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DistroKid Review

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I’m wicked excited to write this review for DistroKid. As someone who’s both an entrepreneur and musician, I love being able to do everything on my own and have full control over how my tracks are released. I’ve been using DistroKid for almost a year now, and it’s always been a reliable service for independent artists looking to release tracks to major distributors such as iTunes, Amazon, and more.

I’ll also say this: DistroKid didn’t ask me to write this article – I wanted to do it on my own. I wanted to write this review both to give an honest opinion of my experience with DistroKid, and to recommend it, because it’s made my life a lot easier as a musician.

Sign Up With My Special Link and Get a 7% Discount!: DistroKid

UPDATE: Here’s my NEW review after using DistroKid for years!

 

 

Price

This is usually the biggest factor when it comes to independent distribution. Because you’re not releasing through a label, you have to do everything yourself, which can be costly overtime. DistroKid was made by the original founders of Tunecore and CD Baby, who left those companies and decided to join forces.

Now this post isn’t meant to be a comparison of DistroKid versus other distribution services, but I will say that if you plan to release a lot of tracks, DistroKid is the way to go. It’s only $19.99/year to release unlimited tracks – if you want to release a track a day, knock yourself out. In addition, you keep 100% of the profits – making it even better.

The only flipside is that CD Baby has a one time fee for a single and album – $9.95 for a single and $49 for an album (and thats for the standard package – their pro package is more expensive). There are no yearly fees with CD Baby, so once you upload something, it’s completely permanent (unlike DistroKid, where if you stop paying, your music gets taken down). They do take a 9% cut of the profits, however, so it all depends on what you’re shooting for.

 

Simplicity

When I was planning to release my debut album The Light Nearby I researched every distribution service out there. If you want a full comparison of all the major ones, check out Ari’s Take Post – it’s definitely the most intricate post out there about all the services. I personally was trying out different services to see what they offered, and what I noticed right away was that DistroKid was way easier.

With the other services you have to sign up and provide all this information. With DistroKid, it was as simple as singing up, uploading my music, selecting the places, and boom. Done. It was extremely surprising how quick and efficient it was, and my music was on iTunes within a matter of hours (some services take longer though).

In addition, if you’re looking to start a music label, DistroKid is a great place to start releasing music under your name. It’s a bit more pricy ($35.99/year), but it’s completely worth it. When I started my label MetaMusic Records, I released all of my works under that name, and it was just as simple as typing in my name under the Label Name section. Pretty simple.

 

Customer Service

This was actually the precipitant that caused this post. Their customer service is incredible. I ran into some issues with some of my releases, and they will always extremely responsive and helpful. Any problems that I had were quickly fixed, and it was comforting to know that if I ever had a situation, they would be not only responsive but active in resolving it. When doing some research I saw a lot of negative reviews about other distribution companies, although I can’t say from experience because the main one that I’ve used is DistroKid.

 

Reliability

It’s an extremely important aspect to me (and probably everyone else) that if a company says you’re going to be distributed to a bunch of different places, that it actually happens. DistroKid was always extremely quick and reliable to make sure that all the information is correct and distributed to all the stores that they have. Again, I can’t say from experience, but I’ve heard some unfortunate stories about other distribution companies not doing what they promised.

 

Negative Aspects

I wanted this to be a comprehensive review, and the truth is, there really aren’t too many complaints I have with DistroKid. There are a couple though. First, it is tough that if you stop paying the yearly fee your music gets taken down. While it is only $20/year, it’s sometimes comforting knowing that once you pay a certain amount, your music is permanent forever.

Second, DistroKid has an additional extra feature that it will automatically send your track/album to new stores and streaming services as they add them. The only catch is that it’s an extra $8/year for each track/album, so if you release a ton of tracks, this can start to get costly. You technically don’t have to do this, but I do it on all my tracks because it’s good to know that if any random services pop up (like when Apple Music was created), everything is automated.

 

Overall

All in all, DistroKid is my permanent choice for independent musicians looking to release their music. Not only is it the cheapest out of any distributor out there (especially if you plan to release a lot of music), but the customer service is outstanding and the whole uploading process is a breeze. Again, like I said in the beginning, they didn’t ask me to write this and I’m not getting any affiliate revenues from recommending them.

Sign Up With My Special Link and Get a 7% Discount!: DistroKid

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to ask! If you want to watch my video where I review DistroKid on camera, click here: DistroKid Review Video.

