The Basics
New to DistroKid? Wondering about the do's and don'ts of digital distribution? We have the answers.
DistroKid See all 13 articles
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What is DistroKid?
DistroKid is a digital music distribution service that musicians use to put music into online stores and streaming services. These services include iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon, Deezer, Tidal, and many more.
We don't take commission, and offer unlimited uploads for a yearly subscription fee. DistroKid collects earnings for sales and streams in the services you choose to distribute to, and passes 100% of those earnings along to you, minus banking fees and applicable taxes.
We also have a bunch of tools for artists to use that include distribution of music videos, instant mastering, pre-save marketing pages, and much more.
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How Much Does DistroKid Cost?
DistroKid offers a variety of subscription plans and extra features to make sure each artist has access to exactly what they need. Your total cost will be the sum of your DistroKid subscription and any of the optional Album Extras and tools that you sign up for.
DistroKid offers multiple subscription plans, ranging from a single artist/band Musician plan, to Ultimate plans for up to 100 artists. Additionally, DistroKid offers optional paid album extras that can be opted into during or after the upload process for a release, and other paid tools for artists like Mixea and Vizy.
To see the available subscriptions DistroKid offers, you can sign up or sign in and visit https://distrokid.com/plan.
To see information on available album extras, check out this article: https://support.distrokid.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013534274.
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Which Services and Stores Does DistroKid Send Music To?
You can specify for your music to appear in any or all of the following services:
- Spotify
- Apple Music
- iTunes
- Instagram & Facebook
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TikTok
- Luna
- Capcut - YouTube Music
- Amazon.com
- Pandora - For more info, click HERE
- Deezer
- TIDAL
- iHeartRadio
- Claro Música
- Saavn
- Anghami
- Boomplay
- Snapchat - More info HERE
- NetEase
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Tencent, which includes the following services:
- QQ Music
- Kugou Music
- Kuwo Music
- WeSing
- Pretzel - Beta, More info HERE
- TouchTunes - More info HERE
- Audiomack - More info HERE
- Qobuz
- Joox - More info HERE
- Kuack Media Group - Beta, More info HERE
- Plus many smaller outlets through MediaNet, such as Dubset.
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If there's another streaming service you really want your music to be in, let us know and we'll look into adding it! -
DistroKid Goodies: Beyond Distribution
DistroKid is well-known for being the world's fastest & easiest way to get your music into streaming services & collect 100% of earnings.
But DistroKid members also have access to a ton of (mostly free!
) tools & services that we think you'll love!
Sign in to DistroKid and click on the DistroKid Features menu
at the top of the screen to access Goodies - and read more below for information on each particular feature:
Get Heard Now
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Playlister - Contact info for Spotify playlist owners. (Ultimate only)
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Slaps.com - A social network for musicians, optimized for high engagement.
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Playlist Spotlight - Get voted onto the DistroKid genre playlists.
- Wheel of Playlist - Spin the wheel to get on our Spotify playlist.
Promote Yourself
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HyperFollow - One link to rule them all! HyperFollow is a free and easy way to make pages that showcase your music, videos, social media links, and more.
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Mini Videos - Free, short customized videos to post on social media.
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Promo Cards - Dozens of free, instantly customized images you can use to promote your new releases online.
Special Access
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Spotify for Artists Instant Access - Spotify for Artists helps artists get the most out of Spotify. Manage your artist profile, learn about your listeners, and share feedback with the Spotify team.
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Apple Music for Artists Instant Access - Apple Music for Artists will help you better understand the impact of your music across Apple Music and iTunes. Identify music milestones and all-time bests. Find out who your listeners are and where they're located. Upload your public artist image and bio.
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TIDAL Artist Home - Claim your artist profile and customize key details like your profile image, bio, and social links. You can also report inaccurate content directly to Tidal in seconds, invite team members, and get access to everything Tidal builds for artists in the future.
- YouTube Official Artist Channel ("OAC") - Official Artist Channels are designed to help artists and their teams get the most out of YouTube. Upgrade your channel today to gain access to analytics and tools that will help you engage with millions of fans and better manage your presence on the platform.
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Audiomack Connect - Connect to your Audiomack account and upload music directly from DistroKid. To learn more about uploading to Audiomack, visit our FAQ.
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Twitch - Apply for Twitch's incubator program that helps artists grow and earn money directly from fans on Twitch.
- RIAA Gold and Platinum Monitoring - Have us check if your music qualifies you for an RIAA Gold or Platinum certification. (Ultimate only)
Enhance Your Music
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Spotify Canvas Generator - Generate free custom Canvas videos for your Spotify release.
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Lyrics - Add your lyrics to streaming services & search engines. Once you have added plain lyrics, you can also add time-synced lyrics for Instagram, Spotify, TIDAL and more by opting into Lyric Blaster.
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Credits & Liner Notes - Deliver credits for songwriters, producers, musicians, engineers, and more.
- Dave - Dave is our automated A.I. bot who will analyze your music. Give him a try!
Protect Your Music
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DistroLock - Protect your music from unauthorized release.
