The 6-Week Pre-Release Checklist. The timeline we run with artists on our own label, cut down to what you can do yourself.

Most releases are decided before release day.

If your single is uploaded late, pitched late, or announced the week it drops, the algorithm has nothing to work with.

This checklist walks you through it one week at a time.

What’s inside:

When to upload, and why 4 weeks out matters. It gives Spotify editors time to actually hear your song.
The Spotify and Apple Music pitch deadlines. Miss Spotify’s and your own followers might not get your song in their Release Radar.
How to announce it, week by week. Teasers, pre-saves and what to ask fans for, so you’re not just posting “new music soon.”
Ads and outreach prep. Get your targeting, video ads and curator list ready to launch on day one.
Your release-day game plan. What to do in the first 48 hours, which set the tone.
Bonus: the 5 mistakes that sink a release.

Want us to run it for you? Release Optimization covers the 6 weeks before release and the 6 weeks after, when most of the growth happens.