Delivery Deadline
The last possible day you can submit your finished song to your distributor and still hit your chosen release date.
Why this matters
What is it?
A delivery deadline is the date by which your finished song, final artwork, and metadata must be submitted to your distributor in order for it to go live on your chosen release date. Distributors need lead time to send your music to Spotify, Apple Music, and every other platform, and for those platforms to process it.
Most distributors recommend submitting at least seven to fourteen days before release day, though some ask for longer if you want playlist pitching consideration through Spotify for Artists, which often closes even earlier. The exact number varies by distributor, so it's worth checking rather than assuming.
This deadline only works backward from a release date you've already picked. If you don't have a release date yet, you don't have a delivery deadline yet either, which is exactly why picking the date early matters.
A simple example
Why you should care
When you'll use it
Common mistakes
- Assuming 'a few days' is enough lead time when most distributors need a week or two.
- Not accounting for playlist pitching deadlines, which are often earlier than the standard delivery deadline.
- Waiting until the delivery deadline to start mastering, instead of finishing early enough to leave room for problems.
Submit a few days before your actual deadline, not on it, so a metadata error or upload glitch doesn't cost you the release date.
Keep reading
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.
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.
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.
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.
A running list of every task that needs to happen before a song can go live, used to make sure nothing gets missed.
The recurring payments you earn every time your song gets streamed, sold, played on the radio, or used somewhere else.
The royalty paid to songwriters whenever their composition is reproduced, including every stream and download.
The royalty paid to songwriters when their composition is performed publicly, including radio, live shows, and some streaming plays.
The business of owning, registering, and collecting income from the songwriting side of your music, separate from the recording.
A simple written document that records who wrote what percentage of a song, signed before disputes can happen.
The organizations, like ASCAP and BMI, that collect performance royalties on behalf of songwriters and pay them out.
The company that takes your finished song and delivers it to Spotify, Apple Music, and every other store or streaming service.
DSP stands for Digital Service Provider, the industry term for streaming platforms and download stores like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
A widely used digital distributor known for its subscription-based pricing and fast turnaround from upload to release across DSPs.
One of the earliest and longest-running digital music distributors, offering artists a one-time payment model with no subscription required.
A long-established digital distributor offering distribution, publishing administration, and other artist services, historically priced per release.
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.
The full schedule of everything that needs to happen between now and release day, and after it, laid out with dates.
Playlist pitching is the process of submitting your song to curators, whether that is Spotify itself or independent playlist owners, hoping to get added.
Editorial playlists are playlists curated by a streaming platform's own staff, like Spotify's 'New Music Friday,' rather than by an individual listener.
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.
How and roughly how much artists actually get paid for streams, and why the amount per stream varies so much between platforms.
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.
The final audio polish applied to a finished mix, making it loud, consistent, and ready for release across all platforms.
The square image that represents your song or album everywhere it's sold or streamed.
One song, released on its own. The most common way artists put out new music today.
A rollout is the plan for everything you do before, on, and after release day to get people to actually hear your song.
What you're going to do in the weeks after your song is out, so the momentum doesn't stop the moment it goes live.
The seven days around your song going live, when most of your promotion, posting, and audience attention should be concentrated.
A short project, usually four to six songs, longer than a single but shorter than a full album.
The first song released from an upcoming album or EP, meant to set the tone and pull people toward the full project.
The legal protection that automatically makes you the owner of anything original you create, including your songs.
The process of getting legal permission to use a piece of someone else's existing recording or composition in your own song.
A written agreement that outlines the terms when another artist appears as a guest performer on your song.
The automated system streaming platforms use to decide which songs to recommend to which listeners, based on listening behavior.
Put this into a real release plan
Diamond Release turns terms like this into dated steps for your single, EP, or album — with the full 160-article Encyclopedia inside.