- Vault - Free, unlimited backups of everything you have ever uploaded to DistroKid. Includes audio files, artwork, UPC, ISRC(s) and more.
Helpful When Needed
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Mapping Updates - Streaming services sometimes group artists together who have the same (or similar) names, or create a new artist page instead of using your existing page. Good news is, we built a thing to help out with this exact problem!
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Spotify URI Looker Upper - Find your Spotify Artist/Album/Track URI
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Apple ID Looker Upper - Grab your Apple Artist/Album/Track ID for any releases you have uploaded.
- YouTube Allowlist - If you opted into YouTube Content ID but want to remove claims from any specific video(s), you can add to the Allowlist here.
DistroKid is always churning out fun & useful new features for DistroKid members, so be sure to check the "Goodies" menu often!
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Playlister - Contact info for Spotify playlist owners. (Ultimate only)
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Which Features are Available for each Plan?
Feature Musician Musician Plus Ultimate Upload unlimited songs
✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Upload unlimited lyrics
✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Spotify verified checkmark
✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Collect earnings from royalty splits
✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Daily streaming stats
❌ ✔️ ✔️ Customizable label name
❌ ✔️ ✔️ Customizable release date
❌ ✔️ ✔️ Customizable preorder date
❌ ✔️ ✔️ Customizable iTunes pricing
❌ ✔️ ✔️ Customizable ISRC codes
❌ ✔️ ✔️ 2 artists or bands
❌ ✔️ ✔️ 5–100 artists or bands
❌
❌
✔️ 1 TB Instant Share Space
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❌
✔️ Access to Playlister
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❌
✔️ RIAA Award Monitoring
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❌
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Does DistroKid Have Merch?
Yes!
Hats, Shirts, Hoodies, Toenail Clippers, even a Kid's Book.
Check it out and grab yourself some gear here.
Our Kid's Book, Music Production ABCs, is available for purchase here.
Enjoy :)
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Distribution See all 25 articles
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Region-Based Music Catalogues
Some of the services DistroKid distributes to only allow users from the platform's local region to view their full music catalogue, and show a limited catalogue if accessed from outside that region. If you search for your release on one of these platforms and do not see it in the search results, it could be due to this restriction.
Services With Limited Catalogues Based on Region
Here's a list of the services that offer limited catalogues if accessed outside of a specific region, and the region they must be accessed from to view the full catalogue:
- Saavn: India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan.
- Anghami: Middle East
- Claro Música: Latin America
- NetEase: China
- KKBOX: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, and Singapore
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How Long Does It Take for My Music to Be Available in Streaming Services?
It can take several days for albums to be reviewed, approved, and sent to streaming services.
After that point, your release should go live once ingested by streaming services according to the rough estimates below:
- iTunes/Apple Music: 1-7 days. A very small percentage of albums go through manual review at Apple, which takes an additional 1-2 weeks or so.
- Spotify: 2-5 days
- Amazon: 1-2 days
- YouTube Music: 1-2 days
- Deezer: 1-2 days
- TIDAL: 2 days
- Facebook/Instagram: 1-2 weeks
- TikTok: 1-2 days
- Anghami: 1-5 days (some require manual review by Anghami's team which can take an additional 2-3 days).
For many streaming services (iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and more), we'll detect the moment your album goes live, and send you an email with the link!
Delays are rare, but they do happen, and are typically outside of DistroKid's direct control. If it's important that your album go live on a specific date, click here to read about release dates.
Cover Songs
If you are uploading a cover song, securing cover song licenses can take up to 14 business days. Releases with cover songs will be submitted as soon as the license is approved by Harry Fox Agency (who handles our cover licenses).
Curated Services
Some services curate the music they receive from DistroKid, and have their own processes for accepting that music into their catalog once it is delivered.
For example, Pandora has their own in-house review process to curate content, so we are not able to provide information on how long it takes for releases to be added to Pandora stations (if they are).
Additionally, music sent to Roblox is curated by their team, and sending your music to Roblox does not guarantee that it will go live on their platform. For more information on delivery to Roblox, check out this article.
Amazon also curates music for Prime and Amazon Music Unlimited in Canada. We submit your music, and it may be added if it's deemed suitable. We have no control over their selection process.
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The Countries Your Music Will Be Available In
Most DistroKid uploads appear worldwide in every country that the streaming services we distribute to support. Note that some services only allow users from the platform's local region to view their full music catalogue, and show a limited catalogue if accessed from outside that region.
Some releases may not be distributed to all countries based on language, explicit content, licensing, and other various issues that are outside of DistroKid's control. For more information, see this article: https://support.distrokid.com/hc/en-us/articles/40475055020307.
If you'd like to exclude your release from specific countries, please see this article: https://support.distrokid.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013648013.
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Uploading DJ Mixes or Remixes to DistroKid
If you plan on uploading a DJ mix or a remix of a song to DistroKid, please note that you will require permission to do so from all concerned parties. It is not possible to upload songs with uncleared samples.
You are welcome to upload remixes of your own work, either remixed by yourself or by another remixing artist. However, if your remix is of another artist's song or contains any part of another artist's original music, streaming services require permission from the original artist.
