What’s the deal with distrokid? Should I use them? How can they help my music career? These are all questions that many musicians ask themselves at some point in their careers. distrokid may seem confusing at first. But with some research, it’s one of the most useful services to help you grow your business. This article will cover all the basic information you need to know about this distributor to confidently decide if it’s right for you. And how it can help your career as an independent musician.
Where does DistroKid come from?
The DistroKid com website was develop by Philip J. Kaplan, nicknamed Pud, an American entrepreneur, computer developer. And amateur musician. They had just created Fandalism, a social network where artists exchange performances and tips. A prolific musician, Pud was looking for the cheapest way to distribute his music online. And initially design distro kid for his use.
He soon opened it to Fandalism members. And its immediate success with them led him to make it available for any artist to sign up via a website dedicated to digital distribution service. As the latest arrival on the digital distribution market (CD Baby dates from and TuneCore from). DistroKid offers services similar to those of its predecessors. And more accessible prices, which are key to its popularity.
How does DistroKid work?
DistroKid functions as an intermediary between your recordings as an artist and the various streaming platforms. Upload the files. And data of your recordings. And then transmit them to the streaming sites that broadcast them on your artist profiles. Recover 100% of your royalties – the master rights from these distribution channels. To facilitate these processes. You will need to follow the instructions to ensure you supply all the relevant information in the right place. Once you have done this on DistroKid sign in. You will be able to distribute your music to all their partners (including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Google Music, Deezer, and Tidal. Having multiple revenue channels like this is a huge time-saver. When you’re no longer worried about your day job. You’ll be able to create as much music as you want! One should note that one is force to pass through a distributor to air on these sites.
One needs only to sign up with their email address. And then upload their audio and video files if they want to use Spotify’s loop video feature. As well as their data (song title, album title, artist page on the streaming sites. Names of the different contributors to the recording if needed, lyrics, etc.). If you put in all the info, your track will be up on Spotify within 2 to 5 days. And Apple Music within 1 to 7 days. While we advise you to input your information two weeks before the release date you are targeting to be on the safe side. The info may be incomplete. Or the streaming sites might take longer than expected to accept it. You can automatically request and obtain ISRC codes. And UPCs because DistroKid does this for you. You may want to take note of this, as these codes. Which could be likened to your identity cards. Are critical to making your track well-known.
How much does DistroKid cost?
DistroKid is both transparent and straightforward about its prices. Offering an annual subscription for the sole payment of the artist. No commission on royalty earn and no additional fee require when new tracks are upload. A standard plan offers unlimited tracks per a single artist or band name. And costs $19.99 per year. Unfortunately, this package does not include the option of tracking listening. And revenue statistics by platform. You’ll have to pay an additional $35.99 for your subscription to get this. Although it offers two package options (with a tiered discount) at the basic level. This is nonetheless the most attractive part of DistroKid. Labels are affording the same level of access. Additionally, we are on money; it is good to know that distroKid app will distribute. And send the royalties generated by work to its different contributors from your account (or from the performance of the person who manages your recording).
The principle is simple: you select the title in question. Provide the contributor’s email address with whom you share your royalties. And specify the percentage of royalties to which this contributor is entitle. Once they make the DistroKid royalty payments. They will receive an email telling them when to pick up their prices. If they have a distroKid contact, that’s great. But if not, they will need to register one. They’ll then benefit from a 50% discount on the registration fees. You can include as many contributors as you want on a single track. For example, the distributor may distribute royalties to you as soon as it receives them from the platforms. Still, you’ll need to keep in mind the latter’s schedules. They usually provide monthly reports three months after distributing a track. For example, let’s take that you’ll receive monthly balance and earnings associated with broadcasts.
How Much Is a Label Account on DistroKid?
Whether you are an actual record label. Want to release music under multiple artist names. Or want to prepare for the future, one of distcokid label plans may fit you.DistroKid Label plans cost between $79.99USD. And $1,199.99USD and allow you to release an unlimit song. And album uploads for 5 to 100 artists. Label plans let you keep 100% of your earnings. Split royalty payments easily. And upload to over 100 stores & streaming services. There are five tiers available for DistroKid Label plans. With the only difference being the price and the number of artists. You can release music for. It is also important to note that DistroKid refers to the # of artists as “Artist Slots”. And a single Artist Slot is taken up in your account whenever you submit a release with a unique artist name attach the song.
For each song you submit, one artist slot is taken up for each main artist, primary artist, feature artist. And remixer on the music distribution. This is important because if you want to release a collaboration with another artist. That will take up two slots (or one artist slot per collaborator). If you’re going to release a remix. Attaching the remixer’s artist name to the track will take up an additional artist slot. Adding songwriter credits or anything behind the scenes is fine. When you add a public-face artist name. An Artist Slot is taken up in your account. Here is an example of DistroKid Artist Slots work: You may want to consider a Label plan if you are a label. Or have multiple artist names or aliases. But this also means you may want to consider the Label plan. If you want to release various collaborations with various artists or do multiple remixes.
Yes, DistroKid is legit
It’s a fair question, especially if you’re looking into music distribution. But to be honest, I think it’s pretty much been answered. The platform has around for a while now, and it’s widely recognize as an industry leader (in fact, other distributors have copied the DistroKid model). Questions of legitimacy aside, I think that for most indie musicians, it’s the best music distribution service on the market at the moment. No, but it’s not perfect.
There are a couple of really annoying things about the service that we’ll get into shortly. And if you dig through Trust Pilot, Reddit, or random internet comments. You’ll quickly find plenty of stories that make DistroKid look not-so-great. But the truth is that every distributor has its downsides and bad stories. And, honestly, DistroKid’s are pretty few and far between. The company has a very cost-efficient model, especially if you’re looking to release many kinds of music. And from what I’ve seen, they do have indie artists’ interests at heart.
DistroKid Musician Plan vs Musician Plus Plan
If you are an indie artist, your decision depends on whether you should choose the Musician level or Musician Plus. The Label plans, unless you are trying to build a record label, are completely unnecessary as they don’t give you any extra benefits besides more artists/bands to upload under. I use DistroKid as my distributor and the Musician Plus plan because I think the ability to customize your release date and time is vitally important for a successful and strategic release plan. Plus, I make two completely different genres of music, so I like being able to upload music distribution under two various music artists, so I don’t alienate fans of one or the other.
DistroKid shines because it allows you to upload a lot of music (unlimited) for one low yearly their rate is about on par with indie artists’ needs for continual releases without breaking the bank. In addition, the ability to customize your release date makes it easier to prepare your release strategy and submit your music to Spotify editorial playlists. Here is my video that teaches you how to pitch a song to the Spotify editorial team: customizing your label name. Adjust your release date and preorder date. Adjust the pricing of iTunes. The customizing of your label name and pricing aren’t nearly as important as the ability to adjust your release date and the preorder date of your albums if you plan on marketing them in that way.
