In a world where your entire product exists digitally, and your distributor is digital, that means your music lives in multiple digital stores at the same time.
Spotify. Apple Music. Amazon Music. YouTube Music. Pandora. And more.
The best thing you can do as an artist is create a single landing page that lets fans choose where they want to listen, both before and after your release goes live.
That is what a pre save link really is.
What a Pre Save Link Actually Does
A pre save link is not marketing by itself. Posting a link and saying "here is my pre save" is not a release plan.
What a pre save link does is give your audience a frictionless way to interact with your music before and after release, all from one URL.
That same link should do three things:
- Allow fans to pre save your song before release
- Automatically convert to a post release song link
- Let listeners choose the platform they already use
If you do this correctly, you never have to change the link in your bio.
Create the Pre Save Link Early
One of the biggest misconceptions artists have is that you need to wait until your song is uploaded to distribution before creating a pre save link.
You do not.
Some platforms allow you to create a pre save link without an ISRC and add it later.
My favorite budget friendly option for this is Hypeddit. It allows you to create a pre save link early, then input the ISRC later once your song has been uploaded to distribution.
That means you can:
- Put the link in your bio
- Add it to your EPK
- Send it to people you are pitching the song to
- Start teasing the release before distribution is finalized
Once your song is uploaded to ONCE and an ISRC is generated, you simply go back into your pre save tool and add it.
In-Platform Pre Saves vs Third Party Pre Save Links
Pre saving is actually a fairly recent concept in streaming.
For years, most pre save campaigns were handled entirely through third party tools. Platforms like Hypeddit, Feature.fm, and others created the pre save experience because the DSPs themselves did not offer native pre save features.
Apple Music introduced official pre-adds for albums in 2018, and Spotify only began rolling out native in-app pre save functionality much more recently. That means the pre save links most artists are familiar with were originally built outside the streaming platforms.
Here is the key difference
A third party pre save link works by asking the fan to grant permission to that platform. When they click pre save, they are authorizing the service to save your song to their library on release day.
In-platform pre saves are different. Those happen entirely inside the DSP itself, without a third party link or external authorization step.
Both approaches are useful. Driving traffic to native pre saves inside a DSP is not a bad thing, especially if most of your audience lives on one platform.
But as a general rule, a multi-platform pre save link is still the most practical option. It gives you one URL that works across all services, which is much easier when you are pitching curators, editors, or placing a single link in your bio.
There are always caveats. If your growth is heavily concentrated on one platform and the editorial or algorithmic teams are already leaning in, it may make more sense to drive traffic directly to that platform's native pre save.
The goal is not to follow rules blindly. The goal is to understand your tools and use the ones that serve your release best.
Create an Early Listening Link
Alongside your pre save link, you should also create an early listening link.
This is what you send to:
- Playlist curators
- Press
- Blogs
- Friends
- Collaborators
- Anyone you want to hear the song before release
This should never be a Google Drive or Dropbox link. Those are clunky on mobile and create a bad listening experience.
Much better options include:
- Samply – Clean, professional listening experience
- Disco – Industry standard for press and curators
- Private SoundCloud links – Works surprisingly well on mobile and is often overlooked
If someone is listening on their phone, SoundCloud private links work surprisingly well and are often overlooked.
What Happens on Release Day
When your song goes live, your pre save link should automatically convert into a post release song link.
That means the same URL now sends listeners to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and any other supported DSP.
You may need to manually add a few secondary platforms like Deezer or Amazon if they do not auto populate, but the core idea stays the same.
One link before release and after release.
That is the link you keep in your bio. That is the link you send around. That is the link you build your campaign around.
Email Capture Is the Hidden Superpower
One of the most important parts of pre save links is something most artists ignore.
Email capture.
Platforms like Hypeddit, Feature.fm, and others allow you to add an option for fans to join your email list when they pre save.
This matters more than any single algorithm.
Social platforms are rented land.
Email lists are owned.
The best thing you can do as a creative person is get fans off platforms you do not control and into a space you do.
Email lists and text lists are how you do that, and pre save links are one of the easiest ways to start.
Then You Promote
Once your pre save link exists, then you promote.
This is when you start teasing the song on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook.
You put the pre save link in your bio and let people do what they already know how to do.
- They hear something they like.
- They go to your bio.
- They click the link.
No extra explanation needed.
The Point of This Step
A vital part of releasing music is making it easy for people to save it before release and find it after release with as few clicks as possible.
That is the entire goal of a pre save link.
One link before release. One link after release.
Your song is uploaded to distribution. Now what?
Now you build the infrastructure that supports the song. Pre save links and landing pages can be foundational for your release.
Ready to upload your next release? Get started with ONCE and distribute your music to all major platforms.
Releasing AI music? See the full guide to AI music distribution, or get your tracks live now: distribute Suno music · distribute Udio music.