2024 New Music Release Check List

Some Handy Tips to keep you on track

Image thanks to By zamrznutitonovi

Your song is recorded, mixed and mastered. Believe it or not, that was the easy part. So what’s next? We have put together a basic guide to keep you on track when you release your own music.

Next step is to produce your assets.

·        Plan your Photo and Video Shoot.

·        Select your Hero Image.

·        Update your Bio

·        Write your Press Release

·        Design your Release Artwork – Single, EP or Album

Set up your Release Assets Folder and upload to Google Drive or Dropbox

·        Release Artwork

·        Release Press Release

·        Your Music Brand Hero for this Release

·        Your Music Brand Bio for this Release – Release Shout Out (200 words) and Standard (500 words)

·        Your Music Brand Logo for this Release

·        Lyrics PDF

·        One Sheet PDF

·        Release Pitch PDF

·        Release Social Assets

·        WAV and MP3 files

Outline the Drivers in your Release Pitch:

·        Music Video - Highlights, Premieres and Key Features

·        Touring Plans – Pre and Post – Support, Festival and Venue metrics

·        Marketing Spend – Territories, Ad Budget, Mediums, Targets

·        Merchandise – Links, Samples, Offer

·        Video Campaigns – Reels, Lives, Tik Toks – Key Themes and Features – Result Targets

·        Influencer Colabs – Brands, Territories, Spends, Expected Targets

·        Achievement Stats – Brand Reach and Influence, Charting Data, Streaming Metrics, Notable Supports, Highlights, Previous and Current Media Support

·        Out of the Box – Non traditional outlets, activities, metrics and reach

File Formats Alerts:

·        ISRC Code

·        Audio – WAV and MP3

·        Video – MOV – MP4

·        Pitch Docs – PDF

·        Cloud Folders – Correct Sharing Attributes

·        Assets – Zipped files of JPEGS, PNGS and EPS.

·        Track Art Specs – ensure the sizes and resolutions are correct

Social Plan Map:

·        Scope Social Content for Release Campaign – Two Months Out to Two Months In

·        Ensure all Music Brand Names match across platforms

·        Produce your Release Style Guide – Palette Codes, Fonts, Image, Logo Use Guidelines

·        Digital Audit and Update of:

• Social Profiles

• Website

• Link Tree

• Email Signatures

• All DSPs

• All Social and Gig Marketing Platforms

·        Design and Create all Social Assets:

• Cover Pages

• Profiles

• Banners

• Posters

• Stories

• Post Templates

• Release Milestone Tiles (Teasers, Announce, Nomination, Wins, Colabs, Partnerships, Playlist Add, Thank You, Giveaways, Competitions, Flashback, Throwback, Behind the Scenes, Bloopers etc)

·        Schedule Posts in Meta

·        Map out potential Stories and Lives

Release Nuts and Bolts:

·        Release Date – International Date and Time

·        ISRC Code

·        Lyrics

·        Song Length

·        Video Start Time for Sneak Preview

·        Copyright Holder Names

·        Song Writer Names

·        Musician Names

·        Producer Name

·        Mastering Engineer Name

·        Studio Name

·        APRA Number – Artist and Publisher

·        Video Team names – DOP, Actors, Videographer, Crew

·        Credits and Thank you notes

·        Number of people in the act

·        Genre

·        Style

·        Musical Infrastructure

·        APRA Membership Number

Release Videos to Produce:

·        Teasers

·        Announce

·        Pre-Save Alert

·        Song Introduction

·        Story Behind the Song

·        Behind the Scenes

·        Bloopers

·        Official Release Video

·        Lyric Video

·        Set up You Tube Premiere (Optimize your channel to launch)

Release Schedule: - Map and Schedule your Digital Marketing Plan for each Release Milestone below:

2 Months Out

1 Month Out

Two Weeks Out

One Week Out

One Sleep to Go

Release Day

Leverage your Release:

·        Register your track with APRA/AMCOS

·        Pitch for Editorial Playlists in Spotify for Artists

·        Pitch for Editorial Playlists in Apple for Artists

·        Upload Spotify Canvas Video

·        Pre Release on Soundcloud in an Exclusive Promotion

·        Sign up for an app like Link Fire to track your engagement and results

·        Pitch to Playlist Curator sites like Submit Hub

·        Upload your song to JJJ Unearthed

·        Upload your song to AMRAP

·        Register your Lyrics with genius.com and musixmatch.com

·        Register with a Music Data Analytics Tool like Chartmetric.com

·        Create a Playlist on your Spotify profile and make it your Artist Pick

·        Make your release a PRIORITY TRACK on Spotify.

·        Track your release, engagement and data analytics daily

·        Celebrate Bragging rights – promote all release, engagement and data analytic results

·        Celebrate milestones – Release Day, One week post Release, One Month post Release, 6 Months etc

·        Create a Facebook event for every show – add links to your Link Tree

·        List all shows on Bands in Towns and Song Kick and link your Spotify Profile

·        Build your Community either by an Email Database or a Facebook Group. Keep them informed and engaged with exclusive offers.

·        Keep a copy of all Media and Digital metrics for use in the next Release.

• Chart/Number/Date

• Streaming Metrics/Date

• Significant Media Interview/Dates

• Achievement Data

Tools:

• Google Drive

• Google Sheets

• Google Docs

Written by Nichola Burton. I work in partnership with Agents, Artist Managers and Event Producers, who juggle a diverse  range of relationships in the Musoverse, to curate, manage and measure data in systems, experience, creative and content to support the entire Musoverse operation in my enterprise A Little Pitchy Copyright 2024 #musicmeansbusiness