Write a Music Press Release: Template and Example

To write a music press release, put the news on one page in a fixed order: a headline, a first paragraph that says who released what and when, one quote, the release facts, a short bio and a press contact. Write every paragraph so an editor can paste it into a news post unchanged, then send the release to the news route each outlet lists and pitch your music through its separate submission route.

This guide gives you the order, a copyable template, a filled example and the mistakes that make editors skip a release.

Know what a press release does for you

A press release announces news: a single, an album, a video, a tour, a signing. It reads like the news post you hope an outlet publishes. A pitch does a different job. It asks one editor to consider your music and explains why it fits their coverage.

Some outlets keep the two apart, and they say so on their contact pages. The Line of Best Fit asks for news and press releases at its news address and runs a separate form for music from new and unsigned artists. Consequence sends tips, press releases and breaking news to its news department and asks for submissions and pitches through its editors' address. Send the release to the route that asks for releases, and send your music through the route that asks for music.

Document	What it does	Length	Where it goes
Press release	Announces news in a form an editor can publish	One page, about 300 to 500 words	The news route an outlet lists for press releases
Pitch email	Asks one editor to consider your release	Under 150 words	The submission or pitch route, one editor at a time
EPK	Holds your bio, photos, music and credits in one place	One page or one link	Linked from the release and the pitch

Build the EPK first with our EPK template guide or the free EPK builder, because the release links to it. Our guide to submitting music to blogs covers the pitch email itself.

Gather the facts before you write

Collect every fact before you write a word. A wrong date or a missing credit follows your release into every post that copies it.

• Artist name exactly as your streaming profiles show it, with capitals and symbols.
• Release title, format and date, plus the time zone if the release goes live at a set hour.
• Label or distributor, or "self-released" if you put it out yourself.
• Credits: writers, producer, mixing and mastering engineers, and featured artists. Settle the songwriting shares first with the free split sheet generator, so the names in your release match the names on your PRO registrations.
• Listening link: a private stream before release day, a public link after it. Open it in a private browser window to test it.
• Artwork and two or three press photos, each with the photographer's name for the credit line.
• One true detail about how you made the song: where you recorded it, what changed in the writing, who joined you.
• Tour or launch dates, if you have them.
• A press contact that someone answers: a name, an email address and a phone number.

Follow this order from top to bottom

An editor reads a release from the top and can stop at any line. Put the facts they need first.

1. Release line. Write "For immediate release", or "Embargoed until" with a date, an hour and a time zone when you offer an outlet a premiere.
2. Headline. Name the artist, the verb and the release: "Maren Vale shares new single 'Glass Harbor'". Keep it under 12 words.
3. Subheading. Add one line of context, such as the album the single comes from or the release date.
4. First paragraph. Answer who, what, when and where to hear it in two or three sentences. An editor who reads only this paragraph should have a news story.
5. Story paragraph. Give the one true detail from your fact list. Write concrete facts, and leave the adjectives to the critics.
6. Quote. Add one quote from the artist, two to four sentences, in the artist's own words. An editor can lift the quote whole, so make it say something the rest of the release does not.
7. Release facts. List the title, date, format, label, credits and listening link in a short block.
8. Dates. Add tour or launch dates with city, venue and ticket link, one per line.
9. Bio. Write 50 to 80 words about the artist that stay true for a year: where you come from, what you have released, one verifiable milestone.
10. Contact and links. Give the press contact, the EPK link, the website and two or three social profiles.
11. End mark. Type ### on its own line so the editor knows nothing follows.

Copy this template

Replace every bracket. Delete a line rather than leave it empty.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[or: EMBARGOED UNTIL [Day, Month Date, Year] at [time] [time zone]]

[ARTIST] [shares / announces / releases] [new single / album / video] "[TITLE]"
[One line of context: from the album "[ALBUM]", out [DATE]]

[CITY], [MONTH DATE, YEAR]: [Artist], the [genre] [artist / band] from [place], [releases / shares] "[Title]" on [date] via [label or self-released]. [One sentence on what the song is about or how it sounds, in plain words.] Listen on [platform] at [link].

[Story paragraph: one true, specific detail about the making of the release. Who, where, what changed.]

"[Quote from the artist: two to four sentences that add something the release does not already say]," says [first name].

