THE BREAKDOWN! Everyone learns differently so I must say, this demonstration was very helpful for the way I learn. Immediately, yes! New subscriber. I am going to use this strategy for my upcoming release.
that's very interesting it seems to me that the waterfall strategy is simply superior to the "standard" strategy, I'm wondering tho if there are any drawbacks to this strategy, for example listeners getting bored of one song if they find it in the release for so many months in a row, I'd probably release the B,C,D,E ones with reverse order putting always the older song more to the bottom of the release
I think that's the way a lot of people do it. That way the first song on the release is always the newest and it will autoplay into each previous song in reverse order. I'm thinking that's the way I'll do it too when I test this: E, D, C, B, A.
Great explanation of the waterfall strategy! I have been considering using this method for some time but am concerned about the final order of the album once all songs are released. Does song 1 always have to be the first song in each release? Can I choose the order of the final album? Thanks!
thanks so much for this. Really helpful how you explained this, and it clarified a few things I was wondering about. Would love to get your take on getting reviews on blogs, podcasts etc. - would you send all singles at once to a reviewer, or send them single by single?
Amazing video, thank you! I am planning on doing a waterfall release for my first album and was wondering about artwork. Do you recommend having the same artwork for all the songs and the album? Can you release individual art work for each song and then a different artwork for the album? I like it when artists keep it simple and have the same art for the album and each song within. Is there a specific solution you recommend?
After releasing a full length album I was crushed realizing you could only pitch 1 song per release to Spotify playlist curators! This time around I've released 4 songs as singles and I'm putting them together with the final song as a 5 song EP with synced isrc codes. So my method has skipped the middle stages of the waterfall but it's still given each song exclusive exposure and a pitch to Spotify curators. Also going to push Facebook ads harder this time around!
The only problem I can see is what order to release the songs in.... On your vid you keep the same song as track 1on all releases, but that would be annoying for the user to keep skipping the first track of the current release to hear the new single, or the first 2 tracks to get to the new single at position 3. I would want each new single release to be at the top of the track list. But If I want a particular order on the EP, I'd have to release everything backwards, so that by the time the EP comes out, the order of songs is the same across all releases. BUT, if my first song is the best, it'll be released last, which is annoying! People care about the order of tracks if they've been listening to 5 songs in a particular order for 5 months, you wouldn't want to swap the order of songs on the final EP release and annoy people right? Ugh.... It's tough! Any ideas people?
Thx @Tom DuPree III - question: for Release A,B,C,D & E - what do you actually name them then, each one? The first one can just be the single title of Song 1 I guess, but after that? Is there a new 'album' name each time (until that one is discarded), or are Release B,C, D & E named after the new single that goes with them? If your final destination wrapper is Release E - do you save that one for what your 'final' album name is intended to be, and use throwaway names for B,C and D? Thanks again!
Hello, thank you for the informative video. Does the artwork have to be the same in order for the streaming service to sync? I ask because I used a variety of artwork for the singles I want to include into the album. Thanks
I get how to handle the metadata side of things. I do need more clarity on the album cover and title variations. I have some ideas as to how I would do this but curious what methods others have used and worked with distributors and fan base
I did a subtle change across mine. You can see how I did it on my Spotify profile. I've seen others list the song titles on the cover and simply add the new title every time they do a new release. That seems to work well too.
Hey Tom, you’re seriously the 🐐 thanks so much for doing what you do! Quick question for ya man I’ve been experiencing this phenomenon where all of my ad sets start off doing extremely well in terms of cost per conversion… but come a few days later they basically stop working? Even after 50+ conversions when they’ve optimized! This has now happened with all 15+ ad sets for this campaign. What’s the point of making it out of the learning phase if I actually perform better in it? Lol
Thank you Tom, as always your content is right on spot and explains clearly what other creators struggle to explain. I have one question that I also had in mind watching all of your other videos.. Is it possible to create a Facebook ad campaign for an EP? If so, how would you do it? What would be the target link you put in toneden to give listeners a chance to listen to the other tracks in the EP?
Love your videos, Tom! I don’t get the point of this, though. The data syncs, but how does that benefit the newest single? How does it benefit the older single(s)? Does it mean the older single(s) can make it to release radar again even after 28 days from their initial release? I’ve heard of this method before but no one seems to really talk about the actual benefit. Any insight on this would be super helpful!! Thanks Tom!
the benefit is, when you do the ads, its not just the first song that is streamed, but the rest of the release. You get more for your advertising dollar. The songs you previously released dont go to release radar, only the newest tracks.
what is the method and reason to pull downs he original releases? why not keep them up? for example say each single has different artwork....what art now goes up on song 1 within their previous playlists and such? and if you remove song 1? does that mean it is removed from whatever playlist it was on?
