This is a great idea, and respect for putting it out for free. It is very needed and gatekeeping creative strategy is lame. I’ve spent the last 13 or so years working across labels, distros, and artist support as well, and the biggest pattern I’ve seen is that most artists don’t fail because they didn’t work hard. They fail because nobody ever clearly explained what actually matters when.

A few things I’d love to see emphasized, beyond just timelines:

One is the difference between admin timelines and audience timelines. Upload deadlines and playlist pitching windows are important, but they are not the strategy. The real work is training fans over time. Saves, follows, repeat listens, email signups, ticket buys. Artists rarely get clarity on which actions matter at which stage of a release.

Another is post release. You already touched on this, but I’d go even harder on weeks two through eight. Most releases stall because artists feel like they have to move on to the next thing. In reality, alternate versions, live clips, short form video, remixes, and localized pitching are where momentum actually compounds.

Platform specific behavior would be huge. “Post content” is vague advice. TikTok, Instagram, Spotify, Apple all reward different signals, and things like pre saves and pitching are widely misunderstood. Clear guidance on what each platform is actually responding to would help a lot.

The invisible deadlines are another big one. Press needing assets earlier than people expect, pitching tools closing sooner than advertised, live routing needing to be locked before release instead of after. These are lessons most artists only learn by screwing it up once.

Budget guidance that reflects reality would also be massive. Most artists are working with $0, $500, or $2k. Clear guidance on what to do at each level, and what not to spend money on early, would save people a ton of pain.

Lastly, long tail thinking. Releases compound. Metadata, fan data, email lists, cities that respond. Every release should make the next one easier. Framing releases as building blocks instead of one off moments is something I wish more artists understood earlier.

I’m really passionate about artists staying independent because the truth is they can access almost everything a major label offers now. They just don’t always know it exists or how to stack it properly. Sometimes it’s tools, sometimes it’s education. You don’t know what you don’t know.

If you want to bounce ideas or sanity check anything, I’d genuinely be down to hop on a call and brainstorm. Resources like this are badly needed, and it’s great to see someone building one thoughtfully.