Store Specific

For new releases, you can enter your Instagram and Facebook profile information to link your tracks to your profiles. For more information on linking new releases, please check out this article.

For existing releases, please reach out to us directly to submit a request to have your music linked to your Instagram profile.

Once we receive the request, we can send an update to Instagram directly to have your existing content linked to your profile. 

If your recordings contain any audio you didn’t create yourself, they are, unfortunately, not eligible to be sent to Facebook or Instagram. 

Facebook/Instagram are really serious about this stuff. Recordings that contain the following are not eligible:

• Production loops
• SoundBeds
• Sound Effects, nature/wildlife sounds
• Sound alike/karaoke recordings 
• Public Domain sound recordings
• Film scores with sampled instrumentation 
• Meditation, Yoga, or sleep music 
• DJ sets or continuous mixes 
• Non- music samples (podcasts, spoken word, speeches)

With DistroKid, you can send your music to Facebook and Instagram, so that your work is available for fans to use in Stories and Reels!

When you have your music on Facebook and Instagram, you can also make sure that your own Facebook/Instagram profiles are linked to your music there, so that fans can find your artist profile there.

To link your Facebook and Instagram profiles, you can enter your Facebook and Instagram URL's on the upload form when uploading your release:

How do I get my Facebook and Instagram URL's?

For Instagram, your profile URL is https://instagram.com/YOURINSTAGRAMHANDLE

If your handle on Instagram is @Artistname, your Instagram URL would be:
https://instagram.com/Artistname

For Facebook, your url is https://facebook.com/YOURUSERNAME

Within Facebook, you can retrieve and/or edit your Username for your artist page by clicking on your profile icon in the top right, clicking on "Settings and Privacy", then clicking "Settings". Here, you'll be on the General Page Settings tab, which allows you to retrieve or edit your existing Facebook URL for your Facebook Artist profile. 

Here's how to find your music on Instagram:

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. DistroKid's fixer tool can help!

Before we can submit a separation request...

We need to determine whose artist page is whose. Head over to the page where your music is currently being hosted. Check to make sure you have the earliest release on the artist pages in services where you are experiencing mis-mapped releases.

If you do not have the oldest release on your page...

This indicates that you were accidentally mapped to another user's page and you can actually use the fixer to request a new page! Here's how to request a new artist page:

1. Visit https://distrokid.com/fixer
2. Select "My music is on the incorrect page"
3. Select the service where you are incorrectly mapped
   • Please submit multiple requests if its wrong in more than one service
   • If your release is incorrectly mapped in Spotify or Apple Music / iTunes, skip to step 5
4. Select the release that is incorrectly mapped
5. Select the Artist that is incorrectly mapped
   • If your release is incorrectly mapped in Spotify or Apple Music / iTunes, skip to step 7
6. Add a link to the incorrectly mapped release
7. Select whether or not you have a pre-existing artist page for the specified service
   • Selecting "No" will send a request to create a new artist page for your music
   • Selecting "Yes" will send a request to map your releases to the specified artist page
8. Click "Finished", and you're done!

If you do have the oldest release on your page...

1. Visit https://distrokid.com/fixer
2. Select "Someone else's music is incorrectly on my page"
3. Select the service where an artists music has been incorrectly mapped to your page
   • For Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube you can follow up with those services directly via the links on the fixer, as those services handle these types of artist separation requests on their end.
   • Please submit multiple requests if its wrong in more than one service
4. Enter the link to your artist page on the service you selected
5. Enter the links to all the releases that have been incorrectly mapped to your artist page.
6. Click "Finished", and you're done!

How long will it take for services to fix my mapping issues

Services typically process these requests within several days, but it can sometimes take several weeks to complete them. We won't get notification if/when it's done, so the best thing to do is just keep checking the store when you have the chance.

Note: Some stores are also capable of directly helping with mapping issues, such as Spotify and Amazon.