@Tom DuPree III Same question here, is it absolutely important to take down the previous one. one about the single artwork dissapearing? that means for each reupload it would all only be under one final artwork cover?
Does this mean all of the songs will have the exact same ISRC code? Doesn't that mess up the metadata of each individual song on other platforms like soundxchange? For example, if song 1 got 500,000 streams & song 2 got 30,000 streams, doesn't the royalties get jacked up a bit?
I’m struggling to understand (none of this is meant to be argumentative; I'm just thinking out loud)… Let’s say someone has a 10 song album they want to release. So this method means they would release a new song (along with the previous ones) every month… And when does it become an album instead of a bunch of piggybacked releases? Slowly release all 10 songs or just a few as a teaser before releasing the whole album? And are these new releases available for purchase/download to the general public? If so, if the artist pulls a release because the song is on subsequent releases, any previous link to the first/previous songs becomes null? And wouldn’t this be extremely expensive? I know about Distrokid, but I avoid Distrokid because ultimately I don't want to be locked into a system where I lose my music unless I keep paying. Sure, now it's "only" $39.99/year for anything truly useful to an independent musician but it will go up, as everything does. And I don't want to pay a fee to keep it sort of active (it won't be added to any new platform from that point on). Full disclosure: I have not released an album in many years. I’m planning to release a new one and i’m finding out that the entire process is totally different now. Back in the day you just recorded an album and sent it wherever you wanted to for promotion after it was released. If you’re a smaller act (I do children’s music), there generally isn’t a “buzz” about teaser singles being released in anticipation of an album. Don’t people just want the whole album? I cannot see parents of toddlers appreciating a slow trickle of repeating releases from one artist. They generally want the whole album for the kids to listen to...or playlists they get on Spotify, etc. And yeah, I get that this waterfall idea is supposed to increase your chances of getting on playlists by bombarding the system with chances to get the songs out there, but I think parents would prefer to just get the album (yet would probably be ok with one or two "teaser" releases before the album). But it seems like the new method is to record a bunch of things individually, release them (are they available for download?), and finally release the whole thing so people can buy/listen to it as an album if they want. I am a dinosaur and cannot understand this!
Thank you for explaining! The only worry I have is if I delete my previous releases once the album is out will my singles will be removed from people's libraries and playlists, and they will have to add the album to hear them again? I do want to delete them aestheticlly to keep it all gathered under one release but I'm afraid that although keeping the same streaming numbers, my songs will disappear automatically from people's libraries
After making this video I made the decision to keep mine up for this very reason. Like you, I wanted to pull them to keep things more aesthetic, but I think keeping them up was the better move.
Same question here, as stated in the comments, is it absolutely important to take down the previous release? what about the previous singles artwork dissapearing? that means for each re-upload it would all only be under one final artwork cover?
No, it's not necessary to pull down the old release. You can leave it up. That's what I've been doing. Pulling down the old ones just consolidates it all under one final release. If you check my Spotify profile you'll see all of mine are still there.
For this method, if you're using CD Baby as a distributor, do you need to technically upload and pay for an "album" release each time since there's more than 1 track on these releases or is there a cheaper/different way?
This technique works across platforms. Different platforms will report data differently on-platform, but everything syncs back down to the ISRC code for the song itself. You can delete music everyone via your distributor.
here you say all your playlist ads publish over on to the new release but your latest video said they don't ? I think if playlist ads and saves dont copy over I wouldn't see the point in using this strategy
Great video--very helpful to ouline this strategy. Question --I have a single that has racked up 32,000 plays and I'm including it on a new album this year. However, I have since remixed and mastered the track (so I woudn't be able to use the same ISRC). Should I use the old version of the track instead of the new to leverage the old plays? Is there any benefit in terms of visibility for my new music if I do that? I like the new version.... but obviously many people love and only know the old version anyway
I recently did this exact thing with my first release of the year. I remastered the track and uploaded the new master, but I used the old ISRC code anyway to keep al of the data from the original release. I know this is not technically the way you're supposed to go about it, but it did work. The new track had all of the saves and streams from the old one on day one of release. And if you go to my Spotify profile, you can still listen to the original master when you play the original release, but you can listen to the new master when you play the new release. I thought they would both simply "become" the new master, but it looks like the old master is, in fact, still accessible.
@@tomdupreeiii Tom, thanks for all your great work. I'm curious which version is in your "popular" section, the original or the newer one? I'm assuming whichever has the most plays is the one that ends up most visible, is that correct? Thanks for your time!
