Your song, day by day: from final mix to first royalty
You've finished the song. Between now and the first rupee there are six steps, and most of the waiting is at the start and the end. Here's the whole road, so nothing surprises you.
3 weeks before
Finish everything
The final master as an MP3 or WAV, named exactly like the song. The cover, square and sharp at 3000 × 3000 pixels, with the title on it. Every name spelled the way it is on Spotify: you, the singers, the lyricist, the composer.
Then pick the release date. Three weeks out is a good habit, for reasons that come up two steps down.
Submit
Two checks, on working days
Nenco looks over the release first, then the distributor reviews it before it goes to the stores. Both happen Monday to Friday, so a release sent on Friday night waits for Monday. If something needs fixing, you'll get a note saying exactly what. The six usual reasons are worth reading before you submit.
48 to 72 hours
The stores get it
Once it's approved, the stores take two or three days to receive it. This is why a date four days away is risky: the song may go live a day or two late. Nenco will warn you when the date you pick is that close.
A week before
Pitch it to Spotify
If you've claimed your profile, a song that reaches Spotify ahead of its date shows up in Spotify for Artists as upcoming. From there you can pitch it to Spotify's editors for their playlists, and Spotify asks for at least seven days before release. This is the step a short notice date takes away from you.
Release day
Live, and one link to share
The song goes live. The same day, Nenco makes you a songlink: one page with a button for every store it's on. Some stores show a new song before others, and the link adds them as they get it over the next month.
3 months later
The first royalty report
Stores report plays and earnings about three months after the month they happen. So January's plays arrive in April, February's in May, and so on, every month after that. If you split the song with collaborators, each of them sees their own share when the report comes in.
Pick a date three weeks out. It costs you nothing and buys you a Spotify pitch.