Uploading a Remix of Your Own Song
If you are uploading a remix of your own song, you do not need to credit yourself as a remixer. You can simply add "Remix" as version information for the track.
To add remix version information on the upload form, use the Add "version" info to song title? section. In this section, select "Other," and enter "Remix."
You should then see a title like this under the "Song title preview" section: YourSongTitle (Remix)
Uploading a Remix of Your Own Song by a Remixing Artist
If you are uploading a remix of your own song by a remixing artist, you will only need to add a collaborator with the "Remixer" role. You will not need to add separate version information for the track.
To add a remixing artist to a track on the upload form, use the Add featured artist to song title section. Once there, select "Yes, add featured artists to track title" and select the "Remixer" artist role in the dropdown menu. Then, enter the Remixing artist's name in the box next to the artist role.
Under the section that says Song title preview: you should see something like this: YourSongTitle (RemixingArtist Remix)
Uploading a Remix of Another Artist's Music
If you are uploading a remix of another artist's music, you must have permission from the original artist to do so.
If you have permission from the original artist to upload your remix of their song, you will need to list the original artist's name in the "Artist/band name" section of the upload form. This will use an artist slot. If you need more artist slots, you can upgrade your plan at https://distrokid.com/plan.
At the track level, you will need to add your artist name as a "Remixer" artist role. To add yourself as a remixing artist to a track on the upload form, use the Add featured artist to song title section. Once there, select "Yes, add featured artists to track title" and select the "Remixer" artist role in the dropdown menu. Then, enter your artist name in the box next to the artist role.
Under the section that says Song title preview: you should see something like this: OriginalSongTitle (YourArtistName Remix)
Important Information Regarding Remixes
It is important to keep in mind that remixes are not cover songs. In the "Songwriter" section of the upload form, do not select the cover song option if you are uploading a remix.
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Uploading Cover Songs to DistroKid
DistroKid makes it easy to distribute your cover songs! We'll handle everything on your behalf, including sending payments to songwriters and taking care of all the extra legal requirements.
With this cover licensing solution, DistroKid will secure a license on your behalf via third-party vendor. DistroKid compulsory mechanical licenses are secured by the Harry Fox Agency ("HFA"). Per U.S. copyright law, cover song licenses only provide legal coverage if the original song has already been released in the US, and the main elements of the original song (original lyrics, melody and title) remain fundamentally unaltered within the new sound recording.
We are not lawyers and can't help with legal advice. Please note that U.S. copyright law does not permit derivative works such as original-language translations of copyrighted lyrics. Under U.S. copyright law, cover (aka "compulsory") licenses only provide coverage if the main elements of the song (the original lyrics and melody) remain fundamentally unaltered within the new sound recording. This is a copyright thing and affects all distributors, not just DistroKid.
It is your responsibility to ensure that your song would be covered under the compulsory mechanical license.
Securing cover song licenses can take up to 14 business days. Releases with cover songs will be submitted as soon as the license is approved by our third-party licensing service.
For more information about purchasing cover song licenses through DistroKid, please see this article.
What is a Cover Song?
A cover song is any song that you perform and record yourself using music originally released by someone else. You can easily (and legally) release your cover songs through DistroKid.
Cover Song Requirements
The song you're covering must meet these copyright requirements (this is a legal thing, not a DistroKid thing):
- The song you're covering has already been released in the United States.
- Your song does not contain samples and is not a remix.
- Your song can’t contain audio you don’t own (from TV, movies, social media, video games, other songs, etc).
- Your song does not fundamentally alter the original lyrics or title.
- Your song does not change the basic melody or fundamental character.
Genre changes and embellishments for cover songs are totally okay and encouraged. Language changes are probably not okay. If you're not sure if your cover is allowed or not, please see the Harry Fox Agency's FAQ (here) and make sure to only upload covers that can be covered by compulsory mechanical licenses. These rules are a copyright thing, not a DistroKid thing (or HFA thing) and affect all distributors and licensors.
What Can be Licensed
- A song that was released at one point on iTunes and/or Amazon MP3.
- A song that appeared on a limited pressing of vinyl, which you can purchase at a record store in the United States.
- A song that was made available as a promotional music download on the artist's website.
What Cannot be Licensed
Songs that use samples should not have a cover license requested. Sampling is when you use the actual recording of another artist's performance. For example, if you use the 1971 recording of Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks" as your drum track. That's generally not allowed, unless you have permission from the original artist.
Cover licenses should not be requested for remixes of an original song. A remix of another artist's music is not the same thing as a cover. A cover is if you played the song yourself. A remix requires the permission of the original artist, and that is a different process than cover song licensing.
In addition, songs in the public domain do not require a cover license. For information about uploading arrangements of works in the public domain, please check out the FAQ article here.
Here are other examples of songs that can't be licensed:
- A song that was used in a film score, but itself was never released separately from the soundtrack.
- A song that appeared in a video game, but itself was never released separately from the game soundtrack.
- A song that was released as part of a CD compilation, but only in some country that was not the United States.
- An old traditional song that is now in the public domain.