You can submit these requests directly through Spotify for Artists, as well as Amazon Music for Artists.

Click here for more information on how to get access to Spotify for Artists, and click here for more information on how to access Amazon Music for Artists.

We totally get it: you have set up everything about your release to be perfect, but on release date, you find out your music is on another artists profile. 😱😭

This is one of the most frustrating thing artists face in the modern landscape of streaming services. While DistroKid has set up a bunch of tools to try and get the artist page mapping correct on the first try, ultimately mapping is not something your distributor has direct control over as it is handled by services.

THAT BEING SAID, DistroKid has ALSO built some tools to help you verify your music is on the right page after submission.

To check which profiles your release will be mapped to on release day prior to your release date, you can simply request your URI's or Apple ID's using DistroKid's Spotify URI and Apple ID Looker Upper Tools! You can find these tools at the following links...

Spotify URI Looker-Upper: https://distrokid.com/uri/spotify

Apple ID Looker-Upper: https://distrokid.com/uri/apple

Let's try it out with the Spotify URI Looker Upper tool. First head over to https://distrokid.com/uri/spotify. Then, select your release from the drop down menu. I only have one release on this account so it has already been selected. Note that if you are not seeing a release, it's possible that we may not have delivered it to Spotify quite yet, please check back tomorrow!

After you have selected your release, go ahead and click on the "What's the Spotify URI" button. If your release has already been ingested by Spotify, you should see your album, track, and artist URI's

If you have multiple artists on your release you are trying to confirm are headed to the correct profiles, not to worry! All artist profiles and their roles will be listed under the "Artist:" section. Check it out!

If your release hasn't been ingested by Spotify yet, you will likely come across this screen:

Not to worry! It generally takes a day or so for Spotify to ingest releases. Your URI information will be available in the next day or so!

If this is the case, check back in the next few days. Spotify will have likely ingested your release and it will be available for URI request on this page. 

Once you have located your artist URIs / Apple IDs via the looker upper tools, make sure those artist profiles match your existing profiles in stores. You can do this by following the URLs provided on the looker upper pages, or by entering the URI directly into the Spotify search. 

If your profiles match, woohoo!! Everything has been mapped correctly, and you should be all set for release day. 

If they aren't mapped correctly, you can visit https://distrokid.com/fixer to submit a request to create a new page if needed, or move your work to your existing page if services didn't get it right off the bat. For more information on our Fixer Tool, click here.

This can occasionally happen when you upload an album that includes singles where the album has a release date later than the singles. The most recent release date per track is what Instagram looks at, so it's likely those previously live singles simply had their release date overwritten by the album release date on Instagram's end.

To get this fixed up, please submit an Instagram Resubmission Request here: Instagram Resubmissions Form

For future reference, you can avoid this by uploading the album before the singles, or by making a request to "update" the release date for the singles in DistroKid to their original release dates after uploading an album that includes those singles on it. 

It can take up to a week or so for your first DistroKid upload to go live in all streaming services. (For more information about the time it takes for releases to go live to streaming services, please check out the FAQ article, here) 

Even after your release has gone live, it may require some additional processing time before DistroKid detects your release(s) in streaming services. That said, you can still access your Spotify links prior to release by visiting https://distrokid.com/uri. Check it out!!

If you're trying to instantly verify your Spotify for Artists Profile and you see a message saying that your release has not yet been detected, please try again later or verify directly through Spotify the old fashioned way. 🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽

If you searched by artist name or release title and still cannot find your music, it is likely that one of the following has occurred: 

• Your Music may not be live yet. For more information about how long it takes a release to make it into services and go live, click here.

• Services are still indexing your artist name. Until your name is indexed, it may not appear in search, despite your music being live. Services handle this internally (we don't control search results), but it shouldn't take too long for them to index your name shortly after your release is live. This generally happens if this is the first time using your artist name.

• Your release title is too common. If you have a common song or album title, such as "Home," it may not show in search results at the top, if other releases are very popular in rank.

