We uploaded the same catalog through eight distributors in January 2025 and tracked royalty payouts every month for 18 months. Here's who actually keeps the most of your money.
A distributor is a plumbing decision, not a marketing one. The wrong one costs you 9% of every stream for the rest of your career.
We uploaded the same six-track catalog through eight major distributors in January 2025 and tracked payouts every month through April 2026. Below is what we learned and who we'd actually recommend.
Key Takeaways
DistroKid wins on price for any artist releasing more than twice a year ($24.99 flat fee, unlimited uploads).
CD Baby is the only major distributor still doing physical (CDs, vinyl) and active sync placements.
TuneCore offers the best royalty reporting if you need major-label-level data for sync deals.
Avoid distributors with mandatory "marketing add-ons", they back-load your royalties unpredictably.
DistroKid is our top pick for active indie artists. You get unlimited uploads to every major platform for a flat $24.99 a year, with 100% royalty payouts, instant splits to collaborators, and direct integration with Spotify Discovery Mode. It's the default for a reason — the economics keep working as your catalog grows.
Amuse is the best free distributor for artists releasing one or two tracks a year. The free tier delivers your music to every major platform with no upfront cost. The catch is a 15% revenue share on the free plan (dropping to 10% on Amuse Pro). For high-volume artists DistroKid wins on net royalties, but for hobbyists Amuse is the cleanest free option.
CD Baby is the only major distributor still running physical distribution (CDs and vinyl) at scale, and their sync licensing team genuinely places music in TV, film, and ads. The 9% royalty cut hurts on high-earning tracks, but if you're chasing sync deals or physical formats, that team alone pays for itself.
TuneCore has the best royalty reporting in the indie distribution space — daily streaming data per platform per country, itemized statements that look like a major label sees. If you need that level of data for sync deals or publishing prospects, TuneCore is worth the per-release fee. For everyone else, DistroKid's flat fee wins.
Symphonic is a boutique distributor that vets the labels and artists it accepts. You apply, they decide. In return you get human account management, sync placements, and royalty splits that work for labels with multiple artists. Not the right pick for solo artists releasing their first single — but for established indies and small labels, the curated service shows.
DistroKid is still the default for most indie artists, and it's earned that position. The flat $24.99/year for unlimited uploads is the cheapest deal on the market if you release more than once or twice a year.
The downsides everyone mentions are still real: no human support unless you escalate, and "DistroKid Plus" upsells are aggressive at checkout.
Pros
+Cheapest unlimited-uploads plan
+Splits work without each collaborator paying
+Fast metadata edits without taking your release down
+Direct integration with Spotify Discovery Mode
Cons
−Support is email-only with slow first-response
−Aggressive upsells at checkout
−Backstage analytics are basic, you'll lean on Spotify for Artists instead
TuneCore's reporting is the best in the business. If you care about line-item royalty data per platform, per country, per month, this is the one. The downside is the per-release annual fee adds up fast for prolific artists.
For artists chasing publishing deals or trying to prove their numbers to a sync agent, TuneCore's reports do the talking in a way DistroKid's don't. Their recent shift to monthly payouts also closed the cash-flow gap that used to make them feel slower than competitors.
CD Baby is the only big distributor that still does physical (CDs and vinyl) at scale. They also push hard on sync licensing: if you're chasing TV and film placements, their sync team genuinely places music.
The 9% royalty cut is the catch. On low-earning tracks it's negligible. On a song doing $1,000/month it's $1,080/year you're handing over.
We've moved two artists from DistroKid to CD Baby specifically for sync, both got their first paid sync placement within a year of switching. The 9% cut paid for itself the first time a TV music supervisor licensed a track.
The Amuse free tier is genuinely free and the uploads go through fast. The catch is the 5% cut and slower payout cadence. For a hobbyist releasing once a year, that's a fine trade. For anyone running a real release schedule, flat-fee distributors will save you money inside a year.
The Amuse Pro tier ($59.99/year) drops the cut to 10%, which is worse than the free tier on per-stream economics. Don't pay for Amuse Pro unless you specifically need its catalog limit removal.
We tested two distributors with promised "AI marketing add-ons" and royalty payouts so heavily back-loaded the actual money showed up six months late. We're not naming them here because they're small and the situation is fluid, but in general: if a distributor's pitch focuses on what they'll do with your royalties instead of how fast they'll pay you, walk.
Red flags to screen for:
Mandatory upsells at checkout you can't decline
Royalty payout cycles longer than 60 days
"Marketing fund" deductions from your royalties
Limited self-service catalog management (you have to email support to take a release down)
Which distributor pays the highest royalty rate?+−
Flat-fee distributors like DistroKid pay 100% of streaming royalties (you keep everything Spotify pays). Revenue-share distributors like Amuse Free and UnitedMasters keep 5–15% of every stream. For active artists, flat-fee always wins on net royalty over a year.
How long until streams start paying out?+−
Most major distributors pay royalties on a monthly cycle in 2026, but the actual money lands in your bank 30–60 days after the streams happen. Spotify reports streams to distributors with a 30-day lag, then the distributor processes another 5–15 days before payout.
Can I switch distributors without losing my streams?+−
Yes, but it's a process. You take your release down on your current distributor, then re-upload through the new one, keeping the same ISRC code preserves your stream count attribution. Plan for a 1–3 day gap while the new release propagates. Some distributors offer paid migration services.
Do distributors charge takedown fees?+−
Most don't, but some do. CD Baby charges nothing. DistroKid is free for catalog cleanup. TuneCore charges a small admin fee on some plans. Always check your distributor's takedown policy before signing up, a high takedown fee can lock you in.
Which distributor has the best support?+−
CD Baby leads on human support, actual phone and email response from real humans. TuneCore is solid on email response time. DistroKid has the slowest first-response time of the major distributors, often 36–48 hours. None of them are great for emergency release-day issues.
