You’ve spent hours upon hours working on your album. You’ve done your research when it comes to finding the best recording engineer at the best (and most affordable) studio. But is that where your planning ends? No. After all that work, it’s important that people actually hear your album. Now’s the time for a strategy.

Stop and think: what will help extend the life of this release, beyond the “hey look! I have an album!” stage? Make a timeline to help plan for success.

Here are some pointers:

1. Teasers: Remember that you need to keep your fans engaged over the next six to nine months. Consider the need for content beyond your album – music and videos that you can use on your website, Facebook page and Twitter feed. A month prior to your album release is a good time to start teasing your fans with behind the scenes footage and promo videos to prep them for the tone of your upcoming album.
2. Singles: The concept of a “single” has changed over time. If you’re “releasing” a single post album release, it typically is just a means of promoting or highlighting a stand out song on your album. Consider sending e-blasts, and Facebook and Twitter posts about your single three weeks to a month post release. If you’re handing media outreach, ask bloggers to post and share your single.
3. Music videos: Are you creating them? Consider releasing a video three weeks post release to keep the momentum going, and then subsequent videos about six weeks later. (This means you’ll have to plan the production of the videos months in advance, so be sure you budget your time and money appropriately.)
4. Tour: Are you planning a tour to support your release? If not, you should be. This is a great way to get your music in front of new audiences in different regions
5. Festivals/ Conferences: Performances at NACA, CMJ, and SXSW are great ways to get your music in front of tons of new fans, in a quicker amount of time than touring. They’re highly important for new fan building and for networking.
6. Management: If you’re overwhelmed at all of the moving parts needed to get your release off the ground, perhaps you should see management representation. They’ll help to ensure that you’re moving in the right direction.

As an indie artist, remember that strategy is very important when releasing a new album. You should create a timeline to help keep you on track for a successful album release.

Tell us what you think! Have you created a plan to help support your new release? Did it help?

Up next: When to stop using your name and consider going by a project name instead.

The SongCast Crew