How long does Spotify take to upload music?

By Madeleine AmosSeptember 9, 20214 mins read

Using a distributor like RouteNote, how long does it take to put music on Spotify? Not long at all!

How long does Spotify take to upload music? Using RouteNote distribution, we aim for 72 hours for a song to be approved (however this can extend during busy periods), and a couple of days extra for it to appear on Spotify.

Artists can’t put songs on Spotify by themselves – you need a digital music distributor to get your music online. At RouteNote we offer unlimited free music distribution, putting your music straight onto the top music streaming platforms and download stores around the world, including Spotify. And we do it fast.

Uploading with RouteNote is quick and easy. First sign up for a free RouteNote account to upload your tracks. After filling in the metadata and uploading your artwork, choose which of our partners you want your music to be released to. It doesn’t matter how many services you want to distribute your music to – it won’t cost you a penny extra.

You can choose Free or Premium distribution to get your songs on Spotify. RouteNote’s Free distribution option has no fees. Once you start earning royalties from people discovering your music, you keep 85% of revenue.

If you choose Premium, you’ll receive all the benefits of Free distribution but keep 100% of your royalties for a small upfront and yearly cost.

The RouteNote moderation team will then check your release is all good to go and free of copyright and format errors. Approval takes up to 72 hours. Your music will then usually be uploaded to Spotify a couple of days later.

Want to get started? Head to routenote.com to get your music on Spotify for free.

Join the conversation

5 replies

Daan Meijer says:

January 19, 2022 at 1:47 pm

Hello, I uploaded my song to routenote, that song got approved but it’s already 2 weeks later and it’s atill not on Spotify. Is this normal or are the review times of spotify so long at the moment?

Reply
Aileen says:

October 25, 2022 at 3:39 pm

I have experienced the same problem. It took 4 days for Routenote to approve my song, and now it’s been 4 days waiting for it to be on Spotify. It’s a Halloween song, and I’m missing the time of the year that the song was created for!

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  October 26, 2022 at 9:34 am
  
  Hey,
  
  We’re currently approving content within around 5 working days of submission to our moderation team, providing that there isn’t any further action required from you during the moderation process.
  
  Once your release has been approved, it will be available on most major stores within 2 weeks – please note that if you set a sales start date later than this, your release will not become available until that date.
  
  In general, Spotify tend to be one of the quicker stores for release availability and usually have your music live within 48 hours of your release being approved. However, this is not guaranteed and your release may become live on each store at any point within 2 – 14 days of approval.
  
  Apologies for the wait, and thank you for your patience.
  
  Reply
Cyra Is Dying says:

February 1, 2023 at 4:49 am

My song got approved for distribution on January 15th and I still can’t find it on Spotify even though it’s available everywhere else. Is there any way to know how much longer it’ll be?

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  February 1, 2023 at 10:36 am
  
  Hey,
  
  You can get some of your store links from us, including your Spotify links, by heading over to the Artist Services tab of your account. There is a drop-down menu which allows you to hover over Marketing and select URL Requests. This will take you to the Pre-save URL Request form.
  
  We will source the relevant links for you as soon as they’re made available by the stores.
  
  Please be aware that your release will need to be approved before you complete this form.
  
  Reply

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