How To Release Music On Spotify

Key Takeaways

• Master the upload process by choosing a music distributor like DistroKid, TuneCore, or CD Baby to get your music on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and other streaming platforms. Most offer unlimited uploads with annual fees or a one-time fee per release—your distributor handles delivery to digital music stores and collects streaming royalties while you maintain full control.
• Set your release date 3-4 weeks out to execute properly. Submit your editorial playlists pitch through Spotify for Artists 2-3 weeks early for playlist consideration, launch pre-save campaigns 2 weeks before release to build momentum, and use the first 28 days post-release to trigger algorithmic playlists like Discover Weekly that drive Spotify streams to new audiences.
• Release singles every 4-6 weeks instead of albums to maximize algorithmic visibility. Each new release starts a new 28-day time window for Release Radar, keeps you appearing consistently for existing followers and engaged fans, and gives independent artists more chances to reach music fans without needing a record label or unlimited marketing budget.
• Track performance through Spotify for Artists’ detailed analytics to see which traffic sources drive listeners: Release Radar reaches existing followers and fans who engaged with your music, Discover Weekly or Spotify Radio signal algorithmic pickup, and playlist placement shows fan and curator support. Use this data to optimize your upcoming release strategy and reach more streams on Spotify and other streaming services worldwide.

When you upload music to Spotify, you need more than just a great song. You need a distributor to handle technical delivery, clean audio files that meet platform standards, proper metadata to make your music discoverable, and a strategic plan to reach listeners beyond your immediate circle.

Timeline matters more than most artists realize. Editorial pitching should have at least 7 days of lead time, but 2-3 weeks gives you better odds of consideration. Pre-save campaigns work best with 2-4 weeks of runway to build real momentum.

Choose A Release Plan And Timeline

You have three options when you release music: single, EP, or album. Singles typically win for growth, and the math backs this up.

Spotify’s algorithm rewards frequent releases. Just understand that albums don’t get 10x the algorithmic boost of a single. Each track still competes individually for Spotify playlist spots and algorithm triggers, so you’re essentially releasing multiple songs that divide attention rather than one song that concentrates it.

Albums and EPs make sense when you have a concept that needs multiple tracks or when you’re specifically targeting existing fans who want more content at once. The key point: you get Release Radar only once per release, and you can only pitch one song per release to Spotify’s editorial playlist team—whether that’s a single, EP, or album. So it’s highly beneficial to release more often, and the best way to release more often without actually making more music is to release singles.

Basic timeline for how to upload music to Spotify:

• 3-4 weeks before release date: Finalize audio and artwork, set up distribution account
• 2-3 weeks before: Upload your music, schedule release, wait for Spotify to ingest it
• 1-2 weeks before: Once track appears as “Upcoming” in Spotify for Artists, submit editorial pitch, launch pre-save campaign, start teaser content on social
• Release week: Announce across all channels, drive listeners, saves and playlist adds

Pitching becomes available as soon as the track shows up in Spotify for Artists as “Upcoming” and remains open right up until release day. It’s simply a recommendation to pitch no later than 7 days before the release date.Submitting 2-3 weeks early gives you better odds of being reviewed before your release week hits. Once your release goes live, pitching closes for that track.

Prep Your Audio And Visuals to Release Music on Spotify

Spotify requires WAV or FLAC files at 16-bit/44.1kHz or higher. MP3s usually work but won’t meet quality standards if your distributor actually checks.

Your mastering engineer typically delivers -14 LUFS integrated loudness, which matches Spotify’s normalization target. Louder doesn’t help here—Spotify normalizes playback volume automatically.

File naming matters. Use clean track titles: “Song Title.wav” works well. 

Cover art and album artwork specifications to aim for:

• 3000 x 3000 pixels (Spotify recommends this for high-resolution displays)
• JPG or PNG format only
• RGB color mode, not CMYK
• Required: JPG or PNG format
• Recommended: RGB color mode (CMYK may work but RGB is safer)
• Style considerations: White borders, small text, and unclear faces may affect professional appearance but typically don’t cause rejection

Common rejection reasons include blurry images from upscaling low-res files, pixelated text, stolen artwork that violates copyright, images with trademark violations, and artwork that misleads about content or artist identity.

