JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Questions about Distrokid

I've just now heard about Distrokid. How many here use it? Do you have to have a full recording(CD) out to use Distrokid? Can you just upload singles? What quality of upload do they require? Wav, 128, 320 etc? Can they be used by songwriters who are not performers?

Hey Everett,

I did some research a little while ago when I was looking to get some music onto Spotify, etc. The best resource I found was this comparison.
https://aristake.com/post/cd-baby-tunecore-ditto-mondotunes-zimbalam-or

I was strongly considering Distrokid, but ended up going with Amuse, with whom I've been very happy. I'm assuming that the basic facts are also true for Distrokid.

I'm pretty sure you can upload singles. That's what I have done so far. A lot of big name artists are doing that these days. In the age of streaming, an argument could be made (and is made by some) that albums are no longer relevant. You certainly don't need a CD. The files I upload are .WAV files, 44.1 kHz and 16 bit. If that works for Amuse, Distrokid's requirements are probably similar, since it is the streaming and downloading services who ultimately determine this.

I'm not sure what you mean with your last question. Somebody has got to perform the song . If it is you singing or if you have an ironclad "work for hire" agreement with the singer and any other performers giving you all the rights to the recording, you should be good to go. (obviously, I'm not a lawyer, etc.)

Hope this helps.

I use distrokid, upload wav files and yes, you can upload singles as well as collections/albums ect.

I'm happy with them thus far.

Thanks Gavin and Mac, appreciate you chiming in. I wonder if my email can handle wav, but I guess they use Hightail or some such way of uploading. I do have work for hire agreements on my song demos.

Hey Everett,

It doesn't really mean much which service you use, I reckon they have all become great value for money, and distribute your music EVERYWHERE.

Re : Gavin's comments, they MUST be your songs,i.e. songwriter, or licencee and preferably registered with your PRO with an ISN, which they will provide if you don't have one.

The vocalist or the triangle player can play on your tune, as long as you have paid them i.e. work for hire.

Demo's ? Heck that's a barrel of fish, and wouldn't go near that one. The distributors want finished, radio ready material anyways, so anything suggesting "demo" will most likely get a rejection. IANAL , but if you have good demo tracks, you can always use those individual tracks, pay the "fee"for hire and then produce the song as you wish. Then it's YOUR song.

Good luck !

cheers, niteshift

I'm not sure that I would call my tracks radio ready. They're as good as I can get them and I've not had them rejected as not good enough. I know of others whose tracks are definitely not radio ready (nowhere near). I'm not encouraging anyone not to submit polished work - what is the point of that? - just saying that I'd be surprised if they rejected a decent demo.

I don't know how Distrokid handles uploading, but I'm pretty sure it won't be email. With Amuse, I use DropBox. It can also use Google Drive. It's very easy. To be honest, what I like best about Amuse is that it's free Probably its weakest point is the sales data, which is very basic. This is good enough for me because, frankly, there's not much in the way of sales.

Your distributor can assign an ISRC and a UPC. I don't have a PRO, which probably identifies me as a rank amateur, so you should listen to Niteshift and others with more experience.

Hey Gavin,

GET YOURSELF A PRO.

Was that plain enough. Without your PRO you get no airplay royalties for your retirement home. ASCAP requires US verified airplay. BMI will just accept you as a songwriter.

Do It ! Much better to have a pretty nurse giving you a bed bath.

cheers, niteshift

I've used CD.Baby in the past and they did very well for me the first few years, and they put me on many of these sites like iTunes, Spotify, etc. Of late years I've found them getting a little expensive and not getting good results,, so I have not sent them anything. I have some good sounding demos, even better than some of my earlier recordings that were released to radio that got a fair amount of airplay. I have a PRO, SOCAN.

Most of my new material is Gospel, I'd like to get it heard but I'm not sure how it will be received in a secular world. I don't expect to receive much money, that is not my main reason for getting it out there. I don't even know if these services are interested in Gospel music. I have over 360 songs registered with CCLI and doing very well, but they cater to churches only. The secular world need to hear the Gospel too, I don't know any other way to get it out there other than through radio. I know there are Gospel only radio stations out there, but like in the secular radio, it is pretty much tied up with the big guys, hard to break in.

I haven't made up my mind yet if I should try one of these services or not.

Thanks guys for your help and advice, appreciate it.

Hey Everett,

You don't have to worry about Gospel in a secular market. It's a huge niche market to itself.

My opinion, pick out a dozen of your best songs as "an album" and give it a try. You'd be amazed at the folks taking a listen, from the US to Antarctica .

What's to loose ?

cheers, niteshift

I already have a number of Gospel songs on some of these sites placed through CD Baby, so I know there is a market for Gospel, but I also know it is not a real big money maker where it is only worth a small fraction of a cent per listen. Unless you get millions of listens, you will not make much, but money is not my driving force. At my age I have enough to make it through. I just feel I have a responsibility to get God's word heard as much as I can. If I can make it available, then I have done all I can. If people don't want to listen, there is no way I can make them listen.

