Why You Shouldn't Release Your Record Now

I admit this headline is a bit misleading, because we would never discourage a band from releasing a record. We would however discourage you from releasing an album right away. We often have bands approach us as they are finishing their record with an agenda of releasing the record the following week. There are always a few pieces of advice we give bands to ensure a strong publicity campaign for their release, the first one being to wait to release the album.

These are a few reasons why you should wait:

• Print publications like Under the Radar and Paste Magazine operate on deadlines, often times anywhere from three-six months in advance and they will only cover bands who release a record in that time frame.
• Even though blogs such as Pitchfork and Stereogum have shorter timelines, they still need time to get to know who you are and allow time for the buzz to build so they have a reason to cover you.

This is why we operate three months in advance of the release, so we can both build a buzz in advance of the release and work within the deadlines of the magazines we are working with.

If you are an unsigned band releasing an album, you can always release it locally with a shorter timeline (we recommend six weeks if you are running a publicity campaign).