- Medleys, mashups, etc.
Cover License Charges
DistroKid charges a fee of $1 per month ($12 billed to your credit card on file) to manage this cover song for you. Once charged, DistroKid will:
- Obtain license(s).
- Pay the original songwriter(s) every month.
- Do the things described here and here.
Automated Payments to Songwriters
DistroKid will automatically deduct the legally-mandated fee of 12.7¢ per song sold in the U.S. from your earnings and send it to HFA, who sends it to the original songwriter. You'll get 100% of the rest.
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Can I Upload a Sound-a-like?
No, sorry.
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Sound-a-likes--or cover versions, or tribute songs that sound verrry similar to the original--aren’t accepted by streaming services.
Streaming services may also reject cover songs that too-closely mimic the original artist's name or album art.
Even if the content doesn't violate laws, it may confuse customers. Which is why services may reject it.
DistroVid See all 18 articles
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Can I Publish a Video on YouTube?
If you have a music video for a song of yours that you'd like to get into YouTube, you can use DistroVid! With DistroVid, you can send your music videos to Vevo, which is a leading music video network that also manages music videos for artists on YouTube.
You can always upload your music video directly to YouTube to your own channel should you choose to not use DistroVid to send your music video to Vevo.
For more information on sending your music video to Vevo, see this article: https://support.distrokid.com/hc/en-us/articles/5051347220115.
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Getting Your Music Videos into Spotify
With DistroVid, you can choose to distribute your music videos to Spotify.
To get your music video into Spotify, make sure to select the "Spotify" checkbox at the top list of streaming services to distribute to when uploading a music video to DistroVid.
Here's how you can add previously released DistroVid videos to Spotify:
- Sign into DistroVid
- Go to your Videos page
- Click your video
- Click "Add to more stores"
- Select "Spotify" from the list that populates.
Please note that videos opted in to delivery to Spotify are reviewed for "premium video quality" by Spotify. Opting your video in does not guarantee it will be accepted and go live.
Additionally, please keep in mind that if your song gets removed or changed on Spotify, your video will also be removed.
Requirements for Music Video Delivery to Spotify
In order to send a music video to Spotify, the following requirements must be met:
- You must have the associated audio release for the track also distributed by DistroKid (unless the video is a live performance video), and the artist name and track title must match exactly.
- The music video is not for a cover song.
- The music video is not a lyric video.
Delivering Live Performance Music Videos to Spotify
Live performance videos also qualify for delivery to Spotify through DistroVid, and do not require that there is also an associated audio release through DistroKid.
Please take note of the following regarding live performance music video delivery to Spotify:
- Live performance videos should only be for a single song. If the video you plan to upload contains more than one song in a single performance, please break the song performances into separate videos for each song and upload them separately.
- Live performance videos for cover songs are not supported by DistroVid at this time.
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I Can't Find My DistroVid Video in Streaming Services
If you searched for your DistroVid video in services by artist name or release title and still cannot find it, it's possible that one of the following has occurred:
- Your video may not be live yet. If you set a future release date, you will not be able to locate the video in a service until that release date. For more information about how long it takes a video to go live, check out this article.
- Videos for that service may not be available in all regions. If you uploaded your video to DistroVid and sent it to Spotify, please note that videos in Spotify are not yet available in the United States.
- Services are indexing your artist name. Your artist name might not show up in searches until it's indexed, even if your video is live. Services manage this internally, and it usually doesn't take long after your release.
- Your video title is too common. If you have a common song title, such as "Home," it may not show in search results at the top if other songs are very popular in rank.
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What is DistroVid?
DistroVid is a Music Video distribution service provided by DistroKid! Visit https://distrovid.com to check it out.
As a DistroVid artist, you can upload an unlimited amount of music videos and keep 100% of your earnings from those videos.
Artists who upload music videos via DistroVid will have videos distributed to Apple Music, Vevo, Spotify, Boomplay, and Tidal.
In addition to those services, artists also have the option to distribute to the DistroVid Gallery, a collection of all music videos submitted to DistroVid.
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How Long Does It Take For A DistroVid Video to Go Live?
Typically, it can take anywhere from 1-5 days for DistroVid videos to go live in services once they are processed and approved.
If your music video needs to launch on a specific date across all platforms, make sure to upload your video at least four weeks ahead of the planned release date. If you choose a release date less than four weeks in advance, there's a small chance your video could still be stuck in a service's review queue (or some other unforeseen delay) when your release date comes around.
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Requirements for Uploading a Music Video to DistroVid
All videos uploaded to DistroVid must meet specific requirements before they can be delivered to streaming services. The requirements include file specifications, as well as content standards.
File Specification Requirements
Here are the file specification requirements for DistroVid videos:
- File Type: .mov or .mp4 only
- Compression Type/Codec: ProRes 422 or 422 HQ, MPEG-2 or H.264
- File Size: Up to 30GB
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080 or higher (up to 3840x2160)
- Duration: 30 seconds or longer
- Video Encoding: Variable Bit Rate (VBR) only
- Frame Rate is one of 23.976, 24, 25, or 30 (so we can distribute your video everywhere!)
