An album is a serious milestone in your journey as a musician. It’s a possibility to share a full inventive assertion along with your followers and showcase your vary.
Usually, you’ll discover albums carry out finest on the heels of a number of singles. That is very true for rising artists — make your debut with a number of singles to supply new followers accessible, bite-sized items of your music. In the event you haven’t launched singles but, take a look at our information to releasing singles in 2026. Collectively, these singles will generate the momentum obligatory for a profitable album launch — and train you a factor or two about how you can market your music!
On this information, we’ll present you how you can launch an album in 2026, protecting all of the necessities you’ll want prepped to succeed.
Submit your music and select a launch date
First, end your album completely and submit it for distribution with finalized metadata and canopy artwork. Although it’s not required by CD Child, we extremely advocate mastering your tracks.
Assuming you’ve already launched a number of singles, set the album launch date at the least 6 weeks sooner or later. That can permit enough time for promotion.
In the event you haven’t launched any singles but, your viewers may not be prepared for a full album; you may not even have an viewers but! Select three tracks out of your album to launch forward of time as singles and study how you can waterfall your launch — a serious label technique that lets you launch singles in a compounding means. Schedule the singles and the album at 4 to 6 week increments.
Create a press launch and replace your digital press package
Forward of your album launch, doc your story, visuals, and profession milestones in a press launch and digital press package (EPK). That may function a basis for selling, discussing, and sharing your album with trade professionals.
Your press launch ought to embrace important info reminiscent of:
- Launch data: Date of launch, title of launch, credit, and album description with quotes
- Biographical data: Who you’re and background data on the album
- Artistic: Album artwork work, press pictures, and any model pointers
- Contact data: The right way to finest attain you
- Hyperlinks: Personal streaming, social media, web site, and press package
- Name to motion: What you need the reader to do
Ebook a tour round your album
The most effective methods to advertise your upcoming launch is by enjoying dwell! And also you don’t should stop your day job to do it! Plan something from a 3-show run on a weekend to a full week journey. Determine a number of cities close by and begin networking with native musicians to ebook exhibits. Study how you can ebook exhibits like a professional.
As soon as exhibits are booked, coordinate a advertising and marketing plan to drive ticket gross sales:
- Coordinate a avenue workforce: get native followers to assist flyer across the venue space
- Run focused adverts: put a small amount of cash behind focused short-form movies promoting your present
- Attain out to native press, radio, and occasion calendars: ship present particulars to native media for protection
- Collaborate on natural content material: Collaborate on posts with different musicians to succeed in throughout fanbases and amplify your attain
Plan a advertising and marketing marketing campaign
Create a calendar for a way you’ll promote your album throughout channels. Assess whether or not you’ll want to create any channels forward of your launch, reminiscent of an e-mail checklist or an internet site.
Social media: You must purpose for 3 to 5 posts on social media per week that purpose to draw new listeners and at the least one submit per week to maintain present followers engaged. Learn to plan a marketing campaign.
Electronic mail: Ship at the least three emails to your checklist forward of your launch. One to share the discharge date, a second to construct anticipation and share any milestones, and a 3rd on launch day letting followers know your album is out. Learn to get began with e-mail advertising and marketing.
Press: Finalize your press launch, create a personal streaming hyperlink, then ship it out to journalists and school radio stations to lock in protection and airplay on launch day. Learn to create a press launch.
Web site: Replace your web site along with your upcoming launch particulars and canopy artwork. Think about including a countdown clock to launch day. Ensure your web site consists of hyperlinks to your socials and an e-mail signup type.
Create and order merch
Give your followers a approach to help your music! Design and order merchandise you could promote at exhibits and on-line. Basic choices embrace t-shirts, hats, hoodies, and bodily launch codecs reminiscent of tapes, CDs, and vinyl.
Plan your launch day
Launch days could look completely different relying on the artist. You could be on tour, or internet hosting a listening celebration with shut associates, or dwell streaming for viewers at residence — possibly all three! Your aim needs to be to have fun.
Forward of launch day, guarantee you may have advertising and marketing belongings and messaging prepared throughout channels. Absolutely draft and put together:
- A social submit announcement with pictures and related account tags
- An e-mail announcement with hyperlinks to stream your album
- Up to date webpage with hyperlinks to stream your album
On launch day, maintain an eye fixed out for press protection to reshare and interact personally with followers who go away feedback or share your launch.
Conclusion
Able to launch your subsequent album with CD Child?
Trusted since 1998 by a rising group of two million impartial artists, CD Child provides distribution to over 150 platforms worldwide. Get your album out for a one-time price and begin incomes income out of your music.