Guides / Release checklist 22/08/2026 2 min read Release checklist Everything between a finished mix and a song people can find, in the order it has to happen. Tick these in order. The ones near the top take the longest, which is why records announced for Friday so often come out the Friday after. Four weeks out 5 steps Start over Master delivered as a 24-bit WAV, and you have listened to it on a phone speaker, in a car, and on earbuds Your beat license is the right tier for this release and the producer credit line is written down Cover art at 3000 x 3000 px, square, no blur, no text smaller than you can read at thumbnail size Song title, artist name and featured artists spelled exactly as they should appear everywhere, once, in a text file Splits agreed with everyone on the record, in writing Three weeks out 4 steps Start over Uploaded to your distributor with a release date at least 21 days away, so the song can be pitched to playlists ISRC and UPC codes saved somewhere you will find them again Lyrics submitted or ready to submit Spotify for Artists and Apple Music for Artists access confirmed Two weeks out 3 steps Start over Pre-save link live and pinned Pitched on Spotify for Artists with genre, mood and a two-line description that a human would read Three pieces of content cut from the song: a 15-second clip, a lyric snippet, the story of how it was made Release week 4 steps Start over Song checked on every store the morning it drops: art, title, credits, audio Producer credit posted with the song: in the caption, the description, the credits field Link in bio replaced, pinned posts replaced Thank the people on the record, by name, publicly The week after 3 steps Start over Save the streaming numbers from day 7 somewhere; you will want the baseline later Reply to everyone who shared it Decide what the next record is before this one stops moving KEEP READING More guides All guides 22/08/2026 Song structure cheat sheet 22/08/2026 How to send vocals to an engineer 22/08/2026 How trackouts actually work