Releasing music today is both an art and a business. With countless songs uploaded every day, making your release stand out is more challenging than ever. To achieve success, artists must understand and strategically manage the various components of a release. This guide will walk you through the essential steps you need to take to ensure your release gets noticed, gains traction, and reaches the right audience.
1. Cover Art: The visual identity of your music
Cover art is the first thing potential listeners see when they come across your music. It’s not just a visual representation; it’s an extension of your brand and an invitation to your world as an artist. A well-designed cover art can make a significant impact by grabbing attention and piquing curiosity.
When designing your cover art, consider the following:
- Consistency: Your cover art should align with your overall branding as an artist. It should reflect the themes, tone, and style of your music.
- Professional Design: High-quality artwork is important, but it also varies by genre. Different genres come with their own visual cues and styles, so understanding what’s expected in your genre can make or break a cover.
EDM: Bold, abstract graphic design is key. High-energy visuals with futuristic or geometric patterns are common, reflecting the fast-paced and electronic nature of the music.
R&B: A darker, moody cover is typically expected. The use of muted tones, shadows, or minimalist designs conveys the emotional depth and intimacy of the genre.
Pop: A high-quality, polished photo of the artist is standard. Pop covers often showcase the artist’s image prominently, reflecting their personal brand and the upbeat, mainstream appeal of the genre.
Each genre has its own expectations, so it’s important to align your cover art with what resonates most in your musical style while maintaining your unique artistic voice.
- Format Requirements: Different platforms have specific requirements for cover art size, resolution, and format. Typically, 3000×3000 pixels in JPEG or PNG format with a resolution of 72 dpi is the industry standard.
Your cover art is your first impression—make it count.
2. Visuals: Focus on What Makes Sense for Your Growth
Visuals are a key component in promoting your music, but it’s important to be strategic, especially as an emerging artist. Instead of jumping straight to full-length music videos, consider where your time and money will have the most impact.
- Spotify Canvas: These short 8-second video loops are cool, but they work best when they promote an existing music video. If you don’t have a video to highlight, it’s better to save your resources for something more impactful.
- Music Videos: While music videos are a great visual extension of your song, they can be expensive and time-consuming. As a small artist, it’s important to weigh the financial return. If a full-length video doesn’t make sense right now, focus on creating high-quality short-form content (like Instagram Reels or TikTok videos), which can often provide more reach and engagement.
- Short-Form Content: Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are great for DIY artists because they allow you to create engaging, bite-sized content that reaches new listeners without the massive budget of a traditional music video.
3. Distribution: Getting your music to the world
Getting your music on streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal requires a distributor. A music distributor acts as the middleman between you and these platforms, ensuring your music is available for streaming or purchase.
Here’s how to approach distribution:
- Choose a Distributor: Some popular distributors include DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, and Amuse.
- Digital vs. Physical: Most artists today focus on digital distribution, but if you plan to release vinyl or CDs, you’ll need to factor in physical distribution options as well. Physical formats are now considered more of a merchandise item than a primary way to distribute music. Offering vinyl or CDs makes sense if you have an older fanbase that prefers physical media, or a fanbase large enough where these formats can function as collector’s items or special merch.
- Pre-release Strategy: When it comes to releasing music, the strategy you use for distribution depends on where you are in your career. Different artists will need different approaches.
Small Artists: If you’re just starting out, don’t stress too much about a pre-release strategy. Focus your energy on post-release promotion, where building momentum after the track drops will have a greater impact.
Larger Artists: Pre-release strategy is essential for you. Pre-saves on platforms like Spotify can help secure placements on major playlists and even improve your chances of charting. The buzz you build beforehand sets the stage for a successful release.
A solid distribution plan ensures your music is available to your audience wherever they listen.
4. Playlisting: The key to exposure
Playlists are one of the most effective ways to get your music in front of new listeners. Spotify and Apple Music are the two primary platforms where playlisting can boost your visibility, but smaller platforms like Tidal or Deezer also offer valuable opportunities.
- Editorial Playlists: These are curated by the platforms’ in-house teams and are usually genre or mood-specific. Getting your song added to an editorial playlist can result in hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of streams.
- Algorithmic Playlists: Platforms like Spotify create personalized playlists for users based on their listening habits. Songs on playlists like Discover Weekly or Release Radar are selected based on algorithms that analyze listener behavior.
- User-Curated Playlists: Independent playlist curators often have large followings and can help boost your song’s reach. You can submit your music to curators via social media, websites, or platforms like SubmitHub.
Important Note: Be cautious of playlisting services. No legitimate playlist service can guarantee a specific number of playlist placements. If someone says they can, they’re likely scamming you. You have to pay-to-play.
Playlists are an essential tool, you can learn further in our blog post about The Power of Playlisting.
5. Social Media Marketing: Building your audience
Out of all the steps in releasing music, social media marketing is the most crucial. It’s often the first way people discover you as an artist and your brand. Whether you’re posting teasers, engaging with fans, or sharing behind-the-scenes content, your presence on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter is where the buzz about your music starts.
Here’s how to maximize your social media presence:
- Build Engagement: Interact with your audience daily. Reply to comments, create polls, and share stories to build a sense of community around your music.
- Consistency: Post regularly and interact with your followers. Consistent engagement keeps your audience interested and invested in your journey as an artist.
- Content Variety: Mix it up! Post performance snippets, personal stories, behind-the-scenes videos, and music previews to keep your audience engaged.
- Use Trends: Keep an eye on trending content in your niche, like viral challenges or popular hashtags, and integrate them into your content to increase visibility.
Social media marketing it’s about creating a community that supports you and your music over time.
6. Registering with a PRO: Final step
After your music has been released, the last thing you should do is register your song with a Performance Rights Organization (PRO), such as ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC.
- Timing: Registering a song with a PRO should happen after it’s been released. This ensures that when your music is played on the radio, used in TV shows, or performed live, you get paid royalties.
- Why It Matters: PROs track public performances of your music and ensure you get paid when your song is played or streamed in public spaces.
By making registration the final step, you’ll have peace of mind knowing your music is fully protected and you’re set up to collect royalties.
Releasing music today involves much more than simply recording and uploading a song. By focusing on these steps you can give your release the best chance to succeed. Each of these elements plays a critical role in getting your music heard and ensuring it has the potential to reach new listeners while protecting your creative rights.
The music industry is vast and competitive, but with the right strategy and dedication, you can make your mark and build a sustainable career. Whether you’re an indie artist or signed to a label, understanding the basics of a music release is the first step to turning your passion into a successful endeavor.