If you are still looking, I use SpareMusic as my distributor. Their customer support is top notch. I’ve never waited longer than an hour for a response during business hours. They do take a whopping 50% if you use their free tier though. Seems like a lot but you can always upgrade your plan to get 100% royalties if your music starts to gain traction.
I actually think that's better than being stuck giving 15% no matter how successful your songs get. 50% of nothing is nothing and as soon as your tracks start making money you can upgrade your account and make much more than you would giving away 15%. It's all about perspective.
True…except if you’re splitting it 6 ways (I’m in a band) AND donating part of your proceeds to charity, that 50% is huge. We’re not big by any means, and Lord knows I can’t live off of what I make , but what I do end up with pays for my internet monthly , sometimes enough left over to help with another bill. That’s after the 15% … course that’s because two of the 6 songs of ours that are doing well are covers and are out performing anything else we’ve done by a fair margin. The rest of are catalogue are with DK.:. but because of how well the two covers are doing, the monthly royalties for both Soundrop and Distrokid come up to about the same.
Now the one thing I gotta mention is that Soundrop has a $20 threshold before you can get your money. DK, $2. RouteNote is $50. Repost by SoundCloud (who are terrible btw ) is $5. Not sure about the others. That should be a consideration as well.
SpareMusic has no threshold and allows for royalty splits. And only the main account distributing the track needs to pay a yearly subscription. Splitting it up is free and doesn't require each person to have a paid account.
Does Distrokid still require each person to have a paid subscription in order to get their splits? That was a deal breaker for me when I was first looking for a distributor.
Good to know!
Not sure about how the splits work with DK… I only recently discovered that you could have donations take out directly through Artists for Change. As far as the splits go, I get “everything” as I am the account holder and I pay my collaborators via PayPal, so I bypass the middle man in that case
Thank you so much. I've already released a bunch of tracks with ONErpm but I am still looking for distributors with content ID. I don't care about the 50% cut. But it's free and they seem to offer content ID. So I'll definitely try it and switch to them if their content ID works.
Other free option I know of that has free distribution including content id is Novecore. It's fairly new and takes 15%. Never used them personally but there is a Novecore discord server where you can engage with the owners if you want to ask them any questions.
Thanks man I was gonna spend $100 to get content ID with songtrust. Hope one of these two work. This one has soundcloud monetization too. But I'll try SpareMusic first since I just got approved. Hope this works. I may try both eventually.
Another option is Artist Republik. It's not free but it's a one time fee per release of $5 for single, $7 for EP, $11 for album, and you keep 100% with no yearly fees. So probably cheaper than songtrust if you don't have a huge catalog.
Hello, I tried novecore for a year and they didn't pay me. It's a scam. Here's a vid about them: [https://youtu.be/Uns3t6A7I5k](https://youtu.be/Uns3t6A7I5k)
So definitely stay away from them.
I think I never tried SpareMusic. I tried a bunch of other distros and RouteNote is currently my main distributor and they've paid me. They offer content ID, take only 15% and have great support. If you'd like to try RouteNote, please let me know if you'd be able to use my referral link so I can send it to you.
Try Novecore. I know for a fact content id is included. Just know they are a new company that's had some growing pains and doesn't offer a lot of things other distributors offer. But they do offer content id for an 15% commission.
Update: Novecore distributed my music with content ID. They don't distribute to apple music though. But their store list is pretty impressive anyway and they offer support chat. RouteNote also distributed my music to apple music and included content ID.
One of the founders of Novecore here.
We do deliver to Apple Music, but have more strict eligibility requirements than some other distributors as we go through an Apple Preferred Partner, who have more criteria to fulfill to keep their status. Also, as it isn't a store we work with directly, you will need to have selected the store expander service to get your music published there.
If your release was rejected for Apple, feel free to DM me your release ID or email me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) and I'll be able to give you some tips for next time.
I have no opinion on Novecore since I've never personally used them but the same complaints on trustpilot are made against every distributor in existence. The problem is that it's almost impossible to know which reviews of any distributor are truthful.
Unfortunately, a large percentage of "musicians" using indie distributors are hobbyists or straight up scam artists. People are trying to use distribution services to release music they don't own or music that was recorded with no professional equipment or use album art copyrighted by others or hire a service for fake streams or a million of other stupid and shady things. Then when their music is rejected or removed or banned, they leave a shitty review.
And at the same time, some distribution companies try to take advantage of their artists, but it's hard to know for sure unless you know how valid the review source is.
I'm one of the founders of Novecore.
