Hey! Are you eager to learn about the top music distribution services? Stop scrolling. In this post, we will consider the Best Music Distribution services. Whether you are an independent artist seeking the best services or someone who wants to know them, we have covered you.
Music fills our souls with emotions. Whatever the emotion, music always seems relatable. We can’t imagine our lives without music. It’s an addiction for everyone, be it spiritual, inspirational, or uplifting music. There is a famous quote from the Greek philosopher Plato,
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”
Well, have you ever thought about how music reaches the audiences? Would it be possible without music distribution services? Let’s understand it, once music is recorded and mastered, music distribution comes into play. Music distribution allows the music to reach listeners via different platforms. There have been free and paid services that offer music distribution services.
We have compiled a list of the Top 15 services you should know. Let’s move on to the list and learn about these services without further ado. Here we go.
1- Amuse
Amuse is a renowned music distribution platform. Entrepreneurs Diego Farias, Jimmy Brodd, Guy Parry, Andreas Ahlenius, and Christian Wilson founded Amuse in 2015.
The most exciting thing about Amuse is that it allows artists to keep 100% royalties. It offers free music distribution without third-party involvement, the artists get the advantage of having more control over their music.
Amuse lets artists get insights into their music performance on different streaming services. It distributes music to thirty-five prominent streaming platforms like Apple Music, SoundCloud, and Spotify.
Apart from that, The pro version of Amuse offers faster distribution, and advanced features than the free version.
2- TuneCore
TuneCore is an outstanding platform that was established in 2006. Jeff Price, Gary Burke, and Peter Wells founded the music distribution company. In 2015, digital music company Believe acquired TuneCore.
It offers music distribution across two hundred-plus countries. The platform is best known for its wide distribution service, it distributes music to 150 streaming services and digital stores.
TuneCore allows artists to keep complete ownership of their music. Its headquarters are in Brooklyn and the company has extended its existence in countries like the UK, Australia, and India.
TuneCore’s YouTube Sound Recording service was also oriented to collect revenue for artists. It boasts sync licensing for television and film. Moreover, your music has to meet TuneCore Standards if you want to publish through it.
3- DistroKid
Philip J. Kaplan founded the digital music distribution company DistroKid in 2012. It is one of the leading services. DistroKid has an annual subscription fee, allowing the artists to release unlimited music with the yearly plan.
The platform is artist-friendly and better for those who release more music yearly. It has an automatic split feature for easy sharing of revenues among collaborating artists.
It is popular for distributing music on Spotify, Amazon Music, Snapchat, YouTube Music, TikTok, Tidal, Instagram, Pandora, Facebook, Deezer, iHeartRadio, and iTunes.
DistroKid doesn’t offer a free trial period. So it is difficult for aspiring artists. For new artists, paying an annual subscription can be costly. It offers only digital distribution of music.
4- CD Baby
Next up on the list is the independent music distributor, CD Baby. Derek Sivers established CD Baby in 1998. It not only offers digital distribution but also physical distribution and sync licensing.
The Portland-based company expanded its presence in India in 2019 with Ritnika Nayan. Get your music to various streaming services like Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, TikTok, and Spotify.
CD Baby stopped its physical distribution services and continued the digital distribution only from June 2023. Artists have to pay a one-time fee per release for their music.
An add-on CD Baby Pro Publishing was launched for managing composition rights and revenues. Moreover, the company possesses HearNow, Illustrated Sound Network, and Show. co.
5- AWAL
AWAL is a renowned platform founded by Denzyl Feigelson, Kevin Bacon, and Jonathan Quarmby. It offers music performance insights, sync licensing, A&R, brand partnerships, playlist promotion, and more.
The platform allows artists to keep 80% of royalties and it keeps the 15%. Unlike other services, AWAL is particular about the artists who can join it. Artists have to be approved by AWAL, not everyone can sign up.
Kobalt Music acquired the company in 2012. In 2021, Sony Music Entertainment acquired AWAL from Kobalt Music. Lil Peep, Djo, Laura Marling, and Deadmau5 are a few notable artists who used the platform.
Billboard named AWAL on the 2018 Digital Power Players-Music Groups list and the 2023 International Power Players list.
6- Ditto Music
Lee Parsons and Matt Parsons founded the music distribution platform Ditto Music in 2005. It also offers other services including playlist pitching, PR, and social media.
Ditto Music lets artists keep 100% of royalties to their music. It distributes music to over 160 streaming services like iTunes, Deezer, Spotify, Apple Music, Vevo, and Beatport.
Artists can also release music videos to services like Vevo through Ditto Music. Renowned artists such as DJ Tracey, Ed Sheeran, and Jaz Karis began their careers with the platform.
7- Record Union
With Record Union, artists can distribute their music to platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, iTunes, Soundcloud, Tidal, YouTube Music, and Beatport. Most importantly, artists can select the platforms they want.
Record Union allows artists to keep one hundred percent of royalties. Not only this, but it also offers split royalties with collaborators.
