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How to Set Up a New Release on EngineEars

Setting up a new release on EngineEars takes you through five steps: Basic Information, Artwork, Release Information, Manage Tracks, and Manage Splits. This guide walks through every step in order, what each field means, and what to watch out for along the way.

  • Step 1: Basic Information
  • Step 2: Artwork
  • Step 3: Release Information
  • Step 4: Manage Tracks
  • Step 5: Manage Splits

Step 1: Basic Information

Basic Information: Naming Your Release and Choosing Your Release Type

The Basic Information step is where you set up the foundation of your release: its classification, its title, and who is credited as a primary artist. Getting these right up front prevents rejected releases and mismatched credits on streaming platforms later.

Choosing your release type

Your release type is determined by track count:

  • Single: 1 to 3 tracks
  • EP: 4 to 6 tracks
  • Album: 6+ tracks

Choose the type that matches the total number of tracks you plan to upload for this release. This selection affects how your release is categorized and displayed on DSPs (streaming platforms).

Naming your release

Your release title should be typed exactly how you want it to appear on Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms. Once submitted, this is what fans and platforms will see, so it's worth double checking before moving forward.

  • Spelling: Confirm your release title is spelled correctly. Typos are difficult to correct after a release has gone live on DSPs.
  • Capitalization: Use the exact capitalization you want displayed. DSPs will publish your title as written, so "single name" and "Single Name" will not be treated the same.
  • Do not include "featuring" in the title: If your release has a featured artist, do not add "feat." or "featuring" to the release title here. Featured artists are added at the track level when uploading each individual track, and their credit will automatically attach to the title on DSPs.

Primary artists vs. featured artists

It's important to understand the difference between adding a participant at this step versus adding a featured artist later, since they serve different purposes:

  • Adding a participant here (Basic Information): Anyone added as a New Participant at this step is considered a Main Artist for the overall release. Use this when a single, EP, or album is a joint project between multiple primary artists, and each of them should be credited as a main artist across the entire release, not just on one track.
  • Adding a featured artist at the track level: Featured artists are added individually when uploading each track in the Manage Tracks step, not here. This is the correct place to credit an artist who only appears on one or some tracks, rather than the release as a whole.

As a rule: if an artist should be credited as a primary artist for the entire project, add them as a participant in Basic Information. If an artist is only featured on specific tracks, add them at the track level instead.

Step 2: Artwork

Artwork Guidelines and Formats

Your cover art is the first thing listeners see, so it needs to meet DSP (streaming platform) requirements before your release can go live. Review the requirements below before uploading.

Cover requirements

  • File format: JPEG (.jpeg) or PNG (.png)
  • Dimensions: Minimum 1400x1400 pixels, maximum 3000x3000 pixels
  • File size: 20 MB maximum

Content requirements

  1. Your artwork must not violate trademark or copyright laws. If you have rights to use an image, be prepared to provide documentation upon submission. If you do not have rights to the image, you will need to change your artwork.
  2. The text and metadata on your cover art must match your release information exactly. Do not include additional or mismatched text on the artwork itself.

Apple Motion Artwork Specs

Apple Motion Art cannot be uploaded directly through the release flow. To add Apple Motion Art to a release, submit a support ticket and our support team will manually upload it on your behalf.

Apple requires two separate versions of your motion artwork:

  • Album Page Motion 1x1: file resolution 3840x3840 pixels
  • Album Page Motion 3x4: file resolution 2048x2732 pixels

Technical specs

  • Codec: Apple ProRes 4444, 422, 422 (HQ), or 422 (LT)
  • File type: .mov
  • Pixel aspect: Square pixels (1:1)
  • Frame rate: 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, or 30 fps
  • Color profile: Rec 709 or sRGB
  • Audio: Deliver without an audio track
  • Length: 15 to 35 seconds

For full details, see Apple's official Album Motion Art guide.

Step 3: Release Information

Release Information Guidelines

The Release Information step covers your release strategy, timing, pricing, and the metadata that determines how your release is categorized, credited, and delivered to stores. Here's what each section means and how to fill it out correctly.

1. Selecting your release strategy

Your release strategy controls where and how your release is sold, and which details are required in the rest of this step:

  • Sell Direct and Stream: Sell directly to fans on your EngineEars storefront, then distribute to streaming stores. Artists who give fans a window to buy direct before the release hits streaming can earn significantly more from their music in the first 30 days, since direct sales keep 100% of earnings before the release goes to DSPs.
  • Sell Direct only: Release your project exclusively on your EngineEars storefront for fans to purchase directly. No distribution to streaming platforms.
  • Distribute only: Distribute your release to all streaming platforms (DSPs), with no direct-to-fan sales component.

2. Choosing a release date and 3. Release price

Set the dates for your release strategy. Artists who give fans a two-week window to buy direct before going to streaming earn up to 40 times more from their music in the first 30 days.

