Release your music: 5 steps to Spotify & co.
Releasing music is no longer a label privilege. You need a finished master, a cover, clean credits for everyone involved and a digital music distribution service that delivers your release to the platforms. Here is the whole path in 5 steps, with costs, timing and a checklist.
Releasing music: the essentials.
- Cost
- With a revenue-share model, $0 upfront: the distributor only earns from your income. Distributors with an annual subscription or a fee per release charge upfront.
- Timing
- Spotify and Apple Music usually deliver within 1–3 days, smaller stores within up to a week. For pre-saves and playlist pitching, plan 3–4 weeks of lead time.
- Requirements
- Master as WAV, FLAC or AIFF (at least 44.1 kHz / 16-bit), cover from 3000 × 3000 pixels, the rights to recording and composition, and complete credits.
- Need a label?
- No. A digital music distributor is enough, and your masters and every decision stay with you.
How to release music in 5 steps.
- 01
Prepare master and cover
Export your finished, mastered track as WAV, FLAC or AIFF at 44.1 kHz and 16-bit or higher. Stores don’t accept MP3. The cover must be square, at least 3000 × 3000 pixels, and must not contain links, prices, social handles or third-party logos.
- 02
Choose a music distributor
Spotify, Apple Music and the other platforms don’t accept uploads from individuals. You need a digital music distribution service that delivers your music via DDEX. Compare the pricing model, whether the contract is non-exclusive and whether you can switch at any time for free.
- 03
Enter metadata, credits and codes
Title, artist name, genre, language and the explicit-content flag must be exactly right, because the stores publish them as entered. Don’t put features in the song title; add them as featured artists, and credit composers and lyricists with their real names. Every track needs an ISRC, every release a UPC. If the song was released before, keep the existing ISRC, otherwise streams and playlist history start from zero.
- 04
Set the release date, start pre-save and pitching
Plan at least three to four weeks of lead time; releases traditionally go live on Fridays at midnight. Use that time to collect early fans with a pre-save link (the song lands in their library automatically on release day) and submit it for editorial playlists via Spotify for Artists. With playlist pitching you can also reach further curators.
- 05
Release day and after
On release day, share a smart link that leads to every platform. Afterwards you track streams and playlist adds, share the income with everyone involved via royalty splits and register your compositions with your collecting society so the songwriter royalties arrive too.
Checklist before you upload.
- Master as WAV, FLAC or AIFF, at least 44.1 kHz / 16-bit, no MP3
- Square cover, at least 3000 × 3000 pixels, no links, prices or third-party logos
- Rights to recording and composition cleared, licences for samples and cover versions in place
- No features in the title; featured artists entered separately
- Composers and lyricists credited with their real names
- Existing ISRCs reused if the song was released before
- Spotify and Apple Music IDs of your artist profile at hand
- Release date with 3–4 weeks of lead time, pre-save link ready
Everything to know before your first release.
What you need to release music
The checklist is shorter than many think: a store-quality master, artwork in the right format, the rights to both recording and composition, and complete credits. Samples, beats bought online and cover versions need a license you can prove. Stores check this closely and take releases down without it.
You also need an artist name that is unambiguous. If someone on Spotify already uses the same name, your songs can easily end up on the wrong profile. If you already have an artist profile, give your existing Spotify and Apple Music IDs when uploading.
How much does it cost to release music?
Digital distributors use three models: an annual subscription, a fee per release, or revenue share, where the distributor takes a percentage of your earnings. With revenue share there are no upfront costs: you only pay when your music actually earns. The models are compared under How much does music distribution cost?, our terms are on /pricing.
On top of that come costs unrelated to distribution: mixing and mastering, artwork and possibly promotion. If you start on a small budget, invest in a clean master first. No marketing can make up for a weak mix.
How long until my song is online?
After you submit, the distributor reviews your release, then the stores deliver at different speeds: Spotify and Apple Music often within one to three days, YouTube Music and smaller platforms sometimes up to a week. For a fixed release day, don't cut it close. Plan with a buffer.
The key difference is between submitting and releasing: you submit weeks ahead and set a date on which the release goes live everywhere at once. That window is what you use for pre-saves, pitching and social media content.
Releasing music without a label
You don't need a record deal to release music. Labels pre-finance production and marketing and usually take the rights to the recordings and a large share of the income in return. As a self-publisher you keep your masters and decide on releases, pricing and collaborations yourself. The marketing is on you, though.
Many tools that used to be label-only now come with your distributor: pre-save campaigns, playlist pitching, YouTube Content ID, sync licensing and even an advance on future royalties.
Selling your own music: streaming, downloads and licensing
A release earns in several places: streams on Spotify, Apple Music and co., downloads in stores like iTunes and Amazon, use of your music in videos on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, and licenses for ads, film and games. What a single stream pays is broken down in How much does Spotify pay per stream?.
Your distributor pays out the recording side. The composition side (songwriting and lyrics) is collected separately by collecting societies such as GEMA, PRS or ASCAP. Register both sides and you leave no money on the table.
The most common first-release mistakes
Too little lead time, missing or misspelled credits, features in the song title, artwork with tiny text and uncleared samples are the classics. Just as common: a new ISRC for a song that was already released, or an artist name that gets mixed up with an existing profile.
The OGRECORDS™ release wizard checks many of these points automatically before you submit, from audio quality and artwork format to the details the stores require.
Common questions about releasing music.
Your first release, submitted in under an hour.
Upload, metadata, stores, date: the wizard guides you through every step and checks your release before it goes out.
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