Optional assets:

• Canvas clips: 3-8 second looping vertical videos (720 x 1080 or 1080 x 1920 pixels, MP4 format, under 15MB)
• Lyrics: Can be submitted through Spotify for Artists or through select distributors
• Social media visuals: 15-30 second clips for Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts

Get Distribution Set Up

A distributor uploads your music to Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms. Music distributors handle the technical delivery to digital music stores and streaming services, manage metadata formatting, collect royalties from multiple platforms, and route payments to you.

What a distributor does:

• Delivers audio files and metadata to streaming platforms
• Generates ISRC and UPC codes if you don’t have them
• Collects streaming royalties from all platforms
• Provides reporting on streams, playlist placements, and listener demographics

What a distributor does NOT do:

• Promote your music (you handle that entirely)
• Guarantee playlist placements or streams
• Control Spotify’s algorithm decisions

Distribution Models

Annual subscription model:

• DistroKid ($22.99/year for unlimited releases with 1 artist)
• TuneCore ($14.99-49.99/year for unlimited releases)
• Amuse ($23.99-59.99/year for unlimited releases)
• Pay upfront, keep 100% of royalties

Pay-per-release model:

• CD Baby (single = $9.99 per release)
• Pay once, keep 100% of royalties forever
• Works well if you release infrequently

Label services:

• AWAL (invitation-only)
• Provide additional marketing support
• Take a larger percentage of royalties

For a comprehensive comparison of distributors with detailed feature breakdowns, Ari Herstand maintains an updated guide at Ari’s Take that covers fees, payout schedules, platform support, and other differentiators across 17+ distribution services.

Setup process:

1. Create your account and link payment information
2. Upload your artist identity verification
3. Connect Spotify for Artists using the email address your distributor uses
4. Set up team access if needed
5. Add split payment details if collaborating with others

Connect Spotify for Artists early because you need access to editorial pitching, which only becomes available after you claim your artist profile.

Handle Metadata The Right Way

Metadata determines how your music appears on Spotify and whether listeners can find it in search.

Track titles, featured artists, and version naming:

• Keep track titles clean: “Song Title” works, “Song Title (Official Audio)” clutters search results
• Spell featured artists exactly as they appear on Spotify: “Artist Name (feat. Featured Artist)”
• Use version tags when necessary: “(Remix)”, “(Acoustic)”, “(Live)”

ISRC and UPC codes:

• ISRC identifies individual tracks, UPC identifies the release
• Your distributor usually generates these automatically
• If you already have an ISRC from a previous distributor, use the same code to maintain streaming history

Credits:

Can be added through Spotify for Artists after release. Include primary songwriter, producer, mixing engineer, and mastering engineer if applicable.

Genre, mood, language, explicit content, and territory choices:

• Pick the most accurate genre option, not the most popular
• Language should be set to the primary language of your lyrics
• Explicit content must be marked accurately
• Territory restrictions default to worldwide

Avoiding metadata mistakes:

Duplicate artist profiles happen when your artist name spelling changes between releases. “The Band Name” versus “Band Name” creates two separate profiles. Keep your artist name spelling consistent across all releases.

Upload And Schedule The Release

Upload process:

1. Select distribution platforms
2. Select release type (single, EP, or album)
3. Choose release date (must be at least 2 days in the future, but 2-4 weeks recommended)
4. Enter track titles and featured artist information
5. Upload cover artwork
6. Upload audio files
7. Set genre, mood, language, and explicit content tags
8. Review everything carefully before submitting

Set your release date in your local time zone. Spotify releases go live at midnight in each listener’s time zone around the world, creating a rolling global release.

Quality control before submitting:

• Listen to the final uploaded file on headphones
• Check that track order matches your intended sequence
• Verify featured artist spelling matches their existing Spotify profile exactly
• Confirm cover art displays correctly at thumbnail size
• Review release date and time zone settings

Most distributors take 2-5 business days to process and deliver your release to Spotify. Schedule releases with buffer time built in for unexpected issues.

Claim And Polish Spotify For Artists

Spotify for Artists gives you access to analytics, editorial pitching, profile customization, and promotional tools.

Verification process:

1. Go to artists.spotify.com and search for your artist name
2. Select your profile and click “Claim this profile”
3. Click the link to verify ownership
4. Set up your profile and account settings

Once verified, polish your profile to convert casual listeners into followers. For detailed guidance on optimizing your artist profile, including specific recommendations for profile images, bio copy, social links, and Artist Pick strategy, check out our complete guide to setting up your Spotify for Artists profile.