Music Missing in Instagram more than three weeks after submission?

Sometimes stuff will appear in streaming services before it has fully processed. If you’re ever worried about something, we recommend giving it 48-72 hours or so to sort itself out.

From the time you upload, it can take 1-2 business days for your release to be reviewed, approved, and sent to streaming services. Then the streaming services have additional processing time on their end before they push your release live.

For more information about the time it takes for releases to go live to streaming services once approved, please check out the FAQ article here.

Delays are rare, but they do happen, and are often out of our control. Please double check this article in regard to release dates--Particularly the "Note" section.

Each streaming service has their own style guide--the way in which they show information. 

When you upload music to DistroKid, we reformat the data & deliver it separately to each services, complying with each services' style guide.

Below is an example of how featured artists look differently in Apple Music vs Spotify.

Apple Music: 

Spotify: 

DistroKid's Musician Plus and Ultimate accounts give you access to Estimated Daily Stats from Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and Amazon.

Sometimes, the numbers in Daily Stats differ somewhat from the figures shown in your monthly earnings statements. They may even drop to zero on occasion. Have no fear! ​That's normal, usual, and nothing to be concerned about.

It's generally an issue with how the streaming services are reporting to DistroKid (API), and these types of issues generally clear up within 24 hours or so.

Also, it's important to remember that estimated stats come from a completely different system than earnings reports, and any fluctuations will have absolutely no affect on your actual earnings from streams/sales.

There was an issue that may have prevented your release from being on the correct artist page.

The good news is that there's an easy fix!

You can head to https://distrokid.com/fixer and enter your correct Spotify Artist URI to lock that into your account and ensure that all previous and future uploads are mapped to the correct artist page.

Even if your release has already been moved to the correct page, following the steps below will ensure that all of your existing and future uploads are put on the same artist page.

Step 1: Find your Spotify Artist URI

• Click the three dots under your artist name on your correct artist page
• Go to the Share menu
• Select 'Copy Spotify URI' from the second menu

Note:If you're on Spotify's Desktop application, you'll see that the sharing options in the context menu have been reduced to Copy Link and Copy embed code. You can still copy Spotify URIs if you hold down the modifier key (Alt/Ctrl) in the share menu:

Step 2: Head to https://distrokid.com/fixer

With your correct URI, you can use DistroKid's Fixer tool to make sure all of your music is mapped to the correct artist page.

Follow the settings below:

There's no need to specify an individual release, as this will ensure that ALL releases from the same artist are mapped correctly to the right URI.

Spotify typically takes up to 5 days to process these requests.

Note: If you've previously made a request to see your URI at https://distrokid.com/uri/spotify, that page will not update, even after Spotify has mapped your music to the correct URI. Nothing to worry about!

On the Spotify mobile app

1. Tap on the "Now Playing View" on a song.
2. While listening, swipe up from the bottom of the screen.
3. You'll see track lyrics that scroll in real time as the song is playing!
4. To share, simply tap the "Share" button at the bottom of the lyrics screen and then select
   the lyrics you want to share--and where you want to share it-via third-party platforms.

On the Spotify desktop app

1. From the "Now Playing" bar, click on the microphone icon while a song is playing.
2. Voila! You'll see track lyrics that scroll in real time while the song plays.

On the SpotifyTV app

1. Open the "Now Playing View" on a song.
2. Navigate to the right corner to the "lyrics button" and select if you want to enable Lyrics.
3. Once enabled, you'll see the lyrics in the "Now Playing" View.

You can check out Spotify's FAQ article on this here: https://support.spotify.com/us/article/lyrics/

In order for your release to show up under upcoming in your Spotify for Artists account it will need to be in Spotify's system at least one week before the release date.

