Uploading

It’s MEGA easy to upload your music to DistroKid! To get started, just head over to the DistroKid upload form at http://www.distrokid.com/new . From there we'll walk you through everything you need to do!

If you have any specific questions, please check out this article for a breakdown of each section of the upload form and related articles: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407879306643

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.

Check out this article for more information: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013649093

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: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013534594

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: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023454214

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: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500006478301

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: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013535514

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: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016934434

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: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013534454

Preorder?

In this section, you can choose whether or not you would like to opt your release in to Pre-Order in services that support it. You will need a Musician Plus plan or higher to access Pre-Order. Check out this article for more info: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013534094

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: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013534334

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:

• Live

• Acoustic

• Radio Edit

• Remix

• [Remixer] Remix

• [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: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013647753

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: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013545554

Cover Song

If you have indicated your song is a cover then you will need 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 you 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 check out this article: https://www.apple.com/apple-music/apple-digital-masters/

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 serbvices 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, check out this article: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013534274

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: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025352813

This is it! Push Done and your release will be sent to the services you selected. Congrats!!

Yes! You can setup a custom, future release date if you have a Musician Plus or Ultimate plan.

Here's a quick video on how to setup future release dates for your releases:

If you already have a DistroKid account and want to upgrade, sign in and click "upgrade."

You can use a release date from the past, in order to reflect a previously released album or single.

Click here for more information about custom release dates.

During the Holiday season, DistroKid experiences reduced staffing, particularly during the Thanksgiving work week, as well as the work weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday, as well as New Years day.

We try to answer your requests as fast as possible! Typically, we answer most requests within 24 hours, but during the Holidays, it may be anywhere from 2-5 business days for us to follow up. 

Many of our partnered stores also have reduced staffing during the holidays. Apple/iTunes has kindly provided a schedule of Holiday delivery times, so that artists can plan their releases accordingly.

If you plan on releasing music on Apple Music and the iTunes Store between November 26, 2021, and January 7, 2022, remember to check the following delivery deadlines.

To ensure that Apple receives all deliveries by 11:59 p.m. PST on the respective date, it's best to upload at least one week ahead of time. However, uploading 2 weeks out will guarantee that your delivery date is met and release goes live with no issues (3-4 weeks lead time, prior to release date).

Music delivered after these deadlines may not be available on the desired release date.

We appreciate your patience, and we hope you have a warm, safe and uplifting Holiday season!

For obvious reasons, you should use an artist/band name that doesn't already exist in streaming services. Having several artists with the same name just causes all kinds of confusion. Imagine if there were two Led Zeppelins, or two Dave Matthews (a common name no doubt). 

But sometimes this can't be avoided. Here are the main questions people ask when there's another artist with the same name as them.

Will I get paid? Or will that guy with the same name as me get paid for my downloads?

You'll get paid for your downloads. Technologically, artist names are totally independent from earnings tracking. So you're all good and have nothing to worry about.

My albums are being listed alongside the other artists' albums. So it looks like we're the same person. Can you separate them?

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. We can help!

Please visit https://www.distrokid.com/fixer, where we'll walk you through getting things fixed up!

Ideally, if someone already has the name, you should come up with a different name. In the world of actors, for example, no two actors are allowed to have the same name as each other and both belong to SAG (the actors union). That's why Samuel L. Jackson is Samuel L. Jackson, and not Sam Jackson or Samuel Jackson -- those names were taken. If you want to look like a pro, suck it up and come up with a different name if yours is already taken. 

Album Extras are optional perks you can opt into on any one of your uploads! They aren't required to get your music sent off to stores (with the exception of cover licenses, if you want to distribute covers) but help make your music more accessible to your fans!

On the upload form, you can opt in at the bottom of page, just before submitting your album!

For existing releases, you can opt in from your album page, just scroll down to the bottom of the page!

Some Album Extras are one time payments, while others are subscription based, just like our membership subscriptions. 

Discovery Pack: $0.99 per song/year
Make it easy for people to identify this single if they hear it playing on radio/tv, in stores, restaurants, parties, etc. Discovery Pack includes Shazam/iPhone Siri, as well as some new music discovery-based platforms including ACRCloud, Jaxsta, Gracenote, and MRC.

