MusicNSW’s Industry Essentials
How to share your release with the world
Prepared by GYROstream for MusicNSW
Did you know more than 120,000 songs are uploaded to streaming services every day?
Getting your music online can seem like a complicated task. It doesn’t have to be though.
Below are some tips and tricks to help you navigate the best distribution path for you and
your new tunes.
What are digital music aggregators / distributors?
Digital aggregators (also known as digital distributors) are companies that provide a means to
distribute your music globally through digital music stores and streaming platforms. You can’t
just upload a track directly to Spotify or Apple Music and have it streamed globally, you need
to use a digital music aggregator. If you’re signed to a label, it’s more than likely they’ll
distribute your music to Spotify, Apple, Meta, TikTok, iTunes, YouTube Music and more for
you, but if you’re independent, you can have exactly the same access to these platforms by
using a digital aggregator.
Aggregators make their money by charging upfront fees and/or charging a percentage of
revenue earned from the streaming and download purchases of your music. In some cases,
aggregators may also charge an ongoing annual fee to keep your content online.
Who do they distribute to?
Nearly all distributors will get your music to Apple, Spotify, Deezer and Youtube (ie. the major
western platforms), which together cover a large portion of music listeners worldwide.
Where things might differ is for the highly localised services that cater to their specific
regions and some of the biggest emerging music markets - eg. Anghami (Middle East),
Claro-Musica (South America), KKBOX (Asia) Boomplay (Africa). Check whether your
distributor can reach these markets. Some distributors also deliver to niche genre stores (eg.
Beatport for electronic music), which have stringent rules on the type of music they accept.
Almost all distributors now also deliver to social media platforms such as Instagram,
Facebook and TikTok.
Which aggregators are out there and how do I choose which one is
best for me?
The first thing you need to know is that it’s not a one size fits all model. The best option might
change for you over time and what might work for you at the beginning of your project may
be different to what works for you later. Spend some time researching different aggregators
to find out which one fits your needs best. Things to look for when you’re researching:
- Term – How long is the contract for? Will there be penalties if you remove your music
from the service early?
- Fees – What are they, and are there any additional charges or upsells from what they
advertise upfront?
- Rights – What’s covered and what might you be liable for? Understanding the
difference between the sound recording and mechanical rights is really important. If
you’re planning to stay completely independent, it’s worth making sure the digital
aggregator you choose lets you keep 100% of your copyright.
- Synchronisation - Is your aggregator asking you to give them sync rights, and if so,
what benefits are they offering you in return? Is the deal exclusive aka are you able to
sync your catalogue elsewhere?
- Where will your music be sent? Some aggregators only send to a few stores, some
send to over 100. Can they reach all of the international markets that you need to be
in?
- Delivery time
- Always find out how long it’s going to take before your music appears
on digital music services. For best practice, it’s always good to upload and set up your
distribution at least two weeks out from your release day. Some distributors require
even more time.
- Publishing Administration - some digital distributors (eg.
GYROstream/Tunecore/Ditto) offer a Publishing Administration tier to collect your
publishing royalties.
- Monetising content - Most distributors can now monetise user-generated content on
Youtube (via Youtube Content ID), and others are now offering a similar feature to
monetise content on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. Check what your distributor
can offer in this regard.
- Discovery Mode – Some aggregators have access to Spotify’s Discovery Mode. For
those that do, some require you to opt your songs in and others do it automatically
for you. Read up on all the facts about Discovery Mode to find out if it’s right for
you.
So, what are some aggregators and what do they offer?
Below is a quick list of some of the major aggregators you might come across as an artist in
Australia. These are just a few distributors you can access and it’s important to remember
every distributor is different so make sure you do your homework. Most importantly, you
should ALWAYS read the aggregator terms and conditions before you upload.
GYROstream
HEADQUARTERS: Brisbane, Australia
OWNER: Independently Owned, Australia
www.gyrostream.com
- GYROstream is an Australian made, Australian owned digital aggregator. Being
Australian based you know you’re going to be able to contact someone during
business hours if you make a mistake or need help with your upload.
- They offer a bunch of additional music services including Publishing Administration,
PR, advances on royalties, playlist pitching and digital marketing.
- GYROstream is one of the only independent distributors to distribute to all of the main
streaming services in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Their distribution channels can
get your music to every continent apart from Antarctica.
