How to Release Music
- Nadia Mair
- 10 hours ago
- 7 min read
There is so much information online, on social media, and in the many videos we scroll past on whatever platforms we spend out time about how to do things - so much so that I often feel more lost than when I first started looking.
When I wanted to release my E.P., I had the music and knew what I wanted to release. But I had no idea how to get my music out on streaming platforms, the many hours of ideas and designing that would go into it, or how to plan out a marketing scheme to get listeners.
Now that I've been through it and come out the other side, I want to offer you some help with the entire process, from start to finish, of releasing your music as an independent artist in a quiet, video and sound free article.
If you're unsure of where to start or what to expect, read through these steps, and I'm confident it will help you know how to release your music.
Where to begin
The first thing to do, before even writing, is to create a vision of what this release will be, feel like, look like, and the experience it will give to the listener. Here are some questions to consider:
Is there a specific theme you'd like to have throughout your pieces / songs?
What genres do you want to include?
Is there a story woven through each piece?
Are there any musical themes or motifs that you want to explore and expand upon?
Do you have any ideas that you've already started that you want to include?
What journey do you want the listener to go on?
Are there images you have in mind? Colors, scenes, or other things when thinking about this release?
Once you start answering these questions, you'll get an image for what this release is, whether it be a single, an E.P., or a full on album.
If you feel ready, the next step is simply:
Start writing
The next step is to simply start writing.
This may come through sitting at a piano and playing around with ideas, working at your preferred DAW, writing on staff paper, or even going through old ideas in your voice memos or music projects from the past. If you need help coming up with ideas, you can check out this post, where I explore writer's block and ways to move past it (including an entire pdf with composition ideas):
As you begin to write, you'll start to develop an idea of how many pieces you want, the types of instruments and sounds you'll use, and your music will slowly come together.
Make a plan
Once you have ideas in the works, it's time to make a plan. This step could come before starting the writing - but things can change when your creativity starts to flow.
To make a plan, start with blocking time. How much time do you need to give yourself to develop and write your music? Do you want to challenge yourself with a strict deadline, or give yourself a year or more to let it unveil itself naturally?
The next part to plan is recording. If you're using live instruments or vocals, players and singers will need sheet music and lyrics to follow. They'll need a mock-up to listen to and learn the music. They'll need time to practice.
Once recorded, the music needs mixing. This can obviously done by you, a friend, or a professional.
After the music is all taken care of, time needs to be given to the business side of things, including naming your pieces, album, or E.P., photo shoots and video for any music videos or films, designing cover art, and a website or page for people to go.
And finally, time needs to be scheduled for planning out your marketing strategy. How are you going to get people to know that you've released music? How are you going to find listeners?
You don't need to work out all of the little details when making your plan, but knowing what's to come ahead of time will allow you to come up with a realistic timeline and expectations for the process.
Recording the music
Let's dive a bit more in detail with recording and mixing your music, starting with creating sheet music.
Communicating what you want to come out of a musician's instrument starts with having detailed sheet music; easy to read, easy to follow, and with clear, detailed instructions.
Next, you'll need to think about players.
If you need help finding players, the first best option you have is to use people that you already know, who you know can delivery the performance and skill you desire in your music. You can make a list of these people and reach out to, and if you still need to find someone, ask for recommendations.
You can start with people in your community, or use websites that host a platform for musicians to post their skills on.
Along with finding people to help, the recording itself can take some time. You have a couple options, which is to use an at-home setup for recording, find musicians who have that type of equipment at their own homes, or book a session in a studio.
Whatever you decide, make sure the people you're working with have the time, materials, and support they need to produce the best sounding music that they can.
Once the music is recorded, it will need to be mixed to produce the most cohesive, blended, and clear sound to put up on streaming platforms or sold. This can often be done by the sound engineer(s) at the studio you use, or you can hire people to do the job.
The business side
Now, don't cringe away, because while it can be intimidating to think in a "business" way as an artist, it can actually be quite fun. It's an entirely new creative process, just using a different medium other than music.
There are many fun parts of design including cover art, putting together creative projects to go along with the music, and so much more. The easiest way for me to give you this information is in a list, so here are details you'll need to think over:
Cover Art
Titles for the album and individual songs/pieces
Photos - for cover art, visualizers for the music, and even things like your profile on the platforms you release music on
Videography - including music videos, visualizers, and creating short form content for social media and Spotify
Distribution - this is how you go about getting your music out there (more details given below)
Marketing - how will you get listeners? Including interviews, posts on websites, social media campaigns, emails, and performances
Website & Social Media - have a place where fans can find you and your music to learn more about you and follow you!
Listen. Your music is yours. Whether you have tons of money to go all out on a project or need to do things mostly for free, you can make it work. You can go as big or small as you want to, but I think the MOST important thing is to do it.
There will always be a reason to wait, another thing to wait on - but taking the first step sometimes just means throwing your hands up and releasing the music. That's the hardest part, and when you do it once, it will just get easier and easier.
There aren't any rules, although we like to think there are. The only limit you have is yourself!
I want to give you some free resources when it comes to designing, editing, and marketing, so that if you need to, you could do it all on your own. These are personal recommendations from things I actually use:
Canva - This website is such a great place for designing, from Instagram posts to YouTube thumbnails to posters to invoices. It's got pretty much anything you can think of along with templates to help you on your way.
DaVinci Resolve - I use this for editing video content, whether it be shorts or YouTube videos, music videos, and more. I only use the free version and have never felt held back by it.
Now for distribution.
Distribution
This is the big key you need to get your music out on streaming and selling platforms. As far as I know, you're not able to log in and do it yourself on each individual platform (i.e. Apple Music, Spotify, etc.). You upload your information and music onto the distributing company's website, and they send it out to any and all of the platforms of your choosing.
When deciding which company to use, my biggest tip is to do your research. Read reviews on every reviewing website you can, research the benefits and price plans and everything else until you can narrow it down to a couple of options, then you can decide which company is best for you.
I use DistroKid, because I found it to be the most trustworthy site mixed with the best pricing options for me at the time.
These companies do cost money, so if you want to release your music but want it up for free, you still have options with platforms like:
YouTube (creating your own channel)
There may be more that I don't know of, but these are great places to start!
And that's it.
It's a lot to think about, but break it down into steps and don't try to do everything at once. Start with writing your music, and the rest will be inspired. As the melodies start to come alive, your imagination will lead you to the titles and visuals, and with time you will figure it all out.
I don't claim to be an expert at doing these things myself, but if you'd like to check out my music and my approach to all of it, you can click on the links below:
SoundCloud - Nadia Mair
YouTube - @NadiaMairMusic
Instagram - @nadia.m.music
Website - www.nadiamair.com
Tiktok - @nadia.m.music
I hope this article has helped you - and if you're looking for even more help, I offer composing and orchestration services, which you can find here: https://www.nadiamair.com (scroll down to services!).
Until next time,
Nadia
P.S. If you found this article useful, you can actually listen to it in podcast form, and in the podcast, I got through more detail about my own E.P. and how it was written and released.
You can listen here: click here.
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