27 comments

  1. These companies make everything sound SO super-fantastique, and you proceed as far into the joining process as you can, and right as you’re about done, you get hit with all the drawbacks, extra charges and asterisks. I’m glad I read the review from Just Offshore and the others. They tell you $19 per year for unlimited uploads, but according the JUST OFF’S review, that isn’t true at all. Screw it. My search goes on for a legit outfit~E

  2. As an FYI, DistroKid was not started by Jeff Price and Derek Sivers like the article claims. They actually have nothing to do with DistroKid. They just endorsed it.

  3. DistroKid came highly recommended, so I jumped in. Paid the full fee. After uploading the tracks and making sure metadata is correct, The track following the title track got added to the title.
    Sent a message and the reply was, it gets uploaded just like you posted it. I call BS on that issue.
    Along with that came a notice that because I used and “AKA” between my name and my artist name, it wasn’t posted to many stores, although it was available on Amazon. I’m rechecking every track now and it is exactly like I created everything. So I made a mistake I was not made aware of until after weeks of work. The “AKA” !
    For me it’s not so much about the fee as it is about the info provided. And now going through the process of redo every track and cover art. So… I’ll upload it once again and correct my “AKA” mistake and see how it uploads. As a matter of fact, during the initial upload, I monitored each track as it uploaded. So I know for fact what I did. Somewhere in the upload process came the issue. The site lacks info on these possible issues. That needs to be made clear to subscribers/artists!

    1. I do agree with you that the whole naming process can get really tricky (I’ve had a bunch of issues in the past). The truth though, is that this isn’t Distrokid’s fault, it’s that iTunes and other stores are EXTREMELY strict about naming (too much so in my opinion). I will say that Distrokid has gotten better about warning you if there’s a naming issue

  4. We’re a band from Chihuahua MX and… well it’s been a headache to find a realiable service to upload our songs to Spotify, Itunes and others. A friend recommended us to use DistroKid and this article seems to do it too, but then some comments says the opposite, we would like to know, what is that not-so-cool thing about DistroKid? I mean, it can’t be perfect, right?

    1. To be honest, it definitely isn’t perfect, but for an independent distributor it comes pretty close. The biggest issue I personally have is that although it’s only $20/year for unlimited uploads, there are a lot of “add ons” that can make it pricey pretty quick (especially if you release a ton of tracks). Besides that, I really can’t recommend it enough

      1. Hello Everybody. I uploaded my work on their site as well after watching so many comments about them and how great it was to have their music being heard all over the world.
        My experience has been really nice. They do say the truth about being heard all over the world. My tracks are being heard all over the world now. I usually track where people hear my music through Spotify and it’s worldwide.
        I don’t know why I took so long to add them on Distrokid, but I wasted a few months thinking about it and I’m glad I made a great decision. I’m pleased.

  5. Hey thanks for the post. Can you please update the pricing area with all the extra add-on fees? These are so important and I can’t believe they bury this information, forcing you to create a PAID account before you can see these fees! Thanks.

    1. I’m going to be posting an updated review of DistroKid, and I’ll be talking about the add ons in that post.

  6. I have a question. How about having your music in tv films movies etc. like cd baby,Tune Core and get paid the royalties. Does distrokid have a program for that. Please let me know.

    1. They do not unfortunately – that comes down to royalties, and you need to sign up with a PRO (Performing Rights Organization) like ASCAP, BMI, etc

  7. The main sites are good, but none of these sites (CD Baby, TuneCore, Distrokid, etc.) are perfect. You just have to pick, and choose, and learn from experiences. I just got into the business of music a few years ago, I have a few singles out there, and one thing I’ve learned is that it’s a daily grind with ups and downs, and good times and bad, It takes a lot of learning, research, money and risks. That’s just the way it is. Your end results are based on what you’re after, and how much work you’re willing to put in. If you want to be that mega star collecting grammy’s, or that super producer, or that high in-demand audio engineer, then you’re going to have a long hard road ahead. If you want to submit multiple tracks to music libraries, then that’s going to take time and hard work, but it’s a different path. Just do your best, and research, study, practice and learn. If you go that extra mile, you’ll have success.

  8. So I have released a single on Distro kid… bing new , i checked the videos etc on negative things. I am unclear on the following :

    You pay $20.00 usd and have an account for a year. You make and upload 30 songs. Do you just pay $20.00 usd for those songs the following year to stay on itunes etc…

    or do you pay another $20.00 for everything…

    1. You pay $20 a year, every year, regardless of how many uploads you have. So you can upload as much as you want

  9. 2 questions….