Store Maximizer: $7.95 per album/year
DistroKid will automatically deliver this single to new online stores and streaming services as we add them. Which is often. We'll give you notice before adding.

YouTube Content ID: $4.95 per single/year, $14.95 per album/year, + 20% of YouTube ad revenue
Get notified & paid if your music is ever used in any YouTube videos. We'll add this single to YouTube's Content ID database, and continually scan for matches. When your music is detected in any YouTube video, you'll be notified—and ad revenue will automatically go to you, instead of to the person who uploaded the video. Watch YouTube's video explaining Content ID.

Cover Song Licensing

$12 per cover song, per year. For more information about DistroKid cover licenses, please see the FAQ article here: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013648953

Leave a Legacy: $29.00 per single, $49.00 per album of 2+ tracks (nonrecurring fee)

The “Leave a Legacy” extra can be added to a release so that it won't be removed due to a lapsed membership payment (if your credit card is rejected, etc.).

On top of that, if you ever choose to cancel your subscription, any releases that have the Leave a Legacy extra added will remain in stores and streaming services, even if you cancel your account.

Adding this extra to a release does not replace your annual membership fee if you have an active subscription, and it is not a one-time payment for all of your releases: each release must have this extra included if you wish to cancel your subscription and keep your releases listed in stores and streaming services.

Tidal Master: $8.99 per single, $17.99 per album of 2+ tracks (nonrecurring fee)
Displays the "MASTER" badge on Tidal, and a special distinction on other supported services & devices including FiiO, Astell & Kern, iFi, AudioQuest, and many more.

Social Phone: $12.99 per month.

See here for more info: What is Social Phone?

Dolby Atmos: $26.99 per track

Designates the release as Dolby Atmos on supported devices & streaming services including Apple Music and Tidal.

Loudness Normalization: $2.99 per track one time fee (nonrecurring)

When you select this optional extra, DistroKid will automatically adjust the level and headroom of your audio to Spotify's recommended settings, -14dB integrated LUFS with -1dB true peak maximum. Your newly adjusted audio will be sent to all streaming services you've selected.  

Note: Certain things such as audio files, track listing, genre, language, Album Extras, and ISRCs cannot be changed via metadata update. In order to change these things, you will need to delete and re-upload your release. Here's how to delete your release(s) from stores: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013649193.

Once you have deleted your release, please visit the upload form to re-upload a corrected version.

Audio files should be WAV, MP3, M4A, FLAC, AIFF, or Windows Media (WMA).

If you're sending a WAV, 16-bit, 44.1 kHz WAV is typical but pretty much anything works.

The maximum size that DistroKid will accept is 1 gig. If you have a track that's larger than that, consider converting it to FLAC format before uploading to DistroKid. FLAC is a beautiful, lossless format (same audio quality as WAV) but the files are relatively small.

DistroKid has no limitation to the length in minutes that a track can be. However, albums cannot contain songs where the average track length is less than 60 seconds.

Please see here for some specific information about uploading via iOS:
https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500006315162

 

Artist roles are identifiers you can use to indicate to services what role a given artist played in the creation or performance of a given release. These roles can be indicated on the track level or the album level. 

Stores accept the following artist roles from DistroKid:

Main Artist

A main artist or "performer" is the major artist at the album level. For example, on Kendrick Lamar's album DAMN., "Kendrick Lamar" is the main artist for this album.

Primary Artist

A primary artist is a main artist at the track level that is not a main artist at the album level. The primary artist role is used to indicate collaborations. For example on Moore Kismet's album Vendetta for Cupid, Moore Kismet is the main artist at the album level. At the track level for a track on the album Rumor, WYN is a Primary Artist and Moore Kismet is a Main Artist.

Featured artist

A featured artist is any artist assisting in the performance of a track but not at the fundamental level of a primary artist. Featured artists usually feature for a verse or as a vocalist on a . For example, for SOS (feat. Aloe Blacc) by Avicii, "Aloe Blacc", who sings on the track, is the featuring artist for this track, where as "Avicii" is the primary artist.

For the single version of SOS (feat. Aloe Blacc) - Avicii, "Aloe Blacc" is also the Featured Artist on the Album level because singles have the same roles at the track and album level.

Remixer

An artist that has remixed the original work. For example, for Love That Never (IMANU Remix) - TOKiMONSTA, "IMANU", who remixed the track, is the Remixer for this track, where as "TOKiMONSTA", who was the primary artist for the original song, is still listed as the primary artist on the remix. 