Question: I really love the artwork for each of the singles I have released. When I put up the album will all the artwork change over to the official album cover?
If you don't remove the first single you don't get to tidy up your catalogue and to me thats part of the strategy, maximise streams, remove doubles....
I have a question and an idea that I've been thinking about for some time. I don't like the waterfall method mainly because all my songs will have to have the same album art and because of this, the uniqueness of the song would be gone. So I was thinking, what if we release the 1st single and when we release another single we release that 2nd single alone, and make another release consisting of song 1 and song 2 and keep going with this until the album is done. I would remove the release consisting to track 1 & 2 when track 3 is released and then release a mix of track 1, 2 & 3. Any thoughts on this?? Will this get me the same benefits as the waterfall method??
Ok, I’m leaning about this, but I am stumped. CD Baby does not have a flexible way to do this. I am very confused just how exactly can one do this via CD Baby. ( I’ve been looking for an excuse to jump off of their platform) Any thoughts and suggestions would be awesome!
Thanks for this! Question can the title of the release continue to be the same if it’s the name of the EP and the lead single? Or do I have to change it every time?
I haven't been deleting mine. I just leave them up. It may look cleaner to remove the old ones, but I think it does more good for the longevity of your catalog to leave them up.
Great video as always Tom! I have a new track dropping mid November and now thinking I could make it an EP with 4 of my previous most popular songs - anything I should be aware of? After watching this video seems straight forward enough, just upload same master, use the same code but change artwork?
…sorry for all the questions but probably the most important one :) any thoughts on how this impacts triggering algorithmic playlists?….will also try tune in this Friday on way home from work
I think it would be best to just pick up and start doing it moving forward rather than trying to go back redo old releases. More effective with new stuff.
Is this possible to do on Distrokid and when you delete release A after you posted release B the cover art for the original release a song 1 gets taken off right?
Very nice demonstration. I just want to ask one question- the cover art with each release changes, so are you saying that it will still not take away the streams, saves, and playlist ads of the previous releases as long as the ISRC code and the UPC code of the individual song remains the same? Isn't Cover Art also a part of the metadata?
My understanding is that every release must have unique UPC and therefore that is not carried forward. I'm not sure, but suspect that may mean that if song #1 picked up on a spotify playlist, and you took it down aftter the next release, then it may disappear off the playlist. Can someone confirm if this is correct pleast?
Hey Tom! Thank you so much for that video! I've always wanted to do it, but I am always worried that something will not sync... what do you do in this case? if you release the same song again as a part of new release, and your data doesn't sync up? also, how do you pull out the previous song from DSPs?
I think as long as you're using the same mastered files and same metadata, everything should sync up just fine. You can delete the previous release through your distributor.
I am under the assumption that you can only schedule release B after release A has already come out to get the correct IRSC code. Is this correct? Is there any way to schedule all releases ahead of time and only log in between singles to take down the old releases?
Yes, each song will have only one ISRC code at the end of it. I opted to change the artwork each time, though not by a ton. Minor changes seemed to be enough for me.
I noticed the band placebo doing something similar, however, on their strategy they release 2 songs with 1 old song on it all the time. Just 2 songs per release every once in a while that had this song "beautiful james" on every release. Hope that made sense.
Yeah, this makes sense. Yes, I always pitch every new song to the editorial team. Old songs that have already been released aren't eligible to pitch, unfortunately. Only new ones.
Interesting. I think Angels and Airwaves did this... the singles dissapeared and appeared in an album. I got some question... Can you explain how to do this on distrokid? I would have to re-upload the song again or can I just direct the previous one as part of the new album?(in distrokid)
Can each release be set up in advance? For example I have my first single out next week but I want to prep my second release to have both singles, is it possible to set that up before the first single is live?
You can set it up before the first one goes live, but you'll just need to wait until you have that ISRC code assigned to the first track from your distributor so you can use it again.
If they are under a different release title (like on an EP vs on a single) then yes. As far as individual titles within the waterfalled release itself, I believe the will be delivered to your current followers' Release Radar, but I don't know if more than one song at a time can be pushed for the algorithmic bump.
@@tomdupreeiii That's interesting, cause with my previous EP I did have 3 songs (which seems to be the maximum amount) being simultaneously propelled by Release Radar's algorithm. So if the re-released song is again entitled to Release Radar's algorithmic push, then it would be as if that one month period we usually have to trigger the algorithm is extended to 3, 4 or 5 months. It could be a very nice strategy. If it indeed works like that, then it completely changes the game.
I'm late to do the waterfall strat. Do you think rereleasing 6 old songs into one EP with no new songs is effective? Or should I add in a new song with the old 6 songs?