Key elements to focus on: upload high-resolution images (header and profile photo), write a concise bio describing your sound in concrete terms, add social links you actively use, include merch and tour links if applicable, and pin an Artist Pick to feature your newest release or important content.

 

Pitch The Release

Spotify editorial pitching happens through Spotify for Artists and gives you one shot at getting your track added to curated editorial playlists.

How it works:

• You get one submission per release
• The editorial team reviews based on genre fit, quality, story, and marketing plan
• Placements can happen on release day or weeks later
• No guarantee of placement—most submissions don’t get added

What to write in the pitch:

• Genre selection: Be accurate to the specific subgenre
• Sound-alike artists: List 3-5 artists who genuinely sound like you
• Story behind the song: 2-3 sentences about what inspired the track
• Marketing plan: Describe what you’re doing to promote (Instagram ads, TikTok content series, email list, pre-save campaign results)

Submit 2-3 weeks before your release date for better odds of review. For more detailed guidance on the complete release process, check Spotify’s official release guide.

Playlist strategy beyond editorial:

• Independent curators: Run genre-specific playlists with 1,000 to 500,000 followers. Reach out with: track link, one sentence about the sound, and why it fits their playlist
• Tools: SubmitHub and Groover connect artists with curators
• User playlists: Every playlist add signals engagement to Spotify’s system
• Your own playlists: Create a playlist featuring your new release alongside 10-15 similar tracks

For a deeper dive into building your own playlist for promotion, check out our complete playlist promotion guide.

Build Pre-Release Momentum

Pre-release momentum determines how many people show up on release day to stream, save, and add your track to playlists.

Teaser content timeline:

• 4 weeks before: Announce release date and share cover artwork
• 3 weeks before: Post 15-second clip of the hook or chorus
• 2 weeks before: Share behind-the-scenes studio footage or story about writing the song
• 1 week before: Push pre-save link heavily and create countdown content

Pre-save and pre-add setup:

Pre-save campaigns let fans authorize Spotify to automatically save your track to their library on release day. Hypeddit offers lifetime pre-saves that pre-save all of an artist’s future releases automatically. This is a game-changer compared to traditional pre-save tools that only work for one release at a time. Put your artist lifetime pre-save link in your Instagram bio, TikTok bio, and other social profiles permanently so every new follower can opt in once and support all your future releases.

Where to place the pre-save link:

• Use your lifetime pre-save link in your Instagram and TikTok bio permanently
• Use Instagram Stories with link sticker multiple times per day
• Add to TikTok video captions and pinned comments
• Create Twitter pinned tweet
• Update Facebook posts and page description
• Send email newsletter dedicated to the release
• Post to YouTube community tab (if 1k+ subscribers)

Email and SMS strategy:

Send 2 emails: pre-save announcement 7-10 days before release, and release day announcement on the morning of release. SMS works for smaller lists—send one text on release day with the Spotify link.

Launch Week Actions

Any song can trigger the Spotify algorithm at any time—it all depends on the activity and results (mostly listeners, streams and fan engagement) within a 28-day time window. What happens when you release is that it might be easiest to trigger the algorithm because you’re getting Release Radar, so there are some streams and listeners coming that increase overall results and popularity score already.

Announce across channels:

• Instagram: Post carousel with Spotify link in bio, plus Stories with link sticker
• TikTok: Create short video featuring the hook with link in caption and comments
• Twitter: Post announcement tweet with Spotify link and pin it
• Facebook: Post with cover art, Spotify embed, and call-to-action
• YouTube: Use community post with link (if 1k+ subscribers)
• Email: Send release day email to your full list

Use one consistent Hypeddit Smart Link across all channels to get centralized click tracking and conversion data that shows you which platforms actually drive streams.

Drive saves, follows, and playlist adds:

Give specific playlist suggestions rather than generic requests. Instead of “Please save my song,” say “This fits in chill acoustic playlists, late-night driving playlists, or anything with Phoebe Bridgers and Bon Iver.” When fans save your track, it shows up in their “Liked Songs” folder on release day. Saves and playlist adds signal engagement to Spotify’s algorithm more than passive streams.

Content throughout the week:

• Post 2-3 Instagram Stories per day showing reactions, behind-the-scenes moments, and lyric highlights
• Create 3-5 TikTok videos using different angles
• Host a short live session on release day

Switch your Spotify Artist Pick to feature the new track and keep it highlighted for at least 2 weeks.

Post-Release Growth Plan

Release week is just the beginning. The next 2-4 weeks determine whether your track reaches beyond your existing audience.

