TuneCore 101
It's time to start earning more from the music you love making.
That's what TuneCore is all about – helping independent artists stay independent and collect more residuals, fans, and life-changing moments because they did.
You're a TuneCore artist now; we've got your back.
Here's everything you need to know to go from "signed up" to "music live on social media"—this is TuneCore 101.
Stage One: The Creative Process
Whether you've already written a dozen-plus albums or have yet to come up with your emcee name, TuneCore is for you.
Stage One of the TuneCore experience is engaging with and enriching your creative process. The goal isn't just to release new music -- it's to release the best version of the music you're already making.
Here's how:
Write music you love – this seems obvious, and if you don't enjoy the songs you're putting out, why bother? If you're creatively stuck, check out our songwriting guide right here.
Make sure your music sounds how you want it to – there are recommended sample rates for every social media platform. TikTok’s is 44100 HZ. Instagram requires stereo sound. Ensure your music is up to par before you prepare to distribute it (want crisper-sounding songs? Try TuneCore Mastering)
Finalize your artwork, artist photos, and marketing images—the worst possible scenario for any musician is a hit track that doesn’t have its artwork and marketing images in order. If you don’t know where to start with these pursuits, we wrote the guide to making excellent cover art here and covered music marketing basics, too.
Stage Two: The Distribution Process
Here comes the part we’ve all been waiting for – getting your song uploaded and live on social media platforms.
Make sure your metadata is in the correct format. For safety's sake, align your audio files with the following specifications: 44.1 kHz, 16-bit stereo WAV or FLAC file. Also, your cover artwork must be a JPG or PNG file of 3000×3000 pixels.
Upload your song to TuneCore here. Fill out each step, take your time, and have fun with it!
Opt-in for Facebook & YouTube Monetization – this is how you get paid. 💰 🔥
If you still need to, request your YouTube Official Artist Channel. In short, YouTube's Official Artist Channels instantly legitimize you online and give you cutting-edge tools to track your progress.
Lost? Reach Out
Just because you’re an independent musician doesn’t mean you navigate your career alone.
Our customer service team is here to help you with the above steps. You can browse our extensive support page here.
There’s almost no question we can’t answer for you. Ask away.
You Got This
We believe success starts with one song. It could be your first release. Maybe it's your twentieth one.
You can’t control what track, remix, or record will net you a ton of new fans, but you can take charge of your career, take risks, and celebrate the little victories hustle yields.
That’s what independence is to us.
We can’t wait to hear and see what it means to you.