TuneCore vs DistroKid
Updated: Nov 27
You've likely come this post because you want to see who is better.
Is it DistroKid or Tunecore?
We're going to give you an honest and impartial view of both so you can make your own opinion to see which one is better for you.
One our previous artists, Charles Cleyn, has distributed his music on both platforms and has written and extensive post on TuneCore vs DistroKid. We recommend you check that you too.
If you'd like to get started right away, we're happy to offer you some small discounts to each distributor:
There are a lot of things that come into play with choosing the right music distributor so let's structure this post:
1. Price
2. Behind the Scenes
3. Features
4. Pros and Cons
Let's first get on the same page.
What is a music distributor?
Basically, they get your music on streaming services. For example, Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Tidal. Pretty much all the services out there! They're the middleman you bring your song to and they're gonna upload it to a variety of streaming services of your choice. In return, they will pay you the music royalties that you earn from streaming. DistroKid and Tunecore both pay 100% of royalties.
If you're only looking at how to get your music uploaded to Spotify, then please check out this article.
How Much Do They Cost?
Let's start with Tunecore and then we'll get into DistroKid.
Tunecore charges you $10.00 to release 1 single. If you would like to release an album it is $30.00 for the 1st year and then $50.00 the following years.
Tunecore also has distribution credits. For example, you can purchase credits to get a small discount on bulk single releases. See the chart below.
Let's jump over to DistroKid.
DistroKid has three plans. The smallest plan costs $20.00/year for unlimited music releases. The next plan costs $36.00/year with unlimited releases and some extra features. The top plan costs $80.00/year and includes unlimited music releases. The top plan is mostly made for independent labels.
The biggest limitations on DistroKid's Musician plan at $20.00/year is the inability to customize your release date and customize your label name. This can be significant if you're an independent musician and you're running a marketing campaign you cannot customize your release date.
So if you're a serious musician then you'll likely jump to DistroKid's Musician plus plan at $36.00/month. Here is where you'll have more options to customize your release date, customize your label name. Add a pre-order. Have 2 artists. Plus more.
So, let's do a comparison.
What's cheaper? What's better?
Well, let's say on average, as an independent musician, you would likely purchase the musician plus plan on DistroKid since you'll want to customize your release name and label name. Okay so let's say you're spending $36.00/year.
On Tunecore, if you want to release one song then you''ll be paying $10.00/year.
Therefore, we can immediatley see that if you just want to release one song a year. Well, Tunecore is going to be less expensive. It's ten dollars for one song vs DistroKid where you will spend $20.00/year.
Now, you might be asking yourself, well, sure, but I want to release many songs per yera!
So, if you're likely wanting to release more than one song then you can still remain on the $36.00/year plan on DistroKid. On Tunecore, you could release an album which is 10 songs for a total of $30.00/year. However, after the first year it bumps up to $50.00 a year. The difficult piece is, who releases albums anymore? Most independent musicians are focused on releasing singles.
You can also dive into the Distribution credits on Tunecore that we discussed above to lower your cost even more.
So, it really depends on how much music you will release per year.
If you know for a fact that you want to releases 50 songs per year then the answer is obvious. DistroKid would be cheaper.
Decide how much music you want to release per year and this will help you choose what platform is right for you.
If you would like a more detailed look on DistroKid pricing then you can check out this super detailed article by Best Friends Club that dive deep into pricing. If you would like more information on Tunecore pricing, the team over at Music Distribution Guru has put together this great informational article.
Behind The Scenes Look
Let's get a bit of a behind the scenes look if you've never seen what it looks like behind the curtain on DistroKid and Tunecore.
Let's start with DistroKid.
From the first time visiting DistroKid's website you'll notice that it's super user friendly and easy to navigate around. You can't get lost. It looks like they keep it super simple so they can force you to sign up.
Unfortunately, you cant' see the DistroKid pricing page until you sign up. Luckily, we have many accounts so we'll show you the pricing page below:
At the top menu, you'll a few different options you can check out:
Upload: This is where you will upload your music.
My Music: Here is where you'll see your catalog that you've uploaded
Splits: This is a feature that allows you to split your music royalties with your co-writers.
Stats: This is straightforward. On this page you get statistics of your music.
Bank: I think this is everyone's favourite page. This is where you get paid!
Goodies: This page has a variety of different added features or bells and whistles. For example, a hyperfollow page. This page includes links to sort people to their desired streaming service. It also acts as a Spotify pre-save campaign page that you can market before your release.
Let's take a deep dive on the music upload section so you know what to expect. Tthis is the process of actually what you would do to get your song on the streaming services.
It's quite straightforward. Let's go through it now.
You'll need to decide what music streaming services you would like to distribute to. By default, they are all clicked. Here you can also choose how many songs you plan to release and if these songs are released yet too.
Next, you'll want to fill out our artist name, your release date, a potential pre-order date, your record label (you can put your own name here if you want too), and your album artwork.
Next, you'll want to make sure to fill out the right genre of your music. Although, it may not seem important, the music streaming services use this information to properly catalog your songs.
