The independent artist release checklist
A six-week checklist covering delivery, metadata, artwork, store pages, DJ outreach, launch day, and follow-up.
Release campaigns become stressful when delivery, creative work, and promotion happen at the same time. A checklist protects the launch date by moving irreversible decisions earlier.
Use this timeline as a starting point. Distributor lead times, label approvals, premieres, and store requirements may require more room.
What matters
- Lock the master and metadata before promotional work begins.
- Confirm delivery requirements with the distributor instead of assuming.
- Create several asset formats from one coherent visual system.
- Reserve time after launch for support and reporting.
Six to five weeks before release
Finalize the audio package and establish one source of truth for release information. Last-minute title or version changes create broken links and mismatched assets.
- Approve masters and alternate versions
- Confirm artist spelling, featured artists, writers, label, genre, and rights
- Choose the release date and primary download destinations
- Prepare artwork in the distributor's required dimensions
Four to three weeks before release
Deliver the release and build the campaign kit. Write copy for the listener rather than a biography of the production process.
- Submit through the distributor and save delivery confirmations
- Create vertical, square, and landscape assets
- Prepare private listening links for outreach
- Segment DJs, media, collaborators, and existing supporters
Two weeks through release day
Verify every public destination as soon as it becomes available. Begin with direct, relevant outreach, then increase public frequency as the release approaches.
- Check artwork, audio, title, version, label, and genre on each store
- Send concise personalized outreach
- Schedule release-day posts and email
- Keep space for spontaneous support and corrections
The week after release
Follow up once with people who reasonably expected a reminder. Thank supporters individually when possible. Record useful results while the context is fresh.
Separate controllable outcomes, such as store-page visits and replies, from external outcomes, such as editorial placement. Use the review to improve the next release rather than judging the track only by rank.