Releasing singles before a full album - combining plays.

[Space_Madness]

Hey all,

I am releasing a full album in a few months, and would like to release 2 tracks as singles beforehand.  I am distributing the with CDBaby, and they've told me that I will have to release the two tracks as singles first, and then the full album separately.  I can use the same ISRCs, but will have to have separate UPCs for the singles and the full album.  I also plan to have different cover art for the singles. 

CDBaby has told me that there is no way to combine the singles with the full album on Spotify, and that the only thing I can do if I don't want to have 2 versions of the same song available is to delete the singles once the full album is released.  If I do that, I will lose all my play counts and playlist inclusions. 

I want to know if there is a way to release the two singles and then combine them into the full album without losing my play counts and playlists inclusions.  Also, will this work even if the singles have different artwork than the full album?

I've read through a few posts (here and here) about this, but the answer isn't clear on what I need to do, and when.  (If there's no solution, is there a better distributor than CDBaby that can release singles as part of a coming album?)

Thank you very much. 

[schwizzle]

Hey!

I'm also an artist, and when I would upload a song with the same ISRC /different UPC it seems to always match up. Even before I was able to do this, it still matched up within 3 or 4 days as long as you have the same audio file and track name (pretty sure its case sensitive). You should be fine!

[Space_Madness]

Hey Schwizzle, 

Thanks for your reply!  Was the artwork different?  Was it the same scenario - a single that then became part of an album?  

Thanks 🙂

[Maber80]

I would stop using CD baby. Distrokid is a one time cheaper payment.  You pay and can release infinite amounts in a year it’s 20 some dollars. As well you get to be a verified artist.  This way you can put the singles out. Then take them and put them into the album and not pay more. Also release to all stores etc. They do not take a percentage from your earnings either 

[Maber80]

• And it would be best to leave the singles up and then add the album with those songs. To keep your count.  Think of David Bowie and all his greatest hits and compilation albums.  But your should look into distrokid we love it. It’s 20$ a year unlimited uploads. It’s realky amazing 

[ohmemoryfoam]

Hi Space Madness, would you be so kind to let us know what was the outcome of your situation? I want to do the same release plan, did it work out? Also, which distribution did you choose, Cdbaby or Distrokid? Thanks! 

[Ivan]

Hey there @ohmemoryfoam, 

Thanks for reaching out to the Community about this. 
 

For such queries we suggest contacting Spotify for Artists. The team specializes in support for artists and you can always discuss such issues with them to get the best advice. You can contact them here. 

Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any more questions.