PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic Distributers

Who here is using a music distributer to get their music out there? I've been looking into them, and to be frank, they all kinda sound like the mafia...especially reading reviews. Is there a truly artist-centered distributer who isn't just trying to get rich off the backs of multiple artists? I was hoping to distribute through Wavlake (decentralized Nostr for music) but I can't seem to get it to work for me. So...back to square 1. Who do you like? Who do you trust?

Thanks for your input.

The big question is...well several actually.

What are your goals? What are you trying to do?

Is the cost/ vs return, going to make it worthwhile to pay for the service?

Is it monthly or an ongoing/ yearly subscription?

Is it a straight up flat fee or do they also take a percentage at a certain number of streams?

A large number of the platforms pay .003 cents per stream so it takes thousands of streams per month to break even.

Be smart about your money.

You make that sound like a bad thing. Their goal is to make money. My goal is the same.


No one. So what?

The second you have made the decision to go with a distributor, you are in the Music Business. The only way to succeed is to take it seriously. Read the T's and C's (terms and conditions) of every distributor so that you understand them and the differences. Failure to abide by them can cost you a lot of money and cause you to lose the rights to your music.

Asking advice of strangers on the internet is the second worst way to go about this — not asking is even worse, however. What we use and why is not going to apply to you—unless it does and there's no way you are going to know.

Get an education. I suggest becoming familiar with Krystal Delgado and her three YouTube channels. She is actually an entertainment attorney and has videos on the T's and C's of all the popular services—and they're all scary so pay attention. As Herb has indicated, know and understand your goals. The rest of it is to understand the pitfalls so that you do not become yet another casualty.

There are way too many books out there, nearly all are outdated but All You Need to Know About the Music Business: Eleventh Edition by Donald S. Passman is less than two years old and the only one I recommend currently—I like the Kindle edition as it lets you jump around. Not that much applies now but as you become successful, more and more will become relevant. If the only thing you learn is when you need an attorney and what to ask if that day happens, the $19 spent will save you hundred$.

Knowledge is power; ignorance is grief and talent only goes so far. You will need to work at this to succeed and there is no shortcut around that. So jump in and learn to swim with the sharks.

Hey Guitarhacker,
I'm mostly interested in getting exposure and listens from people who would appreciate the kind of music I write. So I'm trying to invest in that without wasting my money. You certainly don't need to warn me there. I've already looked at several comparisons and am aware of the details. I just wondered if anyone here was using/had experience with one or more.

Wow, I don't even know what to say to this. I believe you were trying to help, but you've come across rather preachy and condescending. I merely want to get my music to the right ears without wasting my time or money. Simple as that. I asked if anyone had experience to share, not because I was too stupid to do my own research but as part of that research. I'm not looking for shortcuts. I'm not expecting fame. I'm not looking for fortunes. You sound very jaded, and I'm sorry that this industry may have done that to you.

BYOband.

heres my perspective as one who once did marketing and once taught it in a previous era...
its the same old challenge ie connecting buyer and seller.
in the case of the music biz...

1..the biz is screwed up big time....cos..
2..there dont seem to be pathways to let the world know about unknown people who are writing great songs.
(eg gifted people on these very forums.)
3..the market is flooded with new songs because now technology has emancipated creators...who...in the past couldnt afford big studios or renting time.
4..lots of consumers of music arent bothered with visiting sites where us unknowns post our songs.>>>>this is a BIGGIE imho.
5..per the old uk saying (like a milk bottle)...
'cream and junk float to the top'.
eg sometimes i listen to the top artists/songs of the week and find very few songs that get me cranked up.
what bugs me (forget about me..) is the great innovative songs and obviously very gifted talent on these forums by comparison that the world doesnt know about.

and these are just some of many perspectives.
frankly i just dont think one can rely on paid or free music distribution
services...due to point 4...the wider publics ennui and often their personal challenges in life and how busy they might be.

so what to do ??

i reconciled myself to the following a looong time ago.

1..to just have lots of fun with songs...ie its in my blood.
and do my very best with each song and hope that IF others DO hear a song they get some smiles from it.
2..do i really want mansions and a zillion bucks in the bank and the negatives of having personal security teams and being carefull where i go ??...no thanks.
i prefer a peacefull life with my lovely wife who 'doesnt envy people cleaning big mansions'...lmao.
ok so i'm not rich...just one of the overtaxed middle classes...lol.
3..even the millionaires/trillionaires/zillionaires have a certain life span like rest of us. so best bet..every day as Dr PG says aptly HAVE FUN.

as an ex marketeer if one wants the world to know about ones songs i feel one needs to go to the 'gatekeepers'....and not rely just on third party distribution.
eg...radio stations (if one can find ones open to new artists)..
and media/people who write about new artists...and maybe contact tv talent shows that are popular etc etc.
the old saw 'it took me 20 years to become an overnight success' is sometimes true.

