Not everyone's lucky enough to be a signed music artist. Fortunately even if you're not signed to a label there's still ways to get your music on streaming services. Distribution services offer that and a lot more, including physical releases, statistics and marketing tools. Some services even offer marketing help for artists who start to 'catch' after a few releases - like adding tracks to Spotify playlists. Here's a comparison of what the best distributors have to offer.
Distrokid
Distrokid allows you to upload as many tracks as you want for a yearly membership fee. What’s good about them as well is that they take no commission from your music - you get all the money you earn from your music. Unfortunately they don’t offer marketing help or playlist plugging possibilities.
- How to Get Spotify Premium Free on iOS (without Jailbreak) You can update to Premium plan to get.
- Spotify is free with ads or $9.99 a month for ad-free Spotify Premium access to all the platform's music. If you'd like to add more family members that goes up to $14.99 a month.
Spotify is one of the more popular free internet radio station due to its engaging interface, the diversity of its content and the fact that Spotify’s base services are completely free of charge. Available on fiverr, Broken8Records is a successful and popular promotional service.They focus primarily on Spotify playlist placement and playlist promotion, which is typically done by first including your songs on their official playlist and then (depending on which promotional package you purchase) doing further promotional work using social media.
+ No commission (you get all the money you earn)
+ You can upload as many songs as you wish for one yearly price
+ They're about to introduce SMS message marketing tools for artists
– No additional marketing help for artists who gain traction
Pricing: $20 per year membership fee
Tunecore
Tunecore is the service for you if you’re interested in proper revenue and analytics reports. They’re very easy to use, detailed and helpful. Although they take no commission the price is a bit higher compared to Distrokid.
+ No commission
+ Very good revenue and analytics reports
Pricing: $30 first year, $50 next years
Marketing your own music? Here's a 4-step music producer’s guide to social media.
AWAL (Artists Without A Label)
AWAL might be for you if you’re trying to get your music on Spotify playlists. They don’t take any fees for putting up your music on streaming services, but charge a 15% commission (15% of everything you earn goes to AWAL). Also, they offer one of the best analytics report tools of all.
+ Possibilities to get your music on playlists
+ No additional fees
– Must be accepted to get in
Pricing: 15% commission
Btw, if you're mastering your own tracks for streaming services, make sure you know how to set the right loudness for your track.
Ditto
Ditto is a bit like Distrokid - you pay one price a year and you’re able to upload as many songs as you wish with no commission. The difference is that they seem to have better revenue and analytics reports + are a buck cheaper than Distrokid.
+ No commission
+ You can upload as many songs as you wish for one yearly price
+ Very good revenue and analytics reports
– No additional marketing help for artists who gain traction
Pricing: 19$ per year
LANDR
LANDR is a company which offers an automated mastering service. If you’re already their subscriber you can distribute your music to all streaming services for free. They also offer you possibilities to get your music on Spotify playlists which is very nice.
+ No commission
+ Possibilities to get your music on playlists
+ Free for LANDR Mastering subscribers
– Does not provide mechanisms for you to release a cover song
Pricing: $1/month ($12/year) minimum. $3/month ($36/year) gives you access to all streaming sercvices
Stem
Stem is one of the newer services here and seems to be a cheap service (5% commission) which gives you access to a direct representative to support you. You have to apply and get in though.
+You have a dedicated representative who you can communicate with
+ Possibilities to get your music on playlists
+No fees or up front costs for anything
– Invite-only
Pricing: 5% commission
Symphonic
Symphonic doesn’t charge you any commission but makes you pay $25 for signing up and their release prices start at $11. It’s a very simple service.
+ No commission
Pricing: $25 'Sign-up fee' + Release fees staring from $11 for a 5 track album
CD Baby
CD Baby was one of the first ever services to let DIY musicians release their music in a physical format like CD or Vinyl and get it to record shops around the world. Nowadays they also let you release music on streaming services and you can do it all in one place.
+ It's a 'one stop shop' to get your music on streaming services as well as physically in stores (CD, Vinyl)
– No marketing help for artists who gain traction
Pricing: $5 per single, $20 per album + 9% commission
![Spotify Free Service Review Spotify Free Service Review](/uploads/1/3/4/1/134134741/392231878.png)
Reverbnation
Reverbnation is a service meant mostly for bands, but electronic producers can use it too. They offer you very nice packages - for 20 bucks a month you get access to their distrubition, mailing list tools and awesome opportunities. They also have very good revenue and analytics reports.
+ In a package you get distribution of 2 releases per year, a mailing list service and the ability to submit to opportunities such as TV placements, label submissions and festival slots
+ Very good data analytics, especially useful for demographics & venue finding
+ No commission
– Everything you release with them is branded with ReverbNation
– No professional help for bigger artists
Pricing: $9.95/month to get your music on streming services, $19.95/month for a full package
Freshtunes
Freshtunes is one of the newer services here. They claim to offer you everything for free (yes, no fees and no commission) with an option to get objective feedback from an expert for $25 a track. However you’re never too sure about how long is this kind of company going to last, so we would recommend going for one of the more “trusted” ones. If this service loses its investor it’s going to probably be closed. Another service like that is Amuse which claims to give you possibilities of signing you to a label with a 50/50 deal (if you “catch” after a few releases). Again, I would think twice before joining one of these investor funded services.
+No fees
+ No commission, except from China
+ Distribution to Chinese streaming services
+ Their experts will review your music for $25/song. It could be useful to get objective feedback
– No marketing help for artists who gain traction
Pricing: Free, $25 fee for feedback from an expert
Want to find a label instead of going DIY? Check out this article on finding a label in 16 steps.
About the Author: K-Pizza
I’m a music maker who likes to share his experiences with other producers. I regularly show up with tutorials, articles & project files at PML.