- Video Scan Type: Progressive only
- Audio Format: 44.1 kHz or higher, Stereo only
If you are experiencing uploading issues with any 4K video files, please try the upload again using the H.264 codec. Note that services do not accept HEVC/H.265 codec at this time.
Video Content Requirements
Streaming services require high-quality music videos that "look like music videos." Generally, this means short-form videos aren't allowed. Also, services reject videos with unintentional quality problems including glitches, audio problems, and out-of-sync audio.
Video content uploaded to DistroVid must be 100% original and not trademarked, available online, or stock video (even if altered). This includes content from a known television show or film.
Medley videos or music videos that include more than one song will be rejected. Music videos (including live videos) must only contain one song. Also, videos that have been shortened or edited into a promotional teaser, trailer, or partial version will not be accepted.
Streaming services will not accept videos that include the following:
- Watermarks: Streaming services will not accept videos with watermarks, logos, static text/images, subtitles, or other graphic overlays.
- Social media references: Streaming services will not accept videos with URLs, contact information, QR codes, or social media handles/logos.
- Ads: Streaming services don't accept release dates, logos, or advertisements in videos. This includes messages like "Streaming everywhere" or "Coming soon."
- Still images or promos: Streaming services will not accept videos that display a still frame of the album artwork, or other photo slideshows. The file must be a music video.
Mixea See all 10 articles
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What is Mixea?
Mixea is DistroKid's online mastering service. You can use Mixea to add the final, polishing touch to your music before distributing it to stores and services.
Mixea combines modern mastering techniques to offer a variety of smart, finely tuned options. You can easily choose the best sounding mastered result for your tracks.
Mixea is a subscription-based service. For one annual fee, you can master an unlimited amount of tracks, for an unlimited amount of artists.
Head to www.mixea.com to try it out and receive your first mastered track for free!
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How Do I Use Mixea?
To use Mixea, first open the Features Menu in the top right and click "Mixea," or head directly to https://distrokid.com/mixea.
At this point, depending on the file you use, it may take several minutes for the mastering engine to complete the process – it is generating 15 different mastering options for your track.
Once you're on the main Mixea page, follow these steps to get your file mastered:
- Select the file you want to put into the mastering engine by clicking "Choose File" or dragging the file in.
- Once your file is selected, click "Master My Song" to start up the mastering engine.
- After the engine generates mastering options, you'll see a dashboard with waveforms for both your mastered preview track and the original track for comparison.
- Use the Intensity and EQ Options sliding scales to compare all mastering options for your track.
- After choosing your favorite, click "Download Mastered Track" to access your Mastered Tracks dashboard. From there, select one of three output files for your mastered track and click "Download."
The Mixea Sliding Scales
When using Mixea, you'll have access to sliding scales you can use to dynamically change the Intensity and EQ Options for the track. You can use these sliding scales to preview the final mastered file and tailor these options to your liking.
Intensity
Intensity controls the dynamics of your track. The higher the intensity, the louder and more compressed your song will sound, at the expense of some dynamic range. The available options for Intensity are Low, Medium, and High.
EQ Options
A warmer EQ brings out the low and mid range frequencies in your mix, while a brighter EQ setting amplifies higher frequencies making your mix more exciting. The available options are Brighter, Bright, Neutral, Warm, Warmer.
Output File Options
When you've finalized the Intesity and EQ Options for your track, you can then complete the processing and download your file. You have three resolution options for your file download: Ultra HD, High Quality, and Medium Quality.
These are the specifications for each option:
- Ultra HD: HD WAV, 24 bit depth, 48k sample rate
- High Quality: WAV, 16 bit depth, 44.1k sample rate
- Medium Quality: MP3, 256kbps bitrate
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Preparing Your Tracks Before Uploading Them to Mixea
To get the most out of your track mastering using Mixea, we recommend that you do the following prior to uploading your files:
- Remove any mastering plugins from your mastering bus (including compressors, equalizers, limiters, and stereo enhancers).
- Try to ensure that your audio file is not clipping. A little bit of clipping is okay if you can't change it and can't hear it, but it's preferable to upload something that is free of any clipping.
- Try to provide the best quality recordings you can with low noise (like the background noise picked up by your microphones). A little bit of noise is okay, but the cleaner the recording, the better. We recommend that you set your sample rate to 44.1 or 48 kHz. Anything higher than 48 kHz will be downsampled to 48 kHz prior to mastering.
- Export your track using an uncompressed or lossless format (i.e. WAV, AIFF, or FLAC). A high quality compressed format like MP3 encoded at 256 kbps or more is okay too, but an uncompressed or lossless format is preferable.
If you aren't getting the results you're looking for from Mixea, experiment! Try making changes to your mix or break our recommendations by adding a plugin or two to your master bus before uploading your track to Mixea.
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What Kind of Files Can Mixea Master?
Mixea supports WAV, FLAC, MP3, AIFF and MP4 files, just drag and drop them into the mastering engine, and you'll be good to go!
