The Ultimate Release Roadmap: 11 Phases Every SA Artist Must Follow
From pre-production to post-release, this step-by-step roadmap ensures you never miss a critical step when dropping music in South Africa.
Why You Need a Release Roadmap
Releasing music in South Africa is more complex than ever. Between SAMRO registration, ISRC codes, distributor submissions, and marketing timelines, it's easy to miss critical steps. That's why we built the Music Royalty Lab Release Roadmap — an 11-phase checklist that guides you from the first demo to post-release analytics.
The 11 Phases
1. Pre-Production (12–8 weeks before)
Finalise songwriting, book your producer, set your budget. This is where the foundation is laid.
2. Recording & Production (8–6 weeks before)
Hit the studio, record vocals, finalise production, export stems, and back up everything.
3. Mixing & Mastering (6–5 weeks before)
Get your track radio-ready. Create instrumental and clean versions if needed.
4. Rights & Registration (5–4 weeks before)
Register with SAMRO, RiSA, and your publishing admin. This is where your money gets protected.
5. Visual Assets (5–4 weeks before)
Commission cover art, shoot a music video or lyric video, create promotional graphics.
6. Metadata & Codes (4–3 weeks before)
Embed ID3 tags, get your ISRC code, verify all metadata is correct.
7. Legal & Splits (4–3 weeks before)
Formalise split sheets, sign contracts, and document all agreements.
8. Distribution (3–2 weeks before)
Upload to your distributor, submit for playlist consideration, set your release date.
9. Pre-Launch Marketing (2–1 weeks before)
Tease content, submit to blogs and radio, set up pre-saves.
10. Release Day
Go live, share everywhere, engage with fans, submit to editorial playlists.
11. Post-Release (1–12 weeks after)
Track performance, claim royalties, pitch for sync licensing, plan your next move.
Start your release journey today with our Release Manager.
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