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Late 2022 what’s the situation Distrokid CDbaby Snoudcloud Bandcamp, etc?
(Almost sounds like a KLF title)
(Should I have posted this in Creations?)
Without dredging up any of the past discussions regarding getting the music out there, and there’s been a lot of discussions like that, I’d better start a new one because things change.
What’s the current scenario regarding distribution and getting music out there?
I went through the pandemic thinking I’d be releasing my re-made songs as NFTs. This has now proved to be absurd for various reasons (main reason is the stupidity of everyone in the crypto space). I still think it’d be an ideal distribution and tracking mechanism in the background, like plumbing…
…but that day isn’t today, and NFTs have been perverted and given a bad name and consequently don’t work the way I imagined them them to. So, I’m abandoning that direction.
The crucial thing for me is a way of getting the music out that allows me to embed ISRC codes, copyright and publishing metadata, and allows PRS/PPL to track sales and collect royalties etc, and also allows me to register for chart inclusion (which I’ve done in the past, it’s tedious).
In the meantime I dumped my Distrokid account and for the past year+ I’ve had no representation, no songs out there, nothing available from me.
Are there new options or is it still the old Distrokid CDbaby Soundcloud Bandcamp and one or two others I’ve forgotten?
One interesting change is that Distrokid (who still email me) now say they distribute videos (although they don’t mention Youtube, which is interesting). This is of interest to me, if I want a song to get airplay on telly there has to be a video - there must be a video, so I’ve got to make videos of all my significant tracks first (that’s a different story, I suspect I’ll have to somehow do live performances and shoot that, if I want it done in time).
So, a video-first distribution approach is one new thing on the scene. If I post my own stuff to Youtube I don’t necessarily get the benefit of PRS/PPL awareness or chart tracking etc. Having Distrokid do it may give me that.
I don’t know. What’s the word down on the street?
Comments
I consider Distrokid and CDBaby to be distributors, whereas I think SoundClound and Bandcamp are their own thing (I consider them more platforms).
I personally use all four for my music (under the TLNGO alias). I put singles out via Distrokid, and then when I have enough to bundle them into a cohesive release, I put out an album release on CDBaby. And I upload everything to SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and my website (TLNGO.net). I haven’t done a “tale of the tape” with the services recently, but my recollection is that CDBaby wanted $50 to put out a single… and with Distrokid you pay $20 a year (or something like that). I do think CDBaby has a better overall service — their PRO offering was quite good, if I recall, because it included publishing. But the cost to release singles is prohibitively expensive. So that’s why I’ve taken to putting singles on Distrokid, and then repackaging them into albums and putting them on CDBaby. CDBaby also can put your album in stores forever, whereas Distrokid charges $20 a year to keep your music current. And they’ll yank your music if you don’t renew your subscription.
I wasn’t aware of the new DistroKid video service (“DistroVid”) — and this post made me go look! This service gets your video into Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, and VEVO, which it doesn’t seem like you can do on your own. My assumption is that these are “curated” platforms and that the services work with distributors to curate content (just like your music). In the case of DistroVid, Distrokid “curates” content — in so much as they make you have an artist account and pay them $100 a year to upload videos. And your videos get shown right there next to your music.
I don’t know how much any of these platforms are paying per video view, but I would assume you will need a lot of video views to make up the $100 per year cost. At a cent per stream, you’ll need 10,000 streams in a year to break even.
Isn't Soundcloud a distributor now (if you're not on the free tier)?
You’re right — it looks like they are a distributor now:
https://community.soundcloud.com/how-to-distribute
It looks very similar to what CDBaby and Distrokid offer. I don’t see anything that jumps out to me as a differentiating feature. Maybe someone else can comment on using SoundCloud as a distributor.
I didn’t realise SoundCloud distributed now as well. Looking at the info via that link they take to 20% cut of sales. If you are looking for a free upfront option and a cut of sales deal then worth looking at Routenote. Not recommending but if you’re skint it’s an option.
No cut taken by Distrokid.
https://support.distrokid.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013649253-How-Much-of-My-Earnings-Does-DistroKid-Keep-
But CDBaby takes a cut.
https://support.cdbaby.com/hc/en-us/articles/213125406-How-much-does-CD-Baby-cost-
Interesting thread! Thanks for kicking up the question.
Hadn’t heard of Routenote before, any specific reason (other than the cut) why you wouldn’t recommend it?
Sorry I wasn’t clear there. I just meant I wasn’t recommending them, buts that to say they are not of worth. Have only had minimal experience with them, which anecdotally was fine for the purposes of the project.
For anyone who’s interested in a really comprehensive breakdown, Ari Herstand has a guide on his site that he updates with some level of frequency:
https://aristake.com/digital-distribution-comparison/
Note that it was updated in early August, but doesn’t include anything on SoundCloud. I’d expect it to be in the next update he pushes out.
Yes, his is a good comparison article, most people interested in choosing a distrib will have read that a few times and it’s good that it does keep getting updated – but it’s comprehensive in one area but not others.
Over the past several years there’s been quite a few attempts at blockchain-based startups trying to target the same customers. Without looking into it in any more detail than I have in my immediate memory, I’d say it’s fair to say that all of those blockchain music ones have pretty much failed. However, even so, I’d have expected to see at least some mention of some of them in the above-mentioned article at some point even if it’s to point out the disadvantages (
).