FOR MUSICIANS & BANDS
YouTube for Musicians: Channel Set-Up, Shorts and Live Sessions
How independent UK artists can set up a YouTube channel, apply for an Official Artist Channel, use Shorts, go live, organise playlists and build a community.
A week-by-week music release plan for independent artists, covering delivery, Spotify pitching, pre-saves, assets, launch week and what to do afterwards.
A good music release plan starts eight to twelve weeks before release day. Finish the master, artwork and photos first, deliver the track to your distributor early and pitch it to Spotify at least seven days ahead. Build anticipation for a few weeks, put most of your effort into release week, then keep posting for a month.
One post on the day isn’t a release. A proper music release plan is a run of small, linked steps, all aimed at getting the music and artwork ready at the same moment as the links and the people who might hear it. Artists who skip the planning usually release into silence and then wonder what happened.
This plan is built for a single and scales up for an EP. The timings are a sensible default, nothing more. Squeeze them if you have to. Just keep the order.
| When | Focus | Key tasks |
|---|---|---|
| 8 to 12 weeks before | Foundations | Final master, artwork, release date, distributor, rights registrations, profile photos |
| 4 to 6 weeks before | Delivery and pitch | Music delivered, Spotify pitch submitted, links set up, announcement content shot |
| 2 to 4 weeks before | Anticipation | Teasers, announcement, mailing list message, press and radio outreach |
| Release week | Concentration | Email list first, daily posts, thank-yous, live moment |
| 1 to 4 weeks after | Momentum | Reactions, visual follow-ups, review of results, plan the next release |
Eight to twelve weeks gives you room to do the visual work properly. Photography and artwork take longer than people think, and a short video takes longer still. Rush them and it shows. If you also need a new press photo or cover artwork, allow another couple of weeks.
Choose the release date first and work backwards from it. Avoid a day that clashes with a big release from a similar artist, and pick one where you can play or post in the days either side. Put the date in the calendar and treat everything else as a deadline that hangs off it.
Finish the mix and master, and settle the title and credits along with the release date. Pick a distributor and check how much notice it needs, because every distributor sets its own lead times. Register your recordings so that any UK royalties can find their way to you. PPL says registration is free for performers and recording rightsholders, and that performers link themselves to their recordings through its member portal.
Plan the look of the release now so it shows up the same way everywhere. As a minimum you’ll want cover artwork and one or two new press photos. Add a square and a vertical version of the artwork, plus a short clip or lyric video for social media. One photoshoot can give you the stills and profile images as well as the footage for several weeks of posts, and that’s how marketing for musicians works best: planned as one package from the start.
When your distributor has delivered the track, it shows up under Upcoming in Spotify for Artists and you can pitch it to Spotify’s editors. Spotify says to deliver your music and submit the pitch at least seven days before release. Pitching early also gets the song on to your followers’ Release Radar playlists.
There are limits you should know about. You can only pitch one song at a time. Compilations can’t be pitched, nor can songs where you’re a featured artist, and once a song is live it’s too late. Spotify also says a pitch doesn’t guarantee a playlist spot, and editors might pick a different song from the one you put forward. Fill in the form in as much detail as you can, and see the pitch as a free shot at something, never the centrepiece of your plan.
Seven days is the bare minimum. Deliver earlier and you’ve got a cushion if your distributor spots a problem with the files or the metadata.
Not always. It depends on what you’re putting out. Spotify’s own Countdown Pages, its built-in pre-save tool, are not available for singles. They’re for new, original albums and EPs, and the artist needs at least 3,000 monthly active listeners. Fans can pre-save, preview the tracklist and watch countdown videos. On release day, everyone who pre-saved gets a notification and finds the release added to their library.
Releasing a single, or below the threshold? A simple alternative is a landing page on your own website with links to the release and a mailing list sign-up. That way the people who respond to your teasers end up on your list, not just a platform’s. Spotify’s page also says that, on average, nearly 60% of people who pre-save an album stream it in the first week. Bear in mind that’s Spotify’s own average. It’s no promise about how your release will do.
This is where you pile in. Email your list on release morning and post on your main platform. Update the links in your bios so they go to the new release. Set your Spotify Artist Pick to it as well: Spotify says the Pick can feature a song, video, concert or merchandise at the top of your profile and lasts 180 days unless you change it.
Reply to comments and thank the people who share the release. Repost their stories, with permission. If you can manage it, play a gig or a live session that same week and film it, because a live moment hands you fresh content for the days afterwards.
Lots of artists stop promoting the day the track comes out. Don’t. Spend the next four weeks sharing reactions and any reviews. Put out a second piece of content, like a live version or a behind-the-scenes video, and thank everyone who helped. Then look at what worked. Which posts brought in sign-ups? Which platforms sent you listeners? Did the pitch come to anything?
Use the answers to plan the next one. Artists who release regularly, with a clear plan behind each release, build an audience far faster than the ones who put out one track and then sit and wait.
Our team takes care of the visual side of a release. That covers press photos and cover artwork, a short video for social media and a page for the release on your website. If you’d like help putting together a music release plan with assets to match, get in touch. Before any work begins, we agree a clear brief, scope and fee with you.
Every distributor sets its own lead times, so check yours. Spotify says to deliver at least seven days before release for editorial pitching, but earlier is safer. If you deliver several weeks ahead, you’ve got time to fix any artwork or metadata problems before you announce.
Yes. Once your distributor delivers the track, it appears under Upcoming in Spotify for Artists and you can fill in the pitch form. Spotify wants the pitch at least seven days before release and allows one song at a time. It also says a pitch doesn’t guarantee a playlist place.
No single day is best for every artist, so pick one that fits your own plan. Go for a date when you can post and email your list, and maybe play live around it. Sticking to a pattern counts for more: if you release on the same day each time, your audience gets used to looking out for you.
A single is a lighter first step and easier to plan well. An EP gives you more to talk about, and if you meet the listener threshold it opens up tools such as Spotify’s Countdown Pages. Plenty of artists put out several singles first and then gather them into an EP.
Not for every one, but fresh images keep a campaign looking current. A shoot every few releases usually does the trick, topped up with simple behind-the-scenes pictures and live shots. The important thing is that your photos and artwork look like they belong together, and that your profiles match.
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A closer look at the work behind each part of your plan.
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