Marketing Mastering Music Business Publishing

How To Publish Your Own Music: A Step-By-Step Guide

With the powerful tools available to us today, any modern artist should be considering taking publishing into their own hands. Here is a concise step-by-step guide on how to publish your own music.

If you an emerging artist who’s looking to get your music out into the world, publishing your own music is a great way to take control of your career and reach a wider audience.

While it may seem a bit daunting, it’s actually quite straightforward and, with the right guidance and information, you can get your music out there within a relatively short amount of time.

Here’s a guide to help you get started.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com

1. Prepare Your Music To Be Released

Once you’ve created your music, you need to get it ready to publish.

This means checking all the details, such as the mix, mastering, and other technical aspects of your song.

You’ll want to make sure it’s perfect before you release it, so take the time to make sure everything is ready to go.

It is very important to master a song before releasing it.

Mastering can help to create a more balanced and polished sound, reduce any unwanted noise, and ensure that consistency in quality and loudness is achieved across multiple songs.

Preparing your music for mastering

Mastering is the final stage of the music production process and involves enhancing and balancing the audio elements of a song to make it sound polished and professional.

Export the final mix

Before mastering, make sure your mix is finalised and all revisions have been made.

Export the mix in a high-resolution format, such as WAV or AIFF, to ensure that the mastering engineer has access to the best quality audio.

Provide a reference track

Giving the mastering engineer a reference track of a song that has the sound you are looking for can help them understand your vision for the final product.

Choose a track with a similar genre and energy level to your song.

Check for technical issues

Before sending your mix to the mastering engineer, listen for technical issues such as clipping, excessive noise, and phase issues.

These issues can negatively impact the sound of your mix and should be addressed before mastering.

Properly label and organise your files

Label your mix with the song title, date, and any other relevant information.

Make sure to organise your files in a clear and easy-to-understand manner to ensure a smooth and efficient mastering process.

Communicate with the mastering engineer

Before mastering begins, communicate with the mastering engineer about your goals and expectations.

Provide them with any reference tracks, notes, or specifications that you would like them to consider during the mastering process.

By following these steps, you can prepare your music for mastering and ensure that it sounds its best.

Keep in mind that mastering is a specialised and delicate process, and it’s important to work with a mastering engineer who has the skills and expertise to deliver the sound you’re looking for.

Read more on preparing your mix for mastering.

Photo by John Tekeridis on Pexels.com

2. Choose a Self-Publishing Platform

Music producers use distribution services to publish their own music because of the many benefits these services provide.

Some of these benefits include:

Reach: Distribution services give music producers access to a wide range of platforms, including popular streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal, as well as other platforms such as SoundCloud and Bandcamp. This broad reach allows music producers to reach a larger audience and build their fanbase.

Convenience: Publishing music through a distribution service is a convenient and straightforward process. You simply upload their music to the platform and the service takes care of the rest, including distribution to various platforms and payment processing.

Control: With a distribution service, music producers have complete control over their music, including the ability to choose which platforms they distribute to and set their own prices. This level of control is crucial for producers who want to maintain control over their music and brand.

Marketing and Promotion: Many distribution services offer promotional tools, such as built-in marketing campaigns and social media integration, to help music producers reach a wider audience and build their fanbase.

Royalty Management: Distribution services handle the process of paying royalties to music producers for the use of their music on various platforms. This helps ensure that producers are fairly compensated for their work and eliminates the need for them to negotiate with each platform individually.

There are a lot of Self-publishing platforms out there to choose from.

Here are some tips to help you choose the right platform for your needs:

  1. Consider your goals
    What do you want to achieve through self-publishing? Are you looking to build a fanbase, make money, or both? Knowing your goals will help you choose a platform that is aligned with your aspirations.
  2. Check for distribution options
    Look for a platform that provides distribution to popular streaming services, such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal. This will help you reach a wider audience and grow your fanbase.
  3. Consider royalty rates
    Different self-publishing platforms offer different royalty rates for the music you publish. Be sure to research and compare the rates offered by each platform to find the one that offers the best return for your music.
  4. Evaluate ease of use
    Choose a platform that is user-friendly and easy to use. You should be able to upload your music, set up your account, and manage your distribution without any hassle.
  5. Consider the promotional tools
    Look for a platform that offers promotional tools, such as built-in marketing campaigns, to help you promote your music and reach a wider audience.
  6. Read reviews and check for user feedback
    Do your research and read reviews and user feedback to see what other music producers have to say about the platform. This will give you a better understanding of the platform’s strengths and weaknesses and help you make an informed decision.

