How to Timestamp Your EP Before Release: Masters, Stems and Sessions

Before an EP goes out to press and streaming, take ten minutes to timestamp the final masters, the stems and the session files with TimeBinder^®. You end up with verifiable evidence that those exact files existed no later than release week, which is useful if a track is re-uploaded, claimed or imitated later. Here is how to do it on the free plan.

Disclosure: I’m Inna Hall, co-founder of TimeBinder, the file timestamping tool this guide uses. This page is general information, not legal advice.

Why an EP is worth dating before release

Release week is when your music is most exposed. Premieres, promo links and pre-saves send the audio to a lot of people at once. Most of that is fine. But songs do get ripped and re-uploaded, and some get submitted to content ID systems by someone else, which can end up flagging your own uploads. AI tools add a newer problem: voice-cloned covers and “in the style of” tracks can be made from released audio in minutes, and they can muddy which version came first.

A timestamp doesn’t prevent any of that. What it gives you is a dated record that your masters, stems and project files existed by a certain day, made before anyone else’s copy. Stems and session files are especially strong, because someone with only the stereo master doesn’t have them. For a full album, see how to timestamp an album from sketches to masters.

Which files to TimeBind

• The final WAV masters, one per track, exactly as delivered to your distributor.
• A zip of the stems for each song, or one zip for the whole EP.
• A zip of the session or DAW project folders. If you work in Logic Pro, see how to prove a Logic Pro project existed before a date.
• Lyric sheets and a signed split sheet if you co-wrote. Our free split sheet generator makes one in a few minutes.
• If each song has a music video, the final video exports and any film scans or transfers.

Step by step: TimeBinding the original files

1. Collect the exact files. Six masters plus one zip of stems and one of sessions fits in a single TimeBind. Put lyric sheets and the split sheet in the stems zip or in a second TimeBind.

2. Stop editing them. A timestamp covers the exact bytes of a file. Renaming a file is fine, but re-saving, re-exporting or letting an app write metadata into it gives it a new fingerprint. Keep a copy that nothing touches, and work on duplicates.

3. Bundle if you have more than 10 files. One TimeBind covers up to 10 files. For a big folder, make a zip of it and TimeBind the zip. Then keep that exact zip, because the record matches the zip, not a re-zipped copy.

4. Open the app and select the files. Sign in at app.timebinder.io (Google or an email link), start a TimeBind and drag the files in. Each file is hashed locally in your browser. The files are never uploaded.

5. Add a short Reference. For example: EP masters, 6 tracks, final delivered versions. The Reference and Details text are hashed into the record too, so keep them factual and leave out anything private.

6. Choose Pooled or ASAP. Pooled costs 1 Token and is batched with other users’ fingerprints, usually within 24 to 48 hours, and often sooner, depending on Bitcoin network activity. ASAP costs 3 Tokens and gets its own transaction, which can be checked without relying on TimeBinder. ASAP vs Pooled explains the difference.

7. Download the Proof of Time Certificate once the TimeBind is confirmed, and store it next to the untouched files and in a second place, such as cloud storage or a backup drive.

Anyone you choose can check it later: open the TimeBind, click Verify File and select the file. It is re-hashed in their browser and compared. Verification explained walks through it. If you want to see a file’s fingerprint first, our free SHA-256 file hash checker shows it without uploading anything.

Which plan fits

On the free plan you get 1 Token a month, which is one Pooled TimeBind of up to 10 files. That’s enough for a six-track EP if you zip the stems and sessions.

If you also want to date videos, alternate mixes or each single as it comes out, a paid plan gives you more TimeBinds. Essential is US$20 a month for 5 Tokens (5 Pooled, or 1 ASAP plus 2 Pooled). Expert is US$50 a month for 15 Tokens (15 Pooled or 5 ASAP). On Essential and Expert, unused Tokens roll over every month, and a paid plan replaces the Free plan’s monthly Token. Verification is free. See pricing.

What a timestamp does and doesn’t do

TimeBinder anchors each file’s SHA-256 fingerprint to Bitcoin and gives you a Proof of Time Certificate. That is verifiable evidence of when a file existed: it shows the file existed no later than the anchor date, and it makes later changes detectable. An ASAP TimeBind can be checked directly on the Bitcoin blockchain without relying on TimeBinder; a Pooled TimeBind is verified through TimeBinder.

It doesn’t show who made the work, it doesn’t stop anyone copying it, and it isn’t a registration. It also doesn’t replace registering your songs with your copyright office, PRO or distributor. Our guide on proving you wrote a song first covers how those fit together.

Plan details were checked against timebinder.io/pricing on 28 October 2026.