Publishing & Distribution
So you’ve recorded your hit song, now what?
The next steps are to be able to distribute your music to various services, protect it, and be able to get payment.
Distribution
There are two players out there right now that make distribution to the streaming marketplace (Spotify, Apple Music, etc…) much easier. They are DistroKid and CD Baby.
DistroKid https://distrokid.com/
Cost: Yearly subscription. Starts at 19.99/yr, but with limitations, the 29.99/yr level lets you set a release date.
** NOTE that if you you do not pay your yearly subscription, your music is removed from the streaming platforms!! (MAJOR DRAWBACK – though, you can pay an addtional 29 dollar fee to keep the music out there forever)
Fees: Does not collect a percentage of income, artist recieves 100% of royalties.
Physical distribution: Does not offer CD or other physical media replication. But you can use other resources such as https://www.discmakers.com/
CD Baby https://cdbaby.com/
Cost: Per song/album fee, no subscription. Music stays on streaming platform.
** PRO level is recommended, as it registers the songs with ASCAP/BMI etc to protect your works.
- PRO Single: 29.95/song + 9% royalty fee.
- PRO Album: 69/song + 9% royalty fee.
Fees: CD Baby keeps 9% of royalties. But since there’s no subscription it pans out.
Physical distribution: You can print/distribute physical media (CD’s/DVD’s/Vinyl) through CD Baby