Single Release Checklist: Artwork, ISRC, Distributor and Release Date

Nobody teaches this part. You finish a song you are proud of, pick a release date on a Tuesday afternoon, and between those two moments sits a pile of admin that decides whether the track arrives properly or lands half finished. A single release checklist is not paperwork for its own sake: every item is something a store, a distributor or a playlist editor checks before a listener presses play.

The order matters as much as the list. Master and artwork first, because both are baked in once a distributor accepts the release. Codes and metadata next, and the date last, when you know how long your distributor takes.

The checklist, in the order that matters

• A finished master, checked on phone speakers and in a car, with no clipping and a little headroom.
• Artwork at 1:1, at least 640 px per side, saved without losing quality.
• An ISRC for the recording and a UPC for the release, both issued by the distributor.
• A distributor account with payment details, tax form and your artist name matched to the profile.
• Metadata written once and repeated exactly: title, featured artists, genre, language, explicit flag.
• A split sheet signed by everyone who owns a percentage, before the first payment.
• A release date far enough out to pitch playlists, and the clips for release week already cut.

Artwork is the one thing every store checks automatically

Stores run automated checks on the image before a human hears the song, and the rules are narrow. Spotify asks for a lossless TIFF, PNG or JPG, between 640 and 10,000 pixels per side, in a 1:1 ratio and sRGB colour. No upscaling, no orientation metadata, no baked-in colour profile. Apple is pickier about text, so the safe version is a photo or illustration with nothing but the artist name and the title.

Design for the small version first. The cover a listener sees in a playlist is about the size of a fingernail, so one strong shape beats a busy collage. Skip store logos, streaming badges, URLs and screenshots of your DAW, and crop the story and the video thumbnail from the square.

ISRC and UPC, the two codes nobody explains

An ISRC identifies a specific recording for the rest of its life. It is 12 characters long, in the form CC-XXX-YY-NNNNN: country, registrant, year and a designation number. It identifies the audio, not the composition, so the same song re-recorded, remixed or edited for radio gets a new one. The writing itself is tracked by an ISWC instead.

The UPC is the barcode for the release as a whole: 12 digits in the US, 13 in the European EAN format, assigned through GS1 and handed to you by your distributor. Most distributors issue both codes free the moment you create the release. Keep them in a document. If you switch distributor in two years, reusing the same ISRC keeps every stream on one entry instead of splitting your history across two profiles.

Choosing a distributor on more than the percentage

Two models dominate: a yearly fee that keeps all royalties, or a commission on every payout. The terms around the number matter more than the number. Read the payout threshold, the takedown policy, how long review takes, and what happens if you leave with your catalogue. A distributor that answers support email in a day is worth a few points of commission the week something breaks.

Some stores let you register tracks with YouTube Content ID, and that box stays unticked unless you own every element of the recording. A leased beat does not give you the right to register the track in Content ID, and a claim war with the producer is the fastest way to lose a release you paid for. The licensing terms say what each licence covers for streaming, so read them before the upload screen asks.

The release date, worked backwards

Spotify's editorial pitch has its own deadline: a song pitched at least seven days before release goes to the editors, and pitching that early is also what puts it in the Release Radar of your followers. Your distributor needs the files before that, a week for a first release and longer in December.

• Four weeks out: master locked, artwork done, distributor paid.
• Three weeks out: upload submitted, metadata checked on the dashboard.
• Two weeks out: editorial pitch sent, pre-save link live, clips recorded.
• One week out: artist profile updated, canvas and lyrics uploaded, release day message written.
• Release day: post, send, reply. Do not spend the day refreshing the stats page.

The week of release, and what to skip

Ignore anything that needs a budget you do not have. What moves a first single is boring: a working pre-save link, a claimed artist profile, three vertical clips cut from the same footage, and a short message to people who have shared your music before. Playlisting services that promise placement for a fee are not worth the money, and bought streams can get a release pulled from stores entirely.

If this is the first song you are putting out, pick a beat that can carry a full track instead of a loop that needs help. Bulletproof is a melodic trap instrumental with an arpeggiated flute and three layers of 808, built so a sung hook has room and the verse does not have to shout over it. It is the kind of beat that makes a first release sound finished, which is the point of a checklist.

To hear how the rest of the catalogue sits next to it, the instrumental catalogue is sorted by release date, and the melodic and trap pages collect the beats that share that lane.

Questions that come up the night before release

Do I need an ISRC if my distributor gives me one?

No, and it is free. You only buy codes yourself if you deliver outside a distributor or move a catalogue between platforms and want control of the identifiers.

How far ahead should I set the release date?

Four weeks is comfortable for a first release, two weeks is the floor for the editorial pitch to count, and under seven days means releasing without playlists and without Release Radar.

Can I release a single on a leased beat?

Yes, as long as the licence covers streaming and the distribution you are doing, which is what a non-exclusive lease is for. It does not cover registering the recording with Content ID or claiming ownership of the instrumental.