Producer

The producer of the record. The role of a producer has become more diversified in recent years, but at this time, at least in Spotify, producer artist roles are listed under track credits. For example, for Buddy Holly - Weezer, "Ric Ocasek" is the producer. You can see producer credits by right clicking a song on the desktop app and selecting "Show Credits"

Notes for uploading!

If you have a few songs on your release with multiple artists, but most are by one artist, please list only the artist that will appear on every track. For individual tracks with more than one artist, you will list the additional artists (Featured, Remixer, Additional Primary Artist) at the track level.

If you have already uploaded to DistroKid before, the Artist/band name input box on the DistroKid upload form will default to the last used artist name. If you want to use a different artist name (and you have available artist slots on your plan), simply type in the artist name(s) you wish to use.

Yes! You can use the capitalization/stylization that you want for your artist name, titles, etc.

Please note that if you choose to use non-standard capitalization on your release, you'll likely see this warning on the the upload form.

That's because some streaming services don't love this, and may default to standard capitalization, per their style guides. If services do not allow non-standard capitalization, we may not be able to request edits.

Yes! You can do collaborations at both the album level and the track level with DistroKid. 

Album Level Collaboration

If you have an album with multiple main artists, you can list them in the "Artist/band name" section of the upload form using an ampersand "&", an "X", or the word "and" to indicate a collaboration. You can also use commas for collaborations of three people. For example, for a collaboration between Moore Kismet, Pauline Herr, and Rezz you could input any of the following to indicate them all as main artists for the whole album:

Moore Kismet, Pauline Herr & Rezz

Moore Kismet x Pauline Herr x Rezz

Moore Kismet, Pauline Herr, and Rezz

It will look something like this on the upload form:

Note: If you are uploading a single, you must add your collaborators at the album level, and not at the track level. Additionally, note that collaborations at the album level take up an artist slot, even if one of the artists is already being used on your account. If you need more artist slots, you can upgrade your account. 

Track Level Collaboration

If you just have individual songs on your release that have multiple primary artists, you can list those collaborators in the individual song by clicking the "Add Featured Artist" button in the songs settings. 

Under "Song Title" you will see a button that says "Add Featured Artist". Click this, and it will open a menu where you can input information about the collaborating artist. For each additional artist, you can select and input their:

• Artist Name
• Role (Featured Artist, Remixer, Primary Artist)

Note (same as above!): If you are releasing a single, all primary artist collaborators must be listed at the album level. Track level primary artists are only available on multi-track releases.

Check out this article for a breakdown on artist roles!

Absolutely!

For new uploads, on the upload form at the track level, just select "Yes, add featured artists to track title (please specify...)"

Enter your featured artists name, and if applicable, their existing Spotify and Apple Music information in the Feat. Artist Mapping section found at the bottom of the upload form, and boom! You've added a featured artist to your track!

For existing releases, if you need to add or edit a featured artist, head to your album page, and click edit release.

Select Add Collaborator and choose Featuring from the dropdown, then enter in your featured artist info.

Adding a featured artist does not require any additional artist slots (that's good!).

Please note that if you have the same featured artist on all tracks of a multi-track album, streaming services require that they instead be listed as a Primary artist.

 

Yes! You can make edits by visiting your album page, and clicking “Edit Release”. We’ll walk you through everything you can edit from there.

Streaming services typically process these requests within a few days, but please be aware that metadata updates may take up to 1-2 weeks for changes to take place in all services.

Certain other things such as audio files, track listing, language, Album Extras, and ISRCs cannot be changed via metadata update. To change them, you will need to delete and re-upload a corrected version. Here's how to delete your release(s) from services: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013649193

Streaming services also do not allow you to upload, delete, and re-upload with different metadata (artist name, titles, etc.), and they are cracking down on this issue. Even if you have deleted a previous version and tried to re-upload with corrections, services will not allow multiple uploads with conflicting metadata.

If you need to remove your release from certain services, remove it from specific countries, edit the genre or subgenre or specify an artist as a remixer, drop us a line and we can assist.