  • Allow time between your direct-to-fan sale window and your streaming release date so fans have a real incentive to buy direct first.
  • Fridays are the typical release date for streaming platforms, and align with industry-standard new music releases.
  • Pay-What-You-Want pricing: Allows fans to pay more than the minimum price you set, if they choose to.

4. Release timing

  • The standard release time is 9:00 PM PST / 12:00 AM EST. Your release goes live territory by territory as midnight local time arrives in each region, so it will drop first in territories like Australia before reaching the U.S.
  • If you selected a timed release, your release will go out at the exact time and timezone you set, rather than following the standard midnight-by-territory rollout.

Release description

This is shown on your EngineEars profile for direct releases, giving fans a bit of context about the project before they listen or purchase.

Genre

Select a main genre for your release. A secondary genre is optional. If there is a genre available on Apple Music that you don't see listed here, contact our support team and we can attempt to add it for you.

Language

Choose the primary language of your release. Mark the checkbox if your release only contains instrumental music with no lyrical content.

Label

This can be your artist name, your real name, or a legal entity. Avoid website links or explicit language in this field. By default, "Distributed by EngineEars" will appear on all label lines unless you enter your own.

Copyright lines

The copyright line section has two parts, each represented by a different symbol:

  • ℗ (P-Line): Represents the copyright in the sound recording itself (the master). This should be the name of whoever owns the recording, typically the artist or label, along with the year the recording was released.
  • © (C-Line): Represents the copyright in the underlying composition and packaging (artwork, liner notes). This should be the name of whoever owns those rights, typically the artist, songwriter, or publisher, along with the year.

In most cases, independent artists releasing their own music will enter their own artist name or legal name for both lines, along with the current year.

EngineEars storefront options

These options apply specifically to your direct release, the version of your release being sold to fans through your own EngineEars storefront.

Additional Delivery, Reporting & Collections

These are optional services beyond standard store delivery. Each requires specific rights or account setup:

  • Apple Motion Art: Animated album artwork that displays on Apple Music. Separate from your standard cover art.
  • Collect publishing royalties: Register your composition so EngineEars can collect mechanical and performance royalties on your behalf.
  • Report fan sales & streams to Luminate: Sends your sales and streaming data to Luminate for Billboard chart eligibility and industry reporting.
  • YouTube Content ID: Monetize and protect your music on YouTube. Requires 100% exclusive rights to the recording.
  • Meta Rights Manager: Fingerprint-based content protection for your music on Facebook and Instagram.
  • SoundCloud Monetization: Enables monetized streaming and copyright protection for your music on SoundCloud.
  • SoundExchange: Collects digital performance royalties for sound recordings played in the U.S. (non-interactive streaming, satellite radio, etc.).

Optional information

UPC code: A UPC (Universal Product Code) is the unique barcode number that identifies your release to stores and retailers. If you don't already have one, EngineEars will automatically generate one for you. If you are migrating a release that was previously distributed elsewhere, you will need to enter that release's existing UPC here so its sales and streaming history stays connected to the same release.

Territories: By default, your release is available worldwide. Enable manual selection if you want to restrict your release to specific countries only.

Step 4: Manage Tracks

Manage Tracks: Song Details

The Manage Tracks step is where you upload your songs and fill out each track's Song Details panel, which has four tabs: Details, Artists, Credits, and Publishing. Here's what you need to know about the fields that aren't self-explanatory.

Uploading your songs

There are two ways to add a song to your release:

  • Select from completed projects: If you booked your mixing and/or mastering through EngineEars, your final files are already in the system. They'll appear in the "Or select from completed projects" table, and you can add one directly with the Select button rather than re-uploading it.
  • Upload directly: If your files were mixed or mastered elsewhere, drag and drop them into the upload area, or click to browse and select them from your computer.

Required audio specs for uploaded files:

  • File format: WAV (.wav), FLAC (.flac), or MP3 (.mp3)
  • Channels: 2 (stereo)
  • Bitrate: Minimum 320 kB/s
  • Sampling rate: Minimum 44.1 kHz

Understanding ISRC codes

An ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) is a unique identifier assigned to a specific recording of a song. It's how stores, platforms, and royalty collection organizations track plays, sales, and streams back to that exact recording.

  • EngineEars automatically generates an ISRC for each track when it's uploaded.
  • If you already have your own ISRC for a track (for example, if it was previously released or registered elsewhere), you can edit the field and enter that code instead so your existing tracking history stays connected to the recording.
  • Each individual recording needs its own unique ISRC. A remix, a re-record, or a different version of the same song should have a different ISRC than the original.

