DistroKid Release Plan: 90, 60 And 30 Days Out
How far in advance to upload to DistroKid, which of their deadlines you have already missed on a short runway, and what a 90, 60 or 30 day plan looks like. DistroKid recommends 4 weeks.
DistroKid is the fastest of the big self-serve distributors, and that speed makes artists complacent. Most releases appear in stores within a few days, but DistroKid itself recommends roughly four weeks if you want everything live everywhere on the same day. Under four weeks and your release can still be sitting in a store's review queue when your release date arrives.
Recommended lead time: 4 weeks. Stated minimum: No enforced minimum. DistroKid recommends roughly four weeks if you want everything live everywhere on the same day.
How DistroKid actually works
- Pre-save: HyperFollow, created automatically on every upload and free on all plans. It captures fan emails and auto-adds followers and saves the moment the release goes live.
- Pitching: Spotify for Artists only. There is no in-house pitching team.
- Payout: Twice a week. You keep 100%.
The 90 day calendar on DistroKid
- Day 90: Lock the release date and stop moving it. Every deadline counts backward from it.
- Day 85: Final masters delivered. No more revisions.
- Day 75: Artwork finished at 3000 x 3000, and readable at thumbnail size.
- Day 70: Clear every sample and feature in writing.
- Day 28 (DistroKid): Upload to DistroKid. Delivery is usually days, but the four-week guidance is what protects the date itself.
- Day 28 (DistroKid): Your HyperFollow page exists the moment the upload finishes. Start collecting pre-saves and fan emails that day, not in release week.
- Day 21: Push pre-saves properly. It is the strongest day-one signal you control.
- Day 21 (DistroKid): Pitch through Spotify for Artists. DistroKid users pitch there and nowhere else, and the release date has to be at least three weeks out to be considered.
- Day 14: Confirm every piece of release-week coverage has your assets and the right date.
- Day 14 (DistroKid): If the release contains a cover, confirm the licence cleared. Covers can take up to 14 business days on top of everything else.
- Release day: Release day. Work the day, do not just watch the numbers.
- Release day (DistroKid): Royalties pay out twice a week, so DistroKid revenue lands faster than almost anything else on this list.
- Day 21 after: Third asset, and pitch playlists that only take already-released tracks.
DistroKid on a 90-day runway: Comfortable
Nothing about DistroKid constrains you at 90 days. Upload at day 60 to 45 and spend the runway on the pitch and the press.
DistroKid on a 60-day runway: Comfortable
Upload by day 45 and you are inside DistroKid's four-week guidance with room for a metadata correction.
DistroKid on a 30-day runway: Tight
Upload today. At 30 days you are barely inside the four-week guidance, so any rejection or metadata fix eats the buffer entirely.
What happens if you miss the DistroKid deadline
Delivery is fast enough that a missed upload rarely kills the date outright, but you lose the Spotify pitch entirely if the release date is under three weeks away when you upload.
- Some releases take up to two weeks to appear everywhere, even though most take days.
- Cover songs need licensing. Allow up to 14 business days on top.
- Fast delivery is not the same as a guaranteed date. The store queue is not DistroKid's to control.