Radio needs your record six weeks before it comes out.

Not on release day. That is one of about forty deadlines in the year before an album comes out, and most independent folk artists find out too late. The Release Cycle teaches you that year, so you can plan your own record and know what has to happen when.

See the course Read the free guides

MONTHS BEFORE RELEASE

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Almost all of it happens before anyone can hear the record.

There is no one whose job is the calendar.

A folk album takes about a year to release properly. Rights and registrations should be settled twelve months out. Promoters and publicists book nine months ahead. Vinyl takes four to six months and slips. Radio needs the record six weeks before street date, not after.

Most artists start planning about four months out. By then vinyl is impossible, long lead press has closed, and the radio window is already inside the planning horizon. The record gets made well and released badly.

There are publicists. There are promoters. There are distributors. There is no one whose job is the year that comes first. This course teaches you to hold that year yourself.

The Release Cycle

One course, taught live in a small group. You leave with the release calendar for your own record and the knowledge to keep it.

JUNE
2027FIRST
GROUP

The Release Cycle Course

$350 · six live sessions, recorded

Six live sessions in a small group, in which you build the release calendar for your own record. Rights and registrations, assets and budget, hiring windows, manufacturing lead times, singles, radio, and the months after release. You also leave able to read a radio campaign report and tell whether the numbers mean what they appear to mean.

Every session is recorded, so a missed week is not a lost week.

Best for artists with more time than budget, who would rather understand the year than hire someone to hold it. Start any time: before the studio is booked, between records, or with a master already finished.

FREESPRING
2027

A free live intro session

No cost · one live session, spring 2027

One live session this spring, open to anyone thinking about a release. It covers the shape of the release year and the handful of deadlines that catch people out, so you can decide whether the full course is right for you.

Email us for the date.

Need someone alongside you?

The course teaches you to plan the year yourself. If you would rather have a professional hold it with you, or you need help beyond the calendar, these are the people we point artists to.

Dog Ranch Music PRRon Kadish. Release strategy sessions, custom release plans, release coaching, label work, and publicity in the United States.
Art Menius RadioFolk radio promotion in North America.

You choose who to hire and you hire them directly. Each specialist prices their own work. Where a referral leads to a booking we may be paid a commission by that specialist, never by you.

Free, and yours to keep

Four things we give away, because most of a conference room is not ready to buy anything and should not be sold to.

The ClimbSix career stages for folk artists, and where a radio campaign genuinely helps.
The Long RunwayThe twelve month release calendar, phase by phase from finished master to release day.
What You're OwedThe four registrations, and the money that goes uncollected without them.
Working With a PublicistWhat the job actually is, and how to know your record is ready for one.

What this is, and what it is not

Creekside teaches. It does not take on individual records, register your works, file your copyrights, or log into your accounts. The course shows you what is due and when; you do it. We do not draft or negotiate splits, promote records to radio, or do publicity. And we do not give legal, tax, or financial advice.

That is not modesty. It keeps your record's paperwork in your own hands, where it belongs.

Folk and roots, specifically

General music business advice is written for digital first releases on a twelve week timeline. That timeline cannot hold vinyl at four to six months, long lead print press closing three to four months out, or radio servicing that has to reach programmers six weeks before street date.

Folk works differently. Physical CDs still matter to reporting stations, the charts run on their own logic, and the conference circuit is where things actually happen. This course was built for that, and for nothing else.

If the record is not recorded yet

Good. That is the best time to take the course, and the cheapest point to fix anything. Before the studio is booked is when the splits, the ownership of the master, and the musician agreements get settled, and when the release date gets chosen with vinyl and radio lead times still ahead of you instead of behind.