Skype lessons with me: http://bit.ly/pml_s_one2one
Not everyone's lucky enough to be a signed music artist. Fortunately even if you're not signed to a label there's still ways to get your music on streaming services. Distribution services offer that and a lot more, including physical releases, statistics and marketing tools. Some services even offer marketing help for artists who start to 'catch' after a few releases - like adding tracks to Spotify playlists. Here's a comparison of what the best distributors have to offer.
Distrokid
Distrokid allows you to upload as many tracks as you want for a yearly membership fee. What’s good about them as well is that they take no commission from your music - you get all the money you earn from your music. Unfortunately they don’t offer marketing help or playlist plugging possibilities.
+ No commission (you get all the money you earn)
+ You can upload as many songs as you wish for one yearly price
+ They're about to introduce SMS message marketing tools for artists
– No additional marketing help for artists who gain traction
Pricing: $20 per year membership fee
Tunecore
Tunecore is the service for you if you’re interested in proper revenue and analytics reports. They’re very easy to use, detailed and helpful. Although they take no commission the price is a bit higher compared to Distrokid.
+ No commission
+ Very good revenue and analytics reports
Pricing: $30 first year, $50 next years
Marketing your own music? Here's a 4-step music producer’s guide to social media.
AWAL (Artists Without A Label)
AWAL might be for you if you’re trying to get your music on Spotify playlists. They don’t take any fees for putting up your music on streaming services, but charge a 15% commission (15% of everything you earn goes to AWAL). Also, they offer one of the best analytics report tools of all.
+ Possibilities to get your music on playlists
+ No additional fees
– Must be accepted to get in
Pricing: 15% commission
Btw, if you're mastering your own tracks for streaming services, make sure you know how to set the right loudness for your track.
Ditto
Ditto is a bit like Distrokid - you pay one price a year and you’re able to upload as many songs as you wish with no commission. The difference is that they seem to have better revenue and analytics reports + are a buck cheaper than Distrokid.
+ No commission
+ You can upload as many songs as you wish for one yearly price
+ Very good revenue and analytics reports
– No additional marketing help for artists who gain traction
Spotify Free Trial
Pricing: 19$ per year
LANDR
LANDR is a company which offers an automated mastering service. If you’re already their subscriber you can distribute your music to all streaming services for free. They also offer you possibilities to get your music on Spotify playlists which is very nice.
+ No commission
Is Spotify Good
+ Possibilities to get your music on playlists
+ Free for LANDR Mastering subscribers
– Does not provide mechanisms for you to release a cover song
Pricing: $1/month ($12/year) minimum. $3/month ($36/year) gives you access to all streaming sercvices
Stem
Stem is one of the newer services here and seems to be a cheap service (5% commission) which gives you access to a direct representative to support you. You have to apply and get in though.
+You have a dedicated representative who you can communicate with
+ Possibilities to get your music on playlists
+No fees or up front costs for anything
– Invite-only
Pricing: 5% commission
Symphonic
Symphonic doesn’t charge you any commission but makes you pay $25 for signing up and their release prices start at $11. It’s a very simple service.
+ No commission
Pricing: $25 'Sign-up fee' + Release fees staring from $11 for a 5 track album
How to Transfer Spotify Music to USB - Tool NeedsIt's not good that you can't get full use of all the Spotify songs on many devices. Spotify will not download onto my computer windows 10.
CD Baby
CD Baby was one of the first ever services to let DIY musicians release their music in a physical format like CD or Vinyl and get it to record shops around the world. Nowadays they also let you release music on streaming services and you can do it all in one place.
+ It's a 'one stop shop' to get your music on streaming services as well as physically in stores (CD, Vinyl)
– No marketing help for artists who gain traction
What fixed this for me using Windows 10 trying to Sync to Androidwas allowing spotify through the windows firewall1. Spotify songs just say waiting to download. Once logged into my account, was able to download songs immediately (upon turning on the 'available offline' switch.Hope this works for you!!
Pricing: $5 per single, $20 per album + 9% commission
Reverbnation
Reverbnation is a service meant mostly for bands, but electronic producers can use it too. They offer you very nice packages - for 20 bucks a month you get access to their distrubition, mailing list tools and awesome opportunities. They also have very good revenue and analytics reports.
Free Spotify Premium Account
+ In a package you get distribution of 2 releases per year, a mailing list service and the ability to submit to opportunities such as TV placements, label submissions and festival slots
+ Very good data analytics, especially useful for demographics & venue finding
+ No commission
– Everything you release with them is branded with ReverbNation
– No professional help for bigger artists
Pricing: $9.95/month to get your music on streming services, $19.95/month for a full package
Freshtunes
Freshtunes is one of the newer services here. They claim to offer you everything for free (yes, no fees and no commission) with an option to get objective feedback from an expert for $25 a track. However you’re never too sure about how long is this kind of company going to last, so we would recommend going for one of the more “trusted” ones. If this service loses its investor it’s going to probably be closed. Another service like that is Amuse which claims to give you possibilities of signing you to a label with a 50/50 deal (if you “catch” after a few releases). Again, I would think twice before joining one of these investor funded services.
+No fees
+ No commission, except from China
+ Distribution to Chinese streaming services
+ Their experts will review your music for $25/song. It could be useful to get objective feedback
– No marketing help for artists who gain traction
Pricing: Free, $25 fee for feedback from an expert
Want to find a label instead of going DIY? Check out this article on finding a label in 16 steps.
About the Author: K-Pizza
I’m a music maker who likes to share his experiences with other producers. I regularly show up with tutorials, articles & project files at PML.
Skype lessons with me: http://bit.ly/pml_s_one2one