Short Answer: Yes. You can change your artist name on a release by visiting your album page, and clicking “Edit Release”. You can even edit your artist name on all of your releases from a single album edit request!***

Long Answer: Changing your artist name is a long and arduous process that can occasionally cause more issues than it solves. Obviously, we all understand artist expression and wanting to most accurately represent yourself and your artist project, but we also want to make sure that you have all the information you need to make the most informed decision possible before making a change to your existing projects that is difficult to reverse and can cause a lot of issues. 

Things to keep in mind: 

• Artist name edits and/or rebrands can only be requested on releases that are currently live
  Streaming services do not allow releases that have already been submitted to be resubmitted with differing metadata (Artist Name and Track Titles). In order to resubmit any release that has already been listed in streaming services, it must be resubmitted with the original Artist Name and Track Titles.
  
  If you have deleted your work in an effort to edit or rebrand your Artist Name, note that the only way to do so, is to re-upload your work with the original metadata, and then request an edit on that re-uploaded work once it has been resubmitted to streaming services.
  
  

• Preserving followers and monthly listeners
  When you make a request to change your artist name, please note that most streaming services will simply create a new artist page for you instead of updating the information on your existing artist page. For streaming services that do this, we cannot request that your existing artist page be edited to reflect your new artist name. As a result, your monthly listeners and followers will likely not be transferred to your new artist page. 
  
  

• Preserving play counts and playlists
  DistroKid cannot make any guarantees, but in general if you are simply editing the metadata of an existing release through our edits feature (i.e. not changing the ISRC), your play counts and playlist placements should carry over. Again though, not something DistroKid has any control over. 
  
  

• It can take quite some time for all stores to update your artist name
  While submitting your request to rebrand is an automated process, the actual data management and metadata updates of your rebrand request are not fully automated, and many of these requests require humans (not computers) to fulfill correctly. 
  
  What this means:
  Depending on the volume of current rebrand requests, it may take up to several months for all stores to update your existing content and display your new artist name. If you are planning on rebranding, please take note of this. 
  
  

• Mis-mapped releases
  As you may know, DistroKid does not have any control over where your releases are mapped in streaming services. When you edit your artist name and a new artist page is created, if the name is not completely unique it is possible that your releases will be mapped to a pre-existing artist page.  If this happens, please visit https://www.distrokid.com/fixer, where we'll walk you through getting things fixed up! 
  
  

• Unable to make additional edit requests
  If you decide to change your artist name across streaming services, you will not be able to request additional edit requests on any release that utilizes the new artist name until your name change request has been completed. At this time, there is no way to expedite these requests 
  
  

• No going back (kind of)
  If you choose to change your artist name, the only way to revert the changes is to re-request another edit. Any side effects of the initial request are not guaranteed to be resolved by simply changing your artist name back. (It’s a big decision yo!!) 🧠 
  

***It is important to note that when rebranding, your full discography must be updated to reflect the new artist name, otherwise some streaming services may hide releases they deem to have conflicting metadata.

Best practice: update your artist name across your releases by using the included "Update all of my [Artist Name] releases to use the new artist name" tool in the edit release section. Note at this time this tool is only available for releases with one primary artist (not a collaboration).

Yes!

Shoot us a message by clicking the "Have more questions? Reach out to us!" link at the bottom of this article. From there, select "Managing Music / Lyrics / Credits in Stores" and then select "I need to remove my release from specific stores".

If you change your mind later, you can always add your release back to any service(s) by selecting the "Add to more stores" on your album dashboard page.

Please note: Once your request is submitted, expect to wait up to 1-2 weeks to disappear from the selected streaming service(s), sometimes sooner. 

No.

Due to how the streaming services pay, and other complexities, we do not support the same audio recording to be uploaded by more than one DistroKid user. 

If a song has changed ownership and you're interested in routing a song's earnings from one DistroKid account to another, we can do that. Check out our Splits feature. With Splits, you reroute earnings to anyone⁠—while keeping stats, playlist adds, Spotify followers, ISRCs, and all other metadata unchanged. 

To delete an album or single:

1. Make sure you're signed into DistroKid
2. Click the release you want to delete
3. Click "Edit Release"
4. Scroll to bottom, and click "Remove this release from all stores"
5. Once you click the button, it takes services around the same amount of time to delete a release as it did for them to add it.
6. Expect to wait up to 1-2 weeks to disappear from all services, sometimes sooner.

