Put the singles, emails, ads, store offers and the final pre-order cutoff on one calendar, so the album builds for listeners and buyers at the same time. Here are the real schedules behind it.
I usually start the public rollout seven to nine weeks before release and give each single its own email and ad period. Two to three weeks between singles is a starting point, not a deadline to force onto every record. Give every single a purpose. Watch its momentum when setting the next release date, and leave enough time to deliver and promote the next song. Sell the record itself in your own store, with a date fans have to beat.
The rhythm comes from the iTunes price ladders we ran from 2013 to 2021 for Todd Snider, Hard Working Americans, The Band of Heathens and KIMOCK. Each new song was a reason to email fans and run a fresh ad. The same rhythm works on streaming and in the artist's store.
In this post:
- The two paths: waterfall singles for listening, a store pre-order for buying
- The week-by-week ladders we ran for Eastside Bulldog (2016) and Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3 (2019)
- A seven-step schedule you can copy
- How the message changes to listening on release day
What does an album rollout look like?
Run two paths on one calendar. They aren't two separate audiences: the same fan can stream the single and order the vinyl.
- Listening runs on a waterfall. Each single goes out as its own release, and each new release carries the songs before it, so the album builds in public. Reuse the existing ISRC for the same recording and keep the audio and metadata consistent. Confirm the setup with your distributor so the tracks link correctly, as Spotify's track-linking page describes. CD Baby's waterfall release guide walks through the setup. Point fans at a pre-save, a Spotify Countdown Page for an album or EP, or an Apple Music pre-add.
- Buying runs through the pre-order in your own store: vinyl, CDs and bundles, with a price or bonus that ends on a date you name.
A pre-save is not a sale. It pays you nothing until people press play. The store pre-order is where the money is, and it is yours: the buyer's email, the margin, the next sale.
On the 2024 Hayes & The Heathens album, the store recorded more revenue in the pre-order window than in the two years after release.
Where did the rhythm come from?
Here are two Todd Snider digital rollouts from my notes, week by week: Eastside Bulldog in 2016 and Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3 in 2019.
For Eastside Bulldog, the first single, "Hey Pretty Boy," went out ten weeks out. The iTunes pre-order opened seven weeks out, at a lower price, with two instant tracks, "Hey Pretty Boy" and "Funky Tomato." "Ways and Means" followed five weeks out and "Enough Is Enough" three weeks out. A week after street date the price went back up.
Store bundles opened ten days after the digital pre-order, so they were their own news. A sweepstakes ran with the fourth track. The last chance email went out the week before street date and announced the sweepstakes winner.
Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3 opened its pre-order nine weeks out, at the same lower price, with "Just Like Overnight." "Like a Force of Nature," with Jason Isbell, went out five weeks out. "Talking Reality Television Blues" went out two weeks out. Its three ad periods lined up with the songs.
We kept that shape for years. First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder (2021) ran songs seven, five and two weeks ahead of street date. KIMOCK's Satellite City (2017) did it in four weeks.
How do you build your own rollout?
- Lock the street date and count back nine weeks if you have three songs to release first. With fewer songs, start closer.
- Space the singles about two to three weeks apart as a starting point. Land the last one about two weeks before street date.
- Set up the pre-save or Countdown Page before the first single.
- Open the store pre-order with the first or second single. Name the deadline: a lower price, a signed copy, or arrival by release day once whoever ships the orders confirms it.
- Give every song its own email and its own ad period, starting the day it goes out.
- Schedule the last chance email and matching ads around the real pre-order cutoff.
- End the offer on the date you said.
Before step one, get fans onto the list with a comment-to-subscribe teaser. For step six, read why the last chance email is a must.
To write your own dates into this schedule, download the album release marketing plan (PDF, 9 pages).
What should happen on release day?
On release day, change the main message from pre-ordering to listening. Lead with the music, then use the videos, stories and fan responses to keep bringing people back in the weeks that follow. Leave the store easy to find without making every post a sales pitch.
Don't put the album, the video and the merch in one post. Each one is news. Split them across the day and the next morning so a fan who follows you in three places hears about the record more than once.
Then run the release-day checklist. Change every "pre-save" to "out now" on your site, pin the out-now post, swap in new ad creative, and click every pre-save and pre-order link yourself before the fans do, so you know each one lands on the live release.
What can't the notes tell you?
My notes record the schedules, not sales by song, so I can't tell you which single moved the most pre-orders. Give each song's email and ads their own tracked link and you'll know on your next release.
See how we ran Todd's releases in the Todd Snider story and the 2014 Hard Working Americans launch in the Hard Working Americans story.
Questions musicians ask
How far ahead should an album rollout start?
Seven to nine weeks if you have three songs to release first. Eastside Bulldog's first single went out ten weeks out, and Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3 opened its pre-order nine weeks out.
How far apart should singles be?
Two to three weeks is a starting point. Watch each single's momentum when you set the next date, and leave time to deliver and promote the next song. On Eastside Bulldog the tracks landed seven, five and three weeks out, two weeks apart.
Is a pre-save enough on its own?
No. A pre-save pays nothing until people stream. The store pre-order is where the money and the buyer's email come from.
What should you do this week?
- Plan listening and buying on one calendar. The same fan can do both.
- A new song every two to three weeks, each with its own email and ad period.
- Name a deadline and keep it.
Put your street date on a calendar, count back nine weeks, mark the real pre-order cutoff, and write which song goes out on each date. Cut.
