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Deadlines for Holiday Releases 2023
Deadlines for Holiday Releases 2023

It takes longer to distribute your music during December. Use this article to help you choose your release date.

Joel avatar
Written by Joel
Updated over a week ago

Releasing Music at Christmas

Looking to drop a new track in time for Christmas?

Unfortunately, you're not the only one! The streaming platforms receive so many submissions in November and December that it takes them a lot longer than usual to get through all of the releases.

Because of this, you will need to submit your releases much earlier in order to make sure they drop on your desired release date.

Holiday Delivery Schedule

When submitting releases from Tuesday December 5th, you'll notice the earliest available release date will have changed to 21 days in the future.


Normal service (14 days lead time) will resume on December 24th

Submission Period

Minimum Lead Time

Dec 5th - Dec 23rd

21 days

Dec 24th Onwards

14 days

We'll also be turning off fast track releases until January 1st as we can't guarantee the streaming platforms will put releases live quickly.

I want my release to drop on Christmas Day!

Submit your release by Midnight (UTC) on December 4th AT THE ABSOLUTE LATEST.

I want my release to drop on New Year's Eve!

Submit your release by Midnight (UTC) on December 11th AT THE ABSOLUTE LATEST.

Please Note: If you make any changes to your release after your original submission, you may need to choose a new release day. For example, if you submit a release on Dec 1st to drop on Dec 23rd, but make changes and resubmit on Dec 4th, the earliest release date you can choose will be Dec 25th.

Please double (and triple) check your release before submitting it!

If your desired release date is a a few days earlier than you're able to select, feel free to reach out to us after you've submitted your release and we'll do our best to accommodate you.

What if there's a problem with my release?

Likewise, if your release does not meet the streaming platforms' requirements and we need to send it back to you to make changes, we can't guarantee that you will be able to keep your original release date. If you're not yet familiar with the various rules and style guides, we recommend adding an extra 3-4 days lead time just in case you need to resubmit your release with any necessary changes.

Here are the 4 main issues that new artists often run into. We highly recommend checking them out before submitting your release!

Artwork Quality - Make sure your artwork is not too blurry

Artwork Text - Learn what text streaming platforms let you have on your artwork

File Type - Make sure your audio file is in the correct format

Cover songs and sampling existing tracks - Check you're legally allowed to distribute this track.

If you're looking to do pre-saves, playlist submission and other promotional activities, check out this article to find out how much time you need to perform them:


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