Follow these simple steps and you’ll have everything you need to make your next record launch an unmitigated success.

If you’re reading this, chances are you are getting ready to create or release a new album. You’re probably both very excited, and a little nervous—as you should be.

Releasing a new album is a big deal! It could be the catalyst that launches your career into the stratosphere, or the tipping point that finally forces you to call it quits. (No pressure.)

The most important thing you can do to ensure your release is a success is to create a plan. Read on below as we break down the entire process into six simple steps to help you make the most of your next release and help ensure you meet your highest expectations for it.

Phase 1: Content Creation

12 months before album release

One of the biggest mistakes inexperienced artists make when releasing an album is picking a specific release date before finishing all of the content they need to properly promote the project.

Inevitably, they have to disappoint their fans by pushing back this release date in order to finish tweaking tracks, printing merch, and booking events because they didn’t leave themselves enough time.

While it’s important to give yourself internal deadlines—even artificial ones—to keep the ball rolling forward, the easiest way to prevent the issue is to finalize all of the primary content you need to promote your album before selecting an official, public release date.

The first thing you need to finish is the writing and arranging of the songs. Every single part should be well-rehearsed before stepping foot in the studio. Schedule a pre-production session and write down the title, key, tempo, lyrics, chord changes, and arrangement for each song. Record a rough demo for each song so you have a guide when you’re in the studio.

After this initial pre-production, schedule multiple rehearsals before your recording session to ensure you sound your best. Not only does this make for better recordings, but it also saves time and money.

When you finally hit the studio, be sure to capture plenty of behind-the-scenes photos and videos to share with your fans. You may even want to hire a photographer and/or videographer for some of your recording sessions. In a world of social media promotion, it’s hard to have too much supporting content.

After tracking your songs, you need to have them mixed and mastered. (I’ll just leave this link for my website here, cough cough.). After identifying the singles, determining the track order, and approving the final masters, it’s time to start working on visual content.

Hire a graphic designer to create artwork for the album and the single. You’ll also need new merch designs, and updated supporting content for your website and social media pages.

If you plan on releasing a music video alongside your single (which you should), you’ll also need to hire a videographer and schedule a day to shoot. Don’t forget to allow extra time for the editing process, which can take longer than the shoot itself.

With all of the core content finished and in your hands, you’re ready to start executing on your release strategy and can commit to an official release date.

Phase 2: Planning Your Release Strategy

6 months before album release

A release strategy is your plan of attack detailing how you’re going to promote your new album.

A release strategy in the 21st century should include example posts optimized for specific sites, and a suggested posting schedule.

If you want your album to get noticed by as many people as possible, you’ll also need the help of larger outlets with established followings; that’s where publicists come in.

Most publicists require at least two to three months to properly promote new music. This includes writing a press release, scheduling interviews, and setting up exclusive premieres. Publicists tend to do well for more established artists but often have less success breaking new artists. If you’re going to hire one, realize that at this stage they are best suited to amplify, execute, and coordinate what you are already doing—not replace it.

If you don’t plan on hiring a publicist, start reaching out to music blogs, magazines, radio stations, podcasts, record stores and anyone else in your contact list that can help get your music heard. Better yet, start making these contacts long before you need them.

After you and your team solidify the release date for your single, it’s time to book a release party. Ideally, this will be a live concert in your hometown where you’ll perform music from your new album. Alternatively, you could schedule a listening party where you mix and mingle with your fans as your new album plays in the background. If you’re planning a full tour for your record release, start booking those shows now as well.

You may be tempted to spill the beans about your new record, but patience is a virtue. Before you go screaming from the rooftops, make sure your music will be available on all of the proper channels come release day.

Obviously, you can upload music to sites like YouTube, Soundcloud, and Bandcamp by yourself, but in order to host your music on streaming services like Apple Music and Tidal, you’ll need to work with a digital distributor. Some distributors can take up to a month to upload your music to every platform, so it’s important that you submit your tracks as early as possible.

After your digital distributor confirms your release date, you’re ready to move on to phase 3.

Phase 3: Building Awareness

3 months before album release

Phase 3 is all about building hype for your new release. Start by revealing that you’re going to make a big announcement on social media at a certain date and time.