We recommend uploading your release to DistroKid at least two weeks prior to your release date if you want a song to be available to pitch to Spotify's editors for playlist consideration.*

If you've uploaded your release with a future release date and it's still not showing up under upcoming it could be a mapping issue, where your music is mixed up with another artist's music.

If services ever put anything on the wrong page, you can always use our fixer tool to get things mapped correctly, but you can also reach out to us via our contact form with a link to your Spotify Artist URI and we can check to make sure that Spotify has your upcoming release(s) mapped to the correct page.

You also can’t pitch if you’re a featured artist on the song, so if it's a collaboration make sure you are listed as a primary artist on the release.

Check out this article for more info on how to setup a collaboration.

*Note: You have to have to have a Plus or Ultimate subscription in order to setup custom, future release dates.

Some users have difficulties verifying new Spotify for Artists accounts if they already have access for a different artist on their account. We can help!

When you are logged in to the Spotify for Artists portal:

• In the upper left corner, click on the 3 dots next to your artist name
• At the bottom left corner, you will see your account information. Click the up arrow “^” to expand it
• In this expanded panel, click on “Add Team,”
• Follow the instructions and input your artist URI when prompted.

You can find your Artist URI by checking out this article.

Uploading your music and getting paid from Spotify through DistroKid is super easy. In fact, we're one of Spotify's preferred partners!

In addition to making it easy to get your music on Spotify, DistroKid also makes it incredibly easy to receive earnings from Spotify! You'll keep 100% of your revenue from Spotify (and all other store partners we work with!) when using DistroKid. 

To get started:
1. Create a DistroKid account!

2. Select your preferred DistroKid subscription plan! Keep in mind, the Musician Plus and Ultimate plans come with tons of awesome features, including daily stats and custom release dates.

3. Head to the upload form to upload your work! On the upload form, just make sure that Spotify is selected from our list of partners.

4. Once your music has been listed and is live on Spotify, you can verify and access your Spotify for Artists account from within your DistroKid account too!

That's it. It really is that easy!

Apple offers a variety of audio formats and quality standards that they indicate to listeners using various badges. Let's take a look at what each badge means and how you can qualify your music for Apple's listening features and standards.

Lossless Audio

For much of music streaming history, audio had to be compressed so that the large file sizes of the audio files could be played back in realtime on slower connections. As mobile internet has gotten faster, and bandwidth has increased, services have been able to offer uncompressed, full quality masters for your listening enjoyment! The Lossless Audio badge on Apple Music indicates that you are listening to an effectively uncompressed audio file that delivers the full fidelity of the original recording exactly as the artist, mixing engineers, and mastering engineers intended. 

How do I get the Lossless Audio badge on Apple Music?

It's simple! Absolutely every release that is delivered to Apple with a lossless codec is opted in automatically to Lossless Audio playback and will have the Lossless badge. All you need to do is upload a lossless audio file format to DistroKid when you upload your music. Lossless file formats include: FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF

Hi-Res Lossless

Remember all that stuff about lossless audio? Well Hi-Res Lossless audio is just that but even more hi resolution. This badge lets listeners know that the audio file they are hearing is at least 24bit and has a sample rate higher than 48khz! Talk about hi-def!

How do I get the Hi-Res Lossless Audio badge on Apple Music?

The same as with Lossless Audio, every release that is delivered to Apple with a lossless codec is opted in automatically to Lossless Audio playback and will have the Lossless badge. To get the "Hi-Res" designation, all you need to do is upload a hi resolution lossless audio file format to DistroKid when you upload your music. In order to be considered "Hi-res", your lossless audio file must be at least 24bit and have a sample rate higher than 48khz. You can use the same lossless audio formats: FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF

Dolby Atmos

You have heard of stereo, but have you heard of... ULTRA STEREO? 

...nah, but for real, Dolby Atmos is a new audio playback format that creates a three-dimensional, immersive sound experience. You can read more about Dolby Atmos here:  https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403029574675 

How do I get the Dolby Atmos badge on Apple Music?

