You cannot upload music to Spotify yourself, and that is the first thing to understand about how to get your music on Spotify. The platform does not accept track uploads from individual artists, so the only route onto it runs through a digital music distributor such as DistroKid, TuneCore or RouteNote, which delivers your finished files and metadata to Spotify on your behalf.
The whole job takes about an hour once your audio and artwork are ready, and the release is live roughly one to four weeks after you submit it. That lead time is the part beginners get wrong, so this guide walks through every step in order: preparing the files, picking a distributor, entering metadata, scheduling the date, and confirming the release actually appeared on your artist page.
I have watched independent artists and producers in this space make the same three mistakes for years: waiting until the week of release to start, typing the artist name slightly differently on each upload, and treating the distributor’s delivery email as proof the music is live on Spotify. It is not. Nothing is on Spotify until you search your own artist name and see the release.
What You Need
You need four things ready before you open a distributor account: a finished master, cover art, accurate metadata, and a decision about who owns what. Get those settled and the upload itself is straightforward.
- A finished master. Your final mixed and mastered track as a high-quality audio file, not a rough bounce.
- Square cover art. Ready to export at the size your distributor asks for.
- Your metadata written down. Track title, artist name, release type, primary and secondary genres, language, and every credit: songwriter, producer, engineer, mixer, masterer, featured artist, label.
- Split information. Written confirmation of who wrote and owns what percentage, if you are not a solo producer.
- A release date. Four weeks out is comfortable, and you should be able to move it if delivery slips.
- A primary email and a payment method on the distributor account, plus your artist name spelled the way you want it to appear forever.
Preparing Your Release Files
Spotify and the distributors between you and Spotify care about file format, loudness and artwork. The specs below are the ones that matter, and every distributor asks for something close to these.
| Item | What distributors expect |
|---|---|
| Audio format | WAV or FLAC, never MP3 |
| Resolution | 16-bit / 44.1 kHz or 24-bit / 44.1 kHz or higher |
| Loudness target | About -14 LUFS integrated |
| True peak ceiling | No higher than -1.0 dBTP |
| Cover art | Square, ideally 3000 x 3000 px, JPEG or PNG, under 20 MB |
| Artwork content | No social handles, no website URLs, no pricing, no “available now” banners |
| Lyrics | Plain text, timed or untimed, checked for spelling |
Keep the file name simple and non-final, like tracktitle_final_v3.wav. Distributors build the release from what you type, so anything you can carry by hand in one field is a chance to make a typo.
Two codes show up in every distributor dashboard and beginners mix them up constantly. The ISRC identifies a specific recording, and it stays with that recording even if you move to a different distributor. The UPC identifies a release, meaning the single, EP or album as a product, and it changes when you put out new music. Reuse an ISRC only if it is genuinely the same recording; never reuse a UPC across releases, because the streams and royalties get split in ways that are painful to untangle.
Step-by-Step: How to Get Your Music on Spotify
Step 1: Choose a Music Distributor
A digital music distributor is a middleman. You upload a master and cover art, fill in the metadata, and they send the package to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music and the rest, then collect your royalties and pass them on.
There are three pricing models in this industry, and every company you will compare sits in one of them:
- Flat annual subscription. You pay once a year, uploads are unlimited, and the distributor keeps no commission on royalties. DistroKid works this way.
- Per-release fee. You pay a set amount for each single, EP or album, plus a commission on royalties. CD Baby works this way, and it is the model most independent labels use.
- Free with commission. You upload at no cost and the distributor takes a percentage of royalties instead. RouteNote and Amuse work this way, with different commission rates and, in Amuse’s case, a payout threshold your releases must clear before money is released.
| Distributor | Model | Commission | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DistroKid | Flat annual, unlimited uploads | None | Artists releasing regularly |
| TuneCore | Annual or per-release tiers | None on paid tiers | Artists who want deeper reporting and support |
| RouteNote | Free or premium | Higher on the free tier | Zero budget for a first release |
| CD Baby | Per-release fee | Yes, on top of the fee | One-off releases and label catalogues |
| Amuse | Subscription tiers | Yes on lower tiers | New artists who want speed and simple tools |
| Ditto Music | Annual subscription | None | Artists with an established catalogue |
| AWAL | Invitation only | Agreed per deal | Artists with a track record |
| UnitedMasters | Tiered subscription | Depends on tier | Independent artists splitting fees with a label partner |
Where DistroKid falls short is worth naming plainly. There is no ownership transfer when you leave, the annual fee is due whether you release anything or not, and the extra services people recommend for playlists, social promo and store optimisation sit behind a tier upgrade rather than the base plan.
