Your First 30 Days With an Exclusive License

Buying an exclusive can feel like crossing a finish line. It is closer to a starting gun. Your term has a start date and an end date, and between them the song is off the market.

While your term is active, nobody else can license the song. That changes the pressure. You are not racing other buyers. The only thing that moves is your own calendar, and this plan gives the first 30 days a shape so the clock works for you.

The dates below assume you start on Thursday, October 29. Day 30 then lands on Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving. Swap in your own.

Day 1: save the paper

Do three things before anything else.

• Download your license certificate and keep it with your release files. It names the writers, and anyone can check it at /verify.
• Write down the start date, the end date and the length of the term. Put two reminders on your calendar, 30 days and 7 days before the end. Starchild also emails a renewal reminder about a week before your term ends, with a last call the day before, but your own reminders give you more room.
• Read the license agreement once, start to finish, and note what it says about the uses you plan. If a label, a manager or a brand deal is in the picture, have a music attorney read the paperwork before you plan around it.

Days 2 to 7: make the song yours

Before you book a studio, spend a few evenings with the song. Hear it in different styles and voices. Change the key until it sits well for you, and change the tempo. Duck the demo vocal and sing over it. Record rough takes on your phone and listen back the next day.

If you play out, try the song live. Your license covers performing it, and a room tells you quickly whether the key and tempo work.

If a producer will rebuild the track, check whether the song offers stems. They are available on many songs.

By day seven, write down five decisions: the style, the key, the tempo, who plays what, and the date you are aiming for. A written list keeps the studio session from turning into a debate. Our guide to pitch, tempo and vocal controls explains the controls.

Week 2: set the release date

Work backward from the date you want. Ditto Music recommends uploading "at least 3-4 weeks before your planned release date," and Spotify asks you to deliver music "at least 7 days before release" if you want it pitched to editors. Once a song is live, Spotify says, "it's no longer eligible for pitching." Our guide to timing an exclusive around your release has the full count-back.

Then check that the date sits well inside your term. Spotify's release guide follows a release through its first 28 days, from watching listener numbers in week one to the Release engagement page, which measures what portion of your followers streamed it. A sensible minimum is a release day with at least four weeks of term left after it.

If the date will not fit, you have two choices: move the date, or plan to renew. Renewing extends the term from your current end date, so it never wastes a day.

Week 3: get the credits right

Credits start in your distributor's form. Spotify says credits "come directly from labels and artist distributors, so keeping them up to date through your label or distributor is the best way to make sure everyone is recognized." Copy the writers' names exactly as they appear on your certificate. Our guides to entering songwriter info in your distributor and crediting the songwriter cover the fields. Registration is a separate job, and who registers what for a licensed song sorts out your distributor, your PRO and The MLC.

While you are there, finish the cover art and write two sentences on why you chose this song. You will reuse them in your pitch, your captions and your bio.

Week 4: plan the content and tell the writer

Your Starchild license covers performing the song live and using your recording in your own music video and lyric video. Plan a short rehearsal clip for the weeks before release, and a lyric video or live clip for the weeks after.

Tell the writer your release date. A songwriter who knows the date can share it, which helps you both. Ask before you quote them. When your recording is out, send it to Featured Artists. Our piece on how exclusivity shapes a song's story has ideas for telling it honestly.

Day 30: check in

Open your calendar and count. A 3-month term has about two months left. A 6-month term has about five, and a 12-month term has about eleven. Is your release date inside what remains, with room after it?

• On track: keep going, and note the next date.
• Behind by a few weeks: move the release date, and keep the end date in view.
• Behind by a lot: decide whether to renew. You do not have to decide today, only before the end date. Past and current holders get a renewal discount at checkout.

What you can skip

You do not need to rush for fear that someone else will license the song. During your term, nobody can. What an exclusive can't do is cancel licenses granted before it began, so a recording from an earlier licensee could still appear.

Our guide to what an exclusive can and can't promise explains why, and this piece for earlier licensees shows how the same rule looks from their side.

Your first 30 days at a glance

• Day 1: certificate saved, dates and reminders set.
• Days 2 to 7: style, key and tempo chosen, and five decisions written down.
• Week 2: release date set, with the upload and pitch dates behind it.
• Week 3: credits entered, cover art done, two story sentences written.
• Week 4: content planned and the writer told.
• Day 30: calendar checked against the end date.

Sources

• Ditto Music Support: How long before my release date should I upload my music?
• Spotify for Artists Support: Pitching music and videos to Spotify playlist editors
• Spotify for Artists: Preparing for Release Day and Beyond
• Spotify for Artists: Spotlighting the people, connections, and stories behind your music