The Complete Independent Music Promotion Checklist for Release Week
A week-by-week plan from six weeks out to thirty days after release — radio, blogs, podcasts, magazines, playlists, royalties and press assets, in the exact order that gets results.
Most independent releases fail for scheduling reasons, not musical ones. The song comes out, and only then does the artist start emailing. By that point every premiere window has closed, radio has already built the week's playlist, and the algorithm has judged you. This checklist fixes the order of operations.
Six weeks out — assets and registration
• Final master delivered, plus a clean radio edit. • 3000×3000 cover art and one horizontal press photo, one vertical. • 300-word third-person bio and a 50-word short bio. • ISRC issued for every track. • Registered with your PRO and neighbouring-rights society (SAMRO/SAMPRA in South Africa, MCSK/KAMP/PRISK in Kenya, PRS/PPL in the UK, ASCAP or BMI plus SoundExchange in the US). • Distribution scheduled with at least four weeks lead time so playlist pitching is possible.
Five weeks out — build the target list
Open the SubmitFinder directory and build three collections: • Radio: 30 stations filtered by your genre, country and language. • Editorial: 30 blogs and magazines that have covered artists comparable to you in the last six months. • Audio: 15 music podcasts and radio shows that take submissions. Note each outlet's response time so you know who needs the longest lead.
Four weeks out — premieres and long-lead press
Pitch exclusives now. Magazines and larger blogs work four to eight weeks ahead. Offer one outlet per territory a genuine exclusive with a clear date, and make it easy: private stream, embargo date in bold, assets attached as links, and a one-line story angle.
Three weeks out — playlists and distributor pitch
Submit to Spotify for Artists editorial (once, for one track), pitch independent playlist curators, and line up any Apple Music or Amazon editorial routes your distributor offers. Do not pay for playlist placement — bot-driven playlists risk your entire catalogue.
Two weeks out — radio push
Send your radio emails now, ten per day, personalised. Include the clean edit, the broadcast WAV, the ISRC and a station-specific ID drop. Call the stations that publish phone numbers. Radio schedules a week or more ahead; pitching on release day is already late.
Release week — blogs, podcasts and community
• Send remaining blog pitches on Tuesday morning. • Post the story behind the song, not just the link. • Ask your email list to request the track at named stations. • Go live once, briefly, and play it acoustically. • Thank every outlet that covered you publicly and tag them.
Week two to four — the follow-up and the second wave
Send exactly one follow-up to non-responders at day ten to fourteen. Then start the second wave: pitch outlets you initially deprioritised, offer a live session or an acoustic version as a fresh news hook, and pitch podcasts, which have no release-date sensitivity and will happily feature a song that is a month old.
Day thirty — audit and bank the relationships
Log every placement, every reply and every rejection. Calculate your reply rate per outlet type — that number tells you where to spend your effort next time. Move everyone who responded into a VIP collection and pitch them a week early on your next release. Two or three cycles of this and you will have a permanent media rotation that no paid submission platform can sell you.
Do it free
Every outlet in this checklist can be found and contacted at no cost. Filter the directory by genre, country, language and outlet type, save your three collections, and work the calendar above. Consistency across releases beats budget on any single one.