SPILL THE TEA

Music Release Timeline

Creator Period

To kickoff the timeline you gotta start with an Idea. What are you working for?? An album, Ep, demo or single. In order to work towards a goal, you have to know what that goal is.

Once the Goal is created you have to come up with a step by step plan to get to the finish line.

First up is content. You gotta work towards the sound you want to achieve. Build up your arsenal.

" The mind is a beautiful world of ideas, so get to creating "

Stand on a FIRM Foundation

Artist Foundation

You need to establish a foundation for your project. What is the project centered around?

Build the project around a story, a belief, a theme, production shift, genre-blending, quick and to the point, abstract, etc...

A project tells a story or provides insight about the artist. It gives us an sneak peak of what's going on. What do you want people to know about you?

Image Is Everything

Once the project is put together, you have to establish an image or scene associated with the release for the project.

Are you switching up the image for the project?

Will you choose to be authentic to yourself, or do you want to cater your image towards a specific community you are reaching for?

Do you embody the image of the music you plan on portraying??

This can bite you in the butt if you choose to be something you are not.

If the project is centered on a character and the story, maybe you want to personify that character and bring them to life. Don't be afraid to take risk.

Be true to yourself and hold your values close

Partner with the a brand you can trust

Distribute the Goodies

Once you finished the project, it's time to think of how you want to release the project to the world.

How do you want to distribute your project?

Digital or Physical

In order to have your song on streaming platforms you have to use a digital distributor such as Distrokid, Landr, United Masters, Ditto, etc.

We recommend doing research to find which one fits your needs. Some of them offer physical distribution as well. If you want a CD, vinyl, or even cassette, a few of these distribution company give you the option to have those done

All of these distributors let you keep almost 100% of your royalties too, so you can keep all the profit.

Register & Protect

Once your song is up for distribution, it's time to protect and maximize the royalties you can receive from your work.

Own and Protect your work!!

Once your song is up on distribution you will receive an ISRC Code, that code is legal proof of an official release.(International Standard Recording Code)

That code is what you'll use to register your song with SongTrust, Sound Exchange, and a PRO of your choice.

SongTrust, Sound Exchange, ASCAP, BMI, help to provide you specific royalties for digital streaming. This gives multiple ways to receive an income from your music being played.

Checkout our resource pages on Royalties, Distribution, & Copyright

OWN YOU MUSIC

Digital Marketing Tips

Create content for all platforms, each platform should have a different type of content promoting the same thing. Varying the type of content for each platform gives you a different niche audience to reach and it avoids a repetitive boring post everywhere.

If in your budget, you can try your hand of running ads on digital platforms as well. If ran correctly you can gain even more exposure.

Reach out to people and network for promo. Podcasters, influencers, people in the same field as you, and even regular people. All Promo is good promo

Word on The Street

Once all the nitty gritty is done, it's time for the most important part of the process which is marketing.

Marketing is putting your work in front of as many faces and screens as possible.

The more places your work is in, the better opportunity you have of reaching those people.

You want to maximize the pool of people you can reach. To reach the people you have to be where the people are, both digitally and physically.

If there's a place to influence and put yourself in front of people, you should utilize that platform.

No Stopping You

Now is the fun part, The project roll out. At this point you have everything set up for a good rollout and all you need is plan out what and when you plan on promoting the project.

The fun part is building content

Build a collection of content, specifically more than you need. Go out a find cool places to take pictures & videos that are geared towards your release.

Also provide footage of the creation process, Studio sessions, rehearsals, practicing, etc. Let people in on the process and give them a reason to invest into you as an artist/band.

Once you gather all the content, edit, cut and have them post ready for whenever you need them.

Last thing you gotta do is plan on releasing this content to the world. You don't to drop all of it at once, space it out and keep it coming.

Give Yourself the Red Carpet Treatment

Put On A Show!!

Showstopper

After the project is out, it's time to take it to the stage.

Reach out to any local clubs, bars, open mis, churches, and events and see about possibly performing.

Create a set that represents you well

You don't have big fanbase so you have to sell yourself well to whoever you're performing for.

Introduce yourself, you beliefs, what you do, why you do it, the inspiration and the stories behind the music.

You have to move people with your performances. It isn't always just a party. Sometimes you have to do more than just jumping around and rapping or singing with a mic.

Lastly HAVE FUN!!!! You should always enjoy your job as an artist and care about every detail that's goes into your perfecting your craft.