Digital Distribution Explained: How to Get Your Music on Spotify

You've recorded your song. It's mixed, mastered, and ready to go. Now what?

You can't just upload directly to Spotify or Apple Music—you need a Digital Distributor to get your music onto streaming platforms.

But what exactly is a distributor? And more importantly, what are they not doing for you?

What is a Digital Distributor?

A distributor is a service that delivers your music to streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Tidal, YouTube Music, etc.) and collects the Master Revenue on your behalf.

Popular Distributors (2026):

• DistroKid — Flat annual fee ($22.99/year unlimited uploads)
• TuneCore — Per-release fee ($9.99/single, $29.99/album per year)
• UnitedMasters — Free tier with revenue share, or paid tier
• CD Baby — One-time fee, keeps a % of royalties
• AWAL — Selective (application required), no upfront fee
• Stem — Advances and split payment features

What Distributors DO

✅ Deliver your music to 150+ streaming platforms worldwide. ✅ Collect streaming revenue from those platforms. ✅ Pay you your share (usually monthly or quarterly). ✅ Provide ISRC codes for your recordings. ✅ Handle takedown requests and content disputes.

What Distributors DO NOT Do

❌ Collect Publishing/Songwriting Royalties. This is the biggest misconception. Your distributor only handles the Master (recording) side. If you wrote the song, you are owed separate royalties for the Composition—and your distributor is NOT collecting those.

❌ Register you with PROs (ASCAP/BMI). You need to do this yourself.

❌ Collect Mechanical Royalties from The MLC. Unless you opt into a specific "Publishing" add-on, your mechanicals are sitting unclaimed.

❌ Pitch your music. Most distributors are "self-serve"—they don't actively promote you.

The Hidden Revenue You're Missing

Imagine you release a song that gets 1 million streams on Spotify.

If you're only using a distributor, you're only getting the first row. That's potentially $1,000+ left on the table.

Choosing the Right Distributor in 2026

The Complete Setup

To collect all your money:

1. Distributor (DistroKid, TuneCore) — Master revenue.
2. PRO Membership (ASCAP/BMI) — Performance royalties.
3. Publishing Administrator (Songtrust, TuneCore Publishing) — Mechanical royalties.
4. SoundExchange — Digital performance (Pandora, SiriusXM).

How SplitChord Fits In

Before you upload anything, you need to know who owns what percentage.

• Who gets the Master royalties?
• Who gets the Publishing royalties?
• What happens if the producer wants "points"?

SplitChord lets you lock in these percentages with a digital split sheet—signed by everyone—before you hit "Distribute."

Don't let a viral moment turn into a legal nightmare. Get your splits sorted first.