Answers/Glossary/Music distributor
Glossary · Distribution
Music distributor
A music distributor delivers recordings to streaming services and stores on an artist's behalf and collects the recording royalties those services pay. DistroKid, TuneCore and CD Baby are the best known for independent artists. Distributors do not collect publishing income.
A distributor is a delivery and collection service on the sound recording side. You upload a master, artwork and metadata; the distributor formats and delivers that release to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, Deezer and dozens of smaller stores; the services report usage and pay; the distributor passes the money to you under its pricing model.
The three independent artists encounter most, at prices published in August 2026:
| Distributor | Cost | Revenue kept |
|---|---|---|
| DistroKid | $24.99/yr Musician, $44.99/yr Musician Plus, $89.99/yr Ultimate | 100% of earnings |
| TuneCore | $24.99/yr Rising Artist, $44.99/yr Breakout, $54.99/yr Professional | 100% ownership retained |
| CD Baby | $9.99 per single, $14.99 per album, one-time, no annual fee | "Over 90%" per CD Baby |
A distributor also assigns your ISRCs and the release UPC if you do not supply your own, and delivers the metadata that everything downstream depends on.
What a distributor does not do is the part that costs people money. Standard distribution is recording-side only. It does not register your compositions with The MLC, does not affiliate you with ASCAP or BMI, and does not register your recordings with SoundExchange. DistroKid Publishing is a separate paid add-on, and DistroKid's own documentation describes what it collects as "different from your usual streaming royalties, which DistroKid already collects for all members."
The misunderstanding: "my distributor collects everything." It collects one of at least three streams of income you are owed.
Prices move — check each company's pricing page. I release through this stack myself.
Related terms
- AggregatorAn aggregator is a company approved by streaming services to deliver music into their catalogues in bulk on behalf of many…
- DistroKidDistroKid is a subscription music distributor that delivers unlimited releases to streaming services for an annual fee and passes…
- Sound recording royaltyA sound recording royalty is income earned by the specific recorded master of a song, as opposed to the underlying composition.
- Store deliveryStore delivery is the process by which a distributor transmits a finished release — audio, artwork, metadata and rights…
Definitions on this site describe the United States system. I am an artist who has been through this, not a lawyer.
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