Ideally, I'd add one new song so you can get the algorithmic opportunity of Release Radar. I've done it with no new songs and it wasn't as effective as it would have been with one new one.
I've heard of this method before and I like it but Im not completely sure if this will work for me because I've decided to hold off on doing EPs or full projects for a while because I feel like I should just focus on singles to build my fanbase. So do you think this method is only effective for those actively planning to release an EP?
I think it can work after the fact. That's what I've done. I had no intention of releasing an EP or album when I first started, but I planned out a waterfall release after I already had songs out and it has worked fairly well. You can always adjust the game plan!
So with this method, do you still upload all the songs separately each month or does this require you to upload it all at once, but release each in a drip feed separately afterwards? Also, I don’t think all digital distributors allow for this. So which digital distributors can facilitate a waterfall release strategy?
You can upload your releases over time, but they will need to be batched according to how you want to group them. I know Amuse allows for this, and I believe DistroKid does as well. I'm not sure about the others.
I just have a question about the cover art when watefalling these singles into an ep/album. When releasing the singles, do we use the same cover art for all of them and then the waterfalled EP has the same cover art as well? Or what, I’m just confused on that part
Is there any way to do this without losing the likes on the prior release? If I take down release A after it appears on release B, it will disappear from anyone's likes & they must re-like it. That seems like a big issue...
To my knowledge, the track will remain in their library. Having said that, I have chosen to leave up all of my previous waterfall releases to prevent that possibility.
@@tomdupreeiii Thanks. I think it might remove it from their likes, since if a song appears on multiple release, it can be in my likes many times; it doesn't collapse to a single "like" the way plays do.
Excellent explanation of the waterfall technique.
Thank you! Cheers!
Excellent way of presenting the strategy! I've heard about it a few times, but now I get HOW it actually works! 😍
Glad it was helpful!
this was informational thank you for this
You're quite welcome. Thanks for watching!
I will use this for sure
Cool!
THE BREAKDOWN! Everyone learns differently so I must say, this demonstration was very helpful for the way I learn. Immediately, yes! New subscriber. I am going to use this strategy for my upcoming release.
I'm so glad it was helpful! Thank you for the thoughtful comment, and thank you for the sub.
OK so this is definitely going on my YT channels for artists to think about! Thanks Tom!
Awesome! Thanks for including it!
Great Video Tom. Duran Duran just did this waterfall strategy on their singles/Eps before dropping the full album last week. Thanks for this info! ✌🏽😁
Bruhhh….YES 🙏🏽 ill be here at noon my G!
Found it! Also … YEAH!
Nice!!
Thanks for dumping it down. 👍
Any time!
This was actually perfect to confirm what I was inching towards naturally. Thanks bro, I know what to do for this next year now.
dude you're the most best this digital DPS era right now man. The rest just gibberish no real explanation lol
I agree We should release 50-60% of the album as singles first🤘
Dude, 100%. Let the market tell you which song is the strongest!
Helpful videos Tom. I’ve been watching since your channel started. Keep up the great work brother
Lol currently doing this.. didn’t know people didn’t know about this .. well done Tom
Love it! Thanks for watching.
dope!
Glad you dig it!
Thanks so much for explaining this! Been wanting to know how to do all of this
that's very interesting it seems to me that the waterfall strategy is simply superior to the "standard" strategy, I'm wondering tho if there are any drawbacks to this strategy, for example listeners getting bored of one song if they find it in the release for so many months in a row, I'd probably release the B,C,D,E ones with reverse order putting always the older song more to the bottom of the release
I think that's the way a lot of people do it. That way the first song on the release is always the newest and it will autoplay into each previous song in reverse order. I'm thinking that's the way I'll do it too when I test this: E, D, C, B, A.
@@tomdupreeiii cool! I will try this strategy with my next release for sure
Great explanation of the waterfall strategy! I have been considering using this method for some time but am concerned about the final order of the album once all songs are released. Does song 1 always have to be the first song in each release? Can I choose the order of the final album? Thanks!
Trying it for PKAY’s second album
Love it!
thanks so much for this. Really helpful how you explained this, and it clarified a few things I was wondering about. Would love to get your take on getting reviews on blogs, podcasts etc. - would you send all singles at once to a reviewer, or send them single by single?
Amazing video, thank you! I am planning on doing a waterfall release for my first album and was wondering about artwork. Do you recommend having the same artwork for all the songs and the album? Can you release individual art work for each song and then a different artwork for the album?
I like it when artists keep it simple and have the same art for the album and each song within. Is there a specific solution you recommend?