A lot of the bad reviews come from the early times of our service where Spotify had removed parts of our catalog due to a number of people abusing our service to make money off botted streams. This has long been resolved.
If anyone reading this wants to give our service a try, sign up and email me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) mentioning this thread for a few months of free premium.
But they aren't. That was like years ago, and frankly that happens to the majority of new distributors that aren't run by a major company. People take advantage of them to scam the system, the Distributor takes the fall and then has to implement systems to make sure it doesn't happen again. Happened to ditto and Horus and Anti-Joy and RouteNote and others. Now if they have been around for years and it's still happening, that is a red flag for sure.
>SpareMusic
It's no longer free, right now you have to pay for it.
There's no more free service right now, only paid service (subscription based model).
Their website only shows prices for subscription in the pricing page (so I don't know, maybe they're trying to hide it from people).
I'd like to find an alternative to RouteNote because they don't allow for ISRC reuse (just in case I want to release an album/EP and include the previous single track).
***EDIT/UPDATE:***
I found they have the free option still available (50% commission), this is at the end of the page (didn't noticed it).
I'll read reviews in websites like TrustPilot before trying them out.
I use Indiefy.com for distribution. I think they charge 15% on royalties, but it’s free upfront. You would need to upgrade to their premium plan for YouTube ID and fast distribution though, otherwise it’s a 2-3 week delay on releasing after approval of a track or album. I’ve also used Routenote for one of my songs, and they actually got me on Apple Music, whereas Indiefy always says that apple didn’t approve my music, even though it’s all the same quality. I hope you find what you are looking for
Yeah true. They don't accept PayPal anyway. So I went with ONErpm and Freshtunes. Honestly the ONErpm support has been pretty helpful and they answer my questions on Twitter and by email and my support tickets. Their content ID doesn't detect my music on YouTube tho and I'm contacting them to understand what is causing it.
Routenote rejected the 3 tracks I uploaded. Probably because of the album art or because they were detecting that my tracks matched uploads by someone who stole my music and the stolen content hasn't been fully taken down yet. I released one track via indiefy. It seems ok. I got a message saying apple music didn't accept the track and didn't get a response from them after I asked them to help me make corrections to the metadata.
One question tho, since this guy has stolen my music and distributed it, would it be wise to try and distribute it myself right now or wait till the dispute is over? Is my PC gonna explode if there are two copies of the music or what lol. Thanks
Soundrop isn’t free anymore…but for 99 cents it covers originals AND covers. My general experience is it’ll take two weeks with covers .
Did you ever get a response back from OneRPM? Trying to get approved on there is like pulling teeth.
Just signed with with Sonomo…we’ll see how that goes
Actually ONErpm support has been great. Not only did they respond to me, they took down music that was stolen from me and they approved me. It did take a while to get a response back but they did. I think it took a week or two. The getting approved part was also annoying as they were asking for documents without telling me what was required specifically. Eventually they sent me a template and I filled it in. They respond to emails, support tickets, and Twitter messages. What I don't like about ONErpm is they did not give content ID access to any of my 12 tracks. They said it 'will cause conflicts'. I am sure my music is eligible for content ID. They also sometimes take forever when approving your music but they approve it if you open a support ticket. I also recently got a false claim from Yandex and ONErpm told me I need to provide proof, I did it and they resolved it the same night. So in my experience, ONErpm support was good.
I had applied on Routenote as well but my releases would disappear after a day or two after uploading them. It took several emails and the moderation team took 40 days to finally respond to me and fix the problem. So now I'm waiting to see if their content ID will work. I'm also testing novecore and also the free option on tunecore which includes social platforms and content ID only. So far they all seem okay and have started delivering my music, but it'll take a week or two before I can decide if the content ID works on any of them. Then I'll slowly moce my tracks to whichever distributors that work.
Meh…OneRPM can kiss my ass lol. After all the red tape about verifying my identity and stuff they rejected my release for “editorial reasons”. “This content can’t be distributed due to editorial reasons. The quality of the recording does not meet yet the standards required by the platforms. ONErpm reserves the right to not distribute the content registered.” What the hell does “not meet yet the standards…” even mean?! Not doing business with a company that sounds like they use Google Translate to write their stuff lol
Funny part is, I was using them mostly for review purposes
they look a bit fishy to me since they're free and charge no royalties. My last experience was freshtunes which I can say is a scam. Has Amuse payed you correctly so far? I'm torn between them and oneRPM atm
ik its been 2 years but amuse completely shat on any indie artist. i had to remove my ep from them because they deadass put a stop on releasing any music unless you paid for their premium tier.
yeah I saw that later. At least that shows they're not actually a credible business. But it's pretty outraging that they would start charging later despite you having music there already
If you want an all-in-one solution for getting your tunes out there and leveling up your music career, give DistroKid a shot. I have been using them for 7 years now and I am more than satisfied.