    Can I have my music / singles on both platforms CD Baby and Distrokid?

    Once I pay for the Distrokid package as either an artist / band or label, are there additional fees with iTunes or another partners…or are all fees up-front and obvious???

    Thank you for the article very helpful

    1. Honestly I’m not sure what would happen if you posted on both platforms. If I were you, I would just stick with DistroKid

  10. Hello,

    I just wanted to ask if Distrokid sends your sales and whatnot to Billboard to be included there because I know that CD baby and tunecore do?

    Also, maybe a bit irrelevant here but some of you look like experienced musicians, I just wanted to ask if Apple Music and Spotify for artists give you trend reports such as sales by gender, demographics, songs and these things? because distrokid doesnt offer these trend reports but the other platforms do.

    Thank you in advance!!!

    1. Hey Tawfiq Najjar. I don’t believe CD Baby sends any data to Billboard specifically. I do know about Spotify and Apple Music analytics tho:

      Spotify has a pretty good analytics dashboard for Artists and Labels. It does go into location and gender and age etc. It’s good and they are actively seeking feedback to add more features.

      Apple Music only recently added a similar dashboard. I know it exists, but I don’t know how detailed they get or how easy it is to use. Hope that helps.
      BAO

  11. The most consistent negative comment I have seen regarding Distrokid is the problem of a release being declined by stores for “copyright” issues… I’ve been looking into this and I think I have some insight. The problem really isn’t Distrokid, or even the stores…it’s the system. If you are aware of Distrokid’s services, you know they offer free ISRC and UPC codes. This is the problem….
    When they provide these free, they are using their own company ID as the “originator” of the work.
    If you are an online streaming service, such as ITunes, this means you have no legal claim of ownership to the content, because those issues are decided between Distrokid and their client.

    Compare this to how things are normally done with a major label – the ISRC code embedded in the track clearly shows the label as the legal owner. The UPC code on the package uses a five digit ID which only can be used by that label. Therefore, in essence the major label is “certifying” the legal ownership of all content in the release.

    I suspect there have been issues with this with all 3rd party firms – Distrokid, CD Baby, etc. We may just be hearing only about Distrokid’s, or there might be a history here we don’t know about. Maybe someone brought a suit on a release handled by Distrokid and it left a sour taste in the mouth of some stores.

    So what to do? First, get your own ISRC codes – they are available from http://www.usirsc.org (assuming you are US based) there is a one time $95 fee to get your unique identifier. Distrokid allows you to provide your own ISRC codes, so do that on all uploads.

    By ding this, as long as that recording exists, you will be the legal owner responsible for it’s content.

    As far as the UPC codes go, what to do depends. If you are planning on distributing yourself, such as sending your own sales person to Walmart HQ to sell albums, then you MUST have your own unique UPC. This is not cheap to set up. It’s $250/yr and up depending on how many you need. Plus annual renewal fees.

    BUT if your going to use an independent distributor, such as Distrokid, then use their UPC codes.
    Stores use these codes to keep track of sales, to set retail pricing, AND to find out who to re-order from. If you are not distributing yourself, then it is entirely appropriate to use their UPC. If you are not distributing yourself, you don’t want stores re-ordering from you. Your “take” in this arrangement depends on the “deal” you have with the distributor.

    I hope all of this makes sense to you, and helps you navigate.

  12. By using your own ISRC code, and the UPC code from Distrokid, you are certifying that legally YOU are the owner of ALL content in the recording AND Distrokid is distributing that content, whether in digital or physical format, on your behalf.

  13. With the leave of legends add on I think you called it are you paying the extra $8 every time you post a track? And will you still get your royalties the following year for your songs if you don’t spend the $20 to keep the Distrokid but you paid the $8 last year to keep it up?
    Thank you

  14. We have had a few songs with D-kid. so far we have received .60 cents . the distribution seems good yet no buyers. we have sold cases of cd,s from our home business. ????

  15. After so many positive comments I signed up to distrokid.
    After uploading a song, it has been very fast to appear on itunes…. But I want this single to enter playlists, for instance, on spotify, and they told me I had to upgrade to the following fee. I did it.
    I want it to appear in the weekly playlists, but they say I have to upload it about 12 days before?
    How does this work?
    How did you contact distrokid so that they can help me with some issues, such as some songs I had already uploaded as an artist (without distrokid), or youtube art,… I’m so lost with everything…

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