BYB i truly wish you succes...i really do.
but dont let the crazyness of the music biz get to you.
cos ive seen people get very tired from it.

apologies if the above wasnt of any help...its just my perspectives.
but dont rely on distributors i would suggest.
in many respects pg has a similar challenge ie 'reaching a wider audience of buyers' for its products.

HAPPINESS ALWAYS.

om

I've had a successful career in the music industry and, in my retirement, I have an active consulting business—people pay me for the information I gave you for free.

I am not jaded at all but don't worry. I will not attempt to help you again.

We are very happy with DistroKid having had them handle four albums and many singles over the past two years. From our perspective they make distribution relatively easy and the cost is minimal.

But your exposure, number of plays, etc., is not influenced by the distributor. They do have free promo graphics and other suggestions but ultimately it comes down to whether you get it on popular playlists or the ultimate on a Spotify editorial playlists. We are in this for fun. We are retired and for us it is simply fun to know that more people other than family and friends enjoy our music. Janice has been featured on some popular Spotify curators (play listers) and had her bio featured on their websites, etc. There are multiple ways to submit songs to Spotify curators but it is absolutely essential to avoid any "pay for plays" sites. Those will result in having your music removed from the platforms. So a caveat ... while we have received a number of streams it is all so relative. What is a lot to us could be what some indie artists receive on one song in a few months. We've had over 22,000 streams this year and average around 1800 listeners per month. Again, small numbers to some but fun for us. And over two years of streaming has earned us a whopping $110. Woohoo A tiny fraction of what a CD release earned for us 25 years ago but it's 2025.

Best to you,

J&B

I resonate with what you've reconciled yourself to. Funny you should mention "it took me 20 years to become an overnight success" as I wrote a song about that. Anyway, I guess the challenge for everybody and anybody these days is "a wider audience". Just sad that so many with a wide audience don't artistically deserve it (not that I do). Fortunately for me, I have zero expectations, so anything above zero is a nice surprise.

Hi Janice & Bud,
Thank you so much for answering my question. I had Distrokid on my list of possibilities. And congrats on the listens and playlists you've managed to get on. I'm impressed with 22000 streams and you should be proud of yourselves regardless of your reasons and rhymes. A lot of people give up and don't even try (I know some very, very talented ones). I also would get great pleasure from knowing others (even a handful) actually liked listening to my tunes. My family don't really listen to music (can you imagine??) and my friends...well, I only share music with a few.

You are more than welcome and we hope you have fun with the distribution adventure. We forgot to mention that DK is only $24 annually for unlimited uploads which you likely know at this point but it might be helpful to others. Also, for $12 a year per song they will handle everything related to licensing a cover. Everything ... all you have to do is request it and a couple days later you have a license for all the platforms. We recently distributed and licensed our cover of These Days by Jackson Browne which, of course, we can't post on the forum but it was fun and is doing very well on Spotify.

Hope all works well for you,

J&B

I use Songtradr to publish my music.
DistroKid was also on the shortlist, but when I was looking for a distributor at the time, you had to pay per song, whereas Songtradr was $49/year for as many songs as you want to release.
The disadvantage is that, unlike DistroKid, Songtradr does not handle licenses for cover songs and you have to do this yourself.

I get 100% of the revenue, but for me it wasn't about the money, it was about getting my music on Spotify.
So far I haven't had any problems with Songtradr.

EDIT : My description below likely applies only to issues with my account. Please disregard if you’ve not seen a notice from ST. Apologies.

They announced months ago that they are ceasing distribution and any releases you created via them will be removed from all the platforms next month. They recommend moving to DK and offer a discount for doing so. There is a very complex way to transfer releases but no guarantee play counts will remain. I’m glad we moved to DK two years ago. We will lose thousands of streams our ST album had gained and they will fall of many user playlists. Thanks ST. Really crappy customer service. We love DK. $25 a year for unlimited releases.

Oops?
I don't remember receiving an email from them about that.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I guess I have some to-dos now

Below is the notice that I started receiving in March. I figured the 2024 ws a typo. Beats me. Clueless what they are up to. And they are trying to get me to sign up for a pro account which I've had 7 years. Something must be corrupted on my account or on their end or both. I

Sorry for the hassle BD,

Bud

Strange.
I never received any notification, and my last release was only a few days ago with no issues.
I just read the latest press releases, and other than the B2B restructuring, there was absolutely nothing about Songtradr itself.
And a Google search didn't turn up anything either.

Needless to ask, have you already tried clearing your browser cache and cookies?

Yeah, I keep a clean machine. 😀 I sent them a support request. I think I have a theory of what could have happened. Perhaps when they started “thinking” I was not a pro member then the message started. Since I’m using DK I’d leave ST but we’ve had 26 songs licensed through them over the years and although the $ is small I’d prefer keeping them licensed. The vagaries of the net.

Bud