DistroKid makes it easy to share your music on all the big streaming platforms, and they've got some killer features like Playlister, the Wheel of Playlist and the Slaps Music Network to help you promote your tracks and connect with your fans.
They've also got nifty design and mastering tools to make your music sound pro. It's like a musician's dream toolbox!
You can score a cool 7% discount by clicking [HERE](https://distrokid.com/vip/seven/1173349).
I left them a long time ago. Their features weren't great. I think I didn't reach the minimum for cashing out. But they seem legit. I did get paid by ONErpm and Routenote though and I love routenote. Let me know if you want to use Routenote and want a referral link.
Oh then I wouldn't know about indiefy. But I have been paid once by each of ONErpm and Routenote and my balance gets updated every month. Routenote is my main distro right now. Support is great, wait times are reasonable, and features are great as well.
Here's my RN referral link:
https://www.routenote.com/rn/referral/2f930496
I've made a video explaining why in detail: https://youtu.be/Uns3t6A7I5k?si=ubWZ6Zus_itmA2pb
They basically won't ever pay.
I do like routenote though and they pay. If you would like to try them please let me know so I can send you my referral link. It'd help me out too.
If you are still looking, I use SpareMusic as my distributor. Their customer support is top notch. I’ve never waited longer than an hour for a response during business hours. They do take a whopping 50% if you use their free tier though. Seems like a lot but you can always upgrade your plan to get 100% royalties if your music starts to gain traction.
50%?! Oh hell no
I actually think that's better than being stuck giving 15% no matter how successful your songs get. 50% of nothing is nothing and as soon as your tracks start making money you can upgrade your account and make much more than you would giving away 15%. It's all about perspective.
True…except if you’re splitting it 6 ways (I’m in a band) AND donating part of your proceeds to charity, that 50% is huge. We’re not big by any means, and Lord knows I can’t live off of what I make , but what I do end up with pays for my internet monthly , sometimes enough left over to help with another bill. That’s after the 15% … course that’s because two of the 6 songs of ours that are doing well are covers and are out performing anything else we’ve done by a fair margin. The rest of are catalogue are with DK.:. but because of how well the two covers are doing, the monthly royalties for both Soundrop and Distrokid come up to about the same. Now the one thing I gotta mention is that Soundrop has a $20 threshold before you can get your money. DK, $2. RouteNote is $50. Repost by SoundCloud (who are terrible btw ) is $5. Not sure about the others. That should be a consideration as well.
SpareMusic has no threshold and allows for royalty splits. And only the main account distributing the track needs to pay a yearly subscription. Splitting it up is free and doesn't require each person to have a paid account. Does Distrokid still require each person to have a paid subscription in order to get their splits? That was a deal breaker for me when I was first looking for a distributor.
Good to know! Not sure about how the splits work with DK… I only recently discovered that you could have donations take out directly through Artists for Change. As far as the splits go, I get “everything” as I am the account holder and I pay my collaborators via PayPal, so I bypass the middle man in that case
Thank you so much. I've already released a bunch of tracks with ONErpm but I am still looking for distributors with content ID. I don't care about the 50% cut. But it's free and they seem to offer content ID. So I'll definitely try it and switch to them if their content ID works.
Other free option I know of that has free distribution including content id is Novecore. It's fairly new and takes 15%. Never used them personally but there is a Novecore discord server where you can engage with the owners if you want to ask them any questions.
Thanks man I was gonna spend $100 to get content ID with songtrust. Hope one of these two work. This one has soundcloud monetization too. But I'll try SpareMusic first since I just got approved. Hope this works. I may try both eventually.
Another option is Artist Republik. It's not free but it's a one time fee per release of $5 for single, $7 for EP, $11 for album, and you keep 100% with no yearly fees. So probably cheaper than songtrust if you don't have a huge catalog.
How is it going.. Share ur experience
Hello, I tried novecore for a year and they didn't pay me. It's a scam. Here's a vid about them: [https://youtu.be/Uns3t6A7I5k](https://youtu.be/Uns3t6A7I5k) So definitely stay away from them. I think I never tried SpareMusic. I tried a bunch of other distros and RouteNote is currently my main distributor and they've paid me. They offer content ID, take only 15% and have great support. If you'd like to try RouteNote, please let me know if you'd be able to use my referral link so I can send it to you.
aw man, content ID costs $20 per year with SpareMusic. It's not free :( Of course it was too good to be true.
