The Release Checklist for the Team Behind the Artist

Every release has one artist at the center and several people beside them. The producer finishes the sound, the manager holds the calendar, a designer shapes the cover, and partners carry the story to listeners.

When each step has a name and a date next to it, the artist can focus on the music while the team moves the release forward together. The checklist below follows that rhythm, from eight weeks before release day to the end of the first month.

Every team is shaped differently, so treat this as a starting point and agree on it together.

One owner per step, and one shared date for everything. That is the whole system.

1. Approve the final master together, and keep the approved file in one shared folder.
2. Finish the cover art. Most stores ask for a square image of at least 3000 by 3000 pixels.
3. Agree on the release title, the spelling of every name, and the language of the song.
4. Write down every credit: performers, songwriters, producers, and the engineers who mixed and mastered.
5. Agree on the songwriting shares in writing, signed by every writer.

1. Choose the release day and submit the release, so the stores have time to prepare it.
2. Update the artist's profiles on every service: photo, short biography and links.
3. Pitch the song to the editorial teams of the streaming services. Spotify, for example, asks for a pitch at least seven days before release, and earlier gives the song more room.
4. Plan the story: three or four moments to share, from the studio to release day.
5. Film a few short videos with the song, ready to post in the first week.

• Share the song on release day from the artist's channels, then from the team's.
• Thank every playlist curator, creator and partner who shares it.
• Read the first numbers daily: listeners, saves, and where the plays come from.
• Post the short videos through the week, and answer the people who respond.

At the end of the first month, sit together and read what the release taught you. Which cities are growing, which videos travelled, which playlists brought new listeners. Write down three things to repeat on the next release and one thing to try for the first time.

The earnings from the release arrive a few months after the plays, once the stores report to the distributor. Marking that month in the shared calendar keeps the whole team ready to read the statement together.

SoundEX.ai gives managers, producers and partners one shared view of the releases, audiences and results they build together. The artist stays at the center, and every person beside them sees the same release, the same numbers and the same next step.