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What it costs over five years
The first-year price is not the price. Put in your own numbers and see what each charging model actually takes from a catalogue over five years.
SIDE BY SIDE, FROM PUBLISHED TERMS
Music distributor comparison 2026
Every distributor sounds the same until you read the fine print. This page lines up what each one actually charges, what it takes from your royalties, and what happens to your music the day you stop paying.
| DISTRIBUTOR | COST TO RELEASE | CUT OF ROYALTIES | IF YOU STOP PAYING | HUMAN REVIEW | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mazufa | Free — no fee to release | Set out in your written agreement (not published) | No subscription to lapse | Yes — every application | mazufa.com/pricing · checked 25 Oct 2026 |
| DistroKid | $24.99–$89.99 per year (Musician, Musician Plus, Ultimate) | No percentage of store earnings; 20% of revenue from the optional Social Media Pack | Music is removed from stores, unless Leave a Legacy was bought for that release | Self-serve sign-up | distrokid.com · checked 25 Oct 2026 |
| TuneCore | Unlimited plans $24.99–$54.99 per year (Rising Artist, Breakout Artist, Professional); per release: single $24.99, album $44.99 for the first year, then $56.49 per year | 0% on audio streaming and downloads; 20% on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube earnings | On pay-per-release plans, a release is taken down 42 days after a missed renewal | Self-serve sign-up | tunecore.com · checked 25 Oct 2026 |
| CD Baby | $9.99 per single or $14.99 per album, one-time | 9%, ongoing | Release stays up; the 9% continues | Self-serve sign-up | cdbaby.com · checked 25 Oct 2026 |
| UnitedMasters | $19.99 per year (DEBUT+) or $59.99 per year (SELECT); PARTNER by invitation | 0% stated on the paid tiers; not published for the free DEBUT tier | A free DEBUT tier exists, but its commission is not published | Self-serve sign-up; PARTNER tier by invitation | unitedmasters.com · checked 25 Oct 2026 |
| Amuse | $23.99–$59.99 per year (Artist, Artist Plus, Professional) | No percentage of store royalties except YouTube Content ID (15% on the Artist plan); on the Artist plan, payouts to collaborators without a subscription carry 15% | Subscription features lapse; releases stay live | Self-serve sign-up | amuse.io · checked 25 Oct 2026 |
| Ditto Music | $19–$109 per year (Starter, Pro, Labels) | 0% on streaming; 15% on publishing and sync on the Pro and Labels plans | No takedown-on-non-renewal policy is published; the pricing page states cancel anytime | Self-serve sign-up | dittomusic.com · checked 25 Oct 2026 |
| RouteNote | Free tier, or Premium from $10 per release plus $9.99 per year after the first year | 15% on the free tier; 0% on Premium | Stays on the free tier | Self-serve sign-up | routenote.com · checked 25 Oct 2026 |
| ONErpm | No registration, annual or upload fee on the self-service tier; higher tiers are negotiated | Pays 85% for download stores, 70% for YouTube and 50% for other video; the audio streaming share is not stated | No subscription on the self-service tier | Self-service tier open to all; higher tiers are selective | onerpm.com · checked 25 Oct 2026 |
Prices and royalty terms come from each company's own published pages, recorded in our open dataset and checked on 25 October 2026; the source is linked in each row. The “If you stop paying” column was last checked on 6 September 2026. Terms change at any time — check the source before deciding.
What is not a difference
Distributors like to advertise things every one of them already does. Knowing which is which saves you from paying for a promise you already have.
"You keep 100% of your rights"
Standard. DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, Amuse, Ditto and Mazufa all state that the artist keeps ownership of their masters. It is a baseline, not an advantage.
"Delivered everywhere"
Most major distributors reach the same core stores, though the number of services covered varies by distributor and by plan. What differs is regional coverage — Anghami, Boomplay, JioSaavn, Melon, QQ Music — and how quickly a new service is added.
"Unlimited uploads"
Unlimited only while the subscription is active. On DistroKid, music is removed from stores if you stop paying, unless Leave a Legacy was bought for that release; on TuneCore pay-per-release plans a title is taken down 42 days after a missed renewal. CD Baby and Amuse leave releases live.
What actually differs
What renewal means
On a subscription model your catalogue stays available only while the payment method keeps working. Miss a renewal and releases can be pulled — losing playlist positions and the stream history behind them.
A percentage forever
A one-time fee with an ongoing 9–15% cut is cheap on day one and expensive on year five. Compare over the life of a catalogue, not the first upload.
Review versus upload
Self-serve services accept anything that passes an automated check. A reviewed roster is smaller, and every release on it has been read by a person before it goes out.
Regional reach
If your audience is in the Gulf, North Africa, India or Southeast Asia, coverage of Anghami, Boomplay, JioSaavn and JOOX matters more than another Western store.
How to compare for yourself
- Work out the five-year cost, not the first-year price — a yearly fee times five, or a percentage across everything you will ever earn.
- Ask what happens to live releases if you stop paying, and get the answer in writing.
- Check which regional services are included, not just the count of "150+ platforms".
- Read the exit clause before the pricing page: how you leave, what you keep, how long it takes.
- Confirm who owns the recording, the metadata and the ISRC after the agreement ends.
Compared everything and want a human to look at your music?
Applications are open to every artist, in any language, from any country. A person reads each one.
Apply to Mazufa