Distribution via Distrokid

[petev3.1]

Does anyone have a comment on Distrokid as a distributor? Looks okay but I only just discovered it.

I'm wondering if it has hidden weaknesses.

http://distrokid.com/

[jpalmer]

Just chiming in here as I noticed there's been no response. I've been using Distrokid for about 3 weeks now and am very impressed. I switched from Tunecore just because there's no limit to the number of releases you can put out for 1 annual payment of $19.99. I was paying $49.99 per year just for 1 album via Tunecore, so for less than half of that I can put out as much as I want (I've uploaded 30 releases already through Distrokid).

A few observations so far:

Good points
* Incredibly quick to get your music live. Every track I've uploaded has been live in iTunes within about 1-2 hours. Usually took a couple of weeks minimum with Tunecore. And this does seem to be global across worldwide stores, not just in localised iTunes. Amazon is usually live next within about 24 hours or less. Then Google Play and slowest is Spotify (but that's been within about 72 hours at most).
* Very cheap. $19.99 per year lets you put out unlimited releases.
* Very helpful customer service (if a little slow) - Philip emailed me personally with a reply.
* You get automatic emails confirming when your release has gone live in each store.

Bad points
* They only distribute (at present) to iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and Spotify (although to be honest, most of my income at Tunecore was coming just through iTunes anyway, so unless you really have a preference for some of the niche outlets I wouldn't worry.)
* Website looks a bit spartan - very little in way of Ts & Cs or options to select which did leave me wondering if legalities are being covered fully. But in a way this could be a plus point - very simple to use.
* Unsure why you can select from options including mp3 and wma to upload - I thought iTunes wouldn't accept lossy formats (not that I ever would).
* File size limited to 250mb. This is fine for most people but you can get around it if you need to by uploading a smaller FLAC file.
* Can't comment on payment yet as I've only been with them a few weeks so not long enough to generate sales reports. After a couple of months I'll know how efficient their payment process is.

So at the moment I'm very impressed but hoping they'll improve the website to be a bit more comprehensive.

Also be aware that if you do switch distributors you lose all your iTunes reviews and ratings etc. and are starting again from scratch. Bit of a pain but not the end of the world.

Cheers

J

[petev3.1]

Many thanks for this jpalmer. Very useful. Some of these notes make me a little nervous but it does seem cheap. I wonder if it still needs some further development. I'll keep an eye on it for now. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

[Leadbelly]

A bit late now but don't use Distrokid.
Distrokid is a con!!

They claim to have a 'legacy' option which says that 'even when you die' your tracks will continue to be live. What they don't say is that as soon as you end your membership your tracks get taken down. So if you do die and are unable to make the payments how the hell is that workable?
Also they charge extra to be on Shazam which happens automatically with other distributors. I think it might just be an automatic thing anyway, so why they charge for it I don't know.

Also their customer support is NON existent. They seem to be a bunch of cowboys, rinsing innocent musicians. They should be investigated.

[The Coastal Path]

I’ve used Distrokid for the last 3 years. As most folk know, the sums earned from streaming are so pitiful that for most artists, you may as well accept that you are effectively giving the music away for nothing - or for the cost of using the service.

Seen in that light, you may as well just use the cheapest service you can find.

[CS70]

They seem to be a bunch of cowboys, rinsing innocent musicians. They should be investigated.

I have no direct experience, but reading here and there and I've got the impression that they did once provide excellent service but in the last years it has degraded to the point that people put out posts like yours. I've got the the same impression about LANDR.

It's all hearsay and I certainly will not give a test with either, but the stuff I read from users definitely went from "brilliant" to "crap".

[Tomás Mulcahy]

My experience is the opposite. They've improved and streamlined their service and added more options. Far fewer errors now, and more places for you to check if you've got everything right. Their customer service is as bad as everyone else's really- you'll often have to repeat yourself, or re-state the question in very very simple terms. This is more the norm than the exception these days. Because customer support is a shitty job.

Don't know about the "til you die" thing. I didn't avail of it, and it what the above poster said is true, then it's illegal.

