You don’t want to miss any folks when crediting those who helped with your release in a release-day announcement. Be sure you have the social handles and credits sorted for everyone who helped you create, produce, and release your music. Then draft it all into an announcement post that lets fans know where they can listen and who helped make it happen.
Pitch your release
Your release can open up new opportunities for coverage, shows, and airtime.
Submit a track to editorial playlists: At least one week before release, pitch a track to editorial playlists on a streaming platform. Get tips on how to pitch Spotify playlists here
Pitch your release to the press: At least two weeks in advance for local media and four weeks for national media, send your release to journalists for coverage. You can target your pitches by finding journalists who have covered artists within your scene, getting recommendations from friends, or pitching journalists who have covered artists within your genre.
Reach out to college radio stations: The air waves are still fair game! Pitch local college radio stations on interviews or even a show.
Coordinate a release show: Pitch a bill to a local promoter for a releaser show. It’s an excellent way to celebrate with your fans in person and expand your audience. Don’t forget to bring merch (and an email signup list) .
Engage your fans
As you’re pitching your release for new opportunities, take steps to build anticipation among your current fanbase.
Announce your release date: At least 4 weeks in advance, let your fans know your release is on the way. Use a multichannel approach, contacting fans through email, social media, text chains, etc.
Launch your pre-save/add/order campaign: Encourage your fans to save, add, or order your release ahead of time by including a link and call to action in all your countdown posts.
Share teaser clips of your song: Give your fans a sneak peak of your release and pique the interest of new fans by including snippets of your song in promotional short-form videos. These can include live footage, music video clips, alternative performances, or abstract visualizers.
Start a countdown: Capitalize on the anticipation of your release by starting a countdown. Be wary of fatiguing fans though – start the countdown a week or two before the release and post updates on channels where content is temporary, such as Instagram Stories.
What to do on release day
The day is finally here! Now’s the time to be hyper-active online. Let your fans know where they can listen and make sure to engage with any posts, coverage, or comments about your release.
Announce your release: Share streaming links with your fans across channels (social media, email, website, etc.)
Engage with fans personally: Keep tabs on fans resharing, commenting, or tagging friends on your social media and engage with them personally.
Update your social media bios and links: Change any bios to promote your release and include a link to your streaming pages.
Keep an eye out for coverage: Reshare any press coverage and search for any discussions around your release in online communities.
Highlight your release across streaming profiles: Every streaming platform has a way of highlighting your latest release. Ensure you’re using every function available to place your new music right where fans can see it.
Retain momentum after your release
Don’t lose steam after release day! Follow these tips to keep your fans engaged and drive repeat listens on streaming platforms.
Plan another milestone: Whether it’s a tour, merch drop, live version, or music video, give your fans something to look forward to that still centers your latest release.
Retarget fans and gain new ones: Make reminder posts over your channels with links for fans who want to listen and missed your initial campaign. Continue posting short-form clips with your song to reach beyond your followers.
Follow up on press coverage: Journalists are inundated with pitches – follow up at least once after your release goes live. Take the opportunity to update them on any major streaming milestones or plans for shows.
Promote a playlist around your release: If you haven’t already, create a playlist around your release and promote it over social media. Tag any artists who are on the playlist and encourage them to share with their fans.
Collaborate with other artists, creators, and businesses for cross promotion: Creative partnerships are some of the best ways to build community and promote your music. Reach out to creatives online and in-person to discuss joint campaigns or cross-promotions that can help get your music in front of new audiences.
Conclusion
Follow this checklist to roll out your release like a professional. Release your next single with CD Baby and get your music on over 150 streaming platforms worldwide for a one-time fee. Beyond distribution, you’ll have access to tools, services, and insights to take your music further.