I just want to join a streaming site, if they'll have me, that will best suit this genre of music and get it in front of the widest and most receptive audience as possible.

Thanks Niteshift.

Hey Evertett

One of the best sites I have seen digitally is https://www.audiosparx.com/

It takes quite a bit of work to get your songs up, but when accepted, they also do licencing and add up your streaming royalties. And at a much higher rate than the regulars.

Yes, you have to put the work in, and your song may be accepted/rejected. They take a hefty %40 , but then again, their work ethic is spot on.

Please have a look at them. I find my royalty checks and "buy out's " receive a lot more than the "give us your music" sites.

Yes, it takes patience and work, to even get your song considered, but once it is, it's all is good.

cheers niteshift

Usual disclaimer : I have no financial interest in this company, and do not endorse/disendorse their product.

Thanks Niteshift, I will check them out. I take it you use them and like the results you are getting. What genre of music do you post there?

Hey Everete, anything and everything form soul, to jazz, to country to electronica.

Mate, I'm quite sure your problem would not be acceptance, just the amount of time you need to do to the initial setup. It's crazy paper mad, but once it's done, just look at your accounts one in awhile. And as a man that lives in s snow drift, I'm sure you could use your time productively.

cheers, niteshift

I can't recall if I've used this site before or not. They are mainly for placing music with TV and film companies. Not a big demand for Gospel on TV shows it seems. I have had songs placed on TV before, but they were my secular songs.

Niteshift, is this an exclusive or non-exclusive firm?

Hi Everett

are you the artist on all or most of your tracks?

God Bless from me and Helen

I have been using Distrokid. It works well for singles or albums. You can upload directly to Distrokid. No email or Dropbox involved. If you have a slow connection, it just takes longer. Distrokid places the music on Amazon.com, iTunes, and a bunch of other sites. It doesn't matter what genre they are to Distrokid.

The rub is that it is up to you to promote the song. Putting them on all those sites does not mean anyone will ever hear or buy the songs. But you will have links to your songs on Amazon, etc. that you can post to whomever you think might like it including Facebook, etc.

Hi Roy, nice to see you again. I hope you are well and adjusting well to life with out Helen. Roy I am not a great singer so I look for much better singers than I to do my songs. I have clearance from all my singers to promote my songs anyway I can.

Roy, what about you, have you put any of your songs on any of these sites? I've used CD Baby in the past but at $9.99 plus other cost per single, it can add up where I have hundreds of songs I'd like to display. I used CDs with them before which kept the per song cost lower, but I don't do CDs any more.

Thanks Roy for favours you've done for me in the past. God bless.

Thanks Colin for the info. I will look into it as soon as I finish uploading my backload of songs to CCLI. Only problem is I have a number of singers on my songs so I don't know how to handle that, put them all under my name or under my label's name, or what.LOL Any advice in that department will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Everett,
I am on my own now, and I cant say that I am adjusting well without my Helen, but I manage to keep myself busy.

I do have lots of my songs on possibly all of the streaming sites, but I use mondotunes.

When I first joined them, they charged a fee for doing it and it was so easy to do. Then they changes it to a fixed yearly fee for 1 artist, or 4 artists or more. the fee depends on how many artists.
here is a link to their fees, which are yearly.

https://www.mondotunes.com/music-distribution-pricing

Luckily most of my tracks were done by just 3 artists and I had permissions to do it. I haven't made any money though lol.

I also paid a small fee and they set up my record label 'Suited Records' which means that all artists are linked to my label and to 'Nielsen SoundScan' and so are chart eligible.
which is a hope thing really...lol.

I think that I pay just under $70 a year.

So that my story Everett, it may or may not help.

God Bless my friend from me and Helen.

Thanks Roy, I will look into Mondotunes to see what they offer. Time is a great healer but loneliness is for the birds. Be well my friend. God bless.

Hi Gavin the files you upload are then converted to MP3 from Wave

so there is loss of quality,

Personally I would not use any of them, too many of these companies are underhanded

and fiddle their accounts

Thats my experience , If you are a performer C Ds sell well on gigs if your songs and

your voice are good enough

Hi Cheyenne. Actually, Spotify uses something called an Ogg Vorbis format, while Apple uses its own ACC format. Not sure about the other services.

Almost all my plays are going to be at Spotify. I have a Spotify for Artists account, so I can cross check the number of plays against the Amuse data. I don't see anything fishy so far.

To be honest, I'm not overly concerned. I put my music up there because most of my friends and relatives have Spotify, so it's easy for them to listen. and because I just enjoy figuring out how to do new things. I might pay closer attention if I realistically expected to make significant money from my music.