Best Digital Music Distribution Service – How to get your music on streaming websites and online stores
Best Digital Music Distribution Service. To sell your music on sites such as; Deezer, Spotify, Rdio, Itunes, and alike, you must be distributed. That’s right. You can’t just create an account to any of those sites and upload your music. To have your music available on those stores and streaming websites you need to be enrolled in a program that delivers your music to those platforms. Exactly like a record company that provides your albums to Record Stores or radios.
When I was ready to launch my music, I had to look for the best digital music distribution service available, and there are many. All of them have different rules and costs. If you study their offer carefully, a fantastic looking service might end up the worst of all after you stumbled upon some nasty hidden fees.
For weeks I was reading reviews and FAQs on those sites to decide which one to choose.
There are many topics to look at when you choose a digital music distribution service. The price is not the only thing to look. Sometimes low price means cheap service too.
– Things to consider:
- The price
- Percentage on copyrights
- cancellation policies
- How long they are in business
- Reputation
- Number of established websites your music is going to be distributed at
- Tools
- Payment processing tool
– The price
Distrokid is only $19.99 yearly recurring fee for unlimited albums/songs per unique artist. If I remember right, they were the cheapest at the time I was enquiring.
- Unique artist: If, like me, you publish all your album under the same artist name/group name you only need one account. If you want to publish them under different names or if you are a music producer promoting different artists, you need an additional account for each artist/name. It is still incredibly cheap.
– Percentage on copyrights
you get 100% of the copyright. That’s right; you read right. That is the reason why I decided to join. I hate when someone is taking a chunk of my music’s money. I feel raped.
– Cancellation policies
In the event, you are no longer happy about Distrokid you can simply not renew your account or even better, cancel your account. Stores will remove your music automatically, and you’ll be free to get enrolled to another distributor.
– How long are they in business?
Early-2013. Which is huge in internet time. Philip J. Kaplan, one of the Distrokid’s founder, created Adbrite in 2008. That site was the leader and pioneer in banner exchange program until the site closed in 2013. He also created sites such as Blippy and FuckedCompany who are no longer alive but who were huge back in the days.
If, for whatever reason the site closed, you have not to worry about your music. DistroKid does not take any ownership or intellectual property rights from artists. You keep 100% ownership.
– Reputation
I never stumbled upon a negative comment about Distrokid. They also have their share of hidden fees, and everything can be improved, but overall they are a fantastic service, and everybody in the music industry has good things to say about Distrokid.
Number of established websites your music is going to be distributed at
They distribute your music into iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play, Tidal, YouTube, Deezer and 150+ other stores & streaming services.
– Tools
They have none, zilch, nada. No embedded player or music site’s URL list for your promotion work. You get few confirmation emails from the major websites couple of days after you uploaded your album, and that’s all. For the rest, you have to search for them on Google. You might find most of them. But it’s not a problem, only iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play, Tidal; YouTube, Groove and Deezer are needed. All the other smaller websites are streaming those big ones anyway.
The bank page is quite limited. Money is updated every two or three months.
-Payment processing tool
Paypal to cash your royalties. Only credit cards to pay your registration fee. This is a bit annoying because when you are a European citizen, there is bank fee to pay in foreign currency. We are talking about few $$$ here.
Based on my researches and analyses, Distrokid is by far the cheapest and best digital music distribution service. Some have cancellation fee to let you go away, and it can be pricey. Most competitor’s yearly registration is more expensive than Distrokid, and they are the only one paying 100% of your royalties.
You can publish an unlimited amount of song or album for the same price.
– Hidden fees
- Cover Songs
- Shazam & iPhone Siri
and this is $0.99$ per song… This is a stupid and should be included in the price. Nonetheless, I select it for every album. Shazam being widely used.
– Services to Avoid
- YouTube Money
Considering the high price ( $4.95/yr + 20% is per song) the video using your music needs to have millions of view to cover the price to pay.
- Store Maximizer
I couldn’t find the 150 smaller websites already publishing my music. No need for additional unknown portals. To make money with your music you need to drive tons of traffic to the major ones like Spotify, Tidal, Groove, and Deezer for streaming and iTunes, Apple Music, Groove, and Amazon for paid downloads.
Finally, needless to say, you must have the right to distribute the music you are publishing.
Distrokid Best Digital Music Distribution Service
- Sign up to Distrokid right now and have your album(s) online today
Overall I’m entirely satisfied with my enrolment at Distrokid. I already released three albums this year, and I’m working on my fourth album to be released anytime soon.
If you are already a Distrokid member and have an opinion to share, positive or negative or if you have any question to ask before signing up, feel free to use the content form bellow. I’d be more than happy to read about it and to help the best I can.
This post is also available in: French