After releasing a full length album I was crushed realizing you could only pitch 1 song per release to Spotify playlist curators! This time around I've released 4 songs as singles and I'm putting them together with the final song as a 5 song EP with synced isrc codes. So my method has skipped the middle stages of the waterfall but it's still given each song exclusive exposure and a pitch to Spotify curators. Also going to push Facebook ads harder this time around!
Great video! When you release subsequent releases can each song retain its own cover art? Or does the art get superseded by the latest release?
Yes, each release will retain its own cover art. At least they did for me.
@@tomdupreeiiithanks!
@@tomdupreeiii do you mean that each *song* retained its original cover art?
The only problem I can see is what order to release the songs in.... On your vid you keep the same song as track 1on all releases, but that would be annoying for the user to keep skipping the first track of the current release to hear the new single, or the first 2 tracks to get to the new single at position 3. I would want each new single release to be at the top of the track list. But If I want a particular order on the EP, I'd have to release everything backwards, so that by the time the EP comes out, the order of songs is the same across all releases. BUT, if my first song is the best, it'll be released last, which is annoying! People care about the order of tracks if they've been listening to 5 songs in a particular order for 5 months, you wouldn't want to swap the order of songs on the final EP release and annoy people right? Ugh.... It's tough! Any ideas people?
Thx @Tom DuPree III - question: for Release A,B,C,D & E - what do you actually name them then, each one? The first one can just be the single title of Song 1 I guess, but after that? Is there a new 'album' name each time (until that one is discarded), or are Release B,C, D & E named after the new single that goes with them? If your final destination wrapper is Release E - do you save that one for what your 'final' album name is intended to be, and use throwaway names for B,C and D? Thanks again!
That would interest me as well
When you use this strategy should we be paying for Shazam again, or will it still work from when we paid for it as a single?
Hello, thank you for the informative video. Does the artwork have to be the same in order for the streaming service to sync? I ask because I used a variety of artwork for the singles I want to include into the album. Thanks
I get how to handle the metadata side of things. I do need more clarity on the album cover and title variations. I have some ideas as to how I would do this but curious what methods others have used and worked with distributors and fan base
I did a subtle change across mine. You can see how I did it on my Spotify profile. I've seen others list the song titles on the cover and simply add the new title every time they do a new release. That seems to work well too.
@@tomdupreeiii Nice. I like that! Appreciate the response. I'ma check your Spotify out to see. I'ma visual learner.
Hey Tom, you’re seriously the 🐐 thanks so much for doing what you do! Quick question for ya man
I’ve been experiencing this phenomenon where all of my ad sets start off doing extremely well in terms of cost per conversion… but come a few days later they basically stop working? Even after 50+ conversions when they’ve optimized!
This has now happened with all 15+ ad sets for this campaign. What’s the point of making it out of the learning phase if I actually perform better in it? Lol
Same has happened to me, when this happens you are supposed to swap out some of your ad creatives for better ones.
Very helpful video for recycling your material. Cheers Tom.
Thank you Tom, as always your content is right on spot and explains clearly what other creators struggle to explain. I have one question that I also had in mind watching all of your other videos.. Is it possible to create a Facebook ad campaign for an EP? If so, how would you do it? What would be the target link you put in toneden to give listeners a chance to listen to the other tracks in the EP?
so I’d have to release my track list from bottom to top if I want it to show the way is meant to show
It would make sense to do it that way if you want to keep the newest song at the top of the list every time.
Is this method a strict 5 month program or is it flexible. I have a 7 song EPfor which I want to do cascade marketing
Completely flexible!
I'll give it a go when I do the one song a week challenge for 4 months straight. Anyone have any tips?
Love that!
Love your videos, Tom! I don’t get the point of this, though. The data syncs, but how does that benefit the newest single? How does it benefit the older single(s)? Does it mean the older single(s) can make it to release radar again even after 28 days from their initial release? I’ve heard of this method before but no one seems to really talk about the actual benefit. Any insight on this would be super helpful!! Thanks Tom!
the benefit is, when you do the ads, its not just the first song that is streamed, but the rest of the release. You get more for your advertising dollar. The songs you previously released dont go to release radar, only the newest tracks.
@@vxd that makes sense! We can also run ads to a playlist with those singles, I believe.
Should I delete the previous releases? Is there a problem by keeping at least one EP, before dropping the album?
what is the method and reason to pull downs he original releases? why not keep them up? for example say each single has different artwork....what art now goes up on song 1 within their previous playlists and such? and if you remove song 1? does that mean it is removed from whatever playlist it was on?
@Tom DuPree III Same question here, is it absolutely important to take down the previous one. one about the single artwork dissapearing? that means for each reupload it would all only be under one final artwork cover?
