Waterfall Release/Releasing tracks from an album separately

A waterfall release strategy in music (sometimes called a “waterfall campaign”) is a way of releasing songs one by one, while continuously building momentum toward a full EP or album. Instead of dropping all tracks at once, you release singles over time, and with each new release, the previous songs remain live and continue to gain streams. 

Here’s how it works:

Step-by-Step Song Release

• You start by releasing one single.
• The next release includes that new track plus the earlier single(s).
• Each subsequent release “stacks” on the previous one, forming a growing tracklist.

For example:

• Release 1: Track A
• Release 2: Track A + Track B
• Release 3: Track A + Track B + Track C
• Eventually, this leads to the full project (EP or album).

When creating new releases, you can use the Reuse Existing Track tool to import the metadata from a previously released track easily and seamlessly. This will also help link up the play counts between the tracks. The Import Track tool is located at the bottom of the tracks section, right before Release Availability.  

If you are not using the Reuse existing track tool, please ensure that you are re-using your ISRCs and metadata from your already released tracks. 

Since these are all different products, you will be required to use a new UPC and catalog number for each release you create.

Once the album goes live, you can either take down the single(s) or leave them up.

Please note that for Instagram/Facebook and TikTok, we strongly recommend leaving the original single versions live rather than taking them down. The UPC/ISRC combination must remain consistent to preserve the correct matching of user-generated videos to their respective tracks on these platforms.

These platforms rely on the UPC/ISRC pairing to properly connect videos to the correct audio. If a single is removed, videos may become unlinked instead of automatically re-matching to the album version, even if the ISRC remains the same.

If this happens, we can manually relink the videos to the album version. Simply provide one example video link, and we can identify the associated audio clip and reconnect all videos using that sound back to the correct library track.

Artists do take down singles regularly, and in many cases the transition occurs without issue. However, we share this as a precaution, as Meta and TikTok are still refining their auto-matching systems. We recommend monitoring your UGC video count before the takedown (via the SMS, since we track total creations compared to TikTok analytics) and after the removal to ensure all videos properly transfer and relink.

Why Artists Use Waterfall Release Strategy:

• Streaming growth: Each new release can drive listeners back to older tracks, keeping them in circulation.
• Algorithm benefits: Platforms like Spotify often boost new releases in algorithmic playlists, giving each track multiple chances to be discovered.
• Fan engagement: Listeners get a steady flow of content instead of waiting months for a full album.