How To Release Music in 2023
Dropping your next song or EP sounds like fun, but if you want to make a buzz with it in the media, many pieces need to go into place. It’s not just about ‘having the money’ for it but assembling a custom release strategy. Learning how to release music in 2023 is necessary to build your exposure and fanbase.
Though this process takes time, knowledge, and discipline, the results are far beyond compare to ‘just posting random stuff’ on your social media. Playlist placement alone isn’t a release plan or a marketing strategy. Even if your release strategy is simple, having all of the right tools, and meeting the deadlines (and committing to them) will allow your music to follow through beautifully.
As 2023 is coming up around the corner, use this guide as a resource to confirm your 2023 release checklist!
2023 Music Release Checklist
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! One of our favorite release checklists comes from The Creative Unconstrained. As a singer & songwriter signed to a major international record label, Gabrielle created a virtual resource for independent artists to learn the routes of the music industry through honesty and personal experience.
Beginning as an artist building from the ground up just like you, Gabrielle is dedicated to empowering musicians in their respective creative journeys. Her advice has been peer-reviewed by our team, and we adore her 2023 release checklist. It’s a solid resource, especially if you’re just getting started!
Read the checklist highlights below from The Creative Unconstrained and click here to review the rest!
To release your music in 2023, Here are the basics according to our girl, Gabrielle:
- Create a timeline
- Register your publishing
- Register your copyrights
- Work with SoundExchange
- Pick your distribution company
- Clear licenses
- Set up your artist profile on all streaming platforms
- Create an electronic press kit
- Submit your music to the Spotify playlist editors
- Contact influencers on social platforms
- Promote your music with user-generated playlists
- Pitch your songs to music supervisors
- Put your music on Bandcamp
- Rebrand your socials, tease your music video and prepare your audience
- Support your release using your mailing list
- Try a few digital marketing campaigns
- Try these Spotify growth tactics
- Get familiar with your analytics
- Educate yourself on the business of music licensing
Design Your Timeline
Rule of thumb, give yourself 4 months. All great music releases have solid strategies behind them and it’s important to give yourself (and the industry) plenty of time to prepare for your release. Since you may not have the budget or promotion resources as a major label, being strategic about your timeline and sticking to the plan is essential.
Find a calendar and look at the four months leading up to your release date. Every week for those four months, you will need to do important things for a successful release.
A good start is to first begin planning by allowing yourself to have four months to prepare for your release, and choose a Friday in those 4 months. According to Gabrielle, Billboard tracks sales from Friday to Thursday each week, so music released on a Friday has the advantage of having an entire week’s worth of sales and streams.
When You Should Release Your Music:
Once you have picked your Friday, try to avoid releasing your music around the Christmas season (unless it’s a Christmas or holiday-themed song). Try also to avoid releasing your music in March. March is known for the South By Southwest (SXSW). All of the media focuses on the festival during this time, and It might be harder to get coverage of your new release during that month.
Register Your Publishing
A productive note from Gabrielle, for every stream, there are two (general) publishing royalties earned:
A performance royalty and mechanical royalty
In addition to joining a Performance Rights Organization (PRO), sign up with an admin publishing company if you want to collect your money from all these different places with a one-stop registration.
Learn more about the importance of admin publishing companies on Gabrielle’s Checklist.
Visit Ari’s Take to learn more about admin publishing companies and which one is right for you!
Register Your Copyrights
There’s nothing more heartbreaking than having your music stolen, or sampled without credit and payment. If you live in the United States, this is why you need to register your copyrights! Immediate copyright registration allows you to act immediately if someone steals your work.
Doing your copyright registration before a release will also allow you to have your legal fees reimbursed and receive a big chunk of money for every infringement.
Join SoundExchange
If you are an American artist, you need to also register with SoundExchange. Why? Because SoundExchange is the only organization in the United States that collects performance royalties for “noninteractive” digital sound recordings.
And what is that, you may wonder? In a nutshell, it’s SiriusXM radio and Pandora. So whenever someone worldwide listens to your song on Satellite radio, they pay SoundExchange, and then SoundExchange pays you!
To learn more details about receiving all of your royalties, how royalties work, and how to receive royalties outside of the United States, continue reading Gabrielle’s checklist here.
Pick Your Music Distributor
Have you ever wondered how to get your music on Spotify, Apple Music, TikTok, and 100 other platforms? The answer is digital service providers!
Visit Gabrielle’s checklist to learn about different distribution options. By partnering with Intercept Music, you’ll get global distribution, merchandising, AND marketing in a bundle package instead of outsourcing your resources individually!
NOTE: If you used samples that are not royalty-free, you need to clear those samples. If you release a cover, you must also undertake specific steps. Your chosen distributor should be able to help you with these steps. Do not risk it, even if you used a second of someone else’s material!
Set Up Your Artist Profiles
This is an important task. While tedious, you will only have to do this for the first time you release music. Create, optimize, and upload your bio and photos on each platform. Start being active on them as well!
Spotify
Apple Music
Soundcloud
YouTube channel
*Get in touch with your distributor for a list of platforms to optimize.
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