You can't upload a song to Spotify yourself. Artists send their music through a distributor, and the distributor delivers it to Spotify and the other platforms. The route is nearly the same for everyone, and most problems come from the same few places. Here it is in order.
Step 1: finish the audio and the artwork
Your audio should be a final, mixed and mastered stereo WAV. Don't convert it from an MP3 or another compressed file, and listen to the whole thing once more on headphones before you export: clicks at the start, a cut-off tail or distortion on the loud parts are easy to miss when you are tired of the song.
The artwork is a JPG, square, exactly 3000 × 3000 pixels. Keep it sharp and simple. Platforms reject covers with web addresses, social media handles, logos of other services, "available now" text or anything that is not yours. If the picture is not your own work, make sure you have written permission to use it.
Step 2: choose a distributor, create an account, pick a plan
Spotify takes music only from distributors and labels, so you need one. Compare what you actually get: which platforms, whether you see statistics and earnings reports, how support answers, and what the contract says about your rights. The artist should keep their rights.
At CULT, opening an account is free and sending a release needs a monthly or yearly plan; the current plans are on the plans page of cult.az. Whatever service you choose, read the terms before you upload, not after.
Step 3: fill in the details and credits
This is where careless mistakes happen, so slow down:
- Title and artist name: write them exactly as you want them to appear, and spell your name the same way on every release.
- Featured artists and credits: songwriter, composer, producer. Real names, not nicknames, where the form asks for them.
- Genre, language and explicit flag: choose honestly. A song with strong language should be marked explicit.
- Release date: leave real time. A few weeks ahead is comfortable, because review, requested changes and the platform's own processing all take time, and Spotify's editorial pitching works only for music that has not come out yet.
- Preview start: if the form lets you enter the second where the short preview clip should start, pick the strongest moment, usually the chorus.
If you already have a Spotify artist profile, give the link when the form asks. Without it, a new artist profile may be created, or your song may attach to someone with the same name.
Step 4: submit and answer the review
After you submit, the distributor's team checks the release. This is normal, not a rejection. If something needs fixing, the request appears in the portal: a wrong cover size, a name that does not match, missing credits, or a question about rights.
You must own, or have permission for, everything you submit: the recording, the beat, samples, the artwork, the lyrics. If you used a sample or a beat from someone else, have the paper that proves you may. Fix what is asked and submit again.
Steps 5 and 6: going live and your artist profile
Delivery and going live
Once approved, the release is sent to the platforms. Each platform processes it on its own schedule, so it does not appear everywhere at the same minute. In the CULT portal you'll see the status on each platform. When the release is live, open it on Spotify and check four things: the right artist profile, the cover, the title and the credits.
If something is wrong, don't upload the song again as a new release. Ask the distributor to correct the metadata of the existing one.
Claim your profile on Spotify for Artists
Once your song is out, request access to your artist profile in Spotify for Artists. From there you can set a profile photo and header image, write a bio, choose an Artist Pick, add links and see who listens and where. It is also where you pitch your next unreleased song to Spotify's editors.
What usually goes wrong
- The artwork is the wrong size or contains text the platform won't accept.
- The artist name is spelled two ways, so the songs land on two profiles.
- The release date is too close, and there is no time to pitch or fix anything.
- A sample or a cover version is not cleared, and the release is stopped.
- Someone expects the song to be live on every platform at the same moment.
A calm first release usually means checking every field once more before pressing submit. Do that, and the next release will take a quarter of the time.