Release terms, explained plainly
Releasing music comes with a vocabulary nobody teaches you. These are the terms independent artists meet first — written the way you'd want a friend who has released records to explain them.
Start here
- Distribution
What Is a UPC Code?
A unique numeric code assigned to an entire release (single, EP, or album) that identifies it across stores and streaming platforms, similar to a barcode on a physical product.
- Distribution
What Is an ISRC Code?
A unique identifier assigned to a specific recording of a song, used to track plays, streams, and royalties for that exact version, distinct from the song's UPC.
- Distribution
What Is Metadata in Music Distribution?
The set of text information attached to your release, like song title, artist name, genre, and release date, that DSPs use to display and organize your music correctly.
- Distribution
What Is a Pre-Save?
A promotional tool that lets fans save an upcoming release to their streaming library or playlist before it's even out, so it appears automatically on release day.
- Planning
Release Checklist
A running list of every task that needs to happen before a song can go live, used to make sure nothing gets missed.
- Business
Royalties
The recurring payments you earn every time your song gets streamed, sold, played on the radio, or used somewhere else.
- Business
Mechanical Royalties
The royalty paid to songwriters whenever their composition is reproduced, including every stream and download.
- Business
Performance Royalties
The royalty paid to songwriters when their composition is performed publicly, including radio, live shows, and some streaming plays.
- Business
Publishing
The business of owning, registering, and collecting income from the songwriting side of your music, separate from the recording.
- Business
Split Sheets
A simple written document that records who wrote what percentage of a song, signed before disputes can happen.
- Business
PROs (Performing Rights Organizations)
The organizations, like ASCAP and BMI, that collect performance royalties on behalf of songwriters and pay them out.
- Distribution
What Is a Music Distributor?
The company that takes your finished song and delivers it to Spotify, Apple Music, and every other store or streaming service.
- Distribution
What Are DSPs?
DSP stands for Digital Service Provider, the industry term for streaming platforms and download stores like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
- Distribution
What Is DistroKid?
A widely used digital distributor known for its subscription-based pricing and fast turnaround from upload to release across DSPs.
- Distribution
What Is CD Baby?
One of the earliest and longest-running digital music distributors, offering artists a one-time payment model with no subscription required.
- Distribution
What Is TuneCore?
A long-established digital distributor offering distribution, publishing administration, and other artist services, historically priced per release.
- Distribution
What Is a Release Date?
The specific day (and often time) you choose for your music to go live on streaming platforms and stores, set in advance through your distributor.
- Planning
Release Timeline
The full schedule of everything that needs to happen between now and release day, and after it, laid out with dates.
- Marketing
Playlist Pitching
Playlist pitching is the process of submitting your song to curators, whether that is Spotify itself or independent playlist owners, hoping to get added.
- Marketing
Editorial Playlists
Editorial playlists are playlists curated by a streaming platform's own staff, like Spotify's 'New Music Friday,' rather than by an individual listener.
- Marketing
EPK (Electronic Press Kit)
An EPK is a one-page digital packet with your bio, photos, music links, and contact info, built so anyone from a journalist to a booker can learn about you fast.
- Streaming Platforms
Streaming Payouts
How and roughly how much artists actually get paid for streams, and why the amount per stream varies so much between platforms.
- Streaming Platforms
Monthly Listeners
The number of unique people who played at least one of your songs on Spotify in the last 28 days, shown on your artist profile.
- Production
Mastering
The final audio polish applied to a finished mix, making it loud, consistent, and ready for release across all platforms.
- Artwork
Cover Art
The square image that represents your song or album everywhere it's sold or streamed.
There are over 160 more articles inside Diamond Release, covering distribution, artwork, royalties, streaming, and live performance.
Learn it while you use it
Diamond Release explains each term at the moment your release actually needs it, inside a dated plan for your single, EP, or album.