Spotify takedowns take at least 2 business days. 

Anghami takedowns take around 48 hours.

You know it! Just head to the album on your DistroKid dash, and scroll down to "Add Features".

Note: you can not add cover licenses to a release after upload. You must specify if a release is a cover when you are initially uploading.

If your album was rejected, you'll need to delete and re-upload your release in order to fix whatever was flagged during the review process, unless stores require verification - if you receive a verification request, please do not delete your upload. For more information on how to verify an artist name on DistroKid, click here. 
If your release was rejected for an artwork issue, you can also replace the artwork on an existing release to make corrections. On your album page, click "Replace Artwork" on the right side of the Artwork section to update your album artwork:

For more information regarding album artwork requirements, click here.

Keep in mind, each store has very specific guidelines for how releases are formatted, and what kind of content they'll accept. 

Sometimes, stores require an artist to verify their artist name. This helps protect your content on DistroKid and within stores, and ensures that no one is uploading your music, or using your artist name, without your permission.

To provide permission, the artist needs to contact us directly via one of two options:

1. If the artist uses Twitter, they can send a Direct Message ("DM") to @distrokid to validate. In the DM, please mention the UPC (or album title). Something like "Verifying the artist for UPC ". Note that a brand-new Twitter account won't work for verification purposes. Or...

2. A photo of the artist's driver's license or passport (you may block out personal info such as address) along with the name or UPC of the release that requires verification.

Note: If the artist is different from the legal name on the ID, please also provide a link to a website where we can associate the legal name to the artist.

If you see a message that says "The file you uploaded is zero bytes," it means that your audio file can't be played. Sometimes this happens if you try uploading via a mobile device or cloud storage, as file storage is handled differently than a computer with the file(s) saved locally. You'll need to abort the previous attempt and re-upload your release.

If you are uploading your music from an iOS device, you will need to make sure you select your files from the iOS file browser, or else you may have issues uploading your album cover or audio files, such as seeing an error message saying that "The file you uploaded is zero bytes."

Starting from the DistroKid dashboard, select "Menu", and then select "Upload" to get to the upload form.

Once you are on the upload form, fill out information as necessary. When you get to the section where you upload artwork, tap on the box where it says "Choose new image". From here you will be given the option to select a photo from your photo library, take a photo, or browse your iOS devices file browser. At this time, in order to upload your artwork from an iOS device you will need to select your artwork file from your devices file browser. Tap on "Browse".

Once you have selected browse, you will be presented with your devices embedded Files app file browser. You can now navigate to where you have stored your files fo upload. For this example, I have stored my audio file and album artwork in the "Downloads" folder on my iPhone.

From here, we can continue down the upload form until we get to the section where we will upload the audio file. When you get to the "Audio file" section of the upload form, tap on "Choose File". You will be presented with the same three options, and again you will need to select "Browse" to take you to the iOS file browser.

Once you have selected your audio file, you should be good to go! If you are experiencing issues, make sure you are storing your files locally on your iOS device instead of in iCloud. The DistroKid upload form does not support cloud uploading at this time, so you will need to upload files directly from your iOS device. 

I would do some research on what services normalize to what level, and then make a decision for yourself as to what you should aim for in your masters.

Best practice: Submit a high-res copy of your songs to us, and let services convert them to their liking.

Does your release appear to be stuck processing with the yellow circle next to your album/track/artwork? This typically means additional processing time is required.

It can take several days for albums to be reviewed, approved, and sent to streaming services. If it's important that your album go live on a specific date, click here to read about release dates. Otherwise, by default, your release should go live once ingested by services according to the rough schedule 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: 1-2 days
• Facebook/Instagram: 1-2 weeks.
• TikTok: 1-3 weeks.

Note: Delays are rare, but they do happen, and are typically outside of DistroKid's direct control.

Pandora has their own in-house review process to curate content, so we are not able to provide too much info in regards to how long it might take releases to be added to Pandora stations (if they are). To be included in Pandora Premium (Pandora's rad streaming service), please read THIS.

Bonus: For many streaming services (iTunes, Amazon, YouTube Music, Spotify, more) we'll detect the moment your album goes live, and send you an email with the link! 

