Who do you use for your music distribution?

Want to talk about music hardware or software that doesn't include Reason?
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EnochLight
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30 Oct 2019

Faastwalker wrote:
30 Oct 2019
Never used any! I didn't realise there were so many options out there. I probably would have gone straight to BandCamp in my ignorance. CD Baby sounds good. They state they get stuff out on a large number of streaming sites. How does this work?

Image
Likely the same way as TuneCore and the rest of them: start a free account, upload your mastered tracks to build your (album/single/etc), upload the artwork, choose which stores and streaming services you want to be distributed in, hit “publish”. Done.

You get charged (or not), and then wait for the royalties to start streaming in. TuneCore pays me monthly, but most of the payees are 30-60 days behind their reporting (Apple Music, Amazon) to 6-7 months behind reporting (Napster).

How much you get depends on the store/streaming service and the distributor you choose to go with. TuneCore lets you keep 100% of what you make, but you pay annually to keep your music distributed. Apple iTunes sales pays you 70% of everything you sell; Apple Music pays you tenths of a cent per stream (all of the streaming services pay something different).

If it’s a hobby, might be best to go with the free services. If you have a fan following or more aggressive business practices, TuneCore and similar are expensive but offer fantastic reporting (you can see what part of the world your fan base is located, making it easier to plan tours to maximize exposure, etc).
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Oquasec
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30 Oct 2019

Distrokid lookin like it'll actually do some shit
Producer/Programmer.
Reason, FLS and Cubase NFR user.

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EnochLight
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30 Oct 2019

Nah, I'll stick to TuneCore. DistroKid is certainly cheaper (by a lot), but TuneCore has been around a lot longer and has far greater store presence. TuneCore also allows you to distribute liner note booklets via iTunes (of which I have one published, and plan to do another). It would also be a pain in the ass to migrate all of my releases.

But if you're just starting out, I'd certainly consider DistroKid.
Win 10 | Ableton Live 11 Suite |  Reason 12 | i7 3770k @ 3.5 Ghz | 16 GB RAM | RME Babyface Pro | Akai MPC Live 2 & Akai Force | Roland System 8, MX1, TB3 | Dreadbox Typhon | Korg Minilogue XD

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reddust
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30 Oct 2019

Just one question, once you use one of these services: tunecore, cdbaby, distrokid... are you attached to the one you've chosen or can you use other services to sell your music like patreon, bandcamp...?

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EnochLight
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30 Oct 2019

reddust wrote:
30 Oct 2019
Just one question, once you use one of these services: tunecore, cdbaby, distrokid... are you attached to the one you've chosen or can you use other services to sell your music like patreon, bandcamp...?
You can always cancel and pull your releases with any of these and switch to another. You can’t distribute via 2 or more at the same time, though. Most streaming services/stores will only pay 1 distributor for a release.
Win 10 | Ableton Live 11 Suite |  Reason 12 | i7 3770k @ 3.5 Ghz | 16 GB RAM | RME Babyface Pro | Akai MPC Live 2 & Akai Force | Roland System 8, MX1, TB3 | Dreadbox Typhon | Korg Minilogue XD

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Heigen5
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Location: Finland / Suomi

31 Oct 2019

Distrokid here. For 15€ a year I'm not gonna bargain.

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submonsterz
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31 Oct 2019

EnochLight wrote:
30 Oct 2019
It would also be a pain in the ass to migrate all eof my releases.
Got a link to all your releases ? I only ever got to hear a few tracks from an album you was working on for a few years (never got to hear the finnished released product).
And thats not me being funny by the way.
I actually wanna check what you have achieved so far.

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EnochLight
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31 Oct 2019

submonsterz wrote:
31 Oct 2019
EnochLight wrote:
30 Oct 2019
It would also be a pain in the ass to migrate all of my releases.
Got a link to all your releases ? I only ever got to hear a few tracks from an album you was working on for a few years (never got to hear the finnished released product).
And thats not me being funny by the way.
I actually wanna check what you have achieved so far.
Sure:

https://music.apple.com/us/album/stella ... 1370705233

https://music.apple.com/us/album/dust-o ... /776229099

https://music.apple.com/us/album/iceberg-ep/327191675

Yeah, I've been meaning to get that album finished, but you know - life and all (tends to get in the way). :)
Win 10 | Ableton Live 11 Suite |  Reason 12 | i7 3770k @ 3.5 Ghz | 16 GB RAM | RME Babyface Pro | Akai MPC Live 2 & Akai Force | Roland System 8, MX1, TB3 | Dreadbox Typhon | Korg Minilogue XD