[TITLE] / Release facts
Release date: [date and time zone]
Format: [single / EP / album], [number] tracks
Label: [label or self-released]
Written by: [writers, as on your split sheet]
Produced by: [producer]
Listen: [private or public link]

Tour dates
[Date] / [City] / [Venue] / [ticket link]

About [Artist]
[50 to 80 words that stay true for a year.]

Press contact
[Name] / [email] / [phone]
EPK: [link] / Website: [link] / [two social links]

###

Read a filled example

This example uses an invented artist, song and label. Replace every detail with your own facts.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Maren Vale shares new single "Glass Harbor"

The first song from her debut EP, out November 14

PORTLAND, OR, OCTOBER 18, 2026: Maren Vale, the folk songwriter from Astoria, Oregon, releases "Glass Harbor" on October 31 via Low Tide Records. The song follows a ferry crossing on the last night before she moved inland, over a fingerpicked guitar and a cello. Listen on Spotify and Apple Music from October 31.

Vale recorded the guitar and vocal in one take at 6 a.m. in her grandmother's boathouse, with the window open, and kept the gulls on the final mix. Cellist Jonah Reyes added his part a week later in Portland.

"I wrote it the morning I left, and I didn't want to fix the shaky parts," says Maren. "You can hear the boathouse door at the start. That was the last time I opened it."

Look at what the example does. The first paragraph gives an editor a complete news item. The story paragraph holds checkable facts. The quote adds a detail the rest of the release leaves out. Nobody calls the song "stunning" or "a must-hear".

Write a headline and first paragraph editors can lift

Your headline and first paragraph do most of the work. Use a news verb: shares, announces, releases, premieres, signs. Put the artist's name first, so the editor sees whose news it is before anything else.

Write the first paragraph in under 60 words. Test it: read only that paragraph and ask whether it answers who, what, when and where to listen. If one answer sits in paragraph three, move it up.

Keep the language plain. "Dream pop band from Leeds" tells an editor where your music fits. "Genre-defying sonic journey" tells them nothing and wastes your first line.

Fix the mistakes that make editors skip your release

Mistake	Fix
Praise words like "stunning" or "best of the year"	Replace each one with a fact: a place, a person, a number
The release date sits in paragraph four	Put the date in the first paragraph and in the release facts
An embargo without a time zone	Write the date, the hour and the time zone, every time
A 20 MB attachment	Paste the release into the email body and link photos and audio
Credits that differ from your registrations	Copy writer names from your signed split sheet
Two announcements in one release	Send one release per piece of news
Claims you cannot prove	Cut chart positions, play counts and press quotes you cannot link

Send it the way each outlet asks

Send releases to the address an outlet lists for news and press releases, as The Line of Best Fit and Consequence do. Paste the release into the body of the email, with the headline as the subject line. Send each pitch to one editor at a time, through the route the outlet lists for music, with a link to the release.

Give editors four to six weeks before release day when you can, so they have time to plan a premiere or a news post. For radio, follow each station's own instructions; our guide to submitting music to radio stations shows how to read them. To pick outlets in the first place, start with our music blogs guide and fold the release into your music marketing strategy.

Find the outlets that want your release

Your release only works when it reaches the right desk. Outchorus researches public radio, playlist and press submission contacts for your release and shows you the source page behind each one, so you can see whether an outlet takes press releases at a news address or music through a form before you write. Nothing sends until you approve the contact and then the exact message. Open Outchorus with your finished release and review the press contacts it finds for your genre.

Common questions

How long should a music press release be?

Keep it to one page, about 300 to 500 words. An editor should find the news in the first paragraph and every fact they need before the bio.

Should you attach the press release or paste it into the email?

Paste it into the body of the email. Link the photos, the artwork and the audio. Large attachments slow the editor down, and the text in the body is what they can copy.

When should you send a music press release?

Send it four to six weeks before release day when you can, so editors can plan. Send a second, shorter release on release day with the public links.

Do you need a press release for a single?

Yes, if you want news coverage of the single. A single release, a video or a tour date each counts as news. Keep it shorter than an album release and focus it on the one song.

Sources

• The Line of Best Fit. Contact, checked October 18, 2026
• Consequence. About, checked October 18, 2026