Tunecore might be a great option for you to help streamline your publishing process.

But there are a number of great distribution services to choose from, check out this handy comparison table to compare options.

Photo by Robin McPherson on Pexels.com

3. Set Up Your Profile

Once you’ve chosen a platform, you’ll need to set up your profile.

This involves creating a name and profile picture, as well as adding a bio and other relevant information.

It’s important to make your profile look professional and interesting so people will be more inclined to listen to your music.

Take a look at similar artists related to your genre and how they approach this if you need inspiration.

Photo by Thibault Trillet on Pexels.com

4. Upload Your Music

Once your profile is set up, it’s time to start uploading your tracks. You can either upload them one at a time or in bulk, depending on the platform you’ve chosen.

Make sure to provide accurate information about each track, such as genre, release date, and cover art.

These kind of mistakes can be time consuming to fix later on.

Photo by Wendy Wei on Pexels.com

5. Promote Your Music

Once your music is uploaded, it’s time to start promoting it.

You can do this a number of ways, here are some ideas:

Utilise Social Media – Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are great ways for an electronic music artist to promote their music. They can post pictures, videos, and music clips of their work to engage an audience.

Create a Music Video – Music videos are an excellent way to attract fans and potential listeners. They can be used to promote a song or an entire album, as well as to build an artist’s brand.

Build an Online Presence – By creating a website and utilising streaming services such as Spotify or SoundCloud, electronic music artists can expand their reach and reach new audiences.

Network with Other Artists – Collaborating with other electronic music artists can help to broaden an artist’s fan base and increase exposure.

Perform Live – Live performances are a great way for electronic music artists to engage with their fans, as well as to increase their reach. They can take advantage of local music venues and festivals to do this.

Spotify’s promotional tools

You can also use Spotify’s promotional tools to help get your music out there.

Spotify is one of the most popular streaming services out there, and they offer a variety of promotional tools to help music artists promote their music.

The first tool is the Spotify Artist Profile.

This allows musicians to create a page that their fans can follow and get updated on their new releases, upcoming shows, and more.

It’s a great way to build a community of fans and keep them in the loop about new music.

The second tool is Spotify for Artists.

This allows you to upload your music directly to the platform, set up a personalised artist profile, and get detailed insights about who is listening to your music.

It also allows you to promote your music to new listeners via playlists and ads.

The third and final tool is Spotify Canvas.

This is a feature that allows you to upload a looping video that plays whenever someone listens to your song.

This can be an effective way to grab the attention of listeners, differentiate your music from other artists, and add a visual element to your music.

Overall, Spotify offers a variety of promotional tools that can help you promote your music on the platform.

By taking advantage of these tools, you can effectively share your music with yours fans and reach new listeners.

Read more on marking your music on spotify.

Photo by Gaby Tenda on Pexels.com

6. Track Your Progress

Finally, make sure to track your progress and adjust your strategy accordingly.

This can be done through the platform’s analytics tools, as well as by monitoring your streaming and sales numbers.

Self-publishing your music on Spotify can be a great way to get your music out there and start earning revenue from it.

With the right strategies, you can get your music out to a wider audience and start seeing results.


This Article is brought to you by KAN Samples.
Pro Audio Tools for Producers.

Subscribe For Free Samples

You Will Get:
✅ 100% Royalty Free Samples For Music Production.
✅ A Free Demo Pack of our latest Product.
✅ Free Demo Packs of all Future Products.
✅ Unsubscribe any time.

Fuelling the underground since 2018. We create Pro Audio Sample Packs and Plugin Presets for Electronic Music Production. Follow our blog for Music Production knowledge and insights. Subscribe to us for Free Samples each time a product is released.

0 comments on “How To Publish Your Own Music: A Step-By-Step Guide

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: