Running radio campaigns, I have watched the same logistical mistakes eat artists' time: the track is ready, but the release date was never locked, the artwork was a last-minute panic, and the distribution lead time was tight enough that no one could actually stream it on release day.
The fix is not talent or budget. It is a sequence you follow in the same order every time, so the week before release is calm instead of a scramble.
Here is the full 47-point checklist I run every record through, in order. Tick each one off and the last week is spent sharing the thing, not fixing it.
Six to eight weeks out: the foundations
1. Lock your release date. A date is a promise you make to the people who will promote the record. It is the anchor every later step schedules against. Pick it early and treat it as fixed.
2. Master the track properly. Not just loud. Mastered for the streaming services it will land on, with consistent loudness and a clean true peak, so it is not turned down and does not sound thin next to everything else in a playlist.
3. Choose the final mix and confirm it is the version you will release. One mix, locked. Do not keep mixing during the release window.
4. Finalise your artwork. Prepare high-quality square artwork, ideally 3000px, and check your distributor's requirements. A striking cover matters for how the release looks in a playlist.
5. Register your ISRC where needed. Your distributor assigns these. Get them confirmed early: they are what make the release trackable to you for royalties.
6. Check how your distributor supplies the UPC. Singles, EPs and albums distributed to stores each have a release identifier; keep the assigned code with your records.
7. Check your metadata line by line. Correct title, artist name, featured artists, explicit flag, genre and mood tags. Sloppy metadata is why a release disappears from playlists and searches.
8. Confirm songwriting and publishing credits. Who wrote it, who published it. Sort ownership before release so royalties are not contested later.
9. Decide your release format and territory. Single vs EP, and whether it goes everywhere or select territories only. This shapes distribution and pitching.
Five to six weeks out: choose your distribution and partners
10. Pick your distributor. Compare lead times, fees, and what they deliver: streaming services, social platforms, digital stores, and whether they handle YouTube Content ID and sync.
11. Check your distributor's required lead time. Most need two to four weeks. Lock the submission date so the record clocks in on release day, not a week late.
12. Confirm how your distributor tables your release date. Know their deadline for a specific drop date and which timezone that date lands in.
13. Decide who else is involved. Publicist, radio plugger, playlist-pitching partner, designer? If yes, they need the master and assets now, not at week one.
14. Agree everyone's scope and deadline. Who does what and by when. Unnamed responsibility is how release-week things silently fall through.
15. Draft your pitching assets. A one-page bio, a short pitch for each target, and a clear way to stream the track with no login. Refine later, but draft early so editors and DJs can be approached while the release is still ahead of them.
16. Pull key metadata for your pitching assets. Genre, BPM, key, mood, similar artists, one-line description, and the release date. Editors ask for these.
Four weeks out: build the stage
17. Create your pre-save link. Give listeners one place to pre-save and pre-order. Collect the pre-saves: they drive first-week numbers.
18. Map your promotion plan. Which radio shows, playlists, websites and social accounts do you want, and in what order? Write it down before pitching, not mid-scramble.
19. Build your target list. The shows and playlists that actually play your kind of music. Research who presents or curates and how to reach them. The people matter more than the publication.
20. Prepare a press kit. Photos, bio, cover art, a couple of the tracks, streaming links. Editors and curators ask for one asset kit, so have it assembled and shareable.
21. Confirm your social accounts are ready. Bios match the artist name, handles are consistent, and the account is set up to receive tagged posts and comments on release day.
22. Draft the release-day social copy now. Announcement, thank-you, behind-the-scenes. Written in advance so the day is about sharing, not writing on the spot.
23. Set up your presale or pre-order page if you have physicals. Merch, vinyl or other products need a page and fulfilment plan ahead of release.
Three weeks out: pitch and approve
24. Start pitches. Radio can be approached ahead of a release to line up plays around it. Playlist curators and editors too. Prepare a relevant pitch for each contact and follow the show's published submission instructions, including its preferred links or files.
25. Plan your pitching sequence. Who you approach first matters: a strong early feature gives you evidence for the next ask. Order the list.
26. Send pre-release tracks where the target asks for them. Some editors want the track ahead of release. Make a clean, watermarked or private-stream version ready.
27. Line up playlists and socials. Confirm with anyone who committed. A commitment is not real until the playlist link or the social post is in the calendar.
28. Book any paid or promoted placements. If you have budget for playlist pitching or boosted posts, book them now so they run over release week.
29. Confirm newsletters and email lists. If you have a mailing list, schedule the announcement. If a newsletter features you, confirm the date.
Two weeks out: harden everything
30. Confirm your streaming release is scheduled. The distributor shows a confirmed release date, timezone and metadata. Chase any discrepancy now, not on release day.
31. Verify artwork and assets are final across all platforms. Cover, track titles, order of tracks, featured artists. Platforms propagate corrections slowly, so fix these early.
32. Do a soft press run for early reviews. Sites and reviewers who preview the record can publish around release. Send the pre-release track and a review copy where appropriate.
33. Schedule your social posts. Put the release-day and follow-up posts in the scheduler so nothing is forgotten in the moment.
34. Prepare your thank-you / follow-up messages. Draft acknowledgements and a shareable link for the people who played or featured the record while those details are fresh.
35. Line up your own listening party or premiere. Arrange a premiere with an outlet, a launch party or a community listening session, and confirm the date and format.
One week out: everything in its place
36. Test every link. Pre-save, streaming, press kit, social profiles. A dead link on release day is the easiest scandal to avoid.
37. Do a test stream from a clean account. Play the song start to finish on the platform listeners will use. Catch the silent-fail release that nobody notices until it is live.
38. Confirm your team's done. Everyone who promised a post, a pitch or a feature has confirmed. If they have not, follow up now.
39. Prepare your day-one assets. The announcement graphic, the streaming link, the press kit URL, the thank-you list. All of it ready to hand on the day.
40. Set alerts for your artist name. Notifications for when the name is mentioned or the playlist is added, so you catch coverage as it lands.
41. Review the plan once, end to end. Read the full sequence one last time and fix the one thing that does not line up. This pass catches most last-week problems.
Release day and after
42. Publish and share. Post the release to socials, send it to your closest supporters first, then your wider list. A steady cadence beats a one-time blast.
43. Thank everyone who shared it, straight away. Every playlist add, every radio play, every repost. Acknowledge it within the week. The relationship is the repeat business.
44. Engage with comments and shares on release day. The first 48 hours set the tone. Reply, repost, keep the conversation moving.
45. Chase agreed features you have not seen yet. The show, playlist or post that committed but has not surfaced yet. Follow up politely now while the release is fresh.
46. Capture what worked. Which pitch opened, which show played, which post got shared. Log it while it is fresh. It is the blueprint for the next release.
47. Keep listening after day one. Playlist adds land late, editors run features late, new shares keep coming. The record has a life well beyond release day.
That is the full 47-point machine end to end: foundations, distribution, promotion, late hardening, and after-care. Do these in order and the mechanism never surprises you.
Turn the sequence into a workflow that remembers
The reason releases go wrong is rarely that an artist does not know what to do. It is that the steps live in their head, scattered across a notes app and a spreadsheet, and something gets forgotten at the worst moment.
TAP helps keep the brief, contacts, pitch drafts and recorded outcomes with your release. You review and approve each specific message before it sends. Your first release is free; after that, a pack costs £59 for a single, £99 for an EP or £149 for an album, paid once per release.
Start your first release free and use the checklist to prepare your brief and next actions.
