u/SurveyMysterious4778

Hi, so my EP opens for pre-order on streaming platforms in four days, ahead of its October 23 release. I'm wondering whether it's still worth setting up a Bandcamp pre-order or whether I should focus entirely on streaming platforms.

A. Launch a Bandcamp pre-order now, offering 48 kHz/24-bit (it's only 44.1/16 in streaming services) lossless downloads from my masters, and promote it alongside the upcoming release.

B. Wait for the streaming pre-order and focus my promotional efforts on Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms.

Given that I already have an established streaming audience, which option makes more sense? Is Bandcamp worth launching at this stage, or would it be better to focus on the streaming campaign and offer Bandcamp downloads later?

I'm releasing an EP with 100% owned original music through CD Baby.

Last week, I created my own publishing entity registered with ASCAP.

It's brand new. I literally just registered it and haven't used it for anything yet.

CD Baby asks whether the song has a publisher. Should I:

1. Select Yes and enter my own publishing company, or
2. Select No and leave the publisher field blank?

Is there a reason to choose one over the other for a self-published songwriter?

I've finished my first EP. This is by far the most time, money, and genuine effort I've ever invested into a project. The songs were professionally recorded and produced with session musicians, and I own 100% of both the master recordings and the underlying compositions.

I'm registered with PROs (ASCAP and BMI) and have also set up my own publishing entity with its IPI Number.

I'm now trying to figure out what the next step should be. I'm particularly interested in sync opportunities for film, TV, games, etc., as I think some of the songs could potentially work well in those contexts.

I've mostly handled everything myself so far, but marketing and getting the music in front of the right people is where I struggle.

Would you recommend just releasing it using a music distributor like CDBaby and try to market it all by myself, or would it make sense to approach established music publishers, independent publishers, sync agencies, or music libraries with the finished EP?

And when approaching these companies, what's the normal way to submit music? Could I just send them private streaming links, MP3 attachments rather than the WAVs, etc.?

I lost my job after months of dealing with burnout that was heavily tied to difficult real-life situations outside of work.

Over time, my relationship with my supervisor became really unhealthy. A lot of our conversations turned into constant criticism and negativity, and eventually it became emotionally exhausting. I’m not someone who handles confrontation well, so most of the time I just stayed quiet instead of defending myself. As things got worse, I became increasingly anxious during interactions with him and struggled to communicate properly.

At the same time, I was already mentally drained and trying to recover from burnout. I used a lot of vacation leave because I was overwhelmed, but management interpreted it as me not taking the job seriously. Looking back, I also don’t think I explained my situation very well. Whenever I tried, I either couldn’t express myself properly or felt dismissed, so eventually I stopped trying altogether.

Eventually the situation became unbearable and I decided to resign.

When I left, I chose not to ask my supervisor to be a reference because I no longer trusted the relationship we had. But now, months later, I still haven’t been able to land another job, and it’s hard not to feel anxious about how much your future can depend on one person’s opinion of you after leaving a workplace on bad terms