It can take several days for albums to be reviewed, approved, and sent to streaming services. If it's important that your album go live on a specific date, click here to read about release dates. Otherwise, by default, your release should go live once ingested by services according to the rough schedule 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: 1-2 days
• Facebook/Instagram: 1-2 weeks.
• TikTok: 1-3 weeks.

Note: Delays are rare, but they do happen, and are typically outside of DistroKid's direct control.

Pandora has their own in-house review process to curate content, so we are not able to provide too much info in regards to how long it might take releases to be added to Pandora stations (if they are). To be included in Pandora Premium (Pandora's rad streaming service), please read THIS.

Bonus: For many services (iTunes, Amazon, YouTube Music, Spotify, more) we'll detect the moment your album goes live, and send you an email with the link! 

Yes.

An ISRC code is a unique code assigned to each song you upload.

DistroKid has been appointed by the US ISRC Agency to assign ISRCs, and will automatically generate new DistroKid ISRC codes for every song you upload. It's free and automatic.

If you'd prefer to specify your own ISRC code(s), you can do that if you've got a "Musician Plus" or "Ultimate" account.

More info on how to use your own ISRC code(s) with DistroKid.


 

No.

ISRC and UPC are codes used in the music industry. They help identify your release and tracks.

DistroKid has been appointed by the US ISRC Agency to assign ISRCs, and will automatically generate new DistroKid ISRC codes for every song you upload. It's free and automatic, and you'll receive 100% of earnings.

If you would prefer to purchase your own UPC and ISRCs, visit:
https://www.gs1us.org/
https://www.usisrc.org/ 

If you have a Musician Plus or Ultimate subscription plan, you can use your own ISRC's when uploading.

UPC stands for "Universal Product Code." It is a unique code used to identify a product, such as an album or single.

A DistroKid UPC is automatically generated for you, each time you upload an album. To find the DistroKid UPC:

1. Sign into DistroKid
2. Click the album you're interested in
3. Find "UPC" displayed under your artwork

DistroKid UPCs are for digital distribution within DistroKid. If you want to apply for a UPC issued by GS1, please contact your local GS1 office here.

ISRC codes, yes. UPC codes, no.

DistroKid has been appointed by the US ISRC Agency to assign ISRCs, and will automatically generate new DistroKid ISRC codes for every song you upload. It's free and automatic.

But if you want to specify your own ISRC codes for any reason, that's easy to do:

(1) Make sure you're subscribed to DistroKid's Musician Plus or Ultimate account.

(2) Then click "already got an ISRC code?" on DistroKid's upload form.

There is no way to specify a custom UPC code.

If you want to apply for a UPC issued by GS1, please contact your local GS1 office here.

If you prefer to purchase your own ISRCs, visit https://www.usisrc.org/

No, you do not need to provide UPC or ISRC codes to DistroKid.

DistroKid has been appointed by the US ISRC Agency to assign ISRCs, and will automatically generate new DistroKid ISRC codes for every song you upload. It's free and automatic.

You can specify your own ISRC codes if you have a Musician Plus or Ultimate account.

More info on providing your own ISRCs to DistroKid.

If you want to apply for a UPC issued by GS1, please contact your local GS1 office here.

DistroKid gives you free DistroKid ISRC codes. They're automatically generated by DistroKid and displayed to you whenever you upload any song or album. 

If you need to have your DistroKid ISRC codes before uploading music, well... there's a way to do that, but it's sort of a hack. So we don't recommend it. But if you must, here's an option.

It only works if you have Musician Plus or Ultimate accounts.

• Upload your music. Set the release date for sometime in the future (such as next week). 

• ISRCs are assigned in the final steps before sending a release to streaming services. Once ISRCs have been assigned, you can see them to the right of track titles on the album pages of your DistroKid dashboard. Write them down or save them somewhere.

• Delete your album right away. If you don't delete it within a few minutes of uploading it, it might get sent to streaming services. And, in this scenario, it seems you don't want that.

• Upload your album again. Choose "already got an ISRC code?" on the upload form. Enter the codes that you saved from step #2.

There you have it.

Streaming services have pretty specific requirements for submitting your lyrics:

• Do not include the vocalist's name
• Do not include extra text (ex: "intro", "chorus", social media links, etc.)
• Repeated lines must be written out. Don't write "Chorus 2x" etc.
• Begin each line with a capital letter
• Do not use punctuation at the end of a line except for exclamation and question marks
• Do not include blank lines except between verses or chorus
• Avoid entering excessively long lines. One sentence per line
• Don't censor explict words unless the words are dropped/bleeped in the audio recording
  Example: Don't enter "F***", unless the word was dropped or bleeped
• Do not enter numerical characters for numbers between 1-10. The number 2 must be written as two.