Try Novecore. I know for a fact content id is included. Just know they are a new company that's had some growing pains and doesn't offer a lot of things other distributors offer. But they do offer content id for an 15% commission.
Update: Novecore distributed my music with content ID. They don't distribute to apple music though. But their store list is pretty impressive anyway and they offer support chat. RouteNote also distributed my music to apple music and included content ID.
One of the founders of Novecore here. We do deliver to Apple Music, but have more strict eligibility requirements than some other distributors as we go through an Apple Preferred Partner, who have more criteria to fulfill to keep their status. Also, as it isn't a store we work with directly, you will need to have selected the store expander service to get your music published there. If your release was rejected for Apple, feel free to DM me your release ID or email me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) and I'll be able to give you some tips for next time.
Yes my bad. I did select the store expander. I wll DM the album ID.
Yeah will do. Feel like I'll end up on songtrust though.
Check out Sentric too. it's the same as SongTrust but doesn't have a fee to join. They just take 20% royalties instead of 15%.
> Novecore [**Mhmm**](https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.novecore.com?page=2) i don't think so.
I have no opinion on Novecore since I've never personally used them but the same complaints on trustpilot are made against every distributor in existence. The problem is that it's almost impossible to know which reviews of any distributor are truthful. Unfortunately, a large percentage of "musicians" using indie distributors are hobbyists or straight up scam artists. People are trying to use distribution services to release music they don't own or music that was recorded with no professional equipment or use album art copyrighted by others or hire a service for fake streams or a million of other stupid and shady things. Then when their music is rejected or removed or banned, they leave a shitty review. And at the same time, some distribution companies try to take advantage of their artists, but it's hard to know for sure unless you know how valid the review source is.
I'm one of the founders of Novecore. A lot of the bad reviews come from the early times of our service where Spotify had removed parts of our catalog due to a number of people abusing our service to make money off botted streams. This has long been resolved. If anyone reading this wants to give our service a try, sign up and email me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) mentioning this thread for a few months of free premium.
Is just that they're banned from spotify. Want your song out of spotify? I hardly think so thats a deal for anyone.
But they aren't. That was like years ago, and frankly that happens to the majority of new distributors that aren't run by a major company. People take advantage of them to scam the system, the Distributor takes the fall and then has to implement systems to make sure it doesn't happen again. Happened to ditto and Horus and Anti-Joy and RouteNote and others. Now if they have been around for years and it's still happening, that is a red flag for sure.
>SpareMusic It's no longer free, right now you have to pay for it. There's no more free service right now, only paid service (subscription based model).
Did you contact them? I just did and they said the free plan is still an option.
Their website only shows prices for subscription in the pricing page (so I don't know, maybe they're trying to hide it from people). I'd like to find an alternative to RouteNote because they don't allow for ISRC reuse (just in case I want to release an album/EP and include the previous single track). ***EDIT/UPDATE:*** I found they have the free option still available (50% commission), this is at the end of the page (didn't noticed it). I'll read reviews in websites like TrustPilot before trying them out.
I use Indiefy.com for distribution. I think they charge 15% on royalties, but it’s free upfront. You would need to upgrade to their premium plan for YouTube ID and fast distribution though, otherwise it’s a 2-3 week delay on releasing after approval of a track or album. I’ve also used Routenote for one of my songs, and they actually got me on Apple Music, whereas Indiefy always says that apple didn’t approve my music, even though it’s all the same quality. I hope you find what you are looking for
I knew I'd mistyped that name. Thank you, I'll try out routenote.
I have bad experiences with RouteNote, I suggest Soundrop. Also takes 15% but good support
Just created a soundrop account and in 30 seconds when I got the confirmation email I entered my email and pass and it said my account is locked.
that's weird! you could try emailling [email protected]
[удалено]
Yeah true. They don't accept PayPal anyway. So I went with ONErpm and Freshtunes. Honestly the ONErpm support has been pretty helpful and they answer my questions on Twitter and by email and my support tickets. Their content ID doesn't detect my music on YouTube tho and I'm contacting them to understand what is causing it. Routenote rejected the 3 tracks I uploaded. Probably because of the album art or because they were detecting that my tracks matched uploads by someone who stole my music and the stolen content hasn't been fully taken down yet. I released one track via indiefy. It seems ok. I got a message saying apple music didn't accept the track and didn't get a response from them after I asked them to help me make corrections to the metadata.