Switching distributors later is possible and does not erase your streams. Because the ISRC stays with the recording and Spotify keys catalog to the artist profile rather than the distributor, moving a catalogue keeps its play counts, followers and playlist placements. What you must do is keep the artist name, the release title and the ISRC byte-identical to the previous version.
Step 2: Create an Artist Profile
Before the release goes live, claim Spotify for Artists at artists.spotify.com. The claim code arrives in the Spotify for Artists dashboard after your first release is delivered, and the usual claim route is to look up your artist URI in the Spotify catalog and request access to the profile that owns it.
The one decision worth getting right here is the artist name. Spotify merges catalog entries by name and identifier, so Kayla V. and Kayla V can end up as two separate profiles with your streams split between them. Pick one spelling, one capitalisation and one trailing punctuation style, and use it identically in every distributor upload and in your Spotify profile.
While you wait, write the profile bio, pick a header image and a photo, and decide what you want the listener to do next, whether that is a follow, a pre-save or a link out. Filling these fields before launch makes the post-release work faster.
Step 3: Upload and Check Your Release
Create a new release in your distributor account and choose the release type first, because it controls how much of the work is ahead of you. A single is one track. An EP is four to six tracks and gets treated as one product with one UPC. An album is seven tracks or more.
This is where most people working out how to get your music on Spotify lose an afternoon. The upload itself takes a few minutes, and the credit fields take considerably longer.
Add the audio file and artwork, then fill in the metadata carefully. Contributors, songwriter and producer names, roles, release date, genre, language and copyright lines all go in now, and correcting contributor roles later is the slowest fix in the whole process.
For genre, pick the primary genre your audience would actually search and use the secondary slots for the adjacent styles. If your music crosses genres, choose the one that matches where your listeners already are, not the one that feels most accurate to you. The genre shapes playlist and browse surfaces.
Then read every field back once against your own notes. Anything you mistyped here becomes a permanent line in your Spotify metadata, and Spotify for Artists cannot change a title after the release goes live.
Step 4: Schedule the Release
Pick a date and give yourself enough buffer. Distributors commonly quote delivery in anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks, and Spotify then reviews the package. Four weeks is a working target for a first release, and it leaves room for a rejection and a resubmission without missing your date.
Spotify’s release rhythm is weekly, with new music landing on Fridays, and matching that pattern puts you alongside other releases in the same editorial cycle. It also means a mid-week launch gets a slower start than the charts and playlists assume.
| When | What should be done |
|---|---|
| 4 weeks out | Master, artwork and metadata finished; distributor chosen; release created and submitted |
| 3 weeks out | Delivery confirmed; Spotify for Artists pitch drafted; pre-save page live |
| 2 weeks out | Artists, playlist curators and press contacted; pitch submitted in Spotify for Artists |
| 1 week out | Teasers and short clips scheduled; artist profile photos and bio final |
| Release week | Share the link, watch the first day of saves and skip rate, answer every comment |
| 1 week after | Review listener sources, pitch the next track, plan the follow-up release |
Submit your playlist pitch at least a week before the release, through Spotify for Artists, and complete every optional field. Unfinished pitches are filtered out, and the pitch tool only accepts one unreleased track at a time, so pitch a single rather than the whole EP.
Step 5: Publish and Verify the Music
When Spotify accepts the release, it appears on your artist page at 00:00 on the release date in the listener’s local timezone. Confirmation means all three of these are true: the release shows up when you search your artist name in the Spotify app, your name appears on the track listing, and the Spotify for Artists dashboard shows the release with your contributor credits attached.
If the release is missing, check the distributor’s status panel first. Delivery issues there are usually a rejected artwork file, an incomplete credit or a mismatched artist name rather than anything Spotify did.
Once it is live, the numbers that matter most early are saves and skip rate, not raw plays. A listener who saves the track is far more likely to hear it again on Release Radar or in a personalized surface. Skip rate tells you whether the first ten seconds earn the second one, which is usually a mix, a master or a hook problem rather than a promotion problem.