You can download your finished tracks in Ultra HD (HD WAV, 24-bit, 48k), High Quality (WAV, 16-bit, 44.1k), or Medium Quality - (MP3, 256kpbs).
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How Much Does Mixea Cost?
Mixea costs $99 USD per year, and is billed annually on the original date you opt into and pay for the service.
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What Intensity/EQ Settings Should I Choose?
You know your music better than anybody! Choose the Intensity and EQ settings that sound best to you. A brighter EQ setting will tend to bring more clarity to your vocals, while a warmer EQ setting will tend to add more presence to your bass. A higher Intensity will produce a louder version of your track with more processing and compression. A lower Intensity will apply a softer touch to your track. Most users tend to choose a Medium Intensity with a Neutral EQ, but you don’t have to!
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Note that many streaming services may change the loudness of your mastered tracks, but some may not, and that’s totally okay! It just ensures a more consistent loudness between all tracks for their listeners. Once again, choose what sounds best to you at a typical volume setting.
Bandzoogle See all 1 articles
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What is Bandzoogle?
Bandzoogle is DistroKid's direct-to-fan platform. It's an all-in-one toolkit for artists where you can:
- Build a website with no coding skills required, using tons of fully customizable templates
- Package your bio, music, and photos to create an EPK
- Sell merch using print-on-demand services with no upfront commitment
- Offer direct music downloads
- Register a custom domain
- Grow your fan list using built-in mailing list tools
And more! Just like DistroKid, Bandzoogle never takes a cut of your sales. So you keep 100% of your earnings when you sell music, merch, or tickets to your fans.
Bandzoogle is a subscription based service, with plans starting at just $6.37 per month. Click the sign-up button below to try it free for 30 days.
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HyperFollow See all 3 articles
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What Is HyperFollow?
HyperFollow is a completely free (and awesomely powerful) promotional tool that is available for all DistroKid artists. With HyperFollow, you can have one page with links to your music on all streaming services.
A HyperFollow page is automatically created for every DistroKid upload. The instant you finish uploading your release, you can start promoting and collecting pre-saves on Spotify (including fan email addresses) with HyperFollow. As soon as your release goes live on its release date, your HyperFollow page will automatically update to include links to other streaming services.
Your HyperFollow link never changes, and you'll never have to update your marketing copy or social media posts.
You can find your HyperFollow link on your DistroKid album page, or by clicking the DistroKid Features Menu in the upper right
, and then clicking on "Promote yourself."
You can create a HyperFollow page anytime by visiting https://hyperfollow.com, entering a "username," and clicking "CLAIM PAGE." Note that these pages won't have pre-save functionality or automatic release link updates, but they can be used for various purposes, not just music!
Why Use HyperFollow?
Here are some of the additional benefits of using HyperFollow:
More followers! Anyone who clicks the button on your HyperFollow page to pre-save your release will automatically follow you on Spotify.
More listeners! In addition to following your artist page on Spotify, whoever clicks the button will also automatically save your album to their Spotify library.
More research! You will have access to the city-level geographic location and other (anonymized) demographic information about your fans.
More insight! You'll be able to see the other music that your fans are listening to. Even if those other artists don’t use DistroKid.
More stats! You'll know how many people visited your HyperFollow page, and how many followers you added.
More contacts! You will be given each fan’s email address. (Musician Plus and Ultimate Plans only)
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Adding a Meta or Google Tracking Pixel to Your HyperFollow Page
Here's how you can add a Meta or Google tracking pixel to your HyperFollow page:
- Sign into DistroKid.
- Visit your HyperFollow page (make sure you're signed in).
- Click "Customize" at the top.
- Click "Edit this page."
- Scroll down to the "More settings" section.
- Click on "+ Ad-tracking pixels."
- Enter your Meta and/or Google pixel IDs and click "Done."
- Click "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page.
Done! All visits will be now be tracked via your pixel ID.
Meta Pixel Custom Events
With a Meta pixel added to your HyperFollow page, you have access to some custom events using Meta's "trackCustom" function. The events are:
- clickSpotifyPresave - Fires when someone clicks your Spotify pre-save link.
- spotifyPresaveSuccess - When someone successfully pre-saves your release.
- click[store] (ex: "clickSpotify" or "clickAppleMusic") - When someone clicks one of the streaming service links to listen to your music.
- clickOut - When someone clicks any of the main links on your HyperFollow page. This will fire in addition to click[store] (which shows which specific link they clicked).
- clickSocial - When someone clicks any of the social media links on your HyperFollow page.
- audioPlay - When someone clicks the play button to listen to your audio preview.
- audioPause - When someone clicks the pause button to stop your audio preview.
- audioSkipForward - If your release has multiple tracks, someone skipped to the next track.
- audioSkipBack - If your release has multiple tracks, someone skipped to the previous track.
- showFullImage - Someone clicked your album artwork to show the full-sized image.
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Editing Your HyperFollow Page
To edit your HyperFollow page, you can visit your HyperFollow dashboard by heading to www.distrokid.com/hyperfollow, or by clicking on the Features Menu in the upper right of DistroKid, then clicking "Promote Yourself," then "HyperFollow."