The next section is where you will upload your song. You'll need the title of your song and to declare if there are any featured artists as well. You'll noticed you will also include any other songwriters that need their credit too.
The next stage is fairly simple. It's a list of simple and short answers. For example, does your
music contain explicit lyrics or is this an instrumental song?
At this point, you're pretty much done but DistroKid will try and upsell you on their extra bonus features. Take a minute and go through them. Some are fairly descent but some are just quick cash grabs. For instance, the youtube content id feature or the shazam feature, we think are worthwhile features. However, the store maximizer or loudness normalization seem like extra cash grabs that aren't essential.
Now you'll have to go through the legal stuff. Be sure to have a solid understanding of this before committed and clicking yes.
Once you've finished this. You're done. Sit back and wait between 2-10 days and your music will be uploaded. (Or whatever release date you've chosen).
Sidetip: Once your music is upload to your music distributor, you should also think about selling it on an online service like Shopify. Here's a great article if you'd like to learn more.
Let's dive into what it looks like on Tunecore now.
Right away when you go to Tunecore you'll notice that it's not a simple design like DistroKid. There's more to read and look at. For example, you can see the pricing page before signing up which is very helpful.
Let's see what the process of uploading a song to Tunecore is like.
You'll notice as we go through the different sections of uploading a song to Tunecore that it's very similar to DistroKid too. This goes for all music distributors. They're all asking for similar types of information since they are all releasing to the same streaming services. For example, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, etc.
In the first screen, Tunecore asks us for our basic information.
Next, we'll continue to fill out our release date and be asked for a UPC code. Don't worry if you don't have a UPC code. Tunecore will generate one for you. However, if you've released your song before and you are transferring your song over to Tunecore from another distributor then you'll need to carry over the UPC code as well.
Just like in DistroKid, we'll have to make sure we give proper credit to any of the other songwriters involved. And of course, this is where you would upload your song to Tunecore.
Just like the UPC code, Tunecore will ask if you already have an ISRC code. Don't worry if you don't have one since Tunecore will also generate this code for you. However, if you're transferring your song over from another distributor then make sure to copy the exact ISRC code over as well. This is important because the ISRC code tracks the number of streams on a song.
Have no idea what an ISRC code or UPC code is at all? No problem. This is a great video that will help you explain, what an ISRC code is.
You'll have to upload your artwork to Tunecore. Make sure that your artwork is 3000 x 3000 pixels. A lot of our artists use Canva. It's a free service that can help you design your album artwork. t
Features
Let's talk about some of the features now and compare Tunecore vs DistroKid. Let's answer the question, who comes out on top when it comes to features?
Distrokid isn't really feature rich. They are really simple and get your music on the streaming services. However, they do offer a little bit extra. Most of these extra features are located in the Goodies drop down in the main navigation.
The first few features are under Get Heard Now and they have to do with helping you get your music heard.
The first feature, slaps, is a social network that shares independent artists music. You can kind of think of it like a smaller Soundcloud. It's a good feature to share your music in order to get feedback. However, if you're planning to blow up on slaps, don't count on it.
Playlist Spotlight and Wheel of Playlist give you different opportunities to vote on songs that should be featured on DistroKid's playlists and allow you the opportunity to pitch your song to DistroKid's playlists as well. Their playlists have significant followings but we are unaware if the listener base is truly active.
Below are a few examples of DistroKid's Spotify playlists, if you want to see them all you can go to their Spotify profile here.
If we go to the next dropdown window under Promote Yourself you'll see there are a number of other features too.
Our favourite feature out of all of these is the DistroKid hyperfollow link. This link is very valuable to direct listeners to their preferred streaming service. But also, this hyperfollow link gives you the opportunity to run a Spotify presave campaign for any upcoming single.
Here is an example of a DistroKid hyperfollow link for the artist Charles Cleyn.
Let's talk about Tunecore now and some of the features Tunecore offers.
One of the biggest features that is offered by Tunecore has to be Tunecore Music Publishing. If you've never heard of music publishing, that's okay, we'll go over it below.
What is Music Publishing?
You can think of music publishing as someone helping you collect money that you own. Sounds pretty good, right? Yes, we think so too. Let's keep going though...
When you write a song and your song is played on the radio. Or in a café, on the internet, or out loud in public, this triggers a music royalty. Which means you get paid for it. It doesn't matter where it happens, it can be anywhere in the world.
So, how do you know if your song is being played in a café in Spain?
Well, you don't. But a music publisher will. See where we're going with this?
If you work with a music publisher they will help collect and organize all the royalties that your music is making. The only other alternative is if you do it yourself and that can include a lot of time and headaches.
Tunecore offers this as a service which is hugely beneficial if you think your music will be played at a global scale.
Here's how much Tunecore will charge if you want to sign up for their music publishing service.
All things considered, this is a good price and a standard rate with regards to other music publishing services out there.
So what other features does Tunecore have?
Tunecore also offers another large feature called Tunecore Social.