Linking primary and adding additional artists

The Artists tab on a track is where you connect this specific song to the artist profiles that should be credited on it:

  • Main Artist (Primary): Link the main artist's profile from other streaming platforms here. This ensures the release is grouped together with that artist's past releases on DSPs, rather than appearing as a separate, disconnected artist page.
  • Add an Additional Artist: Use this to credit a featured artist or other additional artist type on this specific track. This is separate from the primary artist(s) added back in Basic Information, and only applies to this individual song rather than the release as a whole.

When adding an additional artist, choose the artist type that matches their role on this track:

  • Featured Artist: An artist who performs on the track alongside the primary artist. This credit will automatically attach to the track title on DSPs (for example, "Late Nights (feat. [Artist])").
  • Remixer: The artist who created a remix version of the track.
  • With: Used for a collaborating artist credited as "with," typically a secondary billing that's more prominent than a feature but not a co-primary artist.

Song credits and roles explained

Song credits document who contributed to writing and producing the track, separate from who is credited as a performing artist:

  • Matched existing: If the person you're crediting already has a profile in the system, it will automatically match to their existing profile rather than creating a duplicate.
  • Roles: Assign one or more roles to each credited person, such as Lyricist, Composer, or other contributor types. A single person can hold multiple roles on the same track.
  • Add another credit: Use this to credit additional songwriters, composers, or producers who worked on the track.

Publishing splits vs. streaming and master splits

This is one of the most commonly confused parts of the release flow, so it's worth being explicit about the distinction:

  • Publishing splits (songwriting): Set per song, in the Credits tab shown above. This determines how the writers' share of the composition is divided, and only applies if you opt in to having EngineEars collect publishing on your behalf.
  • Streaming and master splits: Set once per release, in the separate Manage Splits step. This determines how the release's actual streaming and sales revenue is divided among everyone who worked on it, regardless of writing credit.

An artist, producer, or engineer can be part of one split, both, or neither, depending on their role on the project. Writing a verse earns a publishing split; being the performing or featured artist earns a streaming and master split. The two are tracked and paid out separately. For a full breakdown of what publishing collection includes, see the EngineEars Publishing FAQ article.

Step 5: Manage Splits

Manage Splits: How Royalty Splits Work

The Manage Splits step is where you decide how this release's earnings are shared with everyone who contributed to it. Here's what splits actually cover, and how to set them up correctly.

What splits cover: streaming royalties vs. direct sales

It's important to understand exactly what revenue this step applies to:

  • Streaming and master royalties: This is the revenue collected when your release is streamed or purchased through streaming platforms and digital stores (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, TIDAL, TikTok, and similar). Manage Splits controls how this revenue is divided among collaborators.
  • Direct-to-fan sales: This is revenue from sales made directly to fans through your own EngineEars storefront. Direct sales earnings are not split through this feature. Whatever percentage is set here does not apply to direct sales, that revenue goes to you in full regardless of how streaming splits are configured.

You have two options for this step:

  • Keep 100% of all revenue: If you don't want to split streaming and master earnings with anyone, leave yourself allocated at 100% and don't add any collaborators. This is the default.
  • Enter splits: If other people contributed to the song (producers, featured artists, writers, engineers, etc.) and should share in the streaming and master revenue, add them as collaborators and assign each person a percentage.

Adding collaborators to a split

Click Add Collaborator to invite someone to the split. You can add anyone who contributed to the song, writers, producers, engineers, featured artists, or any other collaborator, and assign their percentage of the streaming and master revenue.

Here's what happens after you add a collaborator:

  • Each invited collaborator receives an email invitation to accept the split. If they don't already have an EngineEars account, they'll be asked to create one before accepting.
  • Collaborators only see the percentage they've been assigned, not the percentages or identities of other collaborators on the split. This keeps each person's arrangement private.
  • If a collaborator declines or never responds to the invitation, EngineEars holds their portion of the revenue until the split is accepted.
  • Once every invited collaborator has accepted, payouts are automatically distributed according to the agreed percentages going forward.
  • To actually receive payouts, each collaborator (including you) needs to have Stripe set up and linked to a bank account on their EngineEars account.

Fixing a split that doesn't add up to 100%

The Total Allocated bar at the top of the page tracks your running total, and it must equal exactly 100% before you can continue. If it doesn't:

  • Check each collaborator's percentage field and adjust until the total reads 100%.
  • If you've added a new collaborator, make sure to lower your own percentage (or another collaborator's) by the same amount you gave the new person, since the total doesn't adjust automatically.
  • Remove a collaborator entirely with the X next to their row if they shouldn't be part of the split.

A few things worth knowing about how changes to splits work after they've been submitted:

  • Updating a percentage on a split that collaborators have already accepted requires all of them to accept the change again before it takes effect. If even one collaborator declines or the request expires, the previously accepted split stays in place.
  • Changes to splits are never applied retroactively. Adding, removing, or adjusting a collaborator only affects earnings going forward from the point the change is accepted.

Once every step shows a green checkmark and there are no outstanding issues listed in the sidebar, you're ready to hit Continue and submit your release.