The Distribution Checklist

Everything you need to know about distributing music

Joel avatar
Written by Joel
Updated over a week ago

Welcome! This checklist contains a comprehensive library of videos, articles and blogs to help you figure out distribution and get the most out of it. It should help you answer the following questions:
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a) What is distribution?
b) Does distributing make sense at this stage of my career?
c) How can I make the distribution process as easy as possible for myself?

d) Am I doing everything I can to promote my release?


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Let's get started!
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1. BEFORE YOU THINK ABOUT RELEASING MUSIC

If you're new to distribution, or have found the results quite underwhelming in the past, this section will help you understand exactly what distribution is for, and what you really need in place before you get started.

2. MAKE SURE IT'S ALL LEGIT


Whenever you distribute a release, you are monetizing it. Therefore, to avoid any legal problems, it's important to make sure that you have all the rights, licenses and permissions you need to release it. If you've written and made every sound on the track yourself from scratch, you shouldn't have any problems here, but give these articles a read for future reference!

3. PREPARE YOUR MUSIC


Understand the format you'll need to submit your tracks in, and learn about the level of audio quality the streaming platforms are expecting from you!

4. PREPARE YOUR ARTWORK

Everything you release will need an accompanying image for artwork, and you must use a different image for each release. The streaming platforms also have some quite specific rules on what you can and can't have on your artwork, so make sure you understand what they are before you get it made!

5. PREPARE YOUR CAMPAIGN

If you're gonna release music, do it properly! This section is about making sure you're got enough content and, crucially, enough time to perform key promotional activities!

6. ONCE YOUR RELEASE IS APPROVED

If you've submitted your release early enough, your release should be approved in time to do some really impactful promo!

7. GET READY FOR LAUNCH

You've got a number of artist pages and profiles all around the internet. Make sure they're all on message and hype-ing your release!

8. RELEASE DAY

Battle stations! Your release is now available for the world to hear, and you finally have the links to send people to listen. Make sure everyone knows about it!

9. AFTER YOUR RELEASE GOES LIVE

Release day has passed, but keep up the promo! Check out your streaming stats to see who is streaming and where, and learn when you can expect to receive royalties for your release.

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