Music Distribution 101: When Should I Start Music Distribution？

When you are planning a new release, you need to set the release date in advance to ensure your release goes live in all the stores at the time. We recommend you upload music at least 2-3 weeks ahead to make everything all right.

Some artists may argue why it would take so long for the music distribution process? Below are some main reasons for this.

To begin with, all the music distributors will review your music to see if they can meet the basic requirements, including the audio file, cover artwork, and maybe copyright issues. This procedure would around take 2-3 business days.

In addition, once your music gets approved by the distributor, then it will be migrated to the digital store. Then it will be those stores to review your music and see if anywhere can not meet their requirement. This procedure would take around 2 days to 3 weeks, varying on the store. For example，it would take around 3 business days for Boomplay to approve the new releases.

Besides, you need to save enough time for your music promotion campaigns. Most distributors take around 2 to 3 weeks to get your music to the stores. This would give you about a week or two for the pre-save and pre-order campaigns.

Last but not the least, spare enough time to correct the possible error. It can be the audio flaws or cover artwork problems. If you submit your music two or three weeks in advance, then you should have enough time to correct all the errors and make your target release date as it should be.

For example, if you wish to release your new album on 19th November(Friday), then you’d better upload your music to Afrotunes no later than 28th October.

With us at Afrotunes, normally It would only take ten days for your music to be live on all the outlets. However, we sincerely suggest all the artists submit their new music two to three weeks ahead to spare enough time for any possible conditions in the process.

Check out more at afrotunesdigital.com and sign up for free.

You can also check our previous article for more details about Afrotunes.

Afrotunes's Post

*Limited offer: free music distribution service to Boomplay. (original price:1.99$ per artist)