From there, click the "Edit" button under the HyperFollow page you'd like to edit.
For any HyperFollow pages that are automatically generated for your uploads, you can also click "Customize" on the upper-right corner of the page to reveal a bunch of options, then click "Edit this page." You can also hide or unhide any of your HyperFollow pages from this "Customize" menu.
The HyperFollow Dashboard
From the HyperFollow dashboard at www.distrokid.com/hyperfollow, you'll see the title and number of views for each page. If your HyperFollow page was auto-generated for a DistroKid release, click the "presaves" link next to the views counter to see more details about your pre-saves. There, you can view the email addresses of those who pre-saved your release (if they chose to share it), along with the favorite artists of the people who pre-saved your release.
What You Can Update in HyperFollow
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Social Media Buttons: add links to common social media websites that appear as buttons on your page
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Embedded Audio Player: Add audio files for playback on your page
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Embedded Video: Add a link to a YouTube video to embed on your page
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Vizy See all 4 articles
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What is Vizy?
Vizy is a music video generator that musicians can use to get videos to post their music on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, X, or Facebook.
Choose from 20 reactive and engaging templates that grab & keep your listeners' attention.
It's easy! Get started at Vizy.com.
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How Much Does Vizy Cost?
Each video generated by Vizy costs $8.99 USD for the first 5 minutes of any given song, and $0.99 USD for each additional minute.
If the template you select can display lyrics, you can also optionally add synced lyrics to the Vizy video at $5.00 USD per video.
If you buy multiple sizes of your Vizy video at once, you'll get a 10% discount on the total cost for each video. Sales tax will be calculated on the total cost.
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Where Can I Access My Vizy Music Videos?
To access the music videos you've generated with Vizy, log into your DistroKid account, and visit https://distrokid.com/videos/.
Please note that videos usually take about a day to create. We'll email you when it's done. 🙂
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How Do I Get that Sweet Baby Yoda Video?
You'll want to check out our Marcel Generator!Head to https://distrokid.com/marcel to make your own!
These little videos are pretty cool and fun to share with your friends, but for a more professional look, check out Vizy.com for custom audio reactive visualizer videos for your music. ⚡️👽⚡️
More info on Vizy can be found here.
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DistroLock See all 4 articles
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Unlocking Your Music in DistroLock
If you uploaded your music to DistroLock and would like to unlock it to prevent DistroLock from blocking uploads, you can head over to DistroLock at https://distrokid.com/distrolock and unlock audio files by clicking the green lock icon next to the audio entry.
You can unlock files in DistroLock even if your DistroKid account is cancelled – to do so, head to https://distrolock.com and click "Sign in" in the upper-right corner. Then, sign in using the login credentials for your cancelled DistroKid account.
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My Upload Was Blocked by DistroLock. What Can I Do?
If someone has locked a track via DistroLock, it needs to be unlocked before anyone can upload it successfully through DistroKid. If you made an upload to DistroKid and it was blocked by DistroLock, the audio will need to be unlocked before your upload can be delivered to services.
If you're the one who locked the track, you can head over to DistroLock at https://distrokid.com/distrolock and unlock it by clicking the green lock icon next to the audio that triggered the block.
If someone else locked the track, you'll need to reach out to them so they can unlock it for you. You can contact the artist who locked the track by clicking the "contact artist" button in the red DistroLock notification box on your album page next to the blocked track.
Once the audio is unlocked, you can reattempt the upload by deleting the original upload and re-uploading the release.
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What is DistroLock?
DistroLock is a free service powered by DistroKid that makes it harder for anyone (who's not you) to upload your original music to streaming services. Once you upload and lock your original music in DistroLock, other services can see this lock and prevent unauthorized uploads of the audio on their platform.
When you upload your audio to DistroLock, we extract an "acoustic fingerprint," log it, and then delete your audio from our servers. If you don't want to upload your music to DistroLock, you can generate fingerprints on your own computer using Chromaprint and just send those.
When uploading to DistroLock, you can also register your music with Audible Magic, a leading public fingerprint database. Audio fingerprinting services can detect matches even if the audio has been sped up, pitch-shifted, or otherwise altered. Many music services utilize these services to block unauthorized releases, including YouTube, DistroKid, SoundCloud, Facebook, Vimeo, Twitch, and others.
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Uploading Your Audio to DistroLock
Here's how to upload your music to DistroLock:
- Sign in to DistroKid and head to https://distrokid.com/distrolock.
- Click on "+ Add new track."
- Select the "Audible Magic" checkbox if you wish to also add your audio to their database.
- Add your audio file.
- Add optional "Artist" and "Song title" information.
- Confirm that you've read the DistroLock and DistroKid Terms of Service by checking the related box.
- Click "Submit."
DistroLock Audio Restrictions
DistroLock works best for music that has not yet been distributed. Previously released music may already be in public audio databases, which means it can't be locked by anyone. Any audio uploaded to DistroLock that matches with existing audio in databases may not be eligible to be locked in DistroLock. This includes songs with publicly-available audio, like generic loops, sounds, and samples.