[CS70]

My experience is the opposite. They've improved and streamlined their service and added more options. Far fewer errors now, and more places for you to check if you've got everything right. Their customer service is as bad as everyone else's really- you'll often have to repeat yourself, or re-state the question in very very simple terms. This is more the norm than the exception these days. Because customer support is a shitty job.

Don't know about the "til you die" thing. I didn't avail of it, and it what the above poster said is true, then it's illegal.

Gotta give a little shout out to CD Baby then... I've interacted with the customer service many times and they are always have been fast, understood what I asked with no failing and being good at fixing things, or explain why it wasn't in their remit to do so.

[jpalmer]

A bit late now but don't use Distrokid.
Distrokid is a con!!

They claim to have a 'legacy' option which says that 'even when you die' your tracks will continue to be live. What they don't say is that as soon as you end your membership your tracks get taken down. So if you do die and are unable to make the payments how the hell is that workable?
Also they charge extra to be on Shazam which happens automatically with other distributors. I think it might just be an automatic thing anyway, so why they charge for it I don't know.

Also their customer support is NON existent. They seem to be a bunch of cowboys, rinsing innocent musicians. They should be investigated.

Wow, has it really been 7 years since I replied? Well, I'm still using Distrokid and still stand by my original comment that I think they're awesome and I've never had a problem. Seeing as I'm still alive (allegedly) I've not tested the legacy option and not really interested in it anyway but from what it says on their website, you pay a one-off fee for any release you want to be legacy-ised (!)

https://distrokid.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ ... t-Deleted-

In my DK dashboard each release has the option for "($49.00 one-time fee, nonrecurring)" to make it legacy. So what you say about tracks getting taken down doesn't sound true at all (as long as you pay for the legacy option). If you've paid your 49$ then it should be up for good.

Sometimes their customer service is a little slow but they get there in the end. I think it's because they keep a small team to keep costs down.

As for Shazam, no idea as I have no interest in that. But it seems to be 99 cents for an album per year to submit to Shazam. Why do they charge for it when others may not? Well, each service obviously have their own way of doing things and pricing structure. Seeing as Distrokid only charge 1 yearly flat fee for unlimited releases that doesn't sound like much of a dealbreaker compared to what other services charge for that side of things (which is the main job they do).

So I don't work for them but it looks like I've been with them for getting close to a decade and no probs here.

[jpalmer]

Also just noticed that although I've never opted to add any of my tracks to Shazam via Distrokid (or any other service) they still regularly appear in my Apple Music For Artists weekly "Most Shazamed Songs" report. So they're obviously getting into Shazam somehow!

[L10]

I have had a number of issues with the collection of accurate Stats in Distrokid. Customer service is very poor and the FAQ's that they continually refer you to don't cover key topics. Its now nearly 4 weeks since I released my last track, and despite being able to see the number of streams in Spotify, there are virutally no stats recorded via Distrokid. Continually fobbed off over the last few weeks. However today they tell me there is a problem and its on "the roadmap" to be fixed with no lead time as to when this might be. Really not good, and I would make sure you know exactly what you are in for before taking this option.

[jpalmer]

Seeing as how this has got a new reply and my opinion has dropped somewhat I'd say they're still good value and fine as long as you don't have any problems. But I've now been trying to resolve an issue with them for the last 3 months and getting nowhere fast.

So it's one of those things where as long as you don't have a problem they're very good but I'm starting to lose patience with them now. They're probably still much better value than the competition if you're releasing lots of content.

But customer service is becoming much more generic now and frustrating to deal with when I've had to explain my situation over and over on each new reply.

[JAB Studio]

Just started using distrokid. First 2 releases went live very quickly. The third appears stuck with "Everything looks good & your single is on deck. It will be sent to stores today."

I was just wondering about others' experience with this particular problem.

[Spells]

^ that can happen but generally they are good. They've made their site / sub process a little slicker and now have an APP also.

Of all the mainstream aggregators, I'd say they are still very good.

I've used many and have a deal with Symphonic for some older releases. I'd put DK up there with the best.

Support can be a little slow though.

You can check out some left field options like hrdrv.com (pronounced 'hard drive') and others that sometimes offer a little more.