The long-awaited, new and improved experience for artists to manage their catalog and create releases is finally being launched after months of dedicated work.
This streamlined experience is designed to make release creation easier, faster, and more accurate.
Key Benefits of the New Release Process
Simplified Platform Navigation
The 4-Step Guided Release Creation Flow
Step 4: Review and Request Distribution
Post-Submission Status and Edition Control
Key Benefits of the New Release Process
The redesign focuses on several primary objectives:
- Create a clear and guided user flow by guiding users step-by-step.
- Reduce manual and repetitive work using auto-fill and metadata reuse.
- Ensure metadata accuracy and completeness by preventing errors and validating entries.
- Improve usability across devices for both desktop and mobile platforms.
Simplified Platform Navigation
The main header menu has been simplified to three sections:
- Music: The former "Catalog" section has been renamed "Music". And it contains two subsections: Releases and Artists & Contributors.
- Analytics: Displays trends and royalties statistics to track music performance across main DSPs.
- Royalties: The recently updated section that allows artists to manage their revenue balance and split it with other contributors.
The former Distribution section has been removed for end-users, as distribution is now unified and integrated directly into the release creation flow. Also, tracks must now be edited uniquely within a release to ensure consistency; therefore, the separate "Tracks" section has been removed.
The 4-Step Guided Release Creation Flow
The release creation process is now organized into a required step-by-step guided workflow across three main stages:
Step 1: Release Info
This step defines release-level metadata (Title, Version, Cover Image, Label, Licenses).
- Fewer fields and informative messages help users avoid common input mistakes.
- Label and Right Holders are linked, allowing you to easily auto-copy the three values (Label, Copyright Holder (©), and Phonogram Holder (℗)).
- UPC (EAN13) and original release date are requested only when the release is marked as previously published.
- Genres and Credits for the release level are automatically calculated from track data to ensure consistency with DSP style guides. These fields are no longer manually editable at the release level.
Step 2: Track List & Info
This step manages track inclusion, order, and track-specific metadata (Genres, Lyrics, Credits, ISRC).
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Enhanced Credits Management is a core focus:
- The system now differentiates Artists (Primary or Featured roles, identified by artistic name and Artist ID on Spotify and Apple Music) from Contributors (other roles like composer, producer, remixer, identified by full name).
- Mandatory roles (e.g., Primary Artist, Composer, Producer, etc.) are clearly displayed as empty cards to ensure they are filled.
- For releases with multiple tracks (albums/EPs), you can copy Genre and Credit information from one track to others to speed up metadata entry.
- Existing distributed tracks can be included in new releases as non-editable items, selecting them from the catalog. Since these tracks are already live (distributed), any change must be requested through a support ticket.
Step 3: Delivery Options
This step sets details to launch the release (Release Date, Countries, Platforms, Purchase options).
- Release Date selection is recommended to a minimum of 14 days in advance to ensure timely publication, although it can be manually changed to a minimum to 7 days in advance.
- DSP Selection is now integrated into the flow; platforms unavailable for distribution (e.g., due to territory restriction or unsupported genres) are disabled with a tooltip indicating the reason.
- Price categories are renamed to show the standard price (e.g., Mid is $0.99 (recommended)).
Step 4: Review and Request Distribution
After the three steps are completed, users are led to a last revision, to confirm that all the data informed is correct before requesting the distribution.
By clicking on the “Request distribution” button, users will be prompted by a double confirmation to ensure that they have the rights to distribute the content and acknowledge the implications of this final action.
Upon confirmation, the release will be sent for review, and a confirmation page detailing the next steps will be displayed.
Post-Submission Status and Edition Control
Upon distribution request submission, you will see a clearer metadata summary and enhanced visibility of the release status.
- Editing Restrictions: Once submitted, modification of the release metadata and assets, and its included tracks, ara available only if the release is in "Sent to Review" and "Action Needed" statuses. Additionally, in these statuses, users will be able to cancel a distribution request before QC review starts, to revert it to draft and make any additional necessary changes, such as modifying the track list or delivery options. Delivered releases are not editable at this point.
- Manage Distribution: Note that once a release has been delivered to DSPs, end-users cannot perform takedowns or re-deliveries; these actions will be managed exclusively by the Admin through the current platform.
Admin Capabilities
As an admin, you’ll continue to have access to the main management tools and features, although some operational processes may be affected by the changes introduced in the new experience.
- Higher Post-Delivery Control: Admins gain greater control over post-delivery actions, specifically handling takedowns and re-delivery of releases to DSPs on behalf of end-users. At the moment, end-users can’t manage these actions themselves. These actions can be performed through the "Manage distribution" link for each release in the releases list or through the Distribution section.
- Forced Impersonation for Edits: If you try to access end-users content, you’ll be automatically prompted with a modal requiring your confirmation to impersonate the end-user before proceeding. This will ensure that all possible modifications and asset changes are properly linked to the release owner, avoiding visibility and attribution issues.
- Special DSP Authorisation: To request authorization for your artists to distribute to specific DSPs (such as Beatport and YouTube Content ID), now you’ll need to gather all the required information beforehand. Then contact the specific support team with the necessary information. Further details can be found in this article.
If you need any assistance or would like to share feedback at any time, you can reach us anytime — we’ll be happy to help.
This marks an important milestone and the beginning of an exciting new chapter.
Thank you for your trust and for being part of this journey!