Three Key Steps New Artists Often Overlook When Streaming Their Music

Artists frequently miss critical business, legal, and promotional steps. Key omissions include failing to register with PROs (like ASCAP/BMI) to collect performance royalties, not uploading to distributors 3–4 weeks in advance to secure Spotify Editorial consideration, and omitting written split sheets with co-writers and producers.

Understanding the full picture of releasing music requires attention to several specific phases so here are three key steps new artists often overlook:

1. Legal & Publishing (The Foundation)

• Split Sheets & Agreements: Artists often skip signing written agreements with co-writers, producers, and session musicians before the track is recorded. This leads to disputes over percentages later. 

• PRO Registration: Forgetting to register your compositions with Performing Rights Organizations like BMI or ASCAP means you leave money on the table for live venue, TV, and radio plays. 

• Mechanical Rights: U.S. artists often miss registering their compositions with The MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) to collect royalties from streaming platforms.

• SoundExchange: Independent artists should also register with SoundExchange to collect digital performance royalties from platforms like Pandora and SiriusXM.

  
  

2. Digital Distribution & Logistics (The Release)

• Planning the Timeline: Artists often rush, uploading tracks days before they want them live. You should submit your music to distributors (like DistroKid or TuneCore) at least 3 to 4 weeks before the release. 

• Editorial Pitching: By missing the distributor deadline, artists usually miss the chance to pitch their songs through Spotify for Artists or Amazon Music for Artists, which require submissions at least 7 to 28 days prior. 

• Metadata: Failing to thoroughly input correct metadata (ISRC codes, publishing info, and songwriters) can prevent proper royalty payouts.

3. Marketing & Retention (The Rollout)

• Focusing Only on "Attention": Artists often spend their entire budget on one song and neglect the "retention" phase—building a system where one piece of content naturally funnels listeners to the next song. 

• Short-Term Strategy: Releasing a song and promoting it for only 3 days is ineffective; marketing campaigns should ideally run for 4–6 weeks post-release. 

• Short-Form Content: Many miss out on capturing vertical, behind-the-scenes video content to fuel platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels during the release week. 

But before you begin taking these steps, I recommend testing your music before officially releasing it on platforms like Spotify or Apple Music because it's a great way to gauge reactions, build hype, and ensure your mix sounds right before you blow all your money and time. The most effective methods include:

• Social Media Teasers: Post short snippets (15-30 seconds) on platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts. Pay close attention to your view-to-like ratios, completion rates, and the comments to see which parts of the song people are gravitating towards. 

• Private Feedback Communities: Share unreleased tracks with trusted individuals, such as other musicians, local producers, or dedicated fan groups. You can use communities like Submithub or Groover to get targeted, professional feedback or send your tracks to playlist curators. 

• Audio Quality Checkers: Streaming services compress audio into different sizes, which can sometimes degrade the quality of your mix. To hear exactly how your song will sound on various streaming platforms, use codec auditioning tools like Ozone or Streamliner to preview what your track sounds like when compressed.

  
  

If you really believe in your music and it passes the feedback and teaser tests, don't half-ass on any of the steps you'll need to take to officially broadcast your music to our ears and get paid and celebrated for your hard work. Btw, if you intend to perform your songs LIVE, go ahead and add SingingFlat.com to your budget so I can help you get that voice right! Subscribe today to stay current on music trends, my latest blog posts and of course my artist development services.

Yours in music!

Sallyb.