Release planning checklist: week by week

Most release problems are not creative. They’re a missing credit, a cover that arrives late, a pitch that was never sent or a video that isn’t ready on release day. A checklist won’t write the song, but it will protect it.

Timings vary by distributor, platform and country, so treat these as a starting point and check the current requirements of each service you use.

8+ weeks before release

• Final master approved, plus any versions you need (clean, instrumental, radio edit).
• Release date chosen — check it doesn’t collide with other releases from the same artist or label.
• Metadata and credits: title, artists, featured artists, songwriters, producers, genre, language, explicit flag.
• Codes: ISRC for each track and UPC/EAN for the release (your distributor can usually assign them).
• Splits agreed and signed by everyone involved — and adding up to 100% (use a split sheet).
• Cover art in the required size and format, with no text or logos the stores don’t allow.
• Owner for each task: who does what, by when.

6–4 weeks before

• Deliver to your distributor early. Many recommend several weeks of lead time so stores and editors can see the release.
• Editorial pitch: on Spotify for Artists you can pitch one unreleased song; the current rule is at least 7 days before release, but earlier gives editors more time. After release, Release Radar and the personalized playlists take over: see how the Spotify algorithm works.
• Pre-save or pre-add link ready.
• Press plan: media list, press release, photos, bio and a private streaming link — all of it in your EPK.
• Video plan: music video, visualizer or lyric video — and who makes it. With AI: TONTRIA Motion Studio edits the music video from your footage and TONTRIA Clips makes the lyric video.
• Content plan: what you will post each day of the release week.

3–1 weeks before

• Release assets: coming soon, countdown and out-now pieces for stories and feeds, and the Spotify Canvas.
• Short clips: teasers from the studio, the video or rehearsals for Shorts, TikTok and Reels.
• Lyric video scheduled for release day if you have one.
• Press follow-ups and interviews confirmed.
• Artist profiles updated: photos, bio and links on streaming services and social media.
• Team briefing: everyone knows the date, the hour and their role.

Release week

• Check the release is live and correct on each platform (title, credits, cover, explicit tag).
• Publish the out-now pieces and the video; share the smart link everywhere.
• Thank playlist curators, media and partners who supported it.
• Keep posting clips — one strong video is better than ten rushed ones, but the first days matter.

After release

• Review results after one and four weeks: streams, saves, playlists, audience by country.
• Keep the release alive with new clips: live versions, interviews, behind the scenes.
• Register the works with your collecting society and check the splits are correctly reflected (how royalties work).
• Write down what worked and what didn’t, while you still remember.

Make it repeatable

The best teams don’t start from zero each time: they copy the plan of the last release and adjust dates. In TONTRIA MGMT every release has its own plan with a checklist, owners and deadlines, and you can ask TONTRIA “what’s missing for this release?” at any time.

For the content side — clips, lyric videos, release assets and the Canvas — TONTRIA Clips creates them from one link. And if you want to see how AI fits into the rest of the work, read how AI is changing music management.