The 6-Week Release Plan

The most common release mistake isn't a bad mix or a weak cover. It's uploading a finished song on Monday and putting it out on Friday. Nobody knows it's coming, no curator has had time to listen, and the song disappears before it has started.

Six weeks is a comfortable runway for an independent single. Long enough to prepare properly, short enough to keep your momentum. Treat the plan below as a template and shift things around to suit your life.

Week 6: Lock the release

• Final master approved and exported in the format your distributor asks for.
• Cover art finished and checked at thumbnail size.
• Credits, songwriters, codes and all other metadata collected in one document.
• Upload to your distributor and choose a release date. Distributors generally recommend delivering at least a few weeks ahead, and earlier is always safer.

Week 5: Build your assets

Write a short paragraph about this song, not your whole career. Choose a few press photos. Create a private streaming link for press and a short vertical clip for social media. Update your EPK so everything lives in one place.

Week 4: Pitch

Once the release shows up in your artist dashboards, submit it for editorial playlist consideration wherever the platform offers that. Then start contacting blogs, independent curators and community radio with short, personal emails. Pitching early matters because writers and presenters plan their coverage in advance.

Weeks 3 and 2: Warm up your audience

• Announce the title and release date.
• Share a pre-save link if your distributor provides one.
• Post snippets, the story behind the lyric, a look at the making-of.
• Send a short note to your mailing list.

Follow up once with anyone who hasn't replied to your pitch. Then let it go.

Week 1: Final checks

Check that titles, artwork and credits appear correctly wherever you can preview them. Double-check the spelling of every name. Prepare your release-day posts and tell friends and family which day matters. Schedule whatever you can, so release day is for talking to people, not fighting with uploads.

Release day and beyond

Share the song everywhere you are active, thank everyone who helped and reply to comments. Then keep going. A release isn't one day, it's the start of several weeks of reminding people the song exists.

The routine in short

1. Week 6: master, artwork, metadata, upload.
2. Week 5: song text, photos, private link, EPK.
3. Week 4: editorial pitch, press and radio pitches.
4. Weeks 3 and 2: announce, pre-save, content, one follow-up.
5. Week 1: checks and scheduled posts.
6. Release day: show up, say thanks, keep sharing.

If six weeks feels impossible this time, keep the order and shorten the gaps. The sequence matters more than the exact dates.