Cross-Department
Visibility — Live

One operational layer pulls from existing systems and assembles the complete release picture. 30 days, 3 releases, real data.

The Problem

The information exists. Nobody assembles it.

Clearance status, side artist approvals, DSP asset needs, credits — each tracked in a different department's system. Release Runway has the fields. Most stay "Unknown."

What the Pilot Changes

One person pulls from every source and assembles the complete picture. No department behavior change. 30 days, real releases, real data.

Why This Can't Be Automated Today

Three systems describe the same release. None share an identifier.

Release Runway

Internal readiness tracker. Good fields, poor population. Clearance statuses perpetually "Unknown."

Shared Identifier

None — artist name + title only

Clearance Reports

Sample status, side artist approvals, agreements. Per-artist tabs — each structured differently. No ISRCs.

Shared Identifier

None — song title + producer only

DSP Asset Request

What Commercial Partnerships needs for DSP submission. Weekly tabs. Marketing supposed to fill; CP chases.

Shared Identifier

None — artist name + release only

No ISRCs. No UPCs. No shared key. Nothing to match on across systems. The pilot assembles manually — and builds the case for DDEX ERN identifiers as the long-term fix.

The Problem in One Release

29 days from street date.

Isaia Huron

Mr. Lovebomb · ITOLA LLC / Slang / RCA Records

55% Workability

Street Date

April 10, 2026

Pre-Order

March 20, 2026

Config

Digital Audio LP

Tracks

Status

Scheduled (pushed)

Clearance Fields — What's Blocking

SAA · RCA Charts — Side In / Side OutUnknown

SAMP · Sample Clearance Report — per-artist tabsUnknown

Cover / VSCRequired

AgreementsRequired

MasterDone

Label CopyDone

Metadata — What's Empty

Composer(s) / Writer(s) · publishing / clearanceBlank

Producer · A&R AdminBlank

ATMOSBlank

All DSP Delivery DatesBlank

DistributionBlank

DSP Asset Request Sheet — Not Started

Talking PointsNot submitted

TimelineNot submitted

Approved ImagesNot submitted

ArtworkNot submitted

GenresNot submitted

First single ships in 15 days. Album not in the sheet yet.

What the Pilot Assembles

Clearance statusTracked

Metadata completenessTracked

DSP asset readinessTracked

Delivery timeline risksFlagged

Unified view per releaseLive

One person pulls from every source. Departments don't change their workflow. The system fills the gaps they don't.

How the System Works

Sources — Where Data Lives Today

Release Runway (clearance fields — often empty)
Sample Clearance Report (per-artist tabs)
RCA Charts / Side Artist tracker
DSP Asset Request sheet (weekly tabs)
Production meetings (verbal decisions)
Email / Slack (confirmations, status updates)

→

Operational Layer

Tracks · Confirms · Flags · Surfaces

Pulls status from each source weekly
Populates the unified release view
Flags anything at risk within 3 weeks of street
Pushes pre-surfaced issues to relevant teams

Operated by Meg Hourihan
Currently one person. Designed to scale as a function.

→

Output — Who Sees What

Commercial Partnerships — delivery readiness, metadata completeness, clearance status before DSP windows
Release Planning — pre-surfaced blockers, root cause for every "Unknown," trend view across releases

Pilot Cohort — Active Releases

Three releases. Three lifecycle stages. Real data.

● Gap Analysis Complete

Isaia Huron

Mr. Lovebomb · April 10

55% workability · 4 clearance gaps · DSP asset sheet not started
Pre-order live March 20. Slang JV. Case study above.

● Baseline in Progress

horsegiirL

NATURE IS HEALING · April 3

5 required/unknown fields · SAA Unknown · SAMP Unknown
Newer artist. Highest gap density in the cohort.

○ Priority Pick — TBD

Option A: Foo Fighters

Your Favorite Toy · April 24

Priority release. Hands-on team. Still shows 5 unknown/required fields in Runway. Proves the gap is structural, not about team quality.

Option B: Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso — Free Spirits · March 19
Latin release. 6 unknown/required. Cross-market complexity.

Pilot Scope — What Gets Tracked

Field	Owned By	Status	What the Pilot Does
Clearance Fields
SAA	Business Affairs Admin (Dave Schmidt)	In Scope	Tracked in RCA Charts (Side In/Out). Pilot pulls status and surfaces weekly.
SAMP	Sample Clearance (Jeff Monachino)	In Scope	Per-artist tabs in Sample Clearance Report. A&R Admin submits; multi-week eval. Pilot surfaces status before DSP windows.
Cover / VSC	Creative	In Scope	Assigns ownership to initiation step. Tracks handoff to Legal.
Agreements	A&R Admin	In Scope	Tracks confirmation back to Runway. Currently doesn't flow back.
Atmos Decision	A&R / Production	In Scope	Captures decision at point of origin. Currently verbal, never enters Runway.
Metadata & Credits
Credits / Splits	3 departments	In Scope	Writer/composer from publishing/clearance. Producer from A&R Admin. Nobody reconciles into Runway. Pilot tracks completeness.
Artwork	Creative	In Scope	Confirms assets exist and are approved. Surfaces to DSP asset readiness.
DSP Readiness Fields
Talking Points	Marketing / PMs	In Scope	Assembled from existing briefings. Fed to DSP asset sheet.
Timeline	Marketing / PMs	In Scope	Pulled from release plans, project schedules.
Approved Images	Creative	In Scope	Confirms assets exist in Air/Box and are approved.
Genres	A&R / Marketing	In Scope	Pulled from existing metadata. Formatted for DSP specs.
Delivery Dates & Specs	Marketing / Mgmt	In Scope	Input by Production / Digital Ops. Connected to Runway fields.

Scaling Path

Pilot — Now

Prove the model

3 releases. Full assembly from existing sources. No behavior change required.

Phase 2 — After 30 Days

Add Marketing & PMs

Structured inputs submitted directly instead of assembled. Based on pilot data.

Triggered by: Pilot results at 30 days

Phase 3 — Scale + Identifiers

DDEX / ISRC Integration

ISRC as the shared key across all systems. Manual assembly becomes automated pipeline.

Triggered by: Phase 2 adoption + identifier standardization

How to Turn This On

No IT. No procurement. No permissions.

1

Confirm pilot releases

Isaia Huron baselined. horsegiirL in progress. Third release selected from priority candidates.

Owner: Meg · Timeline: This week
2

Run gap analysis on each release

Map every Runway field and delivery dependency. Document what's populated, what's empty, where it lives.

Owner: Meg · Timeline: Days 1–3
3

Fill the gaps from existing sources

Pull from Sample Report, RCA Charts, artist briefings, meetings, email. Assemble — don't create.

Owner: Meg · Timeline: Days 3–5
4

Build the release status view

Three releases in Airtable. Clearance + DSP readiness. Updated weekly.

Owner: Meg · Timeline: Days 5–7
5

Share with Commercial Partnerships + Release Planning

A dashboard, not a new system. No training needed.

Owner: Meg · Timeline: Week 2
6

Run for 30 days. Bring results.

Fields resolved, releases shipped cleaner, Production Meeting time recovered. That's the case for Phase 2.

Owner: Meg · Timeline: Day 30

Meg Hourihan · RCA Records · March 2026 Pilot · Confidential

Cross-DepartmentVisibility — Live

Cross-Department
Visibility — Live