Tutorials Audio

Releasing Music Independently: What Happens After the Master

By Infinite Creation · Beginner · ~16 min

Overview

Finishing a master is the end of the making and the start of a separate process that has its own vocabulary and its own ways of going wrong. Most of what goes wrong is administrative rather than musical: a track registered under a misspelled writer name, a release date set too close to delivery, royalties accumulating somewhere nobody collected them from. None of it is difficult, and almost all of it is easier to do before release than after.

What You Need

A finished master, and knowledge of which loudness and format the distributor asks for
Artwork at the resolution the distributor specifies, usually a large square image
The full legal names and splits of everyone who wrote the piece, agreed in writing before release

Steps

Separate the two rights before anything else

Every song contains two distinct pieces of property: the composition, which is the notes and words, and the sound recording, which is the specific performance captured. They can be owned by different people, they generate money through different channels, and every subsequent decision depends on knowing which one you are dealing with.

Agree the splits in writing first

Decide who wrote what percentage of the composition and record it somewhere all parties have signed, before the track is released. This conversation is uncomfortable early and considerably worse later, and unresolved splits are the most common reason money sits uncollected.

Choose a distributor

Streaming services do not generally accept music directly from artists, so a distributor delivers it to them. They differ in pricing model, whether they take a percentage, how quickly they pay, and what they do if you leave. Compare those four things rather than the list of stores, which is nearly identical everywhere.

Get an ISRC for each recording

The International Standard Recording Code identifies one specific recording permanently, across every service and territory it appears in. Distributors usually assign one for you. Take note of it either way, because it is how usage of that recording is tracked and how you prove which recording you mean.

Register the composition separately

The distributor handles the recording. It does not, by default, register the underlying composition, which is a different right collected by different organisations. Songwriters register with a performing rights body in their territory, and a publishing administrator can collect the mechanical side internationally.

Get the metadata right the first time

Artist name, track title, featured artists, writer credits, release date and language all travel with the file and are difficult to change once distributed. Decide on the exact spelling and capitalisation of your artist name and use it identically everywhere, because services match on the string.

Deliver well before the release date

Distributors and services need lead time, and editorial consideration usually requires several weeks. Delivering a few days ahead means the release will appear and nothing else. Several weeks is the working minimum, and the specific requirement is published by each service.

Keep the masters and the project files

Archive the final master, the stems and the session, with a note of what was used to make it. Requests for instrumental versions, alternative edits and sync licensing arrive years later, and a session that cannot be opened is a lost opportunity rather than an inconvenience.

Pro Tips

Loudness is not a competitive advantage on streaming, because services normalise playback. The mastering pages on this site cover what the published targets mean in practice.
A release date that is a Friday is convention rather than requirement, and it exists because chart weeks start then in most territories.
If you sampled anything, the clearance question is answered before release, not after. A distributor will not check for you.
Your artist name is a matching key. One inconsistent spelling creates a second artist profile and splits your listener count in half.

Knowledge Base

Reference Notes

The part that confuses people is why one track generates several different kinds of royalty, and what an ISRC does that a file name cannot.

Why one song produces several income streams

Because a song is two properties, a single play can trigger payments on both sides. The recording earns from the service that streamed it. The composition earns separately, through performing rights organisations when it is publicly performed or broadcast, and through mechanical rights when it is reproduced. These flow through different organisations and arrive at different times.

The practical consequence for a self-releasing artist is that a distributor alone collects only part of what a release earns. The composition side has to be registered deliberately, and money on that side accumulates whether or not anyone has claimed it. The systems and their names differ by territory, so check what applies where you are rather than assuming an arrangement described in another country.

What an ISRC is and is not

The ISRC is twelve alphanumeric characters, made up of a five-character prefix issued by an ISRC agency, two digits for the year the code was assigned, and a five-digit number chosen by the registrant, which must not repeat within a calendar year. Written out it is shown with the letters ISRC in front of it.

It identifies one recording, permanently, and stays with it across services, territories and licensing deals. What it does not identify is the composition, the release, or the performers, which is the distinction that catches people out: a new mix or a re-recording of the same song is a different recording and takes its own code, while the song underneath them is tracked by an entirely separate system.

Where This Fits

Release is the last stage of Making a Record, which covers everything from the first idea up to the master.

FAQ

Q: Do I need a record label?
A: No. Distributors exist to deliver music to services without one. What a label supplies beyond distribution is funding, marketing and staff, which is a commercial question rather than a technical requirement.

Q: Who assigns my ISRCs?
A: Most distributors assign them as part of delivery. You can also obtain your own prefix from the ISRC agency in your territory, which is worth doing if you expect to release regularly or want the codes to remain yours if you change distributor.

Q: Does my distributor collect all my royalties?
A: No. It collects on the recording. The composition side is a separate registration with different organisations, and it is the part most commonly missed.

Q: How far ahead should I deliver?
A: Several weeks, and more if you want editorial consideration. The exact minimum is set by each service and published by them, so check rather than relying on a figure quoted second-hand.

Vocabulary

Composition The written song, meaning the notes and the words, owned by its writers and their publishers. It is a separate property from any particular recording of it and generates money through different channels.

Sound recording One specific captured performance, usually owned by whoever paid for the session or by a label. Two recordings of the same song are two separate properties over one shared composition.

ISRC A twelve-character code identifying one recording permanently across every service and territory. It does not identify the composition, the release or the performers, so a new mix takes a new code while the song underneath keeps its own separate identifier.

Distributor The company that delivers a release to streaming services, which do not generally accept music from artists directly. They differ in pricing, payment speed and what happens to your catalogue if you leave.

Sources

The ISRC format described above was read from the standard's own documentation rather than from secondary summaries, several of which describe the prefix incorrectly. Royalty arrangements differ by territory and are described here in general terms only. Checked 2026-08-30.

ISRC Structure, official ISRC site. The twelve-character format: a five-character prefix from an ISRC agency, a two-digit year of reference, and a five-digit designation code that must not repeat within a calendar year.
The International Standard Recording Code, official site. States directly that ISRC identifies sound recordings and music videos, and is not used to identify compositions, products or performers.

Distribution terms, royalty collection bodies and delivery lead times vary by territory and change without notice. Treat the process described here as the shape of the system and check the current specifics with the organisations that apply where you are.