An electronic music release promotion checklist
Give your campaign a clear starting point. This checklist helps artists and labels prepare the music, information and decisions a PR or promotion team needs before outreach begins.
Published 28 October 2026
1. Define the release and the goal
Write down the artist, release title, label, catalogue number where relevant and confirmed release date. State whether you are promoting a single, EP, album or a sequence of releases. Include any announcement, premiere or embargo dates.
Choose the main objective. You might want relevant DJ feedback, specialist radio exposure, a press story for an album or a plan across a label’s release schedule. A clear objective helps decide which services belong in the campaign and what evidence to collect afterwards.
Give the team useful context: genre, related previous releases, the territories you want to reach and why this project matters now. Specific information is more useful than describing every track as a potential hit.
2. Prepare links that keep working
Supply a private listening link that will remain available throughout the campaign. Check it in a signed-out browser before sending it. Tell the team whether downloads are enabled and whether a password is required.
Organise the approved masters and relevant versions. Identify radio edits, instrumentals or clean versions where they exist, and label explicit tracks. Keep artist names, track titles, mix names and featured credits consistent across filenames and metadata.
Share the artwork, approved press photos and credits in a clearly organised folder. Say who owns the images and how they should be credited. Avoid links that expire halfway through pitching, and keep one current set of approved assets so editors do not receive conflicting versions.
3. Prepare the story and contact details
Include a short artist biography, label background and a few factual points about the release. Explain the collaboration, creative process or wider project in plain language. A PR team can shape the press release; you do not need to send finished copy before asking for a proposal.
Add relevant previous coverage and support with source links. Label each result accurately. Confirmed radio play, a DJ comment, a chart position and a playlist’s audience estimate should not be presented as the same thing.
Choose one campaign contact who can approve copy, answer questions and supply missing assets. Tell the team who can agree interviews or premieres, and make any restrictions clear before outreach starts.
4. Work back from your release date
Enquire before release day wherever possible. The right lead time depends on the project, the channels involved, asset readiness and the availability of relevant editors and presenters. An album with several singles may need a wider plan than one club track.
A useful planning sequence is to agree the brief first, approve materials next, then begin the agreed outreach before reviewing the campaign around release. This is a sequence to discuss with your team, not a promise that every campaign follows a fixed number of weeks.
If the release is already out, say so. There may still be a suitable story or promotional opportunity, but the approach should reflect the time available rather than reuse a pre-release plan without adjustment.
5. Agree how you will assess the campaign
Before paying, confirm the scope, fee, campaign dates, reporting schedule and what each report will contain. Ask how the team records published coverage, feedback, downloads and confirmed support.
Keep a simple record with the source, date, type of result and supporting link or evidence. For example, a radio result should identify the show or station and any available broadcast evidence. A press result should link to the published piece.
When you send your brief to SYNCØP8TE, include the music link, release date, artist and label, your main goal and any fixed deadlines. Those details give us a useful basis for recommending a campaign.