Keep posting new angles for 2-4 weeks:

• Create lyric breakdown videos
• Record acoustic or stripped-down versions
• Share fan reactions or covers (with credit)
• Post playlist updates
• Celebrate milestones (1,000 streams, first playlist add)

Use performance data:

Check Spotify for Artists analytics to see which traffic sources are driving streams. If Spotify Radio or Discover Weekly are driving significant streams, your track is getting algorithmic pickup. To understand exactly what metrics trigger algorithmic playlists, read our guide on how to crack the Spotify algorithm.

Curator outreach:

Many independent curators include their contact info (either an email address or an Instagram handle for DMs) in their playlist description. Keep messages short and specific: “Hey [Curator Name], I’m [Your Name] and I make [genre]. My new track [Song Title] just released and I think it would fit well on your [Playlist Name]. Here’s the link: [Spotify Link].”

Reach out to 10-20 curators per week and personalize each message.

Paid ads:

Running paid ads amplifies your reach and accelerates growth. Ads are the holy grail for artists who want big results but have little time and no massive social media following. Ads skip over the exhausting content grind and reach real fans faster without that hard work. 

Start with $5/day targeting fans of your genre and run ads for at least 2 weeks. Check Spotify for Artists to see if there’s clear cause and effect between your ad spend and increases in monthly listeners, saves, and playlist-adds. If ads are driving growth and monthly listeners are compounding, increase budget to $10-15/day. 

The beauty of ads: they work while you sleep, they reach targeted music fans who actually care about your genre, and they build momentum that feeds the algorithm. You’re not gambling on virality—you’re investing in predictable, scalable growth.

Measure And Iterate

Spotify for Artists provides detailed analytics to understand what’s working.

Track key metrics:

• Saves: Higher save rates signal that listeners have a stronger connection with your music and want to hear your track again
• Repeat stream ratio: Streams divided by listeners shows how many times each listener played your song on average. Higher ratios mean genuine engagement beyond passive listening   
• Playlist sources: Shows which playlists are driving streams

Track traffic sources:

Important note: Spotify doesn’t share data on traffic attribution, so you cannot tell in Spotify for Artists if streams came from Instagram versus TikTok versus ads for example. If you market your song in multiple ways simultaneously, attribution is nearly impossible unless you have one post blow up to thousands of views and see a corresponding spike in Spotify on the same day, or you’re only running ads and can directly correlate budget increases with listener increases. Otherwise, 99% of the time, you won’t know exactly what drove your streams – unless you’re using a single promotion method only. If you’re using Hypeddit Smart Links, you can see traffic sources broken down by platform showing which promotion channels generated clicks. This doesn’t tell you which clicks converted to streams, but it shows which channels drive the most traffic to your music.

Document what worked:

After the first 4 weeks, write down:

• Which content formats got the most engagement
• Which promotion channels drove the most streams
• Which playlists added your track and what you said in your pitch
• Total ad spend and how many followers or monthly listeners you gained

This documentation becomes your playbook for the next release.

The Time Scarcity Problem

You have the process now. The challenge isn’t knowledge, it’s execution. Most independent artists spend 5-10 hours just learning Meta Ads Manager before they can even launch their first campaign. Pre-save campaigns require setting up landing pages, connecting multiple streaming platforms, capturing emails, and tracking conversions across different systems.

The math doesn’t work: 15 hours setting up promotion tools + 10 hours learning ad platforms + ongoing campaign management = time you don’t have while also making music, working your day job, and maintaining relationships.

How Hypeddit Solves This

Hypeddit consolidates your release promotion into one platform. Pre-saves, smart links, download gates, and AI-powered ad campaigns work together seamlessly.

Set up your first campaign in 5 minutes. Choose your song, upload cover art, set your budget to $5/day, and launch. The system handles targeting decisions, creative generation, and campaign optimization automatically.

Your pre-save link works for Spotify, Apple Music, and email capture in one URL. Your smart link tracks every click by traffic source automatically. Your download gates turn free content into follower growth automatically.

The difference: professional-level promotion without the professional-level time investment.

Start with Hypeddit’s 7-day free trial to test the platform with zero risk. Set up one pre-save campaign for your next release. Launch one $5/day ad campaign targeting sound-alike artists. Track results in your dashboard alongside Spotify for Artists data.

Try Hypeddit Free for 7 Days — No credit card required.