In order to get the Dolby Atmos badge, you first have to upload a compatible Dolby Atmos mix for your work. You can learn how to create a Dolby Atmos mix of your music here:https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4405783945363

Once you have a Dolby Atmos mix, it's easy to upload your Dolby Atmos content to DistroKid. Artists can add a Dolby Atmos version of their mix per track for $26.99 each - it will be available on supported devices and streaming services including Apple Music and Tidal. Just make sure to select "Yes" under the "Dolby Atmos/Spatial audio" section of the upload form.

Apple Digital Masters

Apple Digital Masters (formerly 'Mastered for iTunes') allows you to deliver high-resolution masters with the highest quality audio to Apple. You can learn more about it here: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013534534

How do I get the Apple Digital Master badge on Apple Music?

If you already have your music mastered via an approved Apple Digital Masters mastering house, let us know by selecting "Apple Digital Masters (MFiT)" on our contact form, and we can enable you to upload this audio with the Apple Digital Masters designation. 

Uploading your music and getting paid from Apple Music through DistroKid is super easy. In fact, we are one of Apple's preferred partners!

In addition to making it easy to get your music on Apple Music and iTunes, DistroKid also makes it incredibly easy to receive earnings from Apple! You'll keep 100% of your revenue from Apple Music/iTunes (and all other store partners we work with!) when using DistroKid.

To get started:
1. Create a DistroKid account!

2. Select your preferred DistroKid subscription plan! Keep in mind, the Musician Plus and Ultimate plans come with tons of awesome features, including daily stats and custom release dates.

3. Head to the upload form to upload your work! On the upload form, just make sure that Apple Music is selected from our list of partners.

4. Once you have at least one live release on your Apple Artist Page, you can register for Apple Music for Artists and claim your page at https://distrokid.com/am4a.

That's it. It really is that easy!

Pre-adds allows your fans to listen to one or more songs on Apple Music from an Album or EP before it is available for sale on iTunes. Bonus points, this also automatically adds the Album or EP to their library once it is available for sale.

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Pre-add is only available for EPs and Albums where at least one track has been opted into Instant Gratification. For more information on Apple's requirements for pre-add, check out this article: https://itunespartner.apple.com/music/articles/rights-and-pricing_pre-adds-for-apple-music

For more information on how to opt into an Instant Gratification track on iTunes (which you need to do in order to use pre-add) check out this article: https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013647873

ROCK ON 🤘🏼

Yes!

Apple Digital Masters (formerly 'Mastered for iTunes') allows you to deliver high-resolution masters with the highest quality audio to Apple. 

Make sure your audio is a 24-bit resolution WAV file, with a sample rate of 44.1kHz or higher. By encoding from high-resolution masters, Apple music engineers are able to capture all of the detail of a recording in a size that is convenient for streaming and downloading. Using 24-bit files means less noise and higher encoding efficiency, making your uploads virtually indistinguishable from the original master recordings.
To enable Apple Digital Masters on your account, click here.

Once enabled, you'll be asked to enter the email address of your Apple-approved Apple Digital Masters mastering house on the upload form.

Note: All former Mastered for iTunes songs will continue to be available under the Apple Digital Masters program

Congrats! This means that your album has been successfully delivered to iTunes, and they're in the process of making it live in all iTunes stores across the world. Albums sometimes go live in your country after a few hours, and sometimes a few days. Only thing to do now is wait.

There's nothing else DistroKid needs to do at this point, as your album is safely in Apple's hands now. 

A note regarding pre-orders on iTunes:

iTunes links default to Apple Music on mobile, where the release won't be available until the actual release date.

You'll still be able to find your pre-order in the mobile and desktop versions of iTunes, though.

You can also try adding ?app=itunes to the end of your iTunes link, which may help force mobile devices to check iTunes directly, rather than Apple Music.

iTunes Match is a service where music fans pay Apple $25/year to be able to upload their entire music collection to the Apple cloud and stream it from Apple's cloud to any device. Music fans can even upload & stream music they didn't buy from iTunes.

