How to Get Your Music on Spotify, Apple Music and Every Other Store

You can't upload a song straight to Spotify or Apple Music as an independent artist. You go through a music distributor: a company that delivers your audio, artwork and release details to the stores, then collects the money those stores pay and passes it on to you. Pick a distributor, get your files and details ready, choose a release date a few weeks out, and the distributor handles the delivery.

This guide takes you through the whole process: what distribution actually does, what you need before you submit, how long it takes, and what to do once the music is live.

What a music distributor does

Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, TIDAL and the other stores don't take uploads from millions of individual artists. They take deliveries from distributors and labels they have agreements with. A distributor:

• Delivers your release in the format each store expects: audio files, cover art and metadata (titles, artist names, credits, genre, release date and so on).
• Assigns or carries your codes: an ISRC for each recording and a UPC for the release. See ISRC and UPC codes explained.
• Collects your recording royalties from the stores and reports them to you in statements.
• Handles changes and takedowns when you need to correct something or remove a release.

What a distributor usually does not do is collect your songwriting (publishing) royalties. That is a separate stream of money, covered in how streaming royalties work.

What you need ready before you submit

Getting everything right before you submit saves you from rejections and last-minute changes. Here's the checklist.

1. Final, mastered audio

Export your final master as a high-quality WAV or FLAC file (most distributors ask for 16-bit/44.1 kHz or higher). Don't upload MP3s. Listen through the whole file one last time for clicks, cut-off endings and silence at the start.

2. Cover art

Your artwork needs to be a square image, at least 3000×3000 pixels, in RGB color. Keep it free of website addresses, social handles, prices and store logos. The full list is in cover art requirements for Spotify, Apple Music and other stores.

3. Clean metadata

Metadata is every piece of text attached to your release. Decide on these before you start the upload:

• The exact artist name, spelled the same way everywhere
• Track titles, with versions (Remix, Live, Acoustic) written the way stores expect
• Featured artists and who's the primary artist
• Songwriters, producers and other credits
• Genre, language of the lyrics and whether the track is explicit
• Copyright and production lines (who owns the recording and the artwork)

Small metadata errors are the most common reason releases get sent back. Read metadata mistakes that get releases rejected before your first upload.

4. The rights to everything on the record

You need to own or control the recording, and you need permission for anything you use from someone else: samples, beats you licensed, featured vocals. If you're releasing a cover song, the composition belongs to its songwriters, so check what license you need where you release it.

Step by step: from finished track to live release

1. Choose your distributor. Look at who they work with, how they review releases, how you get paid and how easy it is to reach a person when something goes wrong.
2. Pick a release date. Give yourself several weeks. Stores need processing time, and you need time to pitch and promote. A realistic plan is in our release timeline guide.
3. Upload audio and artwork, and enter metadata. Double-check every field. What you type here is what fans will see.
4. Review and submit. Good distributors check your release before it goes out and tell you if something needs fixing.
5. Delivery to stores. The distributor sends the release to each store. Every store processes it on its own schedule.
6. Claim your artist profiles. Once your music is delivered, claim Spotify for Artists, Apple Music for Artists and the equivalent tools on other platforms. That's where you edit your bio, see your stats and (on Spotify) pitch to editorial playlists.
7. Pitch and promote. Pitch an unreleased song to Spotify's editors well ahead of the date, and set up a smart link and pre-save. See how to pitch your song to Spotify editorial playlists.

How long does distribution take?

There isn't a single answer, because each store works to its own timetable. Some releases show up within a few days of delivery, others take longer, especially around busy periods or when a store asks for a correction. That's why experienced artists and labels submit weeks ahead, not days.

Submitting early also unlocks things you can't do at the last minute: an editorial pitch on Spotify, a pre-save campaign and time to line up press, radio or social content.

What to do after your release is live

Release day is the start, not the finish.

• Check every store. Open your release on the main platforms and make sure the artwork, titles and artist profile are correct. If a track landed on the wrong artist profile, tell your distributor right away.
• Share one link. Use a smart link that sends fans to the store they already use, instead of posting a different link for every platform.
• Watch your stats. Spotify for Artists and Apple Music for Artists show you where listeners come from. Use that to decide where to spend your promotion time.
• Keep your codes. If you re-release the song later (on a compilation, a deluxe edition or a new label), reuse the same ISRC so your streams stay together.
• Keep an eye on statements. Royalties arrive after the streams, not at the same time. Stores report to distributors after a delay, so your first statement can take a while to show up.

Key takeaways

• You need a distributor to get on Spotify, Apple Music and the other stores.
• Prepare a mastered WAV, square artwork of at least 3000×3000 px and clean, consistent metadata before you upload.
• Set a release date several weeks out: stores publish on their own schedules, and you need time to pitch.
• After release, check every store, claim your artist profiles and share a single smart link.

Releasing with Stillmore Group

Stillmore Group distributes music for independent artists, labels and management companies. Joining is by application, and the team reviews every release (metadata, artwork and audio) before it goes to the stores, so problems get caught before a store does. Release dates need to be at least 10 days after you submit, and planning further ahead is better. If that sounds like the right fit, you can apply here.