For the artist and the producer or manager sharing one plan
An album release plan board: tracks, artwork, distribution and weekly posts, each with an owner
This is for an independent artist and the person who produces or manages the release, working from one shared page. It has a list each for tracks, artwork and credits, distribution, pitch and press, the weeks before release, release week, what comes after and open questions, with a first name on every card and the dates in the card titles. It is a planning board, not a release calculator. It doesn't work out your deadlines from a release date, remind anyone, play or store your masters, or upload to a distributor; Groover's free generator and Storyflow do the date maths, and your distributor does the delivery. The next section says where each is better. Use the board for the part around them: who owns each open item, what it is waiting on, and what happens in which week.
Updated
The short answer
- What it is: one board with a list for each part of a release (tracks, artwork and credits, distribution, pitch and press, the weeks before release, release week, after release) and a card per task. Every card says "Owner:" and a first name, DONE, WAIT or TODO starts the title, and the date goes in the title too.
- What it isn't: no countdown that fills in dates from your release date, no reminders, no audio, no upload to a distributor. Dates are typed by you and the board never tells anyone one is close.
- Arrows: an arrow can join a card in one list to a card in another, takes a caption and its own colour, and stays attached when a card is reordered. The example joins the final album cover to the upload it holds up, and the upload to the pitch that follows it.
- Free plan: the example is 58 of your 150 free items (48 cards and 10 lists, our count). Arrows, sections and pen strokes don't count. A second album board brings you to 116 (Pro is $5/mo billed yearly).
What this board doesn't do, and where Groover, Storyflow, Notion and your distributor are better
Read on November 11, 2026 from each tool's own pages. Groover's free Music Release Checklist & Timeline Generator asks for a release date and an artist name and returns a checklist with deadlines for distribution, Spotify pitching, PR outreach and social content, for singles, EPs and albums; its page says no account is required and the planner is completely free. If what you need is the list of dates, use that first and paste what it gives you onto this board. Groover also sells paid campaigns to curators and labels, which the board doesn't.
Storyflow has a page for this exact job ("An album release plan that counts back from Friday"). It says the AI works the weeks out from your release date, with tables that carry owners, due dates and a status, audio and video you upload and play on the board, view-only links and whole-board PDF export. Its pricing page says it is paid-only during early access: Plus is $7.99 a month billed yearly ($9.99 monthly), a free plan is promised before the end of 2026, and anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free. Notion's marketplace lists a free "Marketing for Musicians" music release planner template. We could not read the template's own contents, so we say nothing about what it holds. A spreadsheet or a Notion table sorts by date and counts what is left, which this board doesn't.
Your distributor sets the earliest dates. CD Baby's help article on release dates recommends signing up at least 3 weeks before the date you want, with 4 to 6 weeks ideal, and gives its inspection as 7 to 14 business days (1 to 2 with Fast Forward) before Spotify and Apple Music take 2 days to 2 weeks and other partners 1 to 4 weeks. Another distributor will give other numbers. Check yours before you type a date on a card.
Where these tools win
To get the dates worked out from a release date, use Groover's generator or Storyflow. To sort a list by date and count what is left, use a spreadsheet or a Notion table. To deliver the music and set the release date, use your distributor. Use this board first, or next to them, when an artist and a producer need one picture of who owns each open item, what each is waiting on, and which week it belongs to.
How to run a release on the board
In an r/musicmarketing thread from July 2025, the poster said keeping track before a release feels like reinventing the wheel each time. Replies used a notes app (u/Jordamine), a Google doc for each song plus a release plan doc whose to-do list is copied into the song's doc, with green for done and orange for started (u/MELTDAWN-x), a shared Google Drive with a folder per record and a reflections doc written afterwards (u/rob_rily), and Google Keep in a browser on a big screen as the next best thing to a whiteboard and sticky notes (u/loublackmusic). Each is one person's method, not a rule. The board doesn't force one. It gives each part of the release a list.
- Set the release Friday first, then write the dates backwards. Take your distributor's lead time and, if you like, Groover's or Storyflow's dates, and put each one in a card title ("Jan 1: Announcement post"). The example counts back from Friday, February 12.
- Put one card per track in the Tracks list. Title it with the status and the song; the body says the track number and who owns the next step (mix, master, final vocal).
