An album release plan
that counts back from Friday.

Twelve weeks before release day is a common minimum for an album with two singles, and eight weeks for an EP with one. The first dates are fixed by others: your distributor needs the files weeks ahead, Spotify needs time to hear a pitch, and press often works six to eight weeks out. Start earlier if the music video is not shot yet.

Two is a common shape for an independent album: the first around eight weeks out, the second around four, with the announcement between them. Three works on a longer run with a bigger budget. Each single needs its own cover, a vertical video and a week of posts, so count what you can make well before you pick a number.

Three to four weeks before each release date is a safe rule. It gives the stores time to process, puts the song in Spotify for Artists early enough to pitch, and leaves room to fix a metadata or artwork rejection. Deliver the full album before you announce it, so the pre-save link works on announcement day.

Pitch from Spotify for Artists once the unreleased song appears there, at least seven days before release; a pitch on time also puts the song on your followers' Release Radar. You can pitch one song at a time, and the next pitch opens when that song goes live. So plan the order: single one, then single two, then the album's focus track.

Masters, instrumentals and clean versions; the album cover and a cover per single as square files; press photos; Spotify Canvas loops; the music video or a visualiser; lyric videos and vertical clips; a one-pager, bios, credits and lyrics. Give each asset an owner and a due date a week before the release that needs it.

Signed split sheets for every song, songs registered with your performing rights organisation, samples cleared, and correct credits in the metadata. Get the usage terms in writing from the photographer, designer and video director, so the cover and press photos can run in ads and on merch. All of it is harder to fix after release day.

More than any other week. A release-day post, a post or short video per track, a thank-you to the people who pre-saved, a live moment in the first weekend, and reposts of every playlist add and review. Write the captions the week before, so release week is spent answering people, not writing.

Yes, as a first draft. In Storyflow the AI lays the weeks out backwards from your release date, placing anything with a lead time early, drafts the asset list and posting plan, and storyboards the music video frame by frame. The singles and the dates stay your decision, and Undo reverses any change it makes.

No. Storyflow plans the release. Distribution to Spotify, Apple Music and the stores goes through DistroKid, TuneCore or CD Baby; editorial pitches through Spotify for Artists; ads through Meta's and TikTok's own tools; and posting through the apps or a scheduler. Put each deadline's link to the tool that does it on the board, so the plan points at the work.

Yes, shorter. An EP often runs eight weeks with one single and the announcement at week six. A single needs four to six weeks: deliver it three to four weeks out, pitch it, make one cover, one vertical video and two weeks of posts. Duplicate the album board and delete the weeks you do not need.

Not during early access. Storyflow is paid-only during early access, with plans from $7.99 a month billed annually ($9.99 monthly). A free plan launches before the end of 2026, and anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free, so the band and the designer do not each need a plan.