In order to understand this article it is important to understand the following distinction between what is commonly called the "release date":

  1. The historical release date
    • This is the date that you are asked to enter when first creating your release if your release has been previously distributed.
    • This field is provided on the release metadata page — it is not the release date field that you see on the distribution option page (the page where you select the territories to distribute your release to).
    • Once you distribute your release, the system will automatically update this field (if it was left blank) based on the future sale start date you pick (and if you pick ASAP it will set it to the current day's date). In other words, the system will update the historical release date to reflect the date you intend your release to go live.
    • Once it is entered/set, the historical release date field cannot be changed directly. It can only be changed in these 2 ways:
      • Redistributing the release and indicating a new future start date. In such a case the historical release date will update to the future start date only if the historical release date has not yet passed.
      • If the historical release date has already passed, the only way you will be able too change this date is by contacting our support.
  2. The future "sale start date"
    • The technical term used in the industry to identify the date on which you want DSPs to make your release available to the public is the "sale start date".
    • This is the date that you are asked to enter in the distribution option page (the pages where you select the territories to distribute your release to).
    • This date can be changed by you every time you redistribute the release up until 2 days before the start date you previously indicated. Within 2 days of the previous start date, it is NOT safe to simply set a new future start date and we highly recommend that you first deliver a takedown for the release and, once the takedown has gone through, redeliver the release with the new start date. In other words:
      • If you previously delivered a release with a start date of January 10 and today is January 6, it is still safe to simply redeliver an update with a start date of January 20 (no prior takedown needed).
      • But if today is January 8, then we highly recommend you first send a takedown for the release before redistributing it with a new start date of January 20.



HOW TO CHANGE THE FUTURE SALE START DATE


Simply redistribute the release. You will be prompted again to enter a start date on the distribution options page.


Note that if the release is still in delivery, you may need to pause the delivery: How to edit a Release that is still in delivery.


Here are the steps for changing the start date:

  1. Click on Assets > Music
  2. Click on the asset you'd like to edit the release date of.
  3. Select "distribution" from the menu on the sidebar (see image below)
  4. Click the big purple Distribute All button on the top right corner of your page
  5. Scroll to the bottom to find the "Release start date" field and edit it there.