Artists like you get paid every time one of these subscribers streams one of your songs. 

There are two reasons why iTunes Match is great for artists:

1) Artists get paid every time a fan streams their song -- even if the fan already bought the song. In this case, it's like the artist is getting paid twice (once for the download, once for the stream).

2) In the event that a fan downloaded your song illegally or through some other means where they didn't pay for it -- the artist still gets paid every time that song is streamed by an iTunes Match subscriber. Which is cool.

 

Claiming your Official Artist Channel on YouTube is quick and easy when you use DistroKid.

How to claim your YouTube Official Artist Channel:

1. Make sure you already have a channel dedicated to your content as an artist on YouTube, and that this channel has artist content uploaded to it. If not, please create one, and name it after your artist name.* 
   
   Note that you can apply for a blank, new channel to be designated as an Official Artist Channel, but if there is no existing, independent content on that channel, the request may take longer to process.
   
   
2. Make sure your artist has at least one release that has selected "YouTube Music" as a streaming service within DistroKid.
   
   
3. Go to the YouTube Official Artist Channel section of your DistroKid account. To get there:
   
   - Click the DistroKid Features Menu in the upper right
   - Select "Special access"
   - Select  "YouTube Official Artist Channel"
   
   
4. Select the artist you want to associate with your YouTube channel.
   
   
5. Authenticate into your YouTube account.
   
   
6. Claim your channel!
   
   
7. Done!

*A few notes:

• You can only link one artist to a YouTube account. A label channel cannot be converted to an Official Artist Channel.
• Your Channel name must match your artist name in order to apply for an OAC.
• The entirety of applying for an Official Artist Channel is generally quick, though it can take anywhere from a few days, to a few weeks. Please allow up to 6 weeks for your channel to be designated as an Official Artist Channel. 

---

Once your Official Artist Channel is approved, you'll have access to some exciting new features on YouTube, including:

• Increased visibility through YouTube search
• Access to artist specific tools and analytics in YouTube Studio
• The ability to update your YouTube Music pic & bio
• Exclusive access to data and analytics through YouTube Analytics for Artist
• A verified music note next to your channel name

Here’s a video from YouTube with some additional info about what it means when DistroKid helps you qualify for an Official Artist Channel:

Enjoy!

As an artist, if you distribute your work to YouTube via DistroKid, we send your work to YouTube Music. YouTube Music is a music streaming service.

When you distribute your work to YouTube Music, your music also generates what are called Art Tracks, which are still image, audio only releases that populate a Topic Channel. Topic Channels show exactly what your YouTube Music Artist Profile has available for streaming. The only difference is that Topic Channels are available on YouTube's main website, whereas your artist profile is available on YouTube Music. 

You're paid for each monetized play of your music. A "monetized" play is when YouTube displays an ad on the video, or when a YouTube Music paying subscriber listens (in which case you're paid, pro-rata, based on how much they're paying and what percentage of the time they listened to your tracks). 

YouTube Music is currently available in the US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Canada, Norway, Ireland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and South Korea, and will be available anywhere YouTube has a subscription music service as new territories are supported. If you're trying to play YouTube Music Art Track videos from outside of these supported territories, you may see a message that the content is not available.

Here's some more information: 

http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2014/11/youtube-music-2014.html

http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/12/7201969/youtube-music-key-new-subscription-service

YouTube Creator Music gets your release added to the YouTube Creator Music Library where other YouTube creators can buy a license to use your music in their video. This feature is included with the annually charged DistroKid Album Extra YouTube Content ID.

Note: If you have existing releases with YouTube Content ID, these releases are not currently included in YouTube Creator Music. You can opt into YouTube Creator Music for previous releases with Content ID by heading to your album page, and navigating to the album extras section. YouTube Creator Music should be listed as a free add-on from your album page under that extras section.

How it works: 

• First, opt-into YouTube Content ID + YouTube Creator Music in the DistroKid upload form while creating or editing a release. You'll see pricing information there; the price is per release (album or single).
• Once you’ve opted in, DistroKid will send your release to the YouTube Creator Music Library. This is YouTube’s database where creators can search for your music and buy a license to use it in their video. 
• When a YouTube creator buys a license to use your music, the license fee (minus 20%) goes to you. These earnings will be shown in your DistroKid “Bank” tab.
• The License is a non exclusive license. This means you can sell multiple licenses for the same release.
• The License Fee varies based on the subscriber count of the YouTube creator buying the license:
  

Channel Subscribers / License Cost

1k - 100k / $9.99 per license

100k - 500k / $24.99

500k - 5m / $39.99

5m+ / $74.99

A few important notes: 

• The license fee is split 50-50 with publishers. If you have a publishing administrator, they will collect 50% and DistroKid will collect the other 50%
• If you have a publishing administrator and they have a fees structure for your compositions, the higher of the two license fees will be used.
• If a YouTube creator buys a license to use your music in their video, that video is no longer claimable with Content ID. You get the license fee and they get the rights to collect the ad revenue from the video.
• If a user generated video uses your music that has YouTube Creator Music included on your DistroKid submission, but the video creator does not purchase a license, Content ID will still place a claim on your behalf for that video.
• The License Usage is for a single video only. This means a license is purchased per video and cannot be reused for a different video. 
• The License Duration is in perpetuity. This means the license is good for as long as the video is up on YouTube. 
• The Territorial Usage for the license is worldwide. This means anyone around the world can buy a license to use your music. (This also depends on the feature territorial availability determined by YouTube)

For more information about YouTube's Creator Music program from Google/YouTube, click here.

YouTube Content ID is an annually charged DistroKid Album Extra that gets you paid when other people use your music in their YouTube videos.

Here's how it works:

• First, opt-into YouTube Content ID in the DistroKid upload form. You'll see pricing information there. Price is per release (album or single). You can also opt-in a release after it's been uploaded to DistroKid, if you prefer.

• Once you've opted in, DistroKid will add your music to YouTube's Content ID database. This is YouTube's system that's able to identify when your music appears in any YouTube video. Here's a video that explains Content ID. 

• When YouTube detects your music in a video, monetization (ads) will be turned-on for that video. If there is a text or banner ad on the YouTube video with your music in it and the watcher clicks on the text or banner, or if there is a commercial before or after the video and the watcher watches up to 30 seconds or the entire commercial, ad revenue is collected.

• The ad revenue (minus 20%) will go to you, instead of the person who uploaded the video. These earnings will be shown in your DistroKid "Bank" tab.

If you opt into YouTube Content ID but want to allow specific videos to use your music without Content ID claims, you can do so here.

If you have existing music on YouTube Music, you can head to your YouTube Music artist profile to retrieve your Artist URL. YouTube Music is located at https://music.youtube.com/. 

Once there, you can search for your artist name in the search feature located on the upper menu bar:

After you have located your YouTube Music Artist Page, you can find your YouTube Music Artist URL by clicking on the three dots next to your artist name and clicking the "Share" option:

You should see a dialog box and you can click the "Copy" button. 

Your URL should look something like this: https://music.youtube.com/channel/EXAMPLEURL

No. If a YouTube creator buys a license to use your music in their video, that video is no longer claimable with Content ID. You get the license fee and they get the rights to collect the ad revenue from the video.

It's easy to copy a link to your favorite tunes on Anghami. First, search for the song, album, or artist for which you wish to get the URL. Next...

1. Click to the three dots next to the artist name/album/track title
2. Click 'Share'
3. Click “Copy” 

Now you have the URL in your clipboard!

To claim your artist page on Anghami, please go to artists.anghami.com and follow the steps below:

1. Go to artists.anghami.com,
2. Click on ‘Claim your Profile’,
3. Search for your Artist Name or using your Artist Link, click Go,
4. Select it from the dropdown,
5. Review your artist information and click Next,
6. Enter your First Name and Last Name (as written on your passport),
7. Enter your Email and Phone Number,
8. Enter your Password. (at least 6 characters and 2 numbers)
9. You will receive an email verification in your inbox. Don’t forget to check your Spam folder as well. Click on the link inside it to verify your email,
10. Enter the code you receive by SMS to verify your phone number,
11. Click ‘Claim my Profile’.

Your claim submission will be reviewed within 2 working days and you will be notified of your account status via email.

You will get automatic verification when you claim your Anghami artist profile and create a dashboard account.

Learn how to claim your Anghami profile here: https://support.anghami.com/hc/en-us/articles/1260806760170-How-to-claim-my-artist-profile

If you have an Anghami dashboard account, you can check out Anghami’s Playlist Pitching tool by logging in and going to Content Promotion > Pitch to Playlist, and selecting the track you would like to curate.

Their team will check it out for possible curation and notify you via an automated email in case the song was added to one of Anghami’s playlists. 

In case you don’t have a dashboard account, you can send your pitching request to artistsupport@anghami.com. 

Yes!

We can distribute your work to Soundtrack by Twitch, and Pretzel. Both are services that allow streamers to share music on stream. Each store front offers something a little different for their audience, and we'll highlight those differences below. 

Twitch has their own music service called Soundtrack by Twitch, which gives artists the ability to potentially get their music played on Twitch streams.

You can find more details about this service in Twitch's FAQ, here:
https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/soundtrack

For streamers, Soundtrack by Twitch operates as an artist or genre radio station. 

Please note: Soundtrack by Twitch is curated. We are more than happy to submit your work there, but there is no guarantee that your work will be listed. 

We also distribute to Pretzel, which is a service that allows streamers to choose exactly what they want to listen to, when they want to listen to it. 

You can find more details and frequently asked questions about Pretzel here:
https://help.pretzel.rocks/pretzel#faq

If you want your work to be distributed to Pretzel, please reach out to us via our Contact Form, and we can enable Pretzel submissions on your account. You can request access to Pretzel by clicking on "My Music" on that contact form, and then select "Opt In Services".

Pretzel also requires that artists fill out this form after their work has been submitted there, for full rights clearance. 

To send your music to Twitch, just select "Soundtrack by Twitch" and "Pretzel" on the DistroKid upload form.



To add previous releases to Twitch:

1. Sign into DistroKid
2. Go to your album page
3. Click your album (or single)
4. Click "Add to more stores"
5. Select "Twitch" and/or "Pretzel" from the list that populates.

Also! If you have a Twitch channel, you can link that channel to your music. That way, Twitch will link to your Twitch channel (and your Spotify page) whenever your music is streamed. To do this, visit: http://distrokid.com/twitch-connect.

One more important note: Cover songs are not eligible for Soundtrack by Twitch at this time. 

We'll try to keep this page up-to-date as more announcements are made about these services. Stay tuned!

DistroKid and Twitch have partnered to offer qualifying DistroKid artists more opportunities to grow their communities and earn money from music. Streaming on Twitch lets artists interact directly with their fans in a shared, live experience like nowhere else.

Through our partnership, DistroKid artists have the opportunity to be considered for joining The Collective. Artists selected by Twitch for the program will get ongoing support from Twitch, and be eligible for prioritized discovery, promotion, and activations from Twitch, Discord, and other industry partners. 

Twitch has all the info you need to go live, build your community and earn money doing what you love.

Apply to join The Collective today!

Notes: Currently, this program is only open to artists who live in the US or Canada and who are 18+.

Need more help? Join the Twitch Music Assist community on Discord for advice from Twitch music creators on hardware, software and setting up your channel.