- ARIA Chart registration is free.
- You keep all of your copyright 100%.
- Opt-in sync service available for placement in other commercial opportunities. And it’s
non-exclusive.
- Free barcodes (UPCs) & ISRC codes.
- YouTube monetization.
- GYROstream costs $9.99 AUD per release per year or you can pay a one-time legacy
release fee of $29.99 AUD. The company also takes 8% commission on your
streaming revenue.
- You can cancel anytime, no lock-in contracts.
- You can access GYROsplits, an automated royalty splitting system to ensure all
collaborators on a song get paid the correct amount, direct into their bank account
from the GYROstream system. It’s free to set up splits.
- GYROpublishing is designed to help register your songs and collect mechanical,
digital and broadcast publishing royalties right within your artist dashboard
- Free pre-save link
- Access to Spotify’s Discovery Mode on an ‘opt-in basis’
CD Baby
HEADQUARTERS: USA
OWNER: Downtown, USA
www.cdbaby.com
- One of the original digital aggregators - been around for 20 years.
- No yearly fees. They charge $9.99 USD for a single or album. You pay once, your
music is up forever no matter what with 9% commission.
- Extra $39.99 USD per release for additional publishing, sync and royalty collection
services.
- Fulfillment and an e-commerce store for CD and vinyl.
- Sync licensing possibilities (for select artists). Non-exclusive. 40% commission.
- High YouTube, Facebook and Instagram commission (30%).
- Detailed analytics and sales reports.
- No mechanisms in place to help artists who start to catch (marketing support, playlist
pitching, etc).
- Lots of add-ons available through their sister companies and partners
- Speak to APRA before signing up with any ‘PRO’ publishing account
- Add an extra 5% to your royalty rate for withholding tax as you are earning royalties
from a US company and beware of high PayPal transfer fees you might be charged
for royalty payouts.
- You need to sign up for CD Baby owned ‘Show.co’ to get a pre-save link
Tunecore
HEADQUARTERS: New York, USA
OWNER: Believe Digital, France
www.tunecore.com.au
- Unlimited Plans and Pay Per Release pricing available. Free services take 20%
commission from releases. Keep 100% of your artist's revenue on paid services.
- Be careful of hidden costs. They charge a fee for new outlets and for adding pre-
orders.
- Speak to APRA before signing up with any ‘Tunecore Publishing’ account.
- Detailed revenue and analytics reports.
- No mechanisms in place to help artists who start to catch (marketing support, playlist
pitching, etc).
- Been around a long time and a very stable platform, though all tech support is
offshore.
- Add an extra 5% to your royalty rate for withholding tax as you are earning royalties
that get paid out from the USA and beware of high PayPal transfer fees you might be
charged for royalty payouts.
- No automatic pre-save link sent out. You need to sign up with a third party and make
your own.
Distrokid
HEADQUARTERS: USA
OWNER: Privately Owned with multiple partners, however Spotify are known to have a stake.
www.distrokid.com
- No commission. You keep 100% of the revenue.
- Unlimited songs for one yearly subscription price.
- Collaborator payment splitting available
- Single page signup and simple to navigate and set up tracks.
- Ability to download the songs. DK stores everything in the cloud.
- $.99 USD/year per song for Shazam - this is free with all other services and it isn't
disclosed up front that this is not included for the yearly price. If you distribute an
album of 10 songs, it will cost you an additional $10 USD/yr for that album just for
Shazam.
- Lots of extra fees not disclosed up front or in the FAQ (like YouTube collection ($5
USD/yr per single), Store Maximizer ($8 USD/yr per release), Leave a Legacy ($29
USD one time, per single, Shazam ($.99 USD/yr/song), which are free with other
services.
- No mechanisms in place to help artists who start to catch (marketing support, playlist
pitching, etc).
- Add an extra 5% to your royalty rate for withholding tax as you are earning royalties
that get paid out from the USA and beware of high PayPal transfer fees you might be
charged for royalty payouts
- Inbuilt pre-save link called ‘Hyperfollow’
OneRPM
HEADQUARTERS: USA
OWNER: Privately Owned
https://onerpm.com/
- ONErpm charges no upfront fees and gives 85% of sales to artists and labels in a
nonexclusive deal
- Three levels – DIY, Taking Off and Next Level
- Large YouTube MCN Network
- Free ‘Presave’ link
Ditto Music
HEADQUARTERS: Liverpool, UK
OWNER: Privately Owned
www.dittomusic.com
- No commission. You keep 100% of the revenue.