Does this mean all of the songs will have the exact same ISRC code? Doesn't that mess up the metadata of each individual song on other platforms like soundxchange? For example, if song 1 got 500,000 streams & song 2 got 30,000 streams, doesn't the royalties get jacked up a bit?
I’m struggling to understand (none of this is meant to be argumentative; I'm just thinking out loud)… Let’s say someone has a 10 song album they want to release. So this method means they would release a new song (along with the previous ones) every month… And when does it become an album instead of a bunch of piggybacked releases? Slowly release all 10 songs or just a few as a teaser before releasing the whole album?
And are these new releases available for purchase/download to the general public? If so, if the artist pulls a release because the song is on subsequent releases, any previous link to the first/previous songs becomes null?
And wouldn’t this be extremely expensive? I know about Distrokid, but I avoid Distrokid because ultimately I don't want to be locked into a system where I lose my music unless I keep paying. Sure, now it's "only" $39.99/year for anything truly useful to an independent musician but it will go up, as everything does. And I don't want to pay a fee to keep it sort of active (it won't be added to any new platform from that point on).
Full disclosure: I have not released an album in many years. I’m planning to release a new one and i’m finding out that the entire process is totally different now. Back in the day you just recorded an album and sent it wherever you wanted to for promotion after it was released. If you’re a smaller act (I do children’s music), there generally isn’t a “buzz” about teaser singles being released in anticipation of an album. Don’t people just want the whole album? I cannot see parents of toddlers appreciating a slow trickle of repeating releases from one artist. They generally want the whole album for the kids to listen to...or playlists they get on Spotify, etc. And yeah, I get that this waterfall idea is supposed to increase your chances of getting on playlists by bombarding the system with chances to get the songs out there, but I think parents would prefer to just get the album (yet would probably be ok with one or two "teaser" releases before the album).
But it seems like the new method is to record a bunch of things individually, release them (are they available for download?), and finally release the whole thing so people can buy/listen to it as an album if they want. I am a dinosaur and cannot understand this!
Thank you for explaining! The only worry I have is if I delete my previous releases once the album is out will my singles will be removed from people's libraries and playlists, and they will have to add the album to hear them again? I do want to delete them aestheticlly to keep it all gathered under one release but I'm afraid that although keeping the same streaming numbers, my songs will disappear automatically from people's libraries
After making this video I made the decision to keep mine up for this very reason. Like you, I wanted to pull them to keep things more aesthetic, but I think keeping them up was the better move.
should i put most recent song on top or bottom
The popular move is to release them in reverse order with the most recent song on top. But either way works.
Ok... now I need to see how to do that manually on DistroKid without messing anything up...
Same question here, as stated in the comments, is it absolutely important to take down the previous release?
what about the previous singles artwork dissapearing? that means for each re-upload it would all only be under one final artwork cover?
No, it's not necessary to pull down the old release. You can leave it up. That's what I've been doing. Pulling down the old ones just consolidates it all under one final release. If you check my Spotify profile you'll see all of mine are still there.
For this method, if you're using CD Baby as a distributor, do you need to technically upload and pay for an "album" release each time since there's more than 1 track on these releases or is there a cheaper/different way?
I’d recommend switching to Amuse or DistroKid. CD Baby is gonna be way more expensive in the long run.
Tom , question. Is this only relevant for Spotify and can one delete his already released music? Only on Spotify or completly? Thx
This technique works across platforms. Different platforms will report data differently on-platform, but everything syncs back down to the ISRC code for the song itself. You can delete music everyone via your distributor.
here you say all your playlist ads publish over on to the new release but your latest video said they don't ? I think if playlist ads and saves dont copy over I wouldn't see the point in using this strategy
When I made this video, I thought that they did. I was mistaken, which is why I pointed it out in the latest video.
Great video--very helpful to ouline this strategy. Question --I have a single that has racked up 32,000 plays and I'm including it on a new album this year. However, I have since remixed and mastered the track (so I woudn't be able to use the same ISRC). Should I use the old version of the track instead of the new to leverage the old plays? Is there any benefit in terms of visibility for my new music if I do that? I like the new version.... but obviously many people love and only know the old version anyway
I recently did this exact thing with my first release of the year. I remastered the track and uploaded the new master, but I used the old ISRC code anyway to keep al of the data from the original release. I know this is not technically the way you're supposed to go about it, but it did work. The new track had all of the saves and streams from the old one on day one of release. And if you go to my Spotify profile, you can still listen to the original master when you play the original release, but you can listen to the new master when you play the new release. I thought they would both simply "become" the new master, but it looks like the old master is, in fact, still accessible.
