When should I set my release date / How long does it take to go live on partner sites?

How long will it take for my release to go live?

If you want your release to go live on a specific release date at all partner sites, be sure to sign up your release with CD Baby at least 3 weeks before your intended release date. 4-6 weeks is ideal. This will allow time for any adjustments that may need to be made during the inspection process and will give you ample time to promote your release! Things like playlist pitching and pre-saves/pre-adds are great promotional opportunities if you allow yourself time. 

Why 4-6 weeks? 

• CD Baby Inspection
  Our internal inspection team needs to check your release to be sure it meets our partner's guidelines. This process can take up to 5 days. If our inspection team finds something that needs to be edited, they will contact you to make the edit and they will check it once more. 
• Partner site review/processing
  Each partner site needs time for their own review and processing. For example:
  • Spotify processing: 2 days to 2 weeks
  • Apple Music / iTunes processing: 2 days to 2 weeks
  • *Other partner sites will process your music within 1-4 weeks 

All of our partners do honor release dates and will only make a project available to the public when it reaches the date you selected in your account (your release date). This assumes that it reaches them with enough time to process it.

 So, if you "submit your release for distribution" on the first of the month and your release date is any time after the 25th of that month, you should be up and running on the date you picked!

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