How to Get New Release Notifications for Apple Music

Updated July 14, 2026 · Marquee Guides

Quick answer

Apple Music can notify you about favorited artists, but users widely report the alerts firing inconsistently. Marquee’s Upcoming Releases screen reads the artists in your library and shows their new albums automatically — and with Marquee Pro, everything coming soon gets a countdown and a release-day notification.

Nothing stings like finding out your favorite artist dropped an album... last month. Apple Music technically has release notifications, but ask around: they fire for some artists and silently skip others.

Here’s how the built-in option works, why it disappoints, and how to actually see everything coming out — before it comes out.

The built-in way (and its problem)

In Apple Music, you can tap the star on an artist’s page to favorite them, then enable "New Music" under Settings → Notifications → Music. In practice, Apple’s forums are full of threads about notifications that arrive late or never — and the system only alerts you after a release is out. There’s no way to see what’s coming.

The Marquee way: Upcoming Releases

Marquee’s Upcoming Releases — its answer to a release radar for Apple Music — reads the artists already in your library and builds a chronological feed of their releases. New albums from the last three months appear automatically, and the Coming Soon section shows everything on the way with a countdown pill on each release: Today, Tomorrow, In 12 Days.

  1. Download Marquee free from the App Store and connect Apple Music — no picking artists to follow; your library is the watchlist.
  2. Open the Library tab and find the Upcoming Releases shelf, or tap it to see the full screen.
  3. Browse what’s coming with Marquee Pro’s Coming Soon section — every upcoming album and single, sorted by release date with day countdowns.
  4. Tap the bell to get notified on release day. Marquee sends one 9 AM alert per release day — five same-day albums arrive as one tidy banner, not five.

There’s also an Upcoming Releases home screen widget that keeps the countdown on your home screen and flips to "Out Today" on release day. Browsing recent releases is free; the Coming Soon view, release-day notifications, and the widget are part of Marquee Pro.

Marquee app icon

Try it with Marquee — free

The Apple Music player with themes, Last.fm scrobbling, Library Insights, and Upcoming Releases tracking. Requires an Apple Music subscription.

Download on the App Store

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pick artists to follow?

No. Upcoming Releases works from your existing Apple Music library — if an artist is in your library, their releases show up automatically.

Is Upcoming Releases free?

Browsing new releases from your artists is free. Seeing what’s coming soon with countdowns, release-day notifications, and the home screen widget are part of Marquee Pro.