Release timeline checklist: from delivery to day 28

A release is a project with deadlines that do not move. The distributor needs days, Spotify closes the editorial pitch when the song goes live, Release Radar keys off the 7-day line, and Apple Music and Deezer want their own lead time. Every one of those deadlines is easier to hit from a written calendar than from memory.

This is the working timeline for a single. It uses the calendar Artist Advisory publishes (delivery at 21 to 28 days, pitch at 10 to 14 days, day 7 as the last call), combined with the platform deadlines from Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer (Artist Advisory, 15 April 2026).

Why a written timeline matters

Most missed playlist opportunities are missed days before release day, not on the day itself. The distributor has not processed the song, the pitch form is still not visible in Spotify for Artists, or the Apple Music request never left the inbox. None of those problems is about the music. They are about the order of operations.

A written timeline also protects the release from your own momentum. When the song is finished, the temptation is to announce it and move on. The calendar keeps the boring steps, metadata, pre-save, curator list, distributor requests, in front of the fun ones until they are done. It takes an hour to build and it runs the whole release.

The checklist, day by day

Weeks -4 and -3: delivery and groundwork

The first job is not promotion. It is getting the song into the systems with correct data, because every later step depends on it.

1. Lock the master. Export the final file at the quality your distributor asks for. No more edits after this point.
2. Check the artwork. Most platforms want a square image of at least 3000 by 3000 pixels, and Spotify has its own requirements for text and content.
3. Check the metadata. Artist name, credits, featured artists, ISRC, UPC, language and genre. A wrong genre at the distributor can undermine the pitch tags later.
4. Deliver 21 to 28 days out. That gives the distributor time to fix problems and gives you time to see the release under Upcoming.
5. Claim or update the artist profile. You need Admin or Editor access in Spotify for Artists to pitch at all.
6. Decide the focus track. One song per release gets pitched. Choose the strongest hook.

If the distributor is slow, the whole calendar shifts. Build in a week of slack rather than moving the release date, because a release date change after delivery can reset the Spotify for Artists entry.

Weeks -2 and -1: pitch and last call

Day -14 is the comfortable pitch day, and day -7 is the hard line. Work in this order:

1. Confirm the song is visible in Spotify for Artists under Music > Upcoming.
2. Send the editorial pitch with every field filled. The written part is short, so use the four-sentence structure.
3. Ask the distributor to submit the Apple Music and Deezer pitches if you have not already. Check what data they need from you: Apple asks for mood, genre, language and release date, and Deezer requires a UPC.
4. Build the curator list and check each playlist. Send pitches to small and mid-sized lists with a private link; most curators plan a week or two ahead. The find curators guide has the checking steps.
5. Set up the pre-save link and share it with your own audience. A pre-save is a useful signal but it is not the same as a library save; for Spotify the stronger habit is asking fans to follow you, because follows are what put the release in Release Radar.

On day -7, if any pitch or data handover is still pending, send it that day. After that, Spotify's editorial window is effectively closed and the rest of the campaign runs on independent curators and the algorithm.

Release week: day 0 to day 7

Release day is the start of the measurement, not the end of the work.

1. Send the live link to every curator you pitched. A short note that the song is live is a useful reminder, not a new pitch.
2. Email your list and post the link where your fans already are. Spotify counts external traffic and saves as real signals.
3. Ask people to save the song, not just play it. A save is a stronger signal than a stream.
4. Check Spotify for Artists once a day: streams, listeners, saves and which playlists added the song.
5. Thank every curator who added it. Share the playlist with your audience and tag the curator. That is how one placement becomes a relationship.

Do not buy streams, playlist followers or any other guaranteed number. Artificial streams earn no royalties and can trigger a fee or a takedown; see our paid vs free guide for the line in Spotify's terms.

Days 7 to 28: read the result

Four weeks of data turns one release into a system.

• Saves and skip rate. A high skip rate says the hook is late or the pitch sent the song to the wrong audience. A strong save rate says the song is landing.
• Source of streams. Split the plays by editorial, other listeners' playlists, and personalized playlists. That tells you which route actually worked.
• Playlist list. Open the playlist view in Spotify for Artists and note the names. Some adds arrive days or weeks after release.
• Cost per save. Divide any paid spend by the saves it produced. That number, not the add count, decides whether to repeat the spend.

At day 28, write one page of notes: what the release did, which curators delivered, which pitch copy got replies, and what to change next time. Then start the next timeline two weeks before the next release. Our platform guide has the per-platform deadlines if you are pitching Apple Music or Deezer as well.

Five timeline mistakes

1. Delivering late. If the song is not in Spotify for Artists in time, the pitch is impossible and the release moves into the algorithm blind.
2. Pitching on the day. Day -7 is the last useful day, not the target. Day -14 is safer.
3. Forgetting the distributor's pitches. Apple Music and Deezer cannot be pitched by artists directly, so the request has to leave earlier.
4. Writing the pitch overnight. The pitch benefits from one day of cooling off. Write it at day -21 and send at day -14.
5. Stopping at release. The first 28 days produce the data and the relationships that make the next release easier. Skipping that step wastes the work.

If the release is closer than the timeline above, do not panic and do not move the date unless you must. Send the Spotify pitch today if the song is still unreleased, ask the distributor for whatever is still open, and put your effort into a clean curator list. The service directory can cover the outreach if time is the problem.