@@tomdupreeiii Tom, thanks for all your great work. I'm curious which version is in your "popular" section, the original or the newer one? I'm assuming whichever has the most plays is the one that ends up most visible, is that correct? Thanks for your time!
Question: I really love the artwork for each of the singles I have released. When I put up the album will all the artwork change over to the official album cover?
As long as you don't delete the original versions, you'll have the artwork up for both.
If you don't remove the first single you don't get to tidy up your catalogue and to me thats part of the strategy, maximise streams, remove doubles....
I have a question and an idea that I've been thinking about for some time. I don't like the waterfall method mainly because all my songs will have to have the same album art and because of this, the uniqueness of the song would be gone. So I was thinking, what if we release the 1st single and when we release another single we release that 2nd single alone, and make another release consisting of song 1 and song 2 and keep going with this until the album is done. I would remove the release consisting to track 1 & 2 when track 3 is released and then release a mix of track 1, 2 & 3. Any thoughts on this?? Will this get me the same benefits as the waterfall method??
Does the previous release delete off tik tok or Instagram ?
Not unless you pull it down.
I think if you are making an EP, there are some songs that are in different orders of the EP. How can you make sure the tracklists are well organized?
A common way is to put them in reverse order of release, so the newest one is always first on the list.
Ok, I’m leaning about this, but I am stumped. CD Baby does not have a flexible way to do this. I am very confused just how exactly can one do this via CD Baby. ( I’ve been looking for an excuse to jump off of their platform) Any thoughts and suggestions would be awesome!
I'm not familiar with CD Baby's process, but I can definitely recommend both DistroKid and Amuse. You can do this with either platform.
Thanks for this! Question can the title of the release continue to be the same if it’s the name of the EP and the lead single? Or do I have to change it every time?
The release title will need to be different but the song title stays the same.
when you say "you have to worry about making small adjustments to the artwork" you mean "don't do it or it won't sync" right?
Yes, that's right.
@@tomdupreeiii oh okay good!! yeah I'd just get everything from DK's vault
What happens if you don’t delete the old songs? I heard someone, maybe Andrew, say they don’t worry about that
I haven't been deleting mine. I just leave them up. It may look cleaner to remove the old ones, but I think it does more good for the longevity of your catalog to leave them up.
So do I need 5 different cover arts?
Yeah, they'll need to be at least slightly different.
Great video as always Tom! I have a new track dropping mid November and now thinking I could make it an EP with 4 of my previous most popular songs - anything I should be aware of? After watching this video seems straight forward enough, just upload same master, use the same code but change artwork?
…sorry for all the questions but probably the most important one :) any thoughts on how this impacts triggering algorithmic playlists?….will also try tune in this Friday on way home from work
Is there a way of correcting if you started releasing singles and DIDN’T do this? Or just redo and piggyback on whatever single got the most streams?
I think it would be best to just pick up and start doing it moving forward rather than trying to go back redo old releases. More effective with new stuff.
Is this possible to do on Distrokid and when you delete release A after you posted release B the cover art for the original release a song 1 gets taken off right?
I believe so, though I have stuck to leaving the previous releases up because it helps the data!
Very nice demonstration. I just want to ask one question- the cover art with each release changes, so are you saying that it will still not take away the streams, saves, and playlist ads of the previous releases as long as the ISRC code and the UPC code of the individual song remains the same? Isn't Cover Art also a part of the metadata?
My understanding is that every release must have unique UPC and therefore that is not carried forward. I'm not sure, but suspect that may mean that if song #1 picked up on a spotify playlist, and you took it down aftter the next release, then it may disappear off the playlist. Can someone confirm if this is correct pleast?
hyell yeah
🙏🏻🙏🏻
Can you release the singles with different artwork from the full album?
Yeah, definitely!
Awesome explanation! Thank you. Is there a time limit on this technique? Could you do this indefinitely adding to a release for years?
I have the same question
This feels smart, yet artistically shallow
I feel like that's a fair assessment.
Hey Tom! Thank you so much for that video! I've always wanted to do it, but I am always worried that something will not sync... what do you do in this case? if you release the same song again as a part of new release, and your data doesn't sync up? also, how do you pull out the previous song from DSPs?
I think as long as you're using the same mastered files and same metadata, everything should sync up just fine. You can delete the previous release through your distributor.
@@tomdupreeiii okay, I think I will just try it next time! This strategy sounds really great! Thank you so much!
Does this also work with other streaming services like Deezer and UA-cam?
I am under the assumption that you can only schedule release B after release A has already come out to get the correct IRSC code. Is this correct? Is there any way to schedule all releases ahead of time and only log in between singles to take down the old releases?
Yeah, you've got it right, unfortunately. You have to wait to be assigned that ISRC code for release A to use it with release B.