If your audio is found to be ineligible for DistroLock and is rejected after you upload it to DistroLock, there's some positive news: if you've previously distributed the audio, you already have some protections without DistroLock. That's because responsible services and distributors may cross-reference their new uploads with public audio databases, and reject unauthorized releases of your music without DistroLock's help.
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Slaps See all 1 articles
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What is Slaps.com?
Slaps is a music social network for artists and people who love music.
Artists on Slaps usually get quick feedback on their original music.
Check it out.
NFTs See all 1 articles
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Sellouts
Sellouts is a collaboration with 10,000 independent music creators to design & mint 10,000 individualized, collectible, carbon-negative NFTs that commemorate the music of each artist.
From November 17th through December 1st, 2021, artists were able to join the Sellouts waitlist, and create their own NFT here: https://distrokid.com/sellouts
We've partnered with Nifty Gateway, which is an artist friendly platform that has pledged carbon-negative minting (more info here) for the collection.
All 10,000 Sellouts became available for purchase ($60/ea) on Nifty Gateway via random drawing on December 15th, 2021, and all original 10,000 NFT's sold out the following day!
If you participated in the collaboration, and want to check the status of your NFT submission, you can visit https://distrokid.com/sellouts/me to see if your submission was chosen.
While we won't be generating or dropping any additional Sellouts NFT's for the time being, stay tuned for more NFT opportunities in the future!
Please note: Nifty Gateway and DistroKid each take a small processing fee from NFT each sale.
Additionally, no intellectual rights to the music come with Sellouts NFT ownership.
Legal See all 8 articles
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Ownership of Your Music
DistroKid does not take any ownership or intellectual property rights from artists. You keep 100% ownership of music you upload to DistroKid.
You can review DistroKid's distribution agreement by visiting https://distrokid.com/agreement.
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What is the Minimum Age to Use DistroKid?
You must be 18 years of age or older to sign up for DistroKid, per our Terms of Service at https://distrokid.com/terms and our Distribution Agreement available to view at https://distrokid.com/agreement.
If you're younger than that, please have an adult sign up on your behalf.
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Do I Need to Copyright My Music Before Uploading?
This is not legal advice, and we are not lawyers.
Generally, you will not need to actively seek a copyright for your music if you've written it yourself.
Under the present United States copyright law, which became effective January 1, 1978, a work is automatically protected by copyright when it is created. A work is created when it is "fixed" or embodied in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. Neither registration in the Copyright Office nor publication is required for copyright protection under the law.
There are, however, certain advantages to registration, including the establishment of a public record of the copyright claim. Copyright registration must generally be made before an infringement suit can be brought. Timely registration may also provide a broader range of remedies in an infringement suit.
For more information, visit http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ50.pdf.
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What Are DistroKid's Terms of Service?
DistroKid's Terms of Service are available to view at https://distrokid.com/terms.
DistroKid's Distribution Agreement is available to view at https://distrokid.com/agreement.
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Can I Still Use Other Distributors if I Use DistroKid?
You can distribute your works with other distributors alongside or instead of DistroKid, as we are a non-exclusive distributor.
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DMCA Takedowns and Counterclaims
DistroKid takes intellectual property rights seriously. To maintain legal compliance, best practices, and the integrity of its services, DistroKid is constantly working to ensure that our users are only uploading content they have 100% rights to.
If you believe that any content on our services infringes upon your copyright or the copyright of someone you represent, please see our Terms of Service here. Claimants may contact our Designated Copyright Agent or use our webform to submit a report of alleged copyright infringement here.
If the infringing content was uploaded using a service other than DistroKid, we are unable to assist – you can then reach out to each streaming service with a DMCA takedown request.
If you have a good faith belief that your content or material was removed from DistroKid as a result of a misidentification or mistake, you may submit a counter-notice to our Designated Copyright Agent, as identified in the Terms of Service.
Your Content or Material Was Uploaded Using a Service Other Than DistroKid
If someone has uploaded your intellectual property using a service other than DistroKid, that's unfortunately not something that we can help with. However, you can reach out to each streaming service with a DMCA takedown request. You might need to research each service's process regarding a DMCA Takedown, but here are links to processes we're aware of:
Spotify: https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/infringement-form/
iTunes/Apple Music: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/itunesstorenotices/
YouTube: https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/report/infringementYour Content or Material was Removed from DistroKid due to Copyright Claims
In accordance with the DMCA, DistroKid accepts counter-notices for copyright infringement reports. Although we are unable to provide any legal advice, if you have a good faith belief that your content or material was removed as a result of a misidentification or mistake, you may submit a DMCA-compliant counter-notice via our webform or to our Designated Copyright Agent as identified in the Terms of Service here.
If you misrepresent that the content or material is not infringing or make other false representations, you may be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees). Fraudulent or abusive counter-notices or other misuse of DistroKid's services may result in account termination or other legal consequences.
After a valid counter notice is submitted, please be aware that we are obligated to wait 10 business days before reinstating any content or allowing a user to re-upload the affected content. Additionally, please note that services may choose not to reinstate content based on their terms of use, internal policies, or other factors that are outside of DistroKid's control.
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