Music Distributors 2020 Comparative

Alright, you’re now ready to distribute your new music and it’s time to choose the best music distribution for you. This page will permit you to find the one that fits you best.

What Are Music Distribution Services?

In 2021, it is easier than ever to sell your music on major platforms such as Tidal, Amazon Music, Pandora, Shazam, Apple Music and not forgetting the beast that is Spotify. To do so, independent artists can use music distribution companies, who act as the middleman between artists and streaming platforms. Distribution services exist to get artist’s music out to audiences. Record labels were once the gatekeepers of the entire music industry, and previously did the legwork and secured deals with distribution companies who would then deliver physical music to stores. However, now artists can manage this all themselves using distributors.

It has been reported in 2019 that, on average, 40,000 tracks were released every day through digital distributors. So, with the floodgates opened to a world of aspiring artists and labels trying to make it big – which digital music distribution service will be the right partner for you? Who can best help you try to navigate through the noise of today’s over-saturated industry? Let’s take a look at some of our top picks.

8. Ditto

Pricing: £19 – £299 annually | RLIAB: £99 – £399 OTF

Although Ditto has worked with some of the most established artists (Ed Sheeran, You Me At Six and Sam Smith), they have remained controversial over the past 5 years or so.

They make this list despite the number of discrepancies regarding DITTO online. This came from bad reviews, slanderous blog articles and arguments in comment threads. However, they have helped many artists pave their way alongside helping labels with their Record Label In A Box service. This is why they remain one of the top independent distributors to this day.

Their RLIAB package comes in three tiers, and offers great value to aspiring label owners. This has streamlined the process, taking care of tasks such as official business registration with the government. DITTO also offers to handle neighbouring rights set-up and label registration with PPL for royalty collection. Furthermore, they provide clients with a free domain name, contract drafting software and a dashboard to track sales, plus free distribution to 180 DSP’s.

Their lowest tier allows unlimited releases for one artist at £19 per year. However, they also have an option going up to £29 a year for 2 artists. On top of that, they have a label tier, which starts at £69 annually. This allows unlimited distribution for 5 artists which increases to £299 annually for a maximum of 40 artists.

7. CD Baby

Pricing: $9.95 – $69 per release

Another one of the most talked-about distributors in the indie community is CD Baby. 

What makes them stand out is that they are proactive at helping artists tap into all revenue streams. They do this through services such as publishing administration and CD & vinyl distribution. Thanks to a recent partnership between Music Gateway & CD Baby, they now also offer sync for film & TV placement.

What also makes them more lucrative than other platforms is their one time fees per release. This means… no recurring annual costs! This makes it easier for indie artists to get their songs registered with royalty-collecting societies via the platform. CD Baby offers all of their distribution services for $9.95 per single and $29 per album. You can also upgrade a single from standard to Pro for $20, and for $40 for an album. CD Baby also takes 15% commission.

Also, the additional services that CD Baby offers such as publishing admin, sync, duplication and manufacturing.

6. TuneCore

Pricing: $9.99 – $49.99

TuneCore’s user interface is easy to navigate and understand, and there isn’t a lot of information required when processing releases. For some artists, this is convenient. However, for more established artists or labels who require extensive label copy and info such as barcodes and ISRC’s, this is yet to be added to the system. Then again, the main indie distributors are aimed primarily at the aspiring bedroom artists of today.

Tunecore charges artists both yearly and per release, so you will want to really consider if the costs are worth it for what you can get from the platform. Tunecore’s current pricing is $9.99 per year per single, and $29.99 per year per album for the first year. Annual fees for albums are $49.99, and $9.99 for singles, also.

5. DistroKid

Pricing: $19.99 – $79.99 annually

One of the most cost-effective options, DistroKid comes in at $19.99 per year for unlimited uploads. DistroKid do also offer multiple plans, such as Musician ($19.99 per year), Musician Plus ($35.99 per year) and Label ($79.99 per year). Also – artists get to keep 100% of their royalties!

They also make it easy to acquire mechanical licenses for those wanting to commercially release cover songs. Users also have the ability to automatically split revenue among unlimited collaborators – whether you are splitting with producers, featured artists or investors. Any collaborators have to sign up for a paid subscription to the platform at $10 a year in order to get paid. Also, Distrokid creates a Hyperfollow page for your listeners to pre-save your music on Spotify.

One of the only issues is that they have so many users, it can be hard to get answers to questions efficiently, and you have to use their ticketing system. This involves the user support team closing tickets after sending a generic reply. They don’t always understand the issue at hand and referrals to more experienced members of the team are usually reserved for the highest performing artists.