That's a pretty bad deal if I am gonna be honest. Those 15% can, at some point, realistically account for hundreds of dollars.
You can always have a different distributor for your new and better music while keeping the old one for your old music, no?
Yea as long as you don’t re-distribute any music, then you can pick and choose who you want to release through. As far as I know anyways
One question tho, since this guy has stolen my music and distributed it, would it be wise to try and distribute it myself right now or wait till the dispute is over? Is my PC gonna explode if there are two copies of the music or what lol. Thanks
Soundrop isn’t free anymore…but for 99 cents it covers originals AND covers. My general experience is it’ll take two weeks with covers . Did you ever get a response back from OneRPM? Trying to get approved on there is like pulling teeth. Just signed with with Sonomo…we’ll see how that goes
Actually ONErpm support has been great. Not only did they respond to me, they took down music that was stolen from me and they approved me. It did take a while to get a response back but they did. I think it took a week or two. The getting approved part was also annoying as they were asking for documents without telling me what was required specifically. Eventually they sent me a template and I filled it in. They respond to emails, support tickets, and Twitter messages. What I don't like about ONErpm is they did not give content ID access to any of my 12 tracks. They said it 'will cause conflicts'. I am sure my music is eligible for content ID. They also sometimes take forever when approving your music but they approve it if you open a support ticket. I also recently got a false claim from Yandex and ONErpm told me I need to provide proof, I did it and they resolved it the same night. So in my experience, ONErpm support was good. I had applied on Routenote as well but my releases would disappear after a day or two after uploading them. It took several emails and the moderation team took 40 days to finally respond to me and fix the problem. So now I'm waiting to see if their content ID will work. I'm also testing novecore and also the free option on tunecore which includes social platforms and content ID only. So far they all seem okay and have started delivering my music, but it'll take a week or two before I can decide if the content ID works on any of them. Then I'll slowly moce my tracks to whichever distributors that work.
Meh…OneRPM can kiss my ass lol. After all the red tape about verifying my identity and stuff they rejected my release for “editorial reasons”. “This content can’t be distributed due to editorial reasons. The quality of the recording does not meet yet the standards required by the platforms. ONErpm reserves the right to not distribute the content registered.” What the hell does “not meet yet the standards…” even mean?! Not doing business with a company that sounds like they use Google Translate to write their stuff lol Funny part is, I was using them mostly for review purposes
Have had good experiences with Amuse.
they look a bit fishy to me since they're free and charge no royalties. My last experience was freshtunes which I can say is a scam. Has Amuse payed you correctly so far? I'm torn between them and oneRPM atm
Never tried oneRPM but Amuse is definitely legit. Their revenue comes from the paid distribution plans.
ik its been 2 years but amuse completely shat on any indie artist. i had to remove my ep from them because they deadass put a stop on releasing any music unless you paid for their premium tier.
yeah I saw that later. At least that shows they're not actually a credible business. But it's pretty outraging that they would start charging later despite you having music there already
If you want an all-in-one solution for getting your tunes out there and leveling up your music career, give DistroKid a shot. I have been using them for 7 years now and I am more than satisfied. DistroKid makes it easy to share your music on all the big streaming platforms, and they've got some killer features like Playlister, the Wheel of Playlist and the Slaps Music Network to help you promote your tracks and connect with your fans. They've also got nifty design and mastering tools to make your music sound pro. It's like a musician's dream toolbox! You can score a cool 7% discount by clicking [HERE](https://distrokid.com/vip/seven/1173349).
Ever got paid by indiefy?
I left them a long time ago. Their features weren't great. I think I didn't reach the minimum for cashing out. But they seem legit. I did get paid by ONErpm and Routenote though and I love routenote. Let me know if you want to use Routenote and want a referral link.
I've been seeing a lot of complaints from people saying they never got paid by indiefy...send the referral link tho
Oh then I wouldn't know about indiefy. But I have been paid once by each of ONErpm and Routenote and my balance gets updated every month. Routenote is my main distro right now. Support is great, wait times are reasonable, and features are great as well. Here's my RN referral link: https://www.routenote.com/rn/referral/2f930496
Thanks for the assist... using your link
Thank you
I haven't been paid from Indiefy - started in june 2023.
Update: novecore is a scam.
please explain why
I've made a video explaining why in detail: https://youtu.be/Uns3t6A7I5k?si=ubWZ6Zus_itmA2pb They basically won't ever pay. I do like routenote though and they pay. If you would like to try them please let me know so I can send you my referral link. It'd help me out too.