The most common reasons that streaming services reject lyrics are:

1. No line breaks between sections (verse/chorus/bridge/etc.)
   
   Do not format your lyrics like this:
   
   
   So I pointed my fingers
   And shouted few quotes I knew
   As if something that's written
   Should be taken as true
   But every path I had taken
   And conclusion I drew
   Would put truth back under the knife
   And now the only piece of advice that continues to help
   Is anyone that's making anything new only break something else
   When my time comes
   Oh oh oh oh
   When my time comes
   Oh oh oh oh
   
   Do format your lyrics like this:
   
   

   So I pointed my fingers
   And shouted few quotes I knew
   As if something that's written
   Should be taken as true
   But every path I had taken
   And conclusion I drew
   Would put truth back under the knife

    

   And now the only piece of advice that continues to help
   Is anyone that's making anything new only break something else

    

   When my time comes
   Oh oh oh oh
   When my time comes
   Oh oh oh oh
   
   
2. Too many line breaks (unnecessary spaces between each line)
   
   Do not format your lyrics like this:
   
   
   There's traffic on the bridge
   
   But the skyline shines with a certain light
   
   I know you're sick of it
   
   Do format your lyrics like this:
   
   
   There's traffic on the bridge
   But the skyline shines with a certain light
   I know you're sick of it
   
   
3. Too many grammar/spelling/capitalization errors
   
   Do not format your lyrics like this:
   
   2day is gona b the day
   That their gonna throw it back to u
   By now u shouldve some how
   Realized what u gotta do
   I dont believe that n e body
   Feels the way I do about u now
   
   Do format your lyrics like this:
   
   Today is gonna be the day
   That they're gonna throw it back to you
   By now you should've somehow
   Realized what you gotta do
   I don't believe that anybody
   Feels the way I do about you now
   
   
4. Punctuation at the end of lines
   
   Do not format your lyrics like this:
   
   
   Everything is everything.
   What is meant to be, will be.
   After winter, must come spring.
   Change, it comes eventually.
   
   Do format your lyrics like this:
   
   Everything is everything
   What is meant to be, will be
   After winter, must come spring
   Change, it comes eventually

For a complete list of streaming service requirements, visit Musixmatch guidelines and Apple guidelines.

DistroKid sends your lyrics to 

• Apple Music
• MusixMatch
• TIDAL
• Spotify
• YouTube Music
• Boomplay
• LyricFind
• Google Search Results
• and more

Synced lyrics are only submitted to Instagram/Facebook, TIDAL, Spotify and Apple Music at this time, and Synced Lyrics are only available on Musician Plus and Ultimate subscriptions. 

Note: It may take up to 1-2 weeks for your lyrics to show up on Instagram and other platforms. 

Delays are rare, but they do happen, and are often out of our control. We recommend checking this FAQ in regard to release dates, particularly the “Note” section.

Synced lyrics are only available to:

• Artists with Musician Plus or Ultimate accounts. 
• Songs with approved plain lyrics. So if you just uploaded some plain lyrics, just hang on while we review your lyrics. It should only take a day or so for lyrics to be reviewed.

The first step is to upload plain text lyrics at www.distrokid.com/lyrics. Once approved, you can then sync your lyrics to your songs.

For more information about where lyrics will be delivered, click here.

You can also find a quick how-to video below!

Note: If you are having trouble with playback while trying to sync your lyrics, you may want to re-try using Google Chrome if you aren't already. 

Plain Lyrics are just the plain text of your lyrics. Plain Lyrics are available in Apple, Spotify, Tidal, Google, Musixmatch and Lyricfind.

Synced lyrics are lyrics that are timed to your music. On platforms that support synced lyrics, like Instagram, Apple Music, Spotify and TIDAL, your fans will see your lyrics scroll in time with your song for the best sing along / Instagram story experience.

Note: Synced Lyrics are only available on Musician Plus and Ultimate subscriptions. 

DistroKid makes it easy to get your lyrics into iTunes and Apple Music. 

