Music release timeline
Give it your release date and whether you're putting out a single, EP, or album. You get every step dated backwards from release day — masters, splits, metadata, distributor delivery, editorial pitching, pre-save, and the weeks after.
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Nothing is sent anywhere — the plan is generated in your browser.
Single plan · Fri, Dec 4, 2026
- Fri, Aug 14, 202616 weeks beforeDecide what this release is forWhy
One sentence on what a win looks like. Everything after this is a decision made against it.
- Fri, Aug 21, 202615 weeks beforeLock the release datePlan
Pick a Friday. Work backwards from it — never forwards from today.
- Fri, Aug 28, 202614 weeks beforeSet the budget and who does whatPlan
Mastering, art, video, ads, PR. Decide before you're committed.
- Fri, Sep 18, 202611 weeks beforeFinal master approvedCreate
The master must be finished before delivery, not during it.
- Fri, Sep 25, 202610 weeks beforeCover art finishedCreate
3000x3000px, no unlicensed images, no store logos or URLs in the artwork.
- Fri, Sep 25, 202610 weeks beforeCredits and splits in writingProtect
Every writer, producer, and feature agrees percentages in writing now — it is far harder once money moves.
- Fri, Oct 2, 20269 weeks beforePublishing and PRO registrationProtect
Register the works so performance and mechanical royalties can find you.
- Fri, Oct 9, 20268 weeks beforeDistributor chosen and account readyDeliver
Confirm their required lead time — it sets the real deadline for everything above.
- Fri, Oct 16, 20267 weeks beforeMetadata finalDeliver
Artist name, title, version tags, features, ISRCs, UPC, language, explicit flags — exactly as they should appear forever.
- Fri, Oct 23, 20266 weeks beforeDeliver to the distributorDeliver
This is the hard deadline. Late delivery costs you editorial consideration and pre-save time.
- Fri, Oct 30, 20265 weeks beforePromotion plan writtenPromote
What goes out, where, and on which day — before you need it.
- Fri, Nov 6, 20264 weeks beforePress and content assets readyPromote
Photos, one-sheet, short-form clips, visualiser, canvas. Made now, not the night before.
- Fri, Nov 6, 20264 weeks beforePitch to editorial playlistsPromote
Spotify for Artists needs the pitch at least 7 days out; 4 weeks is a realistic target.
- Fri, Nov 13, 20263 weeks beforePre-save / smart link livePromote
Announce with something to click. Three weeks gives the link time to travel.
- Fri, Nov 20, 20262 weeks beforeAnnounce the releasePromote
First public post, with the pre-save and the date.
- Fri, Nov 27, 20261 week beforeFinal checksRelease
Confirm the release appears on stores, profiles are claimed, lyrics submitted, day-of posts scheduled.
- Fri, Dec 4, 2026Release dayRelease dayRelease
Post, thank people, reply. Do not start new work today.
- Fri, Dec 18, 20262 weeks afterKeep promotingRelease
The two weeks after release matter as much as the two before. Algorithmic playlists respond to sustained activity.
- Fri, Jan 1, 20274 weeks afterReview the resultsReview
Saves, playlist adds, what drove them. Write down what you'd do differently.
- Fri, Jan 15, 20276 weeks afterStart the next oneNext
Momentum compounds. Decide the next release while this one is still fresh.
Diamond Release turns this into a live release room — tasks with owners, what's next, and what's slipping.
Why you plan backwards
Almost every missed release step is a timing problem, not a skill problem. The distributor needs the finished master weeks before the date. Editorial needs the pitch before the release is public. Splits are cheap to agree before money moves and expensive after. So the date comes first, and everything else is measured back from it.
- Delivery to your distributor is the real deadline — not release day.
- Anything creative (master, artwork, video, content) has to be finished before delivery, not during it.
- Protection steps — credits, splits, publishing registration — belong before delivery, while everyone is still agreeable.
- Promotion needs a link to point at, so the pre-save comes before the announcement push, not after.
- The two weeks after release matter as much as the two before.
Common questions
- How far in advance should you release a single?
- Six to eight weeks between delivering to your distributor and release day is the workable minimum for a single, and the master and artwork need to be finished before that. Counting the creative work, plan on three to four months.
- How long does an EP or album need?
- An EP realistically needs four to five months and an album five to seven, because every track needs its own credits, splits, and ISRC, and the campaign usually runs one or two focus tracks ahead of the full release.
- When should you pitch to Spotify editorial playlists?
- Spotify for Artists requires the pitch at least seven days before release, but the release has to be delivered and scheduled first. Four weeks out is a realistic target and gives editorial time to consider it.
- When should a pre-save go live?
- About three weeks before release, at the same moment you announce. A pre-save link with nothing driving it collects very little, so pair it with the announcement and your content plan.
- What happens if my release date is closer than the plan allows?
- The planner flags a tight runway and compresses the dates so nothing lands after release day. Anything already in the past is marked so you can see what to do first — and usually the cheapest fix is moving the release date, not skipping the protection steps.