PHASE ONE: Pre-release prep

Planning and preparation are fundamental. This phase involves not only the creation of the music, but the planning and creation of the promotional materials you will be using through the entire release process. It’s the time to define your goals, and get everything organized.

This phase is the basis of a successful release, and if you get thoughtfully involved in each step, like Jakke, you will be giving yourself a major advantage in terms of getting your music heard. Let’s break it down.

I. Define what you want to gain from your strategy (the “why”)

To begin, you need to ask yourself what you want to achieve with your overall release strategy. What is your primary outcome — discovery, saves, or day-one streams?

Now is the time to set SMART Goals, which means defining measurable objectives, and make sure you know your audience (analyze demographics, geography, and behaviour using platform analytics so you can tailor your promotional content).

Jakke’s goal was: day-one streams

II. Technical & asset preparation (the “what”)

Preparing assets means preparing both musical assets and promotional assets. We recommend planning your release months in advance to allow time to create what you need, before actually putting it into action. This means mapping out a minimum 4-6 week timeline for your release strategy, which will give yourself enough room to build momentum without rushing through important promotional stages. You will have to do some significant prep work in advance of this window, so you should plan that part as well.

Be realistic with what you need to prepare and how much time this will take. How does this fit in your overall release strategy timeline?

Typical tasks will include:

• Finalizing master and artwork: Lock in the final mixed/mastered track and design high-quality, eye-catching cover art.
• Choosing a distributor & uploading your music and your metadata: Select a digital distributor, such as MusicTeam®, and upload your music several weeks in advance of the launch date. You’ll also need to get your metadata organized, which means acquiring the right music unique identifiers and listing them in your music catalog. This step is key to correct attribution, which is in turn absolutely necessary to the fair and accurate collection of royalties.
• Designing your promotional assets: Prepare an Electronic Press Kit (EPK) including a bio, professional photos, key stats, and a brief description of the new track. This way, you will be ready with the most important information and promotional materials and will not miss any opportunities to present yourself or your work.
• Developing a content vault: Plan and create all necessary content: this could include a music video (or lyric video/mini-doc), and short-form video snippets (TikTok/Reels/Shorts) for teasers.

During this stage, Jakke held a small listening party, which yielded content to be reused on social media and a preview of the upcoming EP.

He created images to generate interest in the listening party:

Afterwards, images of the event could be used to generate interest in the process on social media:

III. Outreach and pitching (the “who”)

Now that you have the promotional content ready, you need to put it into play.

What’s the story behind this release? What emotions, experiences, or circumstances inspired these songs? How does this narrative connect with your own artistic journey and the message you want your listeners to receive? From one song, which 2–3 angles could you show — story, performance, production?

When you are pitching your work, remember to keep these types of questions in mind. There are many ways to pitch your work, including:

• Press/blog outreach: Craft a professional press release and pitch your music to relevant music blogs and journalists.
• Playlist pitching: Submit your music to independent playlist curators (via platforms like SubmitHub or Groover) and Spotify curators.
• Pitch to Spotify editorial: Submit your track through Spotify for Artists at least 7 days before the release date.
• Engage early (teasers): Use snippets and behind-the-scenes content on social media and email lists to build excitement and offer exclusive early access to subscribers.

Jakke pitched his music by collaborating on video content that was posted online. The Studio Cuts collab reframed the story into 3 parts shared on different social media platforms.

The official video extended the arc and continued the momentum and cadence of new content. One song powered many touchpoints/angle without feeling repetitive. A four-month runway began with the single “Late Night” and started building early fan interest for All Ways, Always.

PHASE TWO: The launch (preparation and execution)

A carefully staged physical event will transform a simple release date into an immersive experience that fans remember and share. What unique location or experience could turn your release into an unforgettable reveal moment?

Likewise, multichannel marketing efforts will get the word out on the big day and transmit a sense of occasion. Can you tap into your existing network of industry connections, artist friends, or local venues to create collaborative opportunities that might amplify your release and provide additional promotional channels? Consider reaching out to those who might benefit from cross-promotion or who share similar audience demographics.

Here are a few ideas for making your launch day have the biggest impact:

• Actively engage: Be highly visible and interact with your audience in the comments, DMs, and on all posts. Thank fans who stream and share.
• Share fan content: Repost and re-share fan listening parties, reactions, TikToks, or stories to create community and encourage further sharing.
• Consider a live event: Maximize the momentum by hosting a live stream or event (e.g., an Instagram Live Q&A) to celebrate the launch.
• Post everywhere: Announce the official release across all social media platforms (Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook, YouTube) with direct links.
• Update your artist pages: Update your Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming profiles (e.g., set the new song as your “Artist Pick,” update header images).
• Update key links: Immediately change your “link in bio” on all main social profiles to point directly to the new song/smartlink.

During this stage, Jakke set up a live DJ set with WAVE VR on 10/9. He also created an EastWest listening party with Sony / Kali Audio as partners to officially unveil the complete EP. e All Ways, Always EP in full and reflect on its themes of transformation and human connection.

He promoted the events on social media and on Sony’s website.

He’s also hosting a release party at BOGA in Venice where he is curating a night of DJs, as well as a rooftop sunset -> night dance party at Moss in Venice California.

Spotify countdown concentrated pre-saves and day-0 activity, building suspense leading to the reveal.

Since the EP was released using MusicTeam® because of our support of 360RA and Dolby Atmos, Jakke made this fact part of his promotion.