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submonsterz
Posts: 989
Joined: 07 Feb 2015

31 Oct 2019

EnochLight wrote:
31 Oct 2019
submonsterz wrote:
31 Oct 2019

Got a link to all your releases ? I only ever got to hear a few tracks from an album you was working on for a few years (never got to hear the finnished released product).
And thats not me being funny by the way.
I actually wanna check what you have achieved so far.
Sure:

https://music.apple.com/us/album/stella ... 1370705233

https://music.apple.com/us/album/dust-o ... /776229099

https://music.apple.com/us/album/iceberg-ep/327191675

Yeah, I've been meaning to get that album finished, but you know - life and all (tends to get in the way). :)
Thank you I listened and sent pm on my thoughts etc ok.

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Oquasec
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31 Oct 2019

Bandcamp is clean as shit also.
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Reason, FLS and Cubase NFR user.

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littlejam
Posts: 787
Joined: 15 Jan 2015

31 Oct 2019

hello,

getting interested in this publishing / streaming stuff
i mostly only do instrumentals

found this on youtube
kinda scary





also finally getting into frank zappa

cheers,

j
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EnochLight
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31 Oct 2019

littlejam wrote:
31 Oct 2019
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
hello,

getting interested in this publishing / streaming stuff
i mostly only do instrumentals

found this on youtube
kinda scary





also finally getting into frank zappa

cheers,

j
That's a great presentation from the founder of TuneCore, and good information. That said, I get paid for streaming every month (and I 100% thank TuneCore for that). It's not much, but it's a shit ton more than I could have made back in the 80's/90's as an independent artist. :D :lol:

Frank Zappa was an incredible artist. Cool you discovered his work!
Win 10 | Ableton Live 11 Suite |  Reason 12 | i7 3770k @ 3.5 Ghz | 16 GB RAM | RME Babyface Pro | Akai MPC Live 2 & Akai Force | Roland System 8, MX1, TB3 | Dreadbox Typhon | Korg Minilogue XD

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Boombastix
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07 Nov 2019

10% off at Waves with link: https://www.waves.com/r/6gh2b0
Disclaimer - I get 10% as well.

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fieldframe
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07 Nov 2019

Ari's Take is a great resource. I decided on Stem based on his roundup a couple of years ago, and then consulted his 2018 update after Stem cut loose most of its artists, going with Soundrop this time.

I've also used Amuse for a single based on Ari's review. I might try Amuse for singles again in the future, although I'll probably just go with Soundrop (or try RouteNote to dip a toe in the Chinese market).

PhillipOrdonez
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08 Nov 2019

reddust wrote:
30 Oct 2019
Just one question, once you use one of these services: tunecore, cdbaby, distrokid... are you attached to the one you've chosen or can you use other services to sell your music like patreon, bandcamp...?
You can use any and all services you want. I'd just be careful not to distribute the same release to the same stores through various services. Bandcamp is all good because it is direct from the artist so you only sell through them, so you can release while the at same time having your stuff on the other stores thorough a distributor. No idea how patreon actually works.

PhillipOrdonez
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08 Nov 2019

fieldframe wrote:
07 Nov 2019
Ari's Take is a great resource. I decided on Stem based on his roundup a couple of years ago, and then consulted his 2018 update after Stem cut loose most of its artists, going with Soundrop this time.

I've also used Amuse for a single based on Ari's review. I might try Amuse for singles again in the future, although I'll probably just go with Soundrop (or try RouteNote to dip a toe in the Chinese market).
Because routenote has deals with some East Asian stores? Don't other distributors do as well? I've only ever tried routenote... But they aren't Chinese, I hope?

PhillipOrdonez
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08 Nov 2019

stekme wrote:
26 Apr 2018
Label-worx
No payments, only commission from sales
You must create business plan on your releases on 2 years (just write 1 album at 1st year, 1 in second, in this year one ep few singles)... at registration form
They registered labels not just musicians, but it’s only check of your plans to make any releases in future and you can not release them ..
It’s big company with big quantity of stores.
Payouts only from 50 founts, have active promotion
As far as I'm aware, this is the only one actually distributing to beatport?

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