12 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU RELEASE A SONG 

(NOW IN ORDER)

Let's start with the song registration and distribution side of things. Below are all the main sources that we use to make sure music goes to as many places as possible.

1.Register with a PRO (SOCAN, BMI, ASCAP)

They will help you manage your music and get you paid as a songwriter. SOCAN is one of our best friends as musicians. They also pay you when you play registered songs at live gigs on top of the venue. We can deal with that side later though.

 In Canada, you will choose a US representative (BMI, ASCAP) as part of your SOCAN registration process and they send money to SOCAN.

2.Register your publishing (SOCAN, BMI, SESAC, ASCAP) 

In Canada, Socan now automatically helps manage your publishing. Congrats, you got this done now too! If you end up with a Publishing deal, this changes a bit.

Publishing or composition can get confusing, but it's ultimately one of three aspects of Song registry next to Master and Writing % Split

3.Pick your distributor (TuneCore/AWAL/ONErpm/Distrokid) 

These companies get your music streaming services like Spotify, YouTube, TikTok and tons more. My personal fave is Distrokid, thanks to their ability to manage song splits. Research which one will be best for you, there are positives and negatives with them all.  When you are at the process of uploading your song, you will need to have the credits and the album art ready as well

4.Register With SoundExchange 

SoundExchange collects and distributes royalties for the featured artist and the sound recording owner when content is played on a non-interactive digital source. Think like satellite radio. This requires some extra paperwork but can be one of the best sources of revenue.

5.Sign up for Earshot Distro 

Earshot is a service that gets your music onto 117 (maybe more now) college and community radio stations across Canada. An inexpensive service, when coupled with grass roots relationship building and community engagement  is an excellent way to get your music out to the people who will like it. Bring them donuts, they are the music fans and real tastemakers.

That wasn't too hard now, I knew you could do it! Now, lets get all our assets together. 

6.Create folder of assets 

Its okay if you dont have everything yet. Let's break this down into smaller chunks.
Music, Art/Pics, Information

A.Information

•  Text doc of all lyrics.

•  Album press release.

•  Text doc with album credits (break these down by song).

•  Short and long bios.

•  Text doc containing login information to all your sites and links you will need to reference frequently. Incredibly important for bands!!!!

  B. Music

• .Wavs of every song (including instrumentals!! Great Gorde Downies ghost don't forget the instrumentals) 

•  High Rez mp3’s of every song (including instrumentals).

•  Stems (for remixes or sync). These are isolated vocals, drums, bass, guitar tracks.

• Music Videos or BTS videos

  C. Pictures and Art

• Print-ready promo photos (300dpi, no larger than 10mb in size).

• Web versions of promo photos (Sized for socials)

• Merch designs.

• High-res album cover (at least 3,000 pixels x 3,000 pixels).

• High-res album cover without text (to use for posters).

• Promotional materials like posters, flyers and advertising designs

   

7.   Create a "link in bio" landing page  Linktree and other services create mini lists of all your links!     Super useful and usually free for quite a lot of value. Have your latest release, merch, socials and anything else you want. Pro tip, don't flood this with too many links. Keep it updated and concise. Think about where you ultimately want to help guide someone first. 

 9.   Rebrand Socials Photos and merch designs should be updated. When you release an album there’s a lot more art than just your music that's involved. Also update your links and bios to reflect the new releases. Help keep fans up to date and get excited about it.


That's the core stuff, there's so much more we can do to support our releases but this list has the majority of the core things we need to properly release a song. Below are a few extra things we can do to take it to the next level.

10.   Create visuals. If you are an artist that intends to play live, having videos, banners or lighting design for the stages you play always helps an artist stand out. The extra energy in your show will help you push your performance skills to the next level.

11.   Tailor your website for this release This doesn't always feel like the most urgent thing for a new artist, but your website is an important part of the ecosystem that helps your audience access you. It can also be used as a hub for all your other links to help direct people and give them a chance to support.

12.   Build a mailing list A mailing list is easy to start, and it's a stable, long-term way to talk to your biggest fans. Update it if you have one, start one and integrate it with your website or social media if you don’t. Give people the opportunity to reach you.