Cut the Red Tape #3: The Stuff You Didn't Know You Had to Know (DIY Release Edition)
Straight answers to messy music questions: a recurring Q&A series by Nat Cummins of Red Tape Music.
Welcome to the third instalment of Cut the Red Tape - the Q&A series where I answer questions from musicians, friends, or anyone just curious about how the music industry actually works. If you’ve got a question you’ve been too scared to ask, feel free to drop me a line and I’ll queue it up.
The format for these may change depending on the type of question asked. Last time I covered TikTok dances, authenticity, and what labels actually want - this week’s question is a bit more practical, and a bit more personal. It's about that weird moment as you gear up for your early releases, where you're excited and overwhelmed and constantly being sold services that may or may not help.
So, as always, this answer is based on my own experience. It’s part checklist, part cautionary tale, and definitely not written in the language of a standard industry guide.
i have a question. as an independent musician, i am about to release my first single. what's something i probably forgot to do, that almost everyone forgets to do, that you think is actually worth doing? it's so easy to get trapped in signing up for service after service to try and promote a release that it's hard to see the wood for the trees.
This is a brilliant question, and one that so many independent artists don’t think to ask until after the release, when it’s too late to fix anything.
It’s really easy to get overwhelmed when releasing your own music, especially once the social media algorithms realise what you’re trying to do. Suddenly your feed is full of advice from people promising to 10x your monthly listeners, or pitching tools and services that all start to blur together. Are some of them useful? Possibly. Are they expensive? Usually. Are they essential? Not really.
So instead of another list of things to buy, here’s a list of a few free or low-cost things that are genuinely worth doing, and that most people forget. This post is mainly aimed at UK artists, since that’s where Hons is based, but much of it will apply elsewhere too.
1. Give yourself time. More than you think.
In my work as a label manager, I usually run about 12 weeks ahead of the rest of the team. That’s not because I’m wildly organised (though I am, let’s be honest). It’s because release setups take time. There are a lot of moving parts. And the further in advance you can get things sorted, the less stressful it is when release week rolls around.
Here’s a rough guide:
12 weeks = excellent
8 weeks = good
4 weeks = you’re going to be scrambling
I know how tempting it is to just hit upload the moment something’s finished. You’re excited, it’s fresh, you want it out in the world. But holding off and giving yourself time to plan will almost always lead to better results. And far fewer panic attacks at 11pm the night before release.
2. Get your metadata* and assets together
Before anything goes out into the world, you’ll need:
A properly mixed and mastered final track
Your lyrics, written out and double-checked. What you sang and what you wrote down might not match
Names and roles of all collaborators, including songwriters, producers, instrumentalists and engineers
IPI numbers for all songwriters. These are the membership numbers for their local Performing Rights Organisation (PRO). In the UK, that’s PRS
*Metadata just means all the info connected to your track. This includes things like the artist name, song title, release date, who wrote and performed it, and who gets paid. It's how streaming platforms and royalty systems know what your track is, who made it, and where the money should go.
It might feel like admin, but if your metadata is incomplete or incorrect, it can delay your release or stop royalties being paid properly.
3. Register with PRS and PPL
This is one of the biggest things people forget, especially early on. In the UK, you need to register with two separate organisations:
PRS for Music – for songwriters
PPL – for performers
If you wrote and performed the track, you need both. These organisations collect royalties when your music is played publicly. That includes radio, TV, cafés, shops and live venues. You don’t get this money automatically just because your song is on Spotify. You need to be registered.
Whenever music is played anywhere in public, whoever is playing the music has to have a licence. For example, shop owners, pubs, hairdressers, nail salons – anywhere you hear music in public will be paying a fee to both those companies (PPL and PRS), and this is then paid out to the performers and songwriters in the form of royalties.
If you’re not signed up, you’re leaving money on the table.
4. Know your distributor’s timelines (and pay for priority if you can)
Not all distributors work the same way. Many of the pay-as-you-go platforms (like Ditto, for example) don’t check releases in the order they’re delivered. They check them in release date order. And unless you’ve paid for “priority delivery,” they might not even look at your upload until 7 to 10 days before your chosen release date.
That can be a problem because:
You won’t get access to Spotify for Artists in time
You’ll miss the deadline to pitch your track to Spotify’s editorial team
Your release might not go live everywhere on time if there are any issues flagged during quality checks
If your distributor offers a “priority delivery” or “expedited” option and you can afford it, I recommend using it. It’s one of the few small upgrades that actually makes a real difference. Especially when you're still figuring things out and want time to correct any last-minute issues.
5. Pitching to Spotify (Even If It’s Early Days)
Spotify allows you to pitch your track directly to their editorial team through Spotify for Artists. But there’s a catch. You need to do it at least 7 days in advance, and ideally 4 weeks before release. Editors often plan playlists a few weeks ahead, and the earlier your pitch goes in, the better your chances. That’s assuming you’re even on their radar yet.
If this is your first or one of your first releases, it’s completely normal not to land on any big playlists. That’s not a failure. Release Radar and other algorithm-based playlists rely on listener data. That only starts to build once Spotify knows a bit about who your audience is.
But pitching early is still worth doing. It gets your track into the system properly, shows you’re active, and sets you up for the future. Being consistent makes a difference, even if you don’t see results right away.
So yes, pitch your track. Just don’t panic if nothing happens. Think of it as planting seeds.
Bonus: Use a checklist
I have a checklist of over 85 tasks that I run through for every release. That’s not to scare you. It’s just a reminder that this stuff takes planning.
The good news is, you don’t need to build one from scratch. My brilliant colleague and friend, Karma Bertelsen, has created a free resource called Hype Drop Club that includes a proper release checklist. It’s one of the best out there and I highly recommend it.
TL;DR – what most people forget:
Give yourself more time than you think you need
Register with PRS and PPL
Get your credits and metadata sorted early
Know how your distributor works
Pitch to Spotify 4 weeks ahead
Use a checklist
Got a question of your own? Drop it in the comments, reply to the email, or shout at me elsewhere. I’ll try and cover as many as I can.