The ability to effectively release and promote a single is an important skill every independent artist should practice. The reason? Singles are a great way for artists to quickly (and easily) gain exposure, foster fan loyalty, and further develop their artist sound and personality. 

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of releasing a single: 

Pros:

• It’s cheaper (and takes less time) to create only one song versus an EP or album 

• You can release music more frequently keeping your fans engaged through consistency 

• Focusing on one song lets you create a bigger event around it (for marketing & promotion) 

• Experiment with different promotion strategies to find out what works best with your audience (and you!) 

Cons:

• Without a strategy, your single could disappear into the mass of daily-released singles 

• Can be more difficult to get press exposure for only one song 

• You can express your story and tone through an album more than a single 

• More difficult to create and sell merchandise

Why should you release singles first?

If you are just starting out as an artist, releasing singles is an easy way to gain familiarity with all aspects of the music making and releasing process. Especially if you don’t have a discography, we’d recommend starting with a single or two before diving straight into an album. 

Not only does this save you time, money, and energy, but releasing a single first provides a base on which you can further develop your artistic profile. Sometimes, distributors will even require that you have an established presence before distributing an album.  

Different types of singles 

There are different types of singles you can release.  

The True Single:

One standalone song that can be anything you want it to be.  

The B-Side:

Released after an album, these singles are the songs that didn’t quite make the cut. Album lovers may appreciate these extra songs.  

The Live Version:

Did you perform a song live somewhere? Use recordings from live events as additional singles to release. These are great for fostering a special connection with the place you performed or the audience.  

The Album Teaser:

This is probably the most-seen type of single and a great way to grow your discography naturally. Release singles that are part of a greater whole (album) to not only build exposure for the singles, but for the album as well. 

Bonus Content:

This is most typically seen with remixes and acoustic versions. Remixes are great for reviving a song and give an opportunity to collaborate with another artist—benefiting both parties. 

Distributors for release 

To release your singles on digital streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music, you will need to sign up with a digital distributor. A distributor will ensure your tracks reach the best platforms and will collect master royalties for the tracks they release.  

Releasing a single is usually cheaper than releasing a whole album. You can release your single completely for free with Winamp for Creators.  

Promoting your single 

A great promotional strategy can make all the difference in the effectiveness of your single release. New music is a great opportunity to cement your artist brand, style, and personality. It fosters a deeper connection with your existing fans and opens doors for introducing new listeners to your music. 

Promoting your single involves more than announcing and publishing it to the public. Let’s dive into some tips to keep in mind when crafting your marketing plan. 

Prepare assets ahead of time 

Before announcing your single release date, ensure that you have all assets prepared ahead of time. Any marketing material, such as video content, copywriting, images, clips, sound bites, etc. should be collected and ready before starting your promotional strategy. 

Have high-quality cover art already designed. Select your best press photos or take updated ones for the release. The more images you work with, the better variety there is in your promotion. 

Preparing ahead of time ensures a smooth promotional process, with no extra work on your half required during this time. Plus, it gives you the opportunity to interact with your community—responding to comments or doing live Q&A’s about the single. 

 To release your singles on digital streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music, you will need to sign up with a digital distributor. A distributor will ensure your tracks reach the best platforms and will collect master royalties for the tracks they release.  

Releasing a single is usually cheaper than releasing a whole album. You can release your single completely for free with Winamp for Creators.  

Promoting your single 

A great promotional strategy can make all the difference in the effectiveness of your single release. New music is a great opportunity to cement your artist brand, style, and personality. It fosters a deeper connection with your existing fans and opens doors for introducing new listeners to your music. 

Promoting your single involves more than announcing and publishing it to the public. Let’s dive into some tips to keep in mind when crafting your marketing plan. 

Prepare assets ahead of time 

Before announcing your single release date, ensure that you have all assets prepared ahead of time. Any marketing material, such as video content, copywriting, images, clips, sound bites, etc. should be collected and ready before starting your promotional strategy. 

Have high-quality cover art already designed. Select your best press photos or take updated ones for the release. The more images you work with, the better variety there is in your promotion. 

Preparing ahead of time ensures a smooth promotional process, with no extra work on your half required during this time. Plus, it gives you the opportunity to interact with your community—responding to comments or doing live Q&A’s about the single. 

Teasing strategy / Timing 

Teasers give your fans a taste of what's to come—building anticipation of the track before release. A few weeks before the release of your single, you can begin teasing snippets of your track or parts of the images associated with your track.  

A few weeks before the release of your single, announce the release date on social media. We’d recommend announcing 4 to 6 weeks before the scheduled date. This gives you plenty of time to stay active before the single comes out. You can even create a countdown event on social media to help your listeners remember when your single will be released. 

Pre-save 

An essential part of the teasing strategy is developing a pre-save campaign. A pre-save campaign allows your listeners to ‘save’ your song before it is released. By doing so, they will be reminded of your single on its release. You wouldn’t want to spend time marketing your single only to have fans forget about it by the time it is released. 

By encouraging people to pre-save your single, you increase the retention of your promotional efforts and boost the number of streams you’ll earn on release day. Win-win overall. 

Release Radar on Spotify 

Getting your music on official Spotify playlists can take a bit of finesse. There is one playlist, however, that guarantees you a spot: Release Radar. Release Radar is customized to each Spotify listener based off the artists they listen to. When one of these artists releases a new song, it is possible to have that song included—no playlist pitching necessary. 

How does it work? Check out Spotify's step-by-step guide for getting your music on release radar here.

Use video 

Video content is on the rise. TikTok and Instagram Reels are some of the most consumed and popular forms of social content on the Internet. Take advantage of this popularity by using video to promote your track. 

What could this look like? 

• A behind-the-scenes of creating music 

• Video imagery that relates to the mood or theme 

• Day in the life of an artist 

You might be considering releasing a music video to go with the single. Great! You can make a music video part of your marketing plan by following the same waterfall strategy as your single release.  

A few weeks before releasing your music video, post a few teasers and hints. This could include small clips from the music video, introducing the people or characters acting, or hinting images of the overall theme.  

We’d recommend waiting till after your single is released to publish your music video. Why? If you publish a music video before the song, people won’t need to stream the song to listen. In this way, your listeners will remain curious about the music video.