# Audio Digital Release Packager Package an album for digital distribution: distributor-profile compliance checks, cover-art validation, MP3 previews, FLAC archive copies and a delivery ZIP with a README and machine-readable manifest. > Canonical page: https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-digital-release-packager - **Category:** Media - **Keywords:** digital release, music distribution, distrokid, cd baby, tunecore, the orchard, delivery package, album zip, cover art check, 3000x3000, mp3 preview, flac archive, release checklist ## Overview Feed in your masters and this tool builds the delivery folder most distributors wish they received. Five profiles encode the published upload rules of DistroKid (16-bit 44.1 kHz+, 5 h per track, 10 h per album, 60 s average track length), CD Baby (WAV/FLAC at exactly 44.1/16, 2–50 tracks), TuneCore (WAV, 44.1/16 minimum), The Orchard (WAV/FLAC, uniform bit depth across the release, no lossy) and a universal safest-common-denominator profile. Cover art is validated with the streaming-store conventions: square, at least 3000×3000 pixels, JPG or PNG, RGB colour space, under 20 MB — with a note that Apple Music recommends 4000×4000. The ZIP carries numbered masters (01 -, 02 -, …), optional 320 kbps MP3 previews, optional FLAC archive copies, optional 16-bit WAV conversions of high-depth masters, the cover, a README.txt with the full check report and the exact FFmpeg commands used, and release-info.json for scripts. Sources are copied and re-encoded with FFmpeg; nothing upstream is touched. ## Inputs - **Album tracks (audio files or ZIP)** (file) - **Cover art (JPG/PNG, optional)** (file) - **Distributor profile** (select) - **Artist name (optional)** (text): e.g. Night Signals - **Release title (optional)** (text): e.g. Analog Weather - **MP3 320k previews** (checkbox) - **FLAC archive copies** (checkbox) - **16-bit WAV conversion** (checkbox) ## When to use - Preparing WAV or FLAC masters for upload to services like DistroKid, CD Baby, TuneCore, or The Orchard. - Verifying album artwork dimensions, file formats, and color profiles prior to store submission. - Generating 320 kbps MP3 reference tracks, FLAC archives, and standardized 16-bit WAV files in a single delivery ZIP. ## How it works - Upload album audio tracks directly or as a ZIP archive, and optionally attach a square cover image. - Select a distributor profile—Universal, DistroKid, CD Baby, TuneCore, or The Orchard—and configure optional MP3 previews, FLAC copies, or 16-bit conversions. - The tool inspects sample rates, bit depths, track durations, and image specs against distributor requirements using FFmpeg. - Download the delivery ZIP containing sequential track masters, generated previews or archives, a validation report (README.txt), and a JSON manifest. ## Use cases - Independent musicians packaging singles, EPs, or full albums for direct distributor upload. - Mastering engineers providing clients with structured, store-ready delivery packages. - Record labels auditing catalog audio assets and cover artwork for ingestion compliance. ## Frequently asked questions ### What distributor profiles can I validate against? You can select DistroKid, CD Baby, TuneCore, The Orchard, or a Universal safe-common-denominator profile. ### What are the cover art requirements? Cover art must be a square JPG or PNG in RGB color mode, at least 3000×3000 pixels (up to 4000×4000 recommended for Apple Music), and under 20 MB. ### Will 24-bit audio files automatically downsample to 16-bit? Enabling the '16-bit WAV conversion' option creates 16-bit copies alongside your original masters when required by stricter distribution profiles. ### What files are included inside the final ZIP archive? The ZIP contains sequentially numbered masters, optional MP3 previews and FLAC copies, the cover art, a README.txt checklist with FFmpeg commands, and release-info.json. ### Are my original source audio files modified? No. Source files are strictly read and processed to generate new packaged files, leaving upstream files unaltered. ## Related tools - [Image Sequence to Video](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/image-sequence-to-video): Convert uploaded image files or a ZIP archive of frames into a video, sorted naturally by filename - [Data URI Generator](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/data-uri-generator): Convert files into Data URIs (Base64 or percent-encoded) for inlining images, fonts, and assets directly into HTML, CSS, or Markdown - [Cover Art Embed](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/cover-art-embed): Embed cover artwork without re-encoding media. - [Audio Melody Contour Extractor](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-melody-contour-extractor): Extract a dominant melody path from audio and export MIDI, note events, a pitch contour, SVG, and JSON in one ZIP. - [Video Audio Extract Enhanced](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/video-audio-extract-enhanced): Extract audio from video files with advanced options - multiple formats, quality settings, and audio enhancement - [Batch Podcast Publisher Pack](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-batch-podcast-publisher-pack): Normalize a batch of podcast episodes, apply metadata and chapters, and package validated delivery files in one ZIP. - [Batch Audio Converter](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-batch-converter): Convert multiple audio files between different formats like MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, OGG, Opus with quality settings and batch processing - [Audio Chord Progression Detector](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/audio-chord-progression-detector): Estimate an audio file's chord sequence locally and download CSV, JSON, SVG, and method notes in one ZIP. ## Samples - [Copyright-Free FLAC Audio Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/flac-samples): Lossless FLAC audio samples for testing and development, mirrored from MP3 set with nature sounds and meditation music - [Copyright-Free MP3 Audio Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/mp3-samples): Collection of royalty-free audio samples for testing and development purposes including nature sounds, meditation music, and ambient audio - [Copyright-Free WAV Audio Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/wav-samples): Uncompressed PCM WAV audio samples for testing and development, mirrored from MP3 set with nature sounds and meditation music - [Android Image Processing Java Samples](https://elysiatools.com/en/samples/android-image-processing-java): Android Java image processing examples including reading/saving images, scaling, and format conversion ## Related content - [Album Digital Release Preflight and Delivery](https://elysiatools.com/en/hubs/album-digital-release-preflight-and-delivery): Check one finished album's order, tags, loudness relationships and transitions, then assemble and verify a digital distribution package with cover art and reports.