To visit your lyrics dashboard within your account:

1. Select the "Goodies" menu in the top right
2. Select "Enhance your music"
3. Select "Lyrics"

Here, you'll be able to submit and manage your Plain Lyrics. If you have a Musician Plus or Ultimate subscription, you can also submit your Synced Lyrics under this dashboard.

Please ensure your lyrics comply with the guidelines below

• Apple music guidelines
• MusixMatch guidelines

Once you submit Plain Lyrics, it takes around 2-3 business days for them to go live in streaming services like:

• Apple Music
• Spotify
• MusixMatch
• LyricFind,
• etc.
• Learn more about where your lyrics are distributed.

Please note that Synced Lyrics may take several weeks to be available in stores that support Synced Lyrics.

Ya sure can!

1. Sign into DistroKid
2. Click the "Goodies" menu in the upper right
3. Click "Enhance your music"
4. Click "Credits"

Your credits will be delivered to all streaming services who currently accept them.

If it's your first time adding credits, the system will first ask you to list a songwriter. Because songwriters are important, and every song should have one.

 

You can add Producer credits to your releases at any time by visiting your Credits page, even if your release is already live in stores!

To do so, just head to the album page of the release you wish to edit. Click on "Credits" 

From the credits page, click the "Add New..." dropdown menu and select "Producer." 

After you have selected the Producer credit type, you can choose a specific type of producer in the following drop down. For simplicities sake, I chose just "Producer". After you have selected these fields, you can go ahead and enter your Producer's name. You can also optionally add their email (producer emails will not be shown on streaming services).

DistroKid is capable of sending an extreme amount of detailed metadata to streaming services. Which is awesome!

More info here.

Some streaming services can handle it all. Others only have the capability to accept a small portion for now—but likely more in the future.

We'll monitor each streaming partner, and continuously update them with the maximum amount of metadata they can handle at any time. Most are starting with songwriters and producers.

Please note that credits may take 1-2 weeks to appear in any services that accept them.

Good news! Streaming services are starting to give credit where it's due. That means, among other things, showing who wrote every song. 

Typically, songwriters are listed using real names--not stage names or rapper names or band names.

Don't worry if you use a stage name--your real name won't be displayed prominently as an artist name or anything, but it will be displayed when a listener views the credits or lyrics of a song.

For example, see the 2 Chainz the song "Bigger Than You (feat. Drake & Quavo)" on Spotify (here). As you would expect, the artist names are listed as:

• 2 Chainz

• Drake

• Quavo

However, if you look at the credits for that song on Spotify (here's how), you'll notice those artists' real names are listed as songwriters. Their real names are, respectively:

• Tauheed Epps

• Aubrey Graham

• Quavious Marshall

See screenshot from Spotify, below.







 

Yes.

The reason is that we have no way of confirming that the original songwriter is getting paid their legally-required share--unless we're the ones paying them.

Not opting covers into DistroKid's cover song licensing program can lead to streaming services taking down your content--or worse--songwriters taking legal action. And nobody wants that.

Yes!

Though, keep in mind, you'll need to purchase the cover license again for the cover that is being included on the album.

You must purchase a DistroKid cover license each and every time you upload a cover song to DistroKid.

If you upload the same cover song twice, you need to select the “Cover Song” option both times, essentially buying two licenses. That’s how our system knows to deduct the songwriter’s share of earnings from your earnings (for both uploads of that song, in this example). Furthermore, DistroKid licenses apply only to content directly distributed by DistroKid, and cannot be used for any purposes outside of DistroKid.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your song would be covered under the compulsory mechanical license.

For more information about purchasing cover licenses through DistroKid, please check out this article.

DistroKid can help with covers. DistroKid cannot help with samples.

What's the difference?

Sampling

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 legal, unless you have permission from the original artist or owner of the copyright. 

Cover Song

A cover song is a song that you performed & recorded yourself, but the music was written by someone else. For example, when your band plays "Smooth Criminal" (written by Michael Jackson). This is totally okay—DistroKid makes it easy and legal to sell cover songs. Just select "Someone else wrote it" in the "Songwriter" section of the DistroKid upload form. You'll find pricing and more info, there.



 

Yes! 

Just log in to your account and click on your Profile Icon in the top right. From there, click "Cover song licenses" to view your existing licenses.