Releasing a single is the first big step towards establishing a successful career in the music business. Turning your recordings into official releases and putting music on streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, or SoundCloud can seem complicated when you’re unfamiliar with the process, but here we’ve made it simple. All musicians follow a similar process and tweak it as they wish, so don’t worry if some things don’t apply to you. Take what is useful and run with it to the Billboard charts!
Here are 8 crucial tips from Groover to make your single release as effective as possible.
1. Choose the Right Song
If you’re coming out with a new album, the track you pick as your single must be a good representation of the rest of your project and be its figurehead. If you’re releasing a standalone single, choose a song of yours that will tease listeners with the direction you’re going with your music. If this is your first release, congrats!
For those who are primarily chasing streams and royalties, it’s wise to choose a song that sounds like it could do well on the radio. Across many genres, radio is where the most royalties are for songwriters, so having a catchy track can up your chances of getting airtime and a bigger paycheck.
2. Plan Your Release Date and Promotion
It is essential to plan in advance in order to have a clear vision of the marketing moves you’ll be implementing. First, plan your release date – this will allow you to work backwards in the rest of your planning. It’s recommended to give yourself at least 2 months to market your single and give your music distribution platform enough time to distribute your song to all online platforms. If you are using the waterfall strategy, for example, make sure to give yourself a significant margin of time between releases as well. This is only is you are releasing a bigger project such as a new album or debut album in its entirety later on.
Once you have your date, create a promotional schedule for when you’ll be announcing the single and encouraging followers to listen. Plan your IG posts, TikToks, Tweets, and content on any other platform so that you can stay organized and on time, avoiding delays and last minute changes. You can go as far as creating the content way ahead of time so it’s ready to go when the time comes!
Note: It’s wise to avoid releasing around big events that garner a lot of social media attention such as public holidays, sporting events, and award shows.
Are you looking to get placed on Spotify playlists? ⬇️
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| Read also: Releasing Music in 2024: 6 Promotion Strategies That Work Right Now
3. Submit to Your Distributor
Your release can’t happen until you submit your new song for music distribution. The only way to get your music online and available on streaming services without a record label is by using online distributors such as CD Baby or Tunecore, which are very easy to use and great for independent artists. When you sign up and begin the submission process, you’ll be able to set a release date. They will often tell you the recommended amount of time to give yourself and them to distribute your song, so make sure to take their own timeline into account. Since you planned in advance, this shouldn’t be a problem.
Note: Your new song will not show up in upcoming releases on Spotify for Artists until it has been submitted for distribution! You will not be able to set up pre-saves or pitch to Spotify playlists until this is done.
4. Set Up a Pre-Save System
Create a pre-order/pre-save system for your song. Spotify loves the data and uses this to gauge how much anticipation your song is garnering, and fans will find your new song in their saved music upon release. This is a great way to play the algorithm and makes it easy for users to listen to your song when it comes out. This can usually be done through the distributor you used, but there are many other online services available to complete the process.
If you have over 5,000 active monthly listeners, you can also create a countdown page on Spotify which creates a banner that will show up on your artist page. This is a new feature and is designed to boost streams for the first week of a release, as well as build excitement in the run up.
5. Plan and Create All Your Visual Assets
Plan any and all visual assets ahead of time to relieve any stress. This can/should include:
- A music video or lyric video
- A canvas (short-form video) for Spotify
- Cover/album art
- Social media content
- Announcement visual
- BTS/”making of” footage
- Reminders
- Short form videos (can use canvas for example)
It is easier to create all of these than you think, and doesn’t require a big budget or team. Album art can be truly anything – an iPhone photo, an AI-generated image, a drawing of yours – that one’s easy! Footage is simple as well, as long as you have a phone. You can also collaborate with artists you like and have them create assets for you. This is a great way to get more eyes on your project as the artist will likely share the work on social media.
These visuals provide more attachment to your music and allow the listener to immerse themselves a little more in the universe of your musical project. It is also a certain proof of quality and shows that you provide consistent work and are dedicated to your craft, which goes beyond the music.
6. Tease on Social Media
To build anticipation, use social media as much as you can. Announce the release date of your single at least a few weeks in advance and stay active until the big day arrives. Post a variety of content across all channels (especially Instagram and TikTok) and cater the content to the platform. Instagram values high-quality, professional-looking imagery, while TikTok favors casual, candid, and consistent videos.
Keep fans on the edge of their seats by posting either a story, picture, or video at least every few days to remind them of the new release. You want them to be excited to listen to your song in its entirety, so tease your audience with snippets of the song and music video.
In order to promote effectively without being redundant and overdoing it, analyze your followers’ activity using Instagram insights to figure out the best times to post.
7. Pitch to Playlists
Getting placements in Spotify playlists greatly increases how many times a song is streamed, especially in the first couple weeks following release. This does wonders for the algorithm, as the data shows the platform that your song is doing well and therefore tries to push it to more listeners. Make sure to pitch your new song to the Spotify editorial team using Spotify for Artists (after you have submitted for distribution). You can find a walkthrough of how to pitch your music here!
8. Reach Out to the Media
How better to garner attention and publicity than to reach out to media outlets? Contact bloggers and online reviewers about your upcoming release and tell them why it’s special by writing a press release. This should include details about your single, the release date, previous music of yours, recent press shots they can use, links to your music and social media, and any accomplishments worth mentioning. Bonus points if you have an EPK to send them so they fully understand the music you make and what brand you’re promoting. Ideally, they’ll love your song and want to promote your music on their platform by writing about it and sharing it with their audience.
It’s not always easy to get answers from the press, which is why Groover has partnered with them. When you create a campaign, you can choose any media outlet you like and they will answer you within 7 days. If they don’t, you get your credits back to use on another curator! Find the industry professional that suits you (media outlet, blog, online radio, playlist, label, manager, publisher, booker, etc.) and give it a go.
To promote your single, send it to the media, labels, professionals of your choice on Groover, guaranteed returns!
– Translated by Betty Gonzalez Gray –
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> Planning your release: The checklist for your next release
> Pre-Save: A new essential tool for artists to promote their music
> Smart links : Share your music all in one place and analyze your fans
> How to analyze Musical Metadata correctly?
> The best tools to know to promote your music