Are you Releasing a Song?
Do you have an upcoming song release?
If you have an upcoming song release the following tips and strategies which I’ve learned through resources I have (from Ari Herstand), may help:
1. Market Research - To make sure your music is ready for primetime, you need some unbiased opinions. To hit the general public, you can use Tunecore’s Fan Reviews.
2. Make a timeline - The most important thing you can do is know exactly what you have to do each day and each week leading up to your release and what to do after. Be specific and thorough. Which photos and videos are you posting? What emails are you sending? What stories are you telling?
3. Register your publishing - If you want to make sure you’re collecting all of your publishing royalties wherever they exist in the world, you’re going to need an admin publishing company to help you collect these (if you don’t have a publishing deal). Songtrust, Tunecore Publishing, CD Baby Publishing or Sentric are some admin publishing companies that any songwriter at any level can sign up for and get 100% of their publishing royalties collected.
4. Sign up for a PRO - In America, the most well-known Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) are ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. In Canada the sole PRO is SOCAN. In the UK it’s PRS. You must be signed up with a PRO to get your performance royalties for songs you write. Most admin
publishing companies will register your songs with every PRO in the world (including your hometown one), so you don’t need to worry about registering each song with your local PRO as long as you register those songs with your admin publishing company.
5. Register with a Sound Recording PRO - SoundExchange is how you get paid for Pandora and SiriusXM (and all other digitalradio) plays in the US. Other countries have their own "Neighboring Rights Organizations." Find the one in your country and register for it.
6. Register your Copyrights - You can do everything at Copyright.gov. or in Canada at www.cipo.ic.gc.ca
7. Pick your Distribution Company - To get your songs on Spotify, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, TikTok and 100+ other DSPs (digital service providers) worldwide, you need a distribution company. There are many distribution companies out there who you can use.
8. Get a Sync Agent - If you’re interested in getting your music in TV shows, commercials, movies, video games and trailers, you’ll want to work with a sync agent. Some call these sync licensing companies.
9. Create a Folder of Assets - Create a folder in your preferred cloud-based drive (Dropbox, Google Drive, Box) which can be shared with your team that contains:
o Wavs of every song (including instrumentals).
o 320kbps (metadata tagged) mp3s of every song (including instrumentals).
o High-res album cover (at least 3000 pixels x 3000 pixels).
o Stems (for remixes). These are isolated vocals, drums, bass, guitar tracks.
o Hi-res promo photos (no bigger than 10mb per image)
o Merch designs
o Press release
o Spreadsheet of playlists, influencers and press outlets to target
o Text doc with credits (break these down by song)
o Short and long bios
o All promo materials (with original files to be able to update and edit)
o Demos
o All videos (music video, BTS, ads, upcoming posts)
o Text doc containing links to all shareable assets that you’ll need to reference quickly.
10. Get New Photos -You should build up a network of photographers in your city. You can never have enough high-quality photos. Every release is a new beginning. It’s a time to update and enhance your image. To rebrand if necessary. Photos give your audience the first impression of the music.
11. Write a new press release and bio - Your bio is your story. It is the single most important piece of your release—next to the music, of course. It should reveal why people should care about you. What sets you apart? Why are you unique? And more specifically, what is the album’s story? With this in mind, you can craft your bio.
The press release is different from your bio and doesn’t need to be posted anywhere online. You will send this directly to media outlets. Your press release should include recent media coverage, the release you’re currently promoting, any notable shows and tour dates (past or future), and a snapshot of your bigger picture plan.
12. Clear all licences - If you are releasing a cover song or have samples in the track that you didn’t create, you have to clear the licenses. For cover songs, most distributors will give you guidance on how to get the mechanical license (some distros do this for you - for a fee). If you
used a piece of recorded music in your track that you didn’t create from scratch, you have to make sure you’re legally allowed to use it.
13. Cue Up Spotify for Artists - You want to make sure to distribute your song at least 5 weeks before the release date. Once it is officially cued up for distribution, a couple days later it should be listed in your Spotify for Artists backend as an upcoming release. There is an option there to submit to the Spotify playlist editors. And this is how you make sure your song shows up in your followers’ Release Radar and hits other algorithmic playlists on Spotify.
14. Make a List of Playlists and Influencers to Contact - Make a list of user generated playlists that your music would fit on.
15. Private Song Sharing and Storing - You need a private way to share new music with music supervisors, labels, agents, managers and blogs. Some of the most popular options to do this are Dropbox, DISCO, Google Drive and Box. Put both wavs and mp3s in there along with lyrics and any notes on the song. This will be the introduction of this project, so make sure who ever gets this link can understand the full picture. You only get one shot at a first impression! Get links for every song (make sure you click the Share button - don’t copy the URL
because it will make them login) and pop these links into your text doc in the Folder of Assets.
16. Make a List of Press Outlets to Contact - Send out your press release to any outlet you think would respond well to your story and your music. But make sure the email is personalized to the writer. Open the email with a compliment about a previous article they wrote. These writers are music fans who are working on their own creative medium. Compliments to their work come few and far between. You want to have pitches out at least a month in advance with regular follow ups (every 4 days or so). Boomerang is a great Gmail plug-in that can automate this. Complete with an option to only send if there is no reply so you can set it and forget it. If you have a budget for a publicist, they will do this for you.
17. Create the Videos - Every song you release should have an accompanying video. It doesn’t need to be a high priced music video, but it should have a video component. There are even inexpensive apps out there that can easily create lyric videos for you. You’re going to want videos of different length and aspect ratio for Spotify’s Canvas, Instagram Stories and other outlets you want to customize the videos for in advance. Make sure the videos fit the vibe of the song and the project.
18. Put the Release on Bandcamp - Bandcamp is the #1 independent music store. It is self-managed by you. You don’t need to use a distributor to get on Bandcamp. You can go to Bandcamp.com and sign up for free. You can offer “name your price” downloads (they also have a streaming library). Bandcamp now offers subscriptions and a physical merch store as well. This is an easy way to encourage your fans to pay you money for your music. You ain’t going to be making much from streams, so encourage your fans to enjoy your music on Bandcamp.
19. Rebrand your Socials and Website - Now that you have new photos, album cover and bio, use these assets to rebrand all your social sites and website.
20. Engage Your Mailing List - If you don’t have a mailing list yet, start one. This is the most important fan engagement tool you have.
21. Create New Merch - A new release demands new merch. You can create print-on-demand merch so you don’t need to buy (or store) up front inventory. The merch company will print and ship the item directly to your fan.
22. Cue Up the Ads - Digital marketing is now a must for every release. Cue up those Facebook, Instagram, YouTube ads.
23. Form a Corporate Entity (Like an LLC in the U.S.) - This gives you some legal protections, tax breaks and enables you to open a band bank account (and get paid). You should consult an attorney and accountant to make sure you set this up properly. Or if you’re on a budget, Legalzoom can help you get this set up cheaply.