4. Spinnup

Pricing: £7.99 – £29.99 Annually 

Created by Universal Music Group, Spinnup is a distribution platform service aimed at up and coming indie artists. These are artists that want to get on UMG’s radar and gain access to distribution with small processing fees and zero revenue cuts.

Designed as a way for Universal to identify new talent, this is a great option for those that have already established a following and have a lot of material to release. Spinnup is particularly helpful for material that doesn’t require an exclusive platform incentive organization, pre-order campaign set up or other additional services. If personally requested, these can be provided by the team.

In terms of pricing, Spinnup allows artists to release a single for £7.99, an EP for £14.99, or an album for £29.99 (yearly).

3. Amuse

Pricing: Free

Amuse has been something of a mystery since they popped up in 2017. This is due to the fact that they offer free distribution with high advances to artists that want to sign to their label division. 

Soon after they launched, tech guru and music industry icon Will.i.am joined the company as co-founder. He will be helping the platform grow, as well as the artist they choose to strike licensing deals with.

One of the newer additions to Amuse is its “Fast Forward” feature. This predicts how well songs are likely to perform based on their current steaming activity. Other features include royalty splits, the ability to invite your team to your profile, and the option to upgrade to Amuse Pro.

2. Horus Music

Pricing: £25 – £65 OTF or £20 annually 

One of the most underrated distributors around is artist and label services company Horus Music services.

Based in Leicester, UK, the company consists of a team who work alongside artists and labels to meet their needs. As previous winners of the prestigious Queens Award for Enterprise Of International Trade, their artist and relations team are always on hand to assist. Plus, turnaround times are fast. 

Despite their lack of notable artists, they rank high on our list because they are so efficient and easy to work with. Artists benefit from their direct to bank payout via their partnership with Western Union. Royalties can also easily be split with collaborators. They have a wide range of packages, ranging from marketing campaigns to chart registration & Midem representation. For artists looking to release content on a regular basis, they now offer an unlimited distribution package at £20 (annually).

For further established labels, a CMT (Custom Music Tools) account is available upon request. This provides labels with unlimited releases for 20% revenue. They also offer advanced software to track royalties and the ability to create artist profiles and sub-profiles for band members or featured artists. Royalty splits can be set among the label and artist as well as between band members and collaborators. Plus, all revenue is paid directly each month with no minimum payment threshold or need to manually cash out. If you are looking for more than just distribution, Horus also offers label services.

1. MusicDiffusion

Pricing: Best prices of the market (from 2,99€ to 15,99€) to get your music out on all platforms. The only distributor with Multi-Currency available!

Number 1 on our list is MusicDiffusion. They might be the new kid in the game but they play really hard and became in less than some years a famous name in the music distribution with higher trafic than some other name in this top according Amazon Alexa Ranking.

They provide all the stores you would ever need, the major ones like Apple, Spotify, Google, Deezer, but they also regularly update their list. They were also one of the first, if it isn’t the first music distribution company to permit their users to upload and monetize their music for free on YouTube Content ID, Facebook and Instagram Stories, TikTok, but also the Asia Market including Tencent services, Russia, Africa or India market! This, for a fraction of the other distributor costs.

MusicDiffusion charge you a ridiculous one time payment (2,99€) to deliver a track to all the platforms, and propose you the unlimited distribution (real unlimited with tracks, labels and artists!) for 15,99€ a year. If you stop your subscription, your tracks remain online, you would just not be able to deliver new tracks. Best part? You keep 90% of your royalties.

They provide a range of exclusive services for labels and artists to suit their needs. From publishing administration, playlist promotions, creative tools (exclusive and high quality audio samples and materials), website creation, smart links and even a complete social network to connect their users community to share experiences, sell materials and services, or find new collaborators for your music career.

Best Music Distribution Services: Conclusion

Maybe you are starting out as an artist or label and want to get the ball rolling with your first few singles? Or maybe you require a team to provide guidance throughout your release? Either way, you will want to ensure that you are with the right partner to upload music to streaming services. So, what is the best place to distribute music? It depends on your budget and what additional services you may need, but our top choice would be TuneCore if you want to go live in a simple way for your first album (Our TuneCore complete review here), or MusicDiffusion if you’re a music professional looking for many options and plans to save money on many releases (Our MusicDiffusion complete review here).

Whether you are considering switching from your current distributor or looking for your first one, we hope that you’ve enjoyed this article and found it helpful. Please tell us your choice in the comments below!