An album is a major milestone in your journey as a musician. It’s an opportunity to share a full artistic statement with your fans and showcase your range.
Typically, you’ll find albums perform best on the heels of several singles. This is especially true for emerging artists — make your debut with a few singles to offer new fans accessible, bite-sized pieces of your music. If you haven’t released singles yet, check out our guide to releasing singles in 2026. Together, those singles will generate the momentum necessary for a successful album release — and teach you a thing or two about how to market your music!
In this guide, we’ll show you how to release an album in 2026, covering all the essentials you’ll need prepped to succeed.
Submit your music and choose a release date
First, finish your album entirely and submit it for distribution with finalized metadata and cover art. Though it’s not required by CD Baby, we highly recommend mastering your tracks.
Assuming you’ve already released a few singles, set the album release date at least 6 weeks in the future. That will allow sufficient time for promotion.
If you haven’t released any singles yet, your audience might not be ready for a full album; you might not even have an audience yet! Choose three tracks from your album to release ahead of time as singles and learn how to waterfall your release — a major label strategy that allows you to release singles in a compounding way. Schedule the singles and the album at four to six week increments.
Create a press release and update your electronic press kit
Ahead of your album release, document your story, visuals, and career milestones in a press release and electronic press kit (EPK). That can serve as a foundation for promoting, discussing, and sharing your album with industry professionals.
Your press release should include essential information such as:
- Release info: Date of release, title of release, credits, and album description with quotes
- Biographical info: Who you are and background info on the album
- Creative: Album art work, press photos, and any brand guidelines
- Contact info: How to best reach you
- Links: Private streaming, social media, website, and press kit
- Call to action: What you want the reader to do
Book a tour around your album
One of the best ways to promote your upcoming release is by playing live! And you don’t have to quit your day job to do it! Plan anything from a 3-show run on a weekend to a full week adventure. Identify a few cities nearby and start networking with local musicians to book shows. Learn how to book shows like a pro.
Once shows are booked, coordinate a marketing plan to drive ticket sales:
- Coordinate a street team: get local fans to help flyer around the venue area
- Run targeted ads: put a small amount of money behind targeted short-form videos advertising your show
- Reach out to local press, radio, and event calendars: send show details to local media for coverage
- Collaborate on organic content: Collaborate on posts with other musicians to reach across fanbases and amplify your reach
Plan a marketing campaign
Create a calendar for how you’ll promote your album across channels. Assess whether you need to create any channels ahead of your release, such as an email list or a website.
Social media: You should aim for three to five posts on social media per week that aim to attract new listeners and at least one post per week to keep current fans engaged. Learn how to plan a campaign.
Email: Send at least three emails to your list ahead of your release. One to share the release date, a second to build anticipation and share any milestones, and a third on release day letting fans know your album is out. Learn how to get started with email marketing.
Press: Finalize your press release, create a private streaming link, then send it out to journalists and college radio stations to lock in coverage and airplay on release day. Learn how to create a press release.
Website: Update your website with your upcoming release details and cover art. Consider adding a countdown clock to release day. Be sure your website includes links to your socials and an email signup form.
Create and order merch
Give your fans a way to support your music! Design and order merchandise that you can sell at shows and online. Classic options include t-shirts, hats, hoodies, and physical release formats such as tapes, CDs, and vinyl. Learn how to boost your merch sales.
Plan your release day
Release days may look different depending on the artist. You might be on tour, or hosting a listening party with close friends, or live streaming for viewers at home — maybe all three! Your goal should be to celebrate.
Ahead of release day, ensure you have marketing assets and messaging ready across channels. Fully draft and prepare:
- A social post announcement with photos and relevant account tags
- An email announcement with links to stream your album
- Updated webpage with links to stream your album
On release day, keep an eye out for press coverage to reshare and engage personally with fans who leave comments or share your release.
Conclusion
Ready to release your next album with CD Baby?
Trusted since 1998 by a growing community of two million independent artists, CD Baby offers distribution to over 150 platforms worldwide. Get your album out for a one-time fee and start earning revenue from your music.