Tunecore Social is an all in one solution for social media management. Post to your social media, get stats and insights, and get provided customer links. (very similar to DistroKid hyperfollow). This will allow you to run Spotify pre save campaigns and route your fanbase to their preferred streaming service.
Tunecore social could be a really big benefit for you if you'd like to have all your social media management in one place. This can sometimes save a lot of headaches from having to use multiple different social media apps. Have everything organized in one place.
Is Tunecore Social for everyone?
Not really. If you have experience with music marketing and you'd prefer to manage your social media independently then we would recommend not paying for the Tunecore social feature.
How much does it cost?
Tunecore social has two different options. Free and paid. With the free plan you're limited to the features but this will help you get an understanding of what the platform is like. With the paid option you'll be able to fully automate posts to Facebook and Twitter, get acces to a photo editor, and more. See below.
What About Youtube Content ID?
Youtube Content ID is offered on both DistroKid and Tunecore. However, each service prices their youtube content ID service differently.
What is Youtube Content ID?
Youtube Content ID makes sure that you get paid if anyone uses your song on Youtube. For example, let's say you release a song on Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube, and every other streaming service.
Now let's say, a vlogger, let's call her Sandy. Sandy goes and makes a travel vlog video about her time in Rome and she downloads your song and uses it in her Youtube video. If you pay for, Youtube Content ID, your song will be recognized and they'll tell Sandy that she must split any ad revenue that she makes from this video.
If Sandy is signed up for video monetization and she has a big channel then it could be a significant amount. Which is great for you! Youtube Content ID means you can rest assure that you will get paid if anyone uses your song on Youtube.
When it comes to Youtube Content ID, who is better, DistroKid or Tunecore?
Well, essentially it's the exact same service. Just a different price. Both of them act the same as they're offering the service from Youtube itself.
DistroKid offers a Youtube Content ID plan that costs a $5.00/year and then giving a 20% share of all revenue that you make from Youtube.
Tunecore offers a Youtube Content ID plan that costs a $10.00 setup fee and then giving a 20% share of all revenue that you make from Youtube.
If you plan on using Youtube Content ID for 1 year then DistroKid would be a cheaper option. Not by much though and we wouldn't recommend using Youtube Content ID for only one year. If you're going to do this, it makes sense for the long term.
Pros and Cons
You've made it this far in the post and you're still unsure about what platform to work with. But you must be learning towards something? Is it DistroKid? Is it Tunecore?
That's exactly our point as well. Every artist will naturally lead toward one of these music distributors because of their difference in features and this will depend on what type of artist you are. Take a look at these questions:
Are you a new artist? For instance, you've never released music before?
Is your music played internationally?
Do you tour internationally?
Do you release 1 song a year? Or do you release many songs per year?
Are you a full time songwriter? Or is this a side hobby?
All of these questions will impact your decision on if you should choose DistroKid or Tunecore as your main distributor.
*side tip: You don't have to be isolate to one music distributor. You can always switch music distributors or use two at the same time. Never with the same song though. Here's a great video on switching music distributors.
Spend a few minutes answering these questions. Once you do so, it will be quite easy to decide what music distributor is right for you. We'll pretend to answer some of these questions below to give you a bit of guidance to how you could proceed.
If you're still unsure on what to do. Here is a great video comparing both Tunecore vs DistroKid.
Are you a new artist? For instance, you've never released music before?
Yes, I'm a new artist and I've never released any music before.
In this case, we recommend testing the waters with DistroKid. This simplicity of DistroKid will remove any headaches from getting your music on all the big streaming services.
Is your music played internationally?
Yes, my music is played all over the world.
In this case, we recommend using Tunecore and to think about using their added feature Tunecore Music Publishing. This will help you collect all your music royalties that you earn from having your music being played all around the world.
Do your tour internationally?
Sometimes but most of the time I'm touring in my local country.
In this case, we recommend either or. If you find yourself touring internationally every year then we would recommend using a service like Tunecore so you can take advantage of their music publishing service. However, if you do not tour interntionally that regularly then you can still collect your music royalties with your country performance rights organization. For instance, SOCAN in Canada or ASCAP or BMI in the United States.
Do you release 1 song a year? Or do you release many songs per year?
I release about 20 songs per year.
In this case, we recommend using DistroKid as their pricing plans include unlimited releases.
Are you a full time songwriter? Or is this a side hobby?
I just started making music and I don't consider myself a professional yet. I also still have a full time job on the side.
In this case, we recommend using both. It will also depend on how much music you would like to release on the side. For example, we recommend DistroKid on their smallest pricing plan at $20.00/year if you would like to release multiple songs. However, if you would like to release one song then we recommend using Tunecore and purchasing one single at $9.00.
Conclusion
If you haven't noticed by now, everything in the music marketing world and music distribution world is personal. Everyone has their own path based on who they are as an independent musician. What works for one artist might not work for you.
Never compare yourself to another artist because you don't know what their history is or what their future holds. You can only compare yourself to yourself.
Reach out to us if you have any questions and if you prefer to listen to a video comparing DistroKid and Tunecore then here is our take in video format: