How to Plan a Music Release: A Six-Week Timeline
- 01 Nov 2026
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A great song can still go unheard if it is released without a plan. Six weeks is enough time to deliver your music, line up promotion and give fans a reason to listen on day one. Use this timeline as a starting point and adjust it to your project.
Six weeks before release: finish and submit
- Finalise the master, artwork, credits and lyrics.
- Collect licences for any samples, beats or cover songs.
- Create the release in SpaceMedia, choose your release date and submit it for review. Submitting early leaves time for review, store processing and any corrections.
Five weeks before: prepare your content
- Shoot photos and short videos you can post during the campaign.
- Cut 15- to 30-second clips of the strongest parts of the song.
- Write a short story about the song: where it came from and what it means.
Four weeks before: pitch and set up links
- Once your release appears in Spotify for Artists, pitch it to Spotify's editorial team. Our pitching guide explains how.
- Create a pre-save link so fans can save the song before it comes out.
- Create a smartlink that will point to every platform after release.
Three weeks before: announce
- Reveal the title, artwork and date on your social channels.
- Share the pre-save link everywhere: bio, stories, newsletter and messages to close fans.
- Contact blogs, independent curators and local radio with a short, personal email.
Two weeks and one week before: build momentum
- Post teasers several times a week using your prepared clips.
- Go live or share behind-the-scenes content from the studio.
- Remind fans to pre-save, and tell them exactly when the song comes out.
Release day
- Swap your pre-save link for the smartlink.
- Post the song across every channel and use the sound in a short video yourself.
- Thank people who share it, and reply to comments.
After release: keep going
The first weeks matter, but songs can grow for months. Keep posting content around the track, pitch it to independent playlists, and check your statistics in SpaceMedia as platform data arrives to see where listeners are finding you.
Planning your next release? Create a free SpaceMedia account and start your six-week countdown.
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How can I publish my music?
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Register on SpaceMedia
Begin your music publishing journey by signing up and creating a free account on SpaceMedia.
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Choose the plan that suits you best
Select from a variety of membership options to find the one that aligns perfectly with your music distribution needs.
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Submit your music for distribution
Create a new release and upload your tracks to have them distributed across various platforms.
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Quick Review
Our team promptly evaluates your uploaded tracks, ensuring they meet our quality standards before distribution.
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Get Paid
Once your music is distributed and gains traction, we ensure timely compensation for your creative work.
SpaceMedia delivers music to a broad and changing network of streaming, download, social, and music-identification platforms. This can include major services such as Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, SoundCloud, Tidal, Pandora, Boomplay, Anghami, iHeart, JioSaavn, KKBOX, NetEase Cloud Music, Tencent, Qobuz, and other supported partners.
The exact network can change as platforms update territories, rules, and delivery requirements. SpaceMedia gives you access to supported distribution channels, but no distributor can guarantee that every platform will accept every release in every country.
Most major streaming services do not let every artist upload music directly. A distributor like SpaceMedia delivers your audio, artwork, metadata, and rights information to supported platforms so your release can appear on services such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, TikTok, and others.
Create an account, choose the plan that fits your needs, upload the final release files, review the details, and submit. SpaceMedia reviews Free submissions within 5 business days, Premium submissions within 2 business days, and Label submissions within 1 to 2 business days. Store publishing happens afterwards.
You can monetize eligible music on supported video platforms through Content ID when your plan includes it. Content ID is currently included with Premium and Label, and it is not included with the Free plan.
Only submit music you fully control for Content ID. Tracks with uncleared samples, non-exclusive beats, royalty-free loops used by many creators, public-domain recordings, or disputed rights may be rejected or may cause claims that need to be resolved.
Submit your release through SpaceMedia and choose distribution to social music platforms where available. Eligible releases can be delivered to platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and other supported social or short-form music services.
Once delivered, each platform decides how the music appears, how long processing takes, and which features are available in each territory. Use accurate metadata and clean audio to reduce avoidable delivery issues.
Independent music distribution lets artists release music to streaming, download, and social platforms without signing to a traditional record label. You stay in control of your music while using a distributor to deliver it to supported services.
With SpaceMedia, you can manage releases, artist details, earnings, and payout information from your account. All standard plans let users keep 100% of standard DSP royalties.
The Free plan lets artists release music without an upfront distribution fee and keep 100% of standard DSP royalties.
This gives new artists a way to start releasing music before paying for a yearly plan. Premium and Label add more primary-artist capacity and tools. All standard plans include 100% of standard DSP royalties.
Yes. In many cases you can transfer existing releases to SpaceMedia while keeping them live, as long as you submit the same metadata, audio, artwork, UPC, and ISRCs where available.
Keep the old release live until the SpaceMedia delivery is live and matched correctly. Removing the old version too early can interrupt availability or make stores treat the transfer as a new release instead of matching it to the existing one.
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