- Unlimited songs for an ongoing yearly price.
- Upsells are expensive including approx. $50 AUD for ARIA chart registration and
$60 for an iTunes pre-order.
- Auto-Release to new platforms.
- Offer some expanded services like PR/Playlist pitching (select artists only)
- Ditto offer a smart link pre-save and a royalty payment splitting option
- Ditto also offer a publishing administration service
AWAL/ Believe Digital/ The Orchard/ Stem/ MGM/ADA/ Ingrooves
- Unlike any of the other services listed here, you need to apply and be ‘accepted’ to
these services before you can distribute through them.
- No fees to upload, however, they generally take a 15%-25% commission on your
tracks and you need to earn a certain amount before you get paid. Sometimes that
could be up to $60.
- Some of these services have lock-in contracts and sign you up for publishing as
part of the deal and you could be locked in for a period of time, so it’s always good
to read the terms and conditions before you accept any offers.
- Some of these services are owned by major record labels or publishing
organisations so their websites and analytics are more advanced.
- Many of these services offer access to additional label services like PR, advance
funding, digital marketing, pre-save links and playlist pitching.
What do you need to prepare for digital distribution through an
aggregator?
1. Decide your release date.
For best results with your release, you’ll need to upload it a minimum of three weeks
before release date. If your distributor is doing some playlist pitching for you, you’ll
need to have a plan ready for promotion. Some streaming services take several days
to ingest your songs, and with features such as Spotify’s editorial pitching platform
Spotify for Artists, it’s best practice to pitch at least a week from release date - so you
need to have your music uploaded long before this. Be aware of all the deadlines to
hit your release date.
2. Prepare your files and metadata.
To distribute your music via an aggregator you need 3 things - 1. Audio, 2. Cover Art, 3.
Metadata (often called ‘label copy’). The data you need to provide are things like
release date, artist name, release title, copyright information, label name etc. Most
distributors make it easy to walk through each data field step-by-step. Your audio will
need to be an uncompressed digital file (eg .WAV file), and your artwork should be
square and as high resolution as possible.
What other online services are there to share your music and what
rights do you obtain?
Soundcloud - Soundcloud still allow artists to upload direct to their service without an
aggregator, but they have now added a subscription tier to allow artists to earn royalties.
Many distributors do deliver to the monetised Soundcloud service so check with your
distributor if you can take advantage of this feature. Even on the free tier, you could be
earning advertising revenue.
Bandcamp - Bandcamp allows users to sell downloads and merch from their artist page.
Bandcamp take 10-15% sales commission from any sale.
triple j Unearthed - most Aussie independent artists will upload to the triple j unearthed page.
This can be great for local exposure and a chance at getting your song on the radio, but be
aware that artists do not get paid for any music that is streamed or downloaded from the site.
Blockchain and NFT services - The next evolution of music payments - some brand new
services allow artists to upload music for download/streaming and get paid in crypto-style
tokens and also create smart contracts with your musical contributors so they share in any
royalties. Read the terms carefully as to how they monetize and pay royalties and whether
you can cash out any of the ‘tokens’. Most of these services are start-ups in the early stages
of development.
Preparing a Release Plan
So you’ve just received the final audio master of your new track! Yes!
The worst thing you can do is rush this out to digital stores without putting together a
comprehensive release plan - you only get one shot at making an impact!
You need to start implementing your plan at least 2 months (8 Weeks) from your release
date:
1. Set goals - Write down what you want to achieve out of the release - be specific -
make a hit list of blogs, playlists, media, radio, touring/gigs, that you want to target to
promote your release. Define your own success.
2. Get your assets in order - Press image, cover art, mastered audio files, cover images
for all the different social media platforms. Think about what message or story to
convey around the release and write a bio including these themes. Put all your assets
in a Dropbox or Google Drive folder so that it’s all in one place and can be quickly
shared.
3. Set up a schedule for your social media content so you know what you’re posting,
when you’re posting it, and what content you need to create between now and your
release date. Start teasing your release to your fans to build hype. The more content
you can create early will save heaps of time closer to your release date when things
get hectic.