Royalties accumulate per stream and are reported by your distributor, which pays out on its own schedule once your account clears its minimum threshold. Each track’s earnings are viewable in the Spotify for Artists dashboard under royalties, though the figures there lag the reported totals.
Common Mistakes
Submitting too late. Delivery plus review is not instant, and a missed date means waiting for the next Friday slot at best. Build the schedule backwards from the date, not forwards from today.
Inconsistent artist names. A stray space, a missing capital or “feat.” left in the artist field creates a second artist profile and splits your audience. Lock the name once.
Artwork that breaks the rules. Square format, no social handles, no URLs, no pricing, nothing blurry and nothing that looks like a placeholder. Rejected artwork is one of the most common delivery failures.
Wrong or incomplete credits. Missing songwriters and producers cannot be fully corrected after the release goes live through Spotify for Artists, and incomplete credits frustrate the royalty collection societies.
Assuming delivery means live. The distributor email confirms that Spotify received the package. Search your own artist name in the app to confirm the release is actually up.
Uploading unreleased material. Including a private rough, an unreleased beat or a cover version you do not own can get a release denied, and a denial from some distributors comes with no explanation at all.
Leaving Spotify for Artists unclaimed. The pitch tool, the follower data and the royalty reporting all live behind that claim. An unclaimed profile is the most expensive omission in this whole process.
One mistake deserves its own explanation, because it is the most confusing thing that can happen to a beginner: your release gets rejected. Check the delivery notes in your distributor dashboard first, since they usually name the specific field that failed. Then re-upload rather than editing in place, because a rejected release is often locked. If the reason is a music-rights conflict, check that your splits and sample clearances are documented. If the rejection came with no reason at all, contact the distributor’s support in writing, keep the ticket number, and if they cannot explain it, move the release to another distributor using the same ISRC.
A final piece of advice on AI-generated material: policies differ by distributor, and the safe approach is to disclose it at upload and to be prepared to show that you hold the rights to everything in the track, including any training data you had access to. Distributors are tightening on this, and silence is what gets releases pulled after the fact.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I upload music to Spotify without a distributor?
No. Spotify does not accept direct uploads from artists, so a digital music distributor is the only route. The distributor stores the audio, delivers it to Spotify, collects the royalties and passes them to you. A label that distributes for you fills the same role, which is why signed artists never touch a distributor dashboard.
Is it free to put my music on Spotify?
Not entirely. Free tiers exist, and they work by taking a percentage of your royalties instead of charging you. Flat annual subscriptions charge a fee with no commission, and per-release models charge per single, EP or album plus a commission. A free tier is sensible for one first release; regular releasing usually makes a subscription cheaper.
How long does it take to get music on Spotify after uploading?
Plan on one to four weeks from submission to live. Distributors quote delivery anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks, then Spotify reviews the package. Unfinished pitches and rejected artwork are the usual reasons a release takes the full month. Submit four weeks ahead and you will not lose a date to a delay.
What is the 1000 stream rule on Spotify?
It is not a Spotify rule, which is where most confusion starts. The 1000 stream threshold is a payout condition used by some distributors, Amuse most notably, where a release must clear that number of streams before accumulated royalties are released to the artist. Other distributors pay out on a fixed schedule instead.
How do I claim Spotify for Artists?
Go to artists.spotify.com once your first release has been delivered, then look up your artist in the Spotify catalog and request access to the profile that holds your music. Access arrives by email after verification, usually within a few days. Claim before you need it so the playlist pitch tool is available to you.
Can I switch distributors without losing my streams?
Yes. Streams, followers and playlist placements follow the recording and the artist profile, not the distributor. Moving a release means keeping the artist name, release title and ISRC exactly as they were, and letting the new distributor migrate the ISRC. Never generate a new ISRC for a re-delivery or the streams stop counting.
Conclusion
The short version of how to get your music on Spotify is unglamorous and it works. Finish the files first: a mastered master, square artwork with no handles or URLs on it, and every credit written down with a confirmed split sheet. Then pick a distributor that matches how often you plan to release, submit the release at least four weeks before your intended date, and claim Spotify for Artists the moment access arrives so you can pitch the track and watch the numbers yourself.
