Gone are the days when people used to invest in purchasing records, cassettes or CDs to listen to their favorite artists and their latest work. Streaming services are the new medium and you can’t take a chance not being on them anymore. This is where you need to look into music distribution companies to get your music promoted properly.
As everything moves online, music has been no exception to the rule. The need for easily accessible music online has led to the rise of a vast number of streaming platforms.
While many of the established artists and musicians already have their record labels and distributers adding their music to streaming platforms, the newer ones on the scene — or those who are waiting to break out — do not have the kind of resources to sign up with record labels or other professionals who can add their music to the popular streaming services.
In such a situation, what is the way forward? There is no straight answer to this question, but there are many different platforms that will be ready to help you in the process of getting your music on streaming platforms.
All you need to do is keep reading!
Importance of Having Your Music on Streaming Services
In the past, people produced physical CDs with their new albums and relied on the sale of these CDs. But times have changed.
How many of you actually purchase a physical CD track or even have the mechanism required to play music from that CD? Barely anyone does.
While there are still tons of people who would be ready to pay a nominal amount for music, this payment is usually done on streaming platforms by paying for Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play Music, Tidal, Pandora and so on.
Unfortunately, most of these streaming services do not platform the work of unsigned artists. So their left hunting for record labels or distributors to put their music on these services.
These music distribution companies help new and upcoming artists. They get your art on various streaming services, so you can be found and your art enjoyed by anyone.
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Best Digital Music Distribution Companies
Choosing the right digital music distribution company to get your music onto streaming services is a foundational step for new artists who are looking to make waves in the music scene.
There are a lot of options! Don’t worry if the seemingly endless list of music distributors is overwhelming. We’ll focus on just a few great ones below.
- CD Baby
- Believe Digital
- DistroKid
- Amuse
- FUGA
- Kontor New Media
- The Orchard
- AWAL
- Fluxus
- Golden Dynamic
- IDOL
- Ingrooves
- IRICOM
- LANDR
- Metropolitan Groove Merchants (MGM)
- NexTone
- Onepeace
- ONErpm
- Rebeat
- Rock Mobile
- Sounddrop
- Space Shower
- Stem Disintermedia
- Tunecore Inc.
- Tunecore JP
- Xelon Entertainment
- Zebralution
CD Baby
The first option — and one of the best available ones — is CD Baby, which will deliver your music to over a hundred different services.
One of the oldest players in the game, CD Baby charges you when you want to upload a new song or album onto streaming services but once it is up, there are no yearly fees.
In addition to this, they will sell you music on their website and produce actual CDs for stores if you want them to.
However, you must keep in mind that the commission charged is quite high.
DistroKid
Another popular platform that will give you impressive service at a comparatively lower cost is DistroKid.
This company is relatively new. But you would be happy to know that Spotify itself has a small stake in the company, which suggests its going places.
DistroKid has a yearly fee that you pay to upload an unlimited number of songs and albums. This is the biggest selling point of this platform.
In addition to that, you get paid on a monthly basis.
The analytics, however, are a little basic and lacking sophistication. If you want to look in depth at your user engagement analytics, your options with DistroKid will be limited.
Amuse
Another newer kid on the block is Amuse.
Best of all, Amuse takes no fees and commissions if you choose their free version. But they also offer yearly subscription packages with increased support, additional music stores, and faster release times.
Amuse functions through their mobile app, where all your business takes place. You can upload your music, track your streams, and share royalties with your team all from the app.
They’ve grown a lot since their start in 2015, expanding features, music store partnerships, and adding artists. Easy to use and growing, Amuse is a solid choice for a music distribution company.
Spotify
Spotify entered this space by launching “Spotify for Artists.” With Spotify for Artists, you can set up and manage your own artist profile, upload music, and track engagement.
We recommend that all artists sign up for this service and claim their profile as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, the option to upload your own music has now been removed. And you’ll need to partner with a music distribution company to upload your art to Spotify.
So to get your music on Spotify, partner with one of the other popular services mentioned above and link it to your Spotify artist profile.
If you’re an ambitious musician and want your music to be heard across the world, a music distribution company can help! They’ll get you set up across multiple streaming services, so that your art can be heard by all!
While there is no “best” option, there may be an option that’s best for you. We can’t wait to hear your music next.
