DistroKid
Best digital distribution option for musicians just starting out
Super-affordable
Minimalist, intuitive interface built for efficiency
Often faster at submitting music than competitors
Distribution coverage expanding rapidly
Distribution coverage still nowhere near as comprehensive as competitors
Limited customer service
Fairly spartan feature set
DistroKid disrupted independent music distribution, offering unlimited song submissions at $19.99/yr. Beginning musicians: Start your digital distribution here.
The new kid on the block of digital distribution aggregation is DistroKid. They hope to shake things up by offering the incredibly inexpensive option to distribute unlimited amounts of music to iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and Amazon (and a growing number of other distributors) for $19.99/year. Artists keep 100% of royalties and are paid monthly. (They also have packages starting at $35.99 for labels to manage multiple artists on the site.)
They’ve also streamlined the iTunes submission process to achieve distribution in hours, not days. The service comes from the same people who brought us Fandalism, so you know it’s musician-friendly. They’ll even give you a free year of distribution if you refer five of your friends to sign up for the service.
As far as cost goes, DistroKid is set to disrupt the entire industry. You can test the site out by uploading one free track for starters. For those musicians and labels that are comfortable distributing to only four retailers, DistroKid is the obvious choice. It’s also ideal for bands on really tight budgets.