Artists can also decide how long they want their music distributed to selected services. Record Union offers Smart Links from Linkfire to promote music through a link.
The platform has a renewal fee for music, after a year artists have to pay the cost for each release. Other than that, it only offers digital distribution services.
8- ONErpm
ONErpm is one of the most popular music distribution services. Matthew Olim and Emmanue Zunz founded ONErpm in 2010. It offers free music distribution services to prominent digital platforms like Google Music, iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, and YouTube.
ONErpm has selective premium features, it allows artists with impressive fanbase to use superior promotional tools.
It allows artists to keep 85% of the royalties of their music. Besides, ONErpm offers royalty management tools for splitting revenues among collaborators. The company has more than forty offices in multiple countries.
Apart from distribution, the platform offers social media marketing, press releases, analytics, and playlist pitching.
9- LANDR
The next one is none other than the cloud-based platform, LANDR. The artificial intelligence company MixGenius developed it for automated mastering services.
LANDR provides mastering, distribution, and production services in a single platform. Sounds interesting. Artists can distribute their music to over 150 digital streaming services through LANDR.
The platform offers multiple VSTs and plug-ins for DAWs, from free, to on-rent to subscription-based. It also provides collaborative tools for better collab experiences with other artists.
Besides, LANDR allows artists to use tools like Sessions, Projects, and Video Conferencing. Users can create and manage their profiles and promote their work to get the best deals.
10- FreshTunes
FreshTunes was founded in 2015. It allows artists to keep 100% of royalties to their music. It is a good choice for independent artists as it offers free unlimited distribution.
With unlimited distribution on TikTok and Instagram, Artists can distribute their music to various platforms like Spotify, Yandex Music, Apple Music, Tidal, and Deezer.
Real-time statistics can help artists to better analyze their music performance. It also offers Smartlinks to promote the music.
However, artists can’t get offers like social media marketing, promotional tools, and playlist pitching. FreshTunes provides digital distribution only.
11- Horus Music
Horus Music is a renowned distribution company founded by Nick Dunn. Artists can distribute their music to various services and streaming services including 7digital, iTunes, VEVO, Beatport, Tidal, Google Play, and Deezer.
The company also expanded its presence in India in 2016. Horus Music won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade on Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday(2017).
Horus Music offers both digital and physical music distribution. It supports distributing music from over 200 distribution and streaming services.
The artists have to pay upfront fees. However, marketing services are not included in the basic distribution plan. It would be costly for beginner artists.
12- Symphonic Distribution
Symphonic Distribution is another significant name in the music industry. Jorge Brea founded the company in 2006. It offers playlist pitching, sync licensing, social media marketing, royalty collection, and digital advertising.
Apart from that, Symphonic Distribution also offers Video Distribution services, started in 2014. It has a “Symphonic Starter” plan that allows artists to keep 100% royalties with an annual fee.
Last year, the company became the founding member of the Music Fights Fraud Alliance which focuses on controlling streaming frauds.
Artists can distribute music to services like Napster, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, And Deezer. Symphonic Distribution is not limited to digital distribution, it also offers physical distribution.
13- UnitedMasters
UnitedMasters has been a popular music distributor since its launch in 2017. Steve Stoute is the founder of UnitedMasters. It is also famous for its partnerships with renowned brands ESPN, the NBA, and services iHeartRadio, and TikTok.
Its subscription-free plan is quite good for beginners, but it keeps 10% of revenue from the artist’s music.
In 2022, UnitedMasters distributed music for the FIFA World Cup Qatar. Artists can also use UnitedMasters on their smartphones with its new iOS application.
The platform has a feature named Releases which allows artists to upload and distribute music to all prominent streaming services. It supports digital distribution only.
14- RouteNote
The next distribution platform is RouteNote. Steven Finch founded the company in 2007. The free plan allows artists to keep 85% royalties with a 15% deduction. The premium paid plan offers 100% royalties of their music.
The most striking option is that artists can change free and premium plans whenever they want. There is also a split revenue feature that offers splitting revenue among collaborators.
Artists can distribute music to over 150 digital streaming services including AmazonMusic, Spotify, and iTunes. RouteNote offers free UPC and ISRC for releases.
However, RouteNote doesn’t allow sync licensing and playlist pitching. It does not offer physical distribution.
15- Soundrop
Soundrop has a pay-per-release standard rather than an annual subscription. It distributes music to Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, Tidal, Pandora, and others.
The platform has an automated cover song licensing feature. It makes distributing easy for artists who release cover songs. Soundrop manages the licensing for releasing cover songs. It is an ideal solution for artists who want to release more cover songs.
Soundrop offers transparent royalty management for collaborations with other artists. It focuses on digital distribution services only.
However, Soundrop does not offer playlist pitching, sync licensing, and social media promotion.
Also, You must know how music heals our lives. Music is great because you don’t have to be particularly significant to experience its benefits. It doesn’t matter if you can create a tune or play an instrument.
