Release Strategy · 6 min read
Pre-Save Is Not a Strategy — The pitch that gets you the placement
The four weeks before release matter more than launch day. Treat them as the rollout, not the warm-up.
Most independent rollouts collapse into a single tweet on release day. The artists growing fastest treat the four weeks before release as the actual campaign and use launch day to harvest, not to seed.
A useful rollout has four jobs: build anticipation, prove the song is good, pitch the editorial gatekeepers, and warm the audience that already exists. Each one is a different week.
Week four out: confirm assets, finalise pre-save, lock in editorial pitches via your distributor at least 21 days ahead. This is the deadline most independents miss and pay for in placement.
Week three out: announce. One strong visual, the date, one sentence of context. Resist the urge to spoil the song.
Week two out: prove. Share a clip of the song in a setting that contextualises it — live, on a walk, in the room it was written in. Authenticity beats production value here.
Week one out: warm. Direct messages, story replies, one piece of behind-the-scenes content per day. By release day the audience already feels invested.
Launch day itself is mostly thank-yous and one well-edited post. The work is already done.