PHASE THREE: Post-Release

Planned follow-ups convert curiosity into durable engagement. Basically, you shouldn’t stop promoting your work after the launch, you need to keep the momentum going. There are a few ways to do this, and as you will see, this is where you will be really glad that you can build on the early stages of your release strategy.

Start simple: What is one follow-up asset you can schedule for week 2 to re-ignite attention?

Then take it further:

• Repurpose assets continually: Chop your music video and interview snippets into smaller social clips, and use behind-the-scenes footage for new content.
• Share new angles: Maintain interest by sharing new angles on the song, such as the inspiration behind the lyrics, an acoustic version, or a tutorial.
• Run targeted ads (optional): Use a paid budget to promote your best-performing short-form content to drive new listeners on platforms like Meta or TikTok.
• Create a contextual playlist: Make a playlist featuring your new release alongside similar artists to provide context and aid discovery.
• Analyze your data: Use analytics from streaming platforms (like Spotify for Artists) and social media to understand what worked, where listeners are, and how they found your music.
• Follow up with contacts: Track which blogs or playlists added your song and send a thank you. Use positive data and stats to follow up with contacts who didn’t cover you initially.
• Perform and connect: Plan live shows (local or live streams) to celebrate with fans and get the new music heard.
• Maintain consistency: Release new music regularly (but strategically spaced out) to keep your audience engaged and maintain presence in the algorithm.
• Plan your next step: As this release cycle winds down, begin planning your next single or project immediately to ensure continuous momentum.

During this stage, Jakke created new music videos for all the other 3 songs on the EP and posted lots of different video content.

He also pitched Brick by Brick to a bunch of curators through Submithub.

Why this release strategy worked for Jakke (synthesis)

In the first 7 days of the release, Jakke had 130.46% more streams compared to other releases. His release strategy was a success, and yours can be too. Here’s a quick summary of what worked:

• Sequenced stories had a bigger impact than isolated posts: keep this in mind when creating social media content
• Using one song to make multiple pieces of content allowed for greater reach and bigger impact: Jakke created an origin story, a teaser, and a behind-the-scenes moment with just one song. Remember: each piece of content should tell part of a larger story that builds anticipation for your music, not just announce its existence.
• For Jakke, teaser → single → video → EP → formed a narrative that addressed different angles and audiences. Remember to explore all your options when you are in the pre-release planning phase, so you don’t miss an audience anywhere.
• A 4-6 week timeline made a big difference. Why? A compressed one-week blitz would have significantly limited Jakke’s ability to create multiple touchpoints and engagement opportunities with his audience. This would have meant fewer promotional activities, reduced media coverage, and less organic sharing among fans. A condensed schedule would also diminish the chance for audience anticipation to build naturally, potentially leading to lower awareness of the release and consequently fewer streams on Day 1. Additionally, it would provide less opportunity for platforms to recognize and amplify the growing interest in your content.
• Jakke’s listening party turned out to be a key event that grounded the whole strategy. When it’s your turn, identify strategic partners or venues that could host a meaningful listening event.
• Keep the content cadence going and plan a specific follow-up content (such as acoustic version, behind-the-scenes video, interview, video clip, etc.) before and/or after your initial release date.

MusicTeam® supports artists throughout the creation, distribution and release process

Jakke developed a comprehensive strategy to cultivate and nurture audience anticipation for his EP release, focusing on building sustained engagement rather than simply pursuing a momentary spike in streams for an individual single. His approach prioritized long-term listener investment over short-term metrics. He left plenty of time to prepare not only his release strategy, but the release itself including verifying the audio was perfect before uploading, double checking credits, etc.

MusicTeam® supported his journey by facilitating his music catalog management, which enabled the organisation of all unique music identifiers for current and future use. We also provide distribution and registration services to artists worldwide. Our all-in-one music platform is here for you. Sign up today.

More about All Ways, Always by Jakke

On October 10, music artist Jakke unveiled his most experimental body of work yet with the release of All Ways, Always, a boundary-pushing EP that fuses alternative rock, progressive house, and cinematic soundscapes into something wholly his own.

Jakke’s All Ways, Always EP emerged from a period of profound personal transformation and is deeply personal to him. It was written and produced over two years in Venice, CA with collaborator Allen Blickle, who recently passed away, alongside Trevor Coulter and Nick Olivas. It was brought to life through immersive mixing and mastering by Les Camacho and Kevin Woods.

The EP reflects Jakke’s life philosophy that joy and sorrow can coexist—”You can have the worst day while living the best life.” Born from significant life changes including the end of a long relationship, career shifts, and personal loss, these songs explore the duality of human experience.

“Accept all ways of the journey to always make the most of where it takes you. Last year, my mantra was “Expect nothing, accept everything”

I had quite the upheaval in my life; ending a 5 year relationship, moving, quitting my corporate startup job, losing a pet, all while exploring what it meant to be me, what I truly wanted in this life, understanding my place and the depths of the human experience. ”

The EP’s centerpiece, “Brick by Brick,” captures that tension in full. Built on hypnotic, organic drum grooves shaped from found sounds like footsteps on different terrains, the track is raw, booming, and cinematic—pulling listeners into a sonic world that feels equal parts dancefloor and psychological thriller. Lyrically, it explores duality: the push and pull between light and dark, control and surrender, dissolution and freedom.

Across the EP, Jakke leans into a psychedelic edge of alternative dance while delivering deeply emotional songwriting. The result is a collection of songs that sit sonically somewhere between Jamie xx and Radiohead—experimental yet immersive, danceable yet introspective.

No matter who you are, you are invited to experience the All Ways, Always EP in full and reflect on its themes of transformation and human connection.