- Name an owner on every card. Write "Owner:" and a first name on the first line. In the example the artist owns the posts, bio and lyrics, and the producer owns masters, upload, pitching and press email.
- Start each title with DONE, WAIT or TODO. Change the word as things move. Nothing sorts by it, so you scan for it by eye.
- Join a blocker to what it blocks. The example draws a red arrow captioned "blocks" from the album cover that hasn't arrived to the upload that needs it, then "then pitch" from the upload to the pitch card, and "to Friday" from the pre-save push to release day.
- Keep an Open questions list. Vinyl or not, who films the video, midnight or 9 a.m.: put each one on a card with an owner and a date it must be settled by.
- Write down what worked. The After release list ends with a card to record what you'd do again, and one to start the next board from this one. Copy the board for the next single (it takes 1 of your 5 free boards).
This board vs Groover vs Storyflow vs a spreadsheet
| Tool | What we read (Nov 11, 2026) | Good at | Not what you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instaboard board | Free: 5 boards, 150 items. Pro $5/mo billed yearly | Who owns what, what a task is waiting on, an artist and producer on one link | Dates worked out for you, reminders, sorting, sums, audio |
| Groover release planner | Free, no account required; singles, EPs and albums | A checklist with deadlines from your release date | A shared board of cards and arrows |
| Storyflow | Paid-only in early access: $7.99/mo billed yearly, $9.99 monthly; free plan promised before end of 2026 | Weeks counted back by AI, tables with owners and due dates, audio and video on the board | A free plan today |
| Notion template or a spreadsheet | A free "Marketing for Musicians" music release planner is listed on Notion's marketplace | A table you sort and filter by date | An arrow from a task to what it blocks |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
From each tool's own pages, read November 11, 2026. We name no tool as the best; they do different jobs.
Limits of the free plan for a release
- Items. Each card and each list is 1 of your 150 free items, across all your boards. The example is 48 cards and 10 lists, 58 in all (our count). Arrows, sections and pen strokes don't count. Two release boards come to 116 of the 150, and a third passes it.
- Boards. The free plan includes 5 boards. Making your own copy of the example uses 1 of them; a card that opens its own board uses another, so the example keeps everything on one board.
- Photos. 3 images per board. The example has none. On the web a link card's preview picture no longer counts toward the 3, but the iPhone, iPad and Android apps still count it until their next update.
- No countdown, no reminders, no sorting by date. The board doesn't work out dates and doesn't tell anyone one is close. Keep the key ones in your calendar too. Card colour is the border and text only.
- No audio and no uploads to a distributor. It doesn't play, store or deliver your masters, and it doesn't connect to any store or streaming service.
- No marketing advice. It doesn't tell you when to release or who to pitch. The example's dates and names are invented.
- Writing needs a free sign-in. A producer or manager who joins by link or code can add cards and arrows, and the board counts as one of their 5.
Start from the ready board
It opens in your browser in a few seconds, with nothing to install. Sign in for free when you want to save it and share it.
Questions
Is there a free album release plan template?
Yes. Open the board, replace the example artist, tracks and dates with yours and set Share to "Anyone with the link can edit" if your producer or manager needs to write on it. It is a board of cards, lists and arrows, not a sortable spreadsheet.
Does it work out my release dates?
No. Type each date in the card title. Groover's free generator and Storyflow count back from a release date; your distributor's own help page gives its lead times.
Can I use it for a single or an EP?
Yes. Delete the tracks you don't have and shorten the weeks. The lists are the same.
Will it remind me before a deadline?
No. The board has no reminders or alerts. Put each key date in your calendar as well.
How many cards fit on the free plan?
Each card and each list is one item of the 150 across all your boards. The example is 58. That is our arithmetic. Arrows are free.
Sources
- Groover: Free Music Release Checklist & Timeline Generator (read November 11, 2026)
- Storyflow: Album Release Plan (read November 11, 2026)
- Storyflow: pricing (read November 11, 2026)
- Notion Marketplace: Marketing for Musicians music release planner (listing read November 11, 2026)
- CD Baby Help Center: When should I set my release date and how long does distribution take? (read November 11, 2026)
- r/musicmarketing: how do you all keep track of everything before releasing music (July 2025, replies are single accounts)
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