On said date and time, reveal that you will be releasing a new single and/or music video in the near future. Promote the release with clips, snippets, and teasers from your new single.

Am I telling you that you need to announce that you’ll be making an announcement? Yes. It’s important to find ways to create engagement, excitement and anticipation on your channels before you have big news to reveal. This is a lot better than making an announcement and then trying to go back after the fact and find ways to create engagement around it.

On the day of the release, your goal is to drive all of your fans to one platform for maximum engagement. If you’re releasing a music video, this will likely be YouTube; otherwise, it should be your streaming service of choice.

Just before your single goes live, update your website and social media pages with your new imagery. Once the single is available, alert your mailing list and post on all of your social media accounts—including your personal pages.

After your single is posted, stay active on social media and engage with your fans as they like and comment on your new music. Share any press coverage you receive to help build organic growth.

Phase 4: Self-Promotion

2 months before album release

After a month or so of pushing your new single, it’s time to start promoting your new album. This part of the process can vary greatly depending on the artist. Smaller artists with less buzz will usually benefit from releasing additional singles before releasing the album. A single track release may not be enough to gain enough interest from the new listeners you’ll need to win over, so consider this as you develop your content release strategy.

When you’re ready, tease another social media announcement. When the time comes, reveal your album release date, start taking pre-orders, and announce your release show or tour.

It’s important to stay active on social media during this phase—just be careful you don’t use social media to “promote” too much at the expense of other types of content. Use the “70-20-10” rule to develop a social media strategy that will keep your fans interested and engaged.

According to the 70-20-10 rule; 70% of your posts should be behind-the-scenes photos, videos, or musings, 20% of your posts should be shared from fans and other artists, and 10% of your posts should be self-promotion. When making self-promotion posts, use a clear call-to-action to drive your fans to pre-order your new EP or buy a ticket to your show. It’s not enough to let people know “about” your new product. Tell them, specifically, what they can do about it using compelling action words.

You should have another round of press coverage scheduled just before the album release date. Be sure to post any coverage on social media and tag every media outlet or fan that shows you love. Keep engaging with your fans until the big day!

Phase 5: Release Day

On the morning of your release day, update your website and social media with new imagery and links, blast your mailing list, and post on all of your social media accounts. After the release is posted, stay active on social media and engage with your fans as they like and comment on your new music.

After a few hours of promoting your new record, remind your fans about your big release show. Make sure you’re well-rehearsed, your merch booth is fully stocked, and that you have a photographer or videographer on site to capture all of the excitement.

Be sure to get to the venue early and set up your merch booth. Make certain that it looks inviting and there’s enough space for the band to hang out before and after the show. You should have at least two new shirt designs, and several well-priced merch bundles.

At this point, you’ve been working tirelessly for over a year to release your new album. While this is certainly an occasion that calls for celebration, make sure you wait until after the show to get rowdy. Nothing is worse than a band making a fool of themselves at their record release show because they’re too sloppy to perform.

When the curtains finally part, play like hell, thank everyone for their support, and remind your fans that you’ll be at the merch booth after your set.

Phase 6: Follow Up

It may feel like the finish line to you, but to your fans and soon-to-be fans, this is just the beginning. It is the first time any of them will be hearing your new album. And they might not get the memo, or the compulsion to buy, all at once. Keep the excitement going by promoting follow-up singles, releasing music videos, and touring to support your new album.

Continue to engage with your fans, study your analytics, and develop new strategies in order to learn what works best for you or your band. After all, it won’t be long before you start working on your highly-anticipated follow-up album, right?

Even if you didn’t find this post in time to implement every one of these strategies as far in advance as is ideal, you can still incorporate a great deal of the lessons here and improve your situation compared to where it otherwise might be. Just be sure to follow these six simple steps when planning your next release so that you’ll have everything you need to make your next record launch an unmitigated success.

Brad Pack is an award-winning audio engineer and writer based in Chicago, IL. He currently owns and operates Punchy Kick, a professional mixing and mastering studio that specializes in pop punk, emo, punk, grunge, and alternative music.

He has been helping artists connect with fans through emotionally resonant mixes, cohesive masters, and insightful guidance for over 10 years. Check out his website PunchyKick.com or say hi on Instagram @PunchyKick.

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