So at the end of this strategy, does each song still have only one ISRC code? Do you have to change artwork each time as well as title?
Yes, each song will have only one ISRC code at the end of it. I opted to change the artwork each time, though not by a ton. Minor changes seemed to be enough for me.
I've already set up my release as 5 separate singles. Is it too late to change the releases to the waterfall strategy? I'm using CD Baby.
I don't think you'll be able to edit them as-is, but you can always pull down the last four and then re-upload using the waterfall method.
Hi tom, this may be a stupid question, so on every new release will you pitch the new song on that new release to spotify's editorial team?
I noticed the band placebo doing something similar, however, on their strategy they release 2 songs with 1 old song on it all the time. Just 2 songs per release every once in a while that had this song "beautiful james" on every release. Hope that made sense.
Yeah, this makes sense. Yes, I always pitch every new song to the editorial team. Old songs that have already been released aren't eligible to pitch, unfortunately. Only new ones.
Interesting. I think Angels and Airwaves did this... the singles dissapeared and appeared in an album. I got some question...
Can you explain how to do this on distrokid? I would have to re-upload the song again or can I just direct the previous one as part of the new album?(in distrokid)
Yeah there are many artists who do this. I think you'll need to reupload the song again each time then pull down the old one once the new is live.
@@tomdupreeiii thanks. I hope you you can do a full video on how to do this on distrokid :))
Can each release be set up in advance? For example I have my first single out next week but I want to prep my second release to have both singles, is it possible to set that up before the first single is live?
You can set it up before the first one goes live, but you'll just need to wait until you have that ISRC code assigned to the first track from your distributor so you can use it again.
I do have one question. When re-released, are previous songs given a chance to re-trigger release radar?
If they are under a different release title (like on an EP vs on a single) then yes. As far as individual titles within the waterfalled release itself, I believe the will be delivered to your current followers' Release Radar, but I don't know if more than one song at a time can be pushed for the algorithmic bump.
@@tomdupreeiii That's interesting, cause with my previous EP I did have 3 songs (which seems to be the maximum amount) being simultaneously propelled by Release Radar's algorithm. So if the re-released song is again entitled to Release Radar's algorithmic push, then it would be as if that one month period we usually have to trigger the algorithm is extended to 3, 4 or 5 months. It could be a very nice strategy. If it indeed works like that, then it completely changes the game.
I'm late to do the waterfall strat. Do you think rereleasing 6 old songs into one EP with no new songs is effective? Or should I add in a new song with the old 6 songs?
Ideally, I'd add one new song so you can get the algorithmic opportunity of Release Radar. I've done it with no new songs and it wasn't as effective as it would have been with one new one.
@@tomdupreeiii Thank you! I'll add a song. Was trying to avoid a seven song project since it'll come out as an album and not EP. Just subbed!
I've heard of this method before and I like it but Im not completely sure if this will work for me because I've decided to hold off on doing EPs or full projects for a while because I feel like I should just focus on singles to build my fanbase. So do you think this method is only effective for those actively planning to release an EP?
I think it can work after the fact. That's what I've done. I had no intention of releasing an EP or album when I first started, but I planned out a waterfall release after I already had songs out and it has worked fairly well. You can always adjust the game plan!
@@tomdupreeiii Oh okay I see, thank you so much!
So with this method, do you still upload all the songs separately each month or does this require you to upload it all at once, but release each in a drip feed separately afterwards?
Also, I don’t think all digital distributors allow for this. So which digital distributors can facilitate a waterfall release strategy?
You can upload your releases over time, but they will need to be batched according to how you want to group them. I know Amuse allows for this, and I believe DistroKid does as well. I'm not sure about the others.
@@tomdupreeiii thanks for your reply. I’ll check it out.
@@tomdupreeiii I am using tunecore does it mean that I have to switch to distrokid?
I just have a question about the cover art when watefalling these singles into an ep/album.
When releasing the singles, do we use the same cover art for all of them and then the waterfalled EP has the same cover art as well? Or what, I’m just confused on that part
As far as I understand it, the cover art will need to be slightly different each time. I don't think you can use the exact same cover art every time.
@@tomdupreeiii Interesting, thank you so much!
Is there any way to do this without losing the likes on the prior release? If I take down release A after it appears on release B, it will disappear from anyone's likes & they must re-like it. That seems like a big issue...
To my knowledge, the track will remain in their library. Having said that, I have chosen to leave up all of my previous waterfall releases to prevent that possibility.
@@tomdupreeiii Thanks. I think it might remove it from their likes, since if a song appears on multiple release, it can be in my likes many times; it doesn't collapse to a single "like" the way plays do.