Overview
The release wizard has four steps, shown along the top:
Create — release details and artwork
Upload — tracks, scheduling, and optional metadata
Review — confirm everything
Publish — choose how to sell it (covered separately — see Next steps)
Throughout the wizard you'll see: "This information & artwork is encoded into your tracks. Please be as accurate as possible." Take the reminder seriously — this metadata travels with your files.
1. Start a new release and pick a type
Go to Digital Delivery → Create Digital Release. You'll be asked which type of release to create:
Album, EP, or Single — a standard music release or pre-order. You don't need all assets before publishing a pre-order. Eligible sales report to Billboard, OCC, and ARIA.
Instant Grat Tracks — attach instant-grat tracks to physical formats like CD or Vinyl. The digital components won't report on their own, but can be associated with a charting physical album.
For a normal digital album, choose Album, EP, or Single.
2. Create — release details
Fill in the core details for the release:
Artwork — drag and drop or Browse to upload. JPG or PNG, 1400 x 1400 minimum resolution.
Release Title
Main Artists — search for an existing artist or create a new one.
Release Date and Release Time (ET)
Primary Genre
Release Price (USD)
Click Continue.
3. Upload — add tracks and details
On the Upload step you'll add your audio and fine-tune the release.
Upload your tracks
In the Tracklist section, drag and drop or click to bulk-upload your audio files. WAV, AIFF, or FLAC required, each file under 750 MB. Each uploaded file becomes a track in the list.
Edit a track's details
Click Edit on any track to open its detail view. Here you can set:
Track Info: Track Title, ISRC, Main Artists, Featured Artists, Price, and the source file.
Scheduling: Track Release Date and Time (ET), plus toggles for Album Only Track, 30s Preview, and Explicit Content.
Optional Info: expand for additional per-track fields.
Click Save, then use the arrow to move to the next track.
Set the release schedule
In the Scheduling section, set the Album Release Date and Time (ET). If you're running a pre-order, also set the Presale Date and Time (ET).
Optional info
Expand Optional Info to add more, if you need it:
Territory Restrictions: use your account-level settings, or set Custom Restrictions for this album.
Release Type: Standard (release date and info are visible to fans) or Confidential (release info is hidden from the audio player and fan-facing communication).
Additional Meta Fields: Label, Publisher, Copyright Owner, Copyright Registration #, Copyright Line, Publishing Line, Featured Album Artists, Vendor, and Release Description.
Additional Files (uploading extra file attachments with your release) is a paid feature — you'll see an Upgrade prompt if it's not in your current plan.
Move to review
When your tracks and details are in, click Review for Sale to continue. You can also Save Draft at any time and come back later.
4. Review — confirm the details
The Review step shows a summary so you can double-check everything before publishing.
Note: Once a release has been submitted you won't be able to add additional tracks — but you can still edit existing tracks.
Confirm the release details (UPC/EAN, release date, presale date, availability, genre) and the Tracklist (title, track release date, track price). Use Edit Info or Edit Tracklist to make changes, or Expand All to see full track details.
When everything looks right, click Ready to Publish.
Next steps - publishing your release
Clicking Ready to Publish takes you to the Publish step, where you choose how to sell the release to fans. Pick the guide that matches what you're doing:
Selling the album as its own product page — see Selling a Digital Release as a standalone Product in Shopify.
Selling it as a format alongside vinyl/CD on one page — see Adding a "Digital" variant to an existing Product in Shopify.
Want fans to see the songs on the product page? See Adding the tracklist block to your Shopify Product templates.