In this article we'll go down the line section by section indicating any information you may need about the DistroKid upload form!
Services
This section is where you can select which services to which your release gets pushed live! Only want your music to go to specific services? No problem! Simply check the boxes next to your desired services and uncheck the boxes of the services you wish to omit.
Click here for more information about which services your music will be delivered to.
Number of songs
In this section, you can choose the number of songs on this release you wish to upload. If you select one song, you will be uploading a single. Any more than one song and your release is in the EP / Album territory.
Check out this article for more information on the differences between Singles, EPs, and Albums.
Previously Released?
In this section, you indicate whether or not the release has been previously distributed. Your choice on this question will dictate whether you can choose a past or a future release date. If you select that your upload has not been previously released, and you have a Musician Plus plan or higher, you will also be able to opt into Pre-Order on services that offer it.
Check out this article for more info.
Original release date
If you selected Yes under “Previously Released?”, then this is the section where you can indicate the original release date for the project. If your release came out earlier than 1920, I don’t know how to help you buddy. 😉
Artist/band name
The big one: this text box is where you input the name of the Main artist(s) of the release. The Main artist or "performer" is the major artist at the album level. The main artist(s) will be listed on every track on the album.
To learn more about Artist Roles, check out this FAQ article here.
Artist already in Spotify?
In this section you can indicate to DistroKid whether or not you already have a pre-existing artist profile in Spotify for your Main Artist name. If you do have a pre-existing artist name in Spotify, you can use this section to indicate your artist page.
If you do not have a pre-existing artist name in Spotify, you can opt to create a new artist page for your new release.
For more info on how you can get a verified Spotify Artist Profile, check out this FAQ article.
Artist already in Apple Music?
Same as above, if you input only one main artist at the album level, you will see the “Artist already in Apple Music?“ section. If you do have a pre-existing artist name in Apple Music, you can use this section to indicate your artist page.
If you do not have a pre-existing artist name in Apple Music, you can opt to create a new artist page for your new release.
To find your Apple Music Artist page for any of the releases you have uploaded via DistroKid, check out this article.
Release date
The release date section of the upload form is where you indicate when you would like your release to go live in services. If you do not have a Musician Plus plan or higher, you will not be able to select a future release date. You can visit https://distrokid.com/plan to upgrade.
For more information on choosing your release date, check out this article.
Preorder?
In this section, you can choose whether or not you would like to opt your release into Pre-Order for services that support it. You will need a Musician Plus plan or higher to access Pre-Order. Check out this article for more info.
Record label
If you have a Musician Plus plan or higher, you can input a custom Record Label in this section.
Album cover
In this section, you can select the artwork you wish to upload. In general, a 3000x3000 pixel .jpg file works best, but we take a whole heck of a lot more file types than that! Check out this article for more information on getting your album artwork just right.
Album title
If your release has more than 1 song then you will need to input an Album title. Do not use any other artist's name or trademark in your album title.
Album price
If you have a Musician Plus plan or higher, you can indicate a custom album price in this section. If your release has more than 1 song then in this section you can set the album price for iTunes and Amazon, you have options ranging from $1.99 to $14.99, but if the price of buying all tracks individually is less than the album-price specified here, stores will use sum-of-tracks as album price.
Language
In this section, you can select the primary language used on the release. The language selected here must match the language used for the track titles.
Primary genre
Here you can select the genre of your release. Our genre list is comprised of all genres accepted by all services we distribute to, so your specific sub-genre may not be available. Thats okay! Just select the genre that is closest to your release. Services tend to do their own genre sorting anyway 🙂.
Secondary genre
If one genre is not descriptive enough for you, good news! You can add a whole other one! This genre list is the same as the primary genre list, so just select another genre that also fits your project.
TRACK [#]
Song title
In this section you indicate the title of the release – JUST the title. Version information and additional artists will be added in later sections of the track menu.
Parenthetical information is okay, as long as it is part of the title and not used to indicate an additional artist or version information.
✅ Good Riddance (Time of your Life)
❌ I Can’t Sleep (feat. Iann Dior)
✅ I Can’t Sleep
❌ Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (Noisia Remix)
✅ Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites
Add featured artist to song title?
For a single, you can only add Remixers or Featured Artists under this section. If your single is a collaboration between two artists, please indicate the two artists in the “Artist/band name” section at the top of the upload form.
For a release with any more than one track, you will also have the option for an “Additional primary artist”
If you need to add more than one additional artist to your track, simply click on the “Add another featured artist” button.
From the drop down menu you can select Remixer, Featured artist, or Additional primary artist. Once you have selected the type of additional artist, please indicate the name of the artist. Don’t worry about their pre-existing artist pages in Apple and Spotify, we’ll worry about that in the Artist Mapping section later. 🙂
Add "version" info to song title?
This section can be used to indicate any parenthetical version information. Common versions include:
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Live
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Acoustic
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Radio Edit
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Remix
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[Remixer] Remix
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[Genre] Remix
Audio file
The main event!! Here is where you can select the audio file for your track. Check out this article for more information on accepted audio file types.
Dolby Atmos/Spatial audio
In this section, you can upload your Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio mix of your track. If you don’t have any idea what this is, briefly:
Dolby Atmos is a super cool super-stereo listening experience available on Apple Music, TIDAL, and Amazon. Check out this article for more information on Dolby Atmos and this article on how to create your own Dolby Atmos mixes.
Songwriter
In this section you will indicate whether the song is an original tune or a cover song.
Songwriter(s) real name
For original tunes, you will need to list the songwriter(s) real name, for more info check out this article.
Cover Song
If you have indicated your song is a cover then you will need to review the cover song info, add the Original artist and song title info, as well as indicate that the track does not sample or remix another artist’s recordings (required).
Explicit lyrics
If your release has explicit lyrics you’ll need to indicate so in this section.
Is this a “radio edit”?
If you’ve marked your track as not having explicit lyrics then in this section you will be asked to indicate whether the track is clean, and always has been or if there is an explicit version of this song, and this is the clean (or censored) version of it
Instrumental
In this section you can indicate whether your song contains lyrics or is instrumental
Apple Digital Master?
In this section you can indicate whether your release has been mastered by a certified Apple Digital Masters Mastering house. For more info, click here.
Preview clip start time
In this section you can customize the portion of your tracks that you would like to be available in store previews! Simply select "When the good part starts" to specify which part of your track you want available for preview in TikTok, Apple Music and iTunes.
Note that preview clip time editing is only available for tracks longer than 1:16.
Track Price
If you have a Musician Plus plan or higher, you can indicate a custom track price in this section for iTunes and Amazon. You can select $0.69, $0.99, or $1.29, just keep in mind that tracks over 10-minutes long will be priced higher.
Repeat these steps for each track on your release until you have uploaded them all. Almost done!
ARTIST MAPPING
In this section you can ensure all artists are linked correctly in streaming services. If your artists do not have pre-exisiting artist pages, you can simply select “Let streaming services decide”. If your artists do have existing artist pages in Spotify and Apple Music, you can indicate them by selecting “[Artist Name]” has an existing page in Spotify or Apple that I’d like to specify…”
From there, you can indicate the Spotify URI and Apple Artist URL for your artists.
EXTRAS (OPTIONAL BUT AWESOME)
The Extras section allows you to add optional extras to your release.
For more info on the individual extras that are available and pricing, click here.
IMPORTANT CHECKBOXES (MANDATORY)
The last section is Important Checkboxes (Mandatory). You’re required to complete this section in order to send your release off to services.
You can check out the DistroKid Terms of Service and Distribution Agreement here.
This is it! Push Done and your release will be sent to the services you selected. Congrats!!
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