4. Decide on a release date and make sure you have uploaded to your distributor at
least 3 weeks in advance of this date to make sure it will get to all music platforms on
time.
5. Short Form Content – Consider delivering your release early to TikTok and Meta and
have your release available in the sounds library prior to release date. Decide whether
you’re going to tease the sound on short form video platforms like TikTok, Reels and
YouTube shorts before release date. If so, try to start doing this from about two weeks
out and post as much as possible. Check with your aggregator if they can deliver to
these platforms ahead of it going live elsewhere.
6. Social media and DSP profiles - Make sure all your social media profiles, including
your Spotify and Apple profiles (if you have them), are complete and consistent. Sign
up for Spotify for Artists, Apple for Artists and Amazon for Artists.
7. Press - Reach out to bloggers, community radio, independent playlist curators, and
anyone else who can promote your music, share a private listen link of your single to
get feedback and provide information on your release plan. Network as much as
possible.
8. Amrap - Upload your music to Amrap’s platform to send your songs to over 300
community radio stations. Reach out to individual radio DJs in your genre and
introduce yourself and share your single.
9. Share your song EVERYWHERE on release day, and good luck!
Physical distribution – what are your options and are they right for
you?
Physical music sales accounted for 10% of total music revenue in 2021 in Australia, still
forming an important part of recorded music income. Vinyl sales have now surpassed CD’s,
making them the biggest segments in physical sales, following a steady increase in recent
years.
For independent artists, some national distributors like MGM and Rocket Distribution are still
an option. However, due to the high cost of manufacture, artists need to think about whether
producing physical music products is a worthwhile investment. Touring can still be a great
opportunity to sell CDs and vinyl direct to fans.
Think about the style of music you make and whether your fans are keen to buy physical
formats - CDs are still popular in the country music scene and many genres are making the
most of the vinyl revival that can be profitable for indie artists. For a small run of 200 vinyl,
there is good margin to be made if you are hitting the road and have the opportunity to
market the products to your fans, or a strong online audience and the means to create an
online store or sell it on Bandcamp. As it can be a considerable investment ensure you have
a strategy to sell through stock so you can make a profit on the production costs.
Other Tips and Tricks
- Spotify algorithms - Some of Spotify’s playlists are curated by algorithms that monitor
an artists popularity trends. Getting as many people as possible to ‘follow’ your Spotify
profile before and after release date and interact with you online helps ‘feed’ the
algorithm giving you a greater chance of playlist inclusion. That’s why things like pre-
save links are really useful.
- Think global - There are hundreds of millions of active music listeners in the world.
Your biggest fans could be in Dubai, Stockholm, Brazil, London, or even Tokyo. Whilst
it’s important to focus on your local market for touring, PR, or radio, your streaming
income can come from all corners of the globe.
- Data - Take advantage of all the data from Spotify for Artists / Apple for Artists and
websites such as Chartmetric. Plus it’s really important to look at your social media
analytics too. Know which songs your fans listen to most, where they come from, and
their detailed demographics, so you can create content that engages them and keeps
them coming back to your music. It’s never been easier to understand your audience.
- Release strategy - Get creative with your release cycle. Releasing two singles then an
album might work for major label acts, but think about how you can tailor your
release strategy to energise your fans and build a new audience. The ease of digital
distribution combined with streaming and socials media has re-written the rule book
on what is possible during the release cycle.
- Lyrics – It’s important to upload your lyrics so that they appear on platforms like
Spotify and Instagram. Some distributors do this for you and others are yet to
integrate the feature. For now, Musixmatch Pro is the main place you can manually
upload your lyrics. Musixmatch Pro pulls information through to major streaming
platforms; Amazon, Apple, Spotify, tidal along with Instagram and Facebook.
- Be aware guaranteed streams
– It’s really important to be aware of playlist pitching
companies who say they can guarantee you streams. There are many ‘playlist farms’
and bot streaming companies out there who will promise to get you streams but
often those streams are not genuine can result in your content being picked up by
Spotify as fraudulent streams. You won’t get paid for fraudulent streams and worst
case, your songs could be removed from streaming services altogether. Always
research any promotional companies thoroughly and check reviews.
Helpful Links
- GYROstream - Australian Digital Aggregator / Distributor
- Amrap
- APRA AMCOS
- MusicNSW
- Submithub
- Linkfire- one of many sites for Spotify Pre-saves and smart