MANYA MASIWAL
DIY Digital Music Distribution : A guide for independent musicians
With physical sales of records declining with the acceleration of technology in the music industry , distributing music has never been easier . Gone are the days when artists had to depend on record labels and their manufacturing and distribution ( M & D ) deal to release their music on streaming services . Digital distribution of music has become accessible and a lot of independent artists are making it big in the industry by DIY-ing their way into fame .
If you are an independent musician , you would love to know that the well-known American hip-hop artist Chance the Rapper became the first-ever musician to win a Grammy in 2017 without selling any physical copies of his music . The future of music is digital , and here ’ s a guide for independent musicians to the world of music distribution :
How to choose a music distribution platform
You should choose a platform that would be able to accommodate your music vision and is the best bet for your career plans . All these platforms let you keep the rights to your music . There are a lot of paid and free services to choose from and these are some factors you should consider before choosing a platform :
• Whether you want 100 % royalties from your music
• How many streaming services you would like your music to be distributed to
• How much you can spend on a single / album release
• What your marketing / promotion plans are for your music
When you have an answer for all the four factors you need to see what services / plans serve your best interest .
Paid platforms like Distro Kid , CD Baby , Tune Core provide these services :
• Distribution of your music to over 150 stores
• You will receive 100 % royalties on your music
• Approval and release time is way less than free services ( 3 days to a week )
• You can customise your release date
• You get a Hyperfollow Link ie . links to all the streaming platforms on one landing page .
• Pre-save link for your music
• Verified Spotify and Apple Music for artists
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These services either have per year charges ( $ 19.99 / year for Distrokid ) with an opportunity to release unlimited music or per song charges ($ 9.99 / single for CD Baby ). They also have additional costs for getting a Youtube Content ID ( $ 5 / song on Distrokid ), which is recommended for established artists .
Free platforms like Novecore , Routecore , Symphonic provide these services :
• Distribution of your music to 15-38 stores
• You will receive 85 % royalties on your music
• Approval and release may take up to weeks ( 28 days )
These free platforms are equally trusted but they don ’ t provide customer service or as many services as the paid options . Some platforms like Novecore and Amuse also have freemium models where a musician can upgrade their plan from free to pro after paying a certain fee . ($ 5 / month for Novecore )
For artists who are not technologically well-versed , Amuse has an easy to use mobile application where music can be distributed for free .
How to upload your releases to these platforms
Music distribution services are primarily responsible for keeping a check on your streaming data and royalty payouts . For them to upload your music on streaming services they ask you for some details along with your audio file ( mp3 or wav ) which are called the metadata of your music .
The metadata includes :
• Name of the artist ( s )
• Title ( of album or single )
• Release date of your music
• Songwriters / Contributors
• Genre
• Composer information
• Artist bio
You should always search for tags and keywords people use in their metadata to get more reach for their music . You will also be asked to select the platforms you want your music to be distributed to . Make sure you choose as many platforms as possible especially Indian services like JioSaavn and Hungama because their userbase is dense and there is not a lot of competition from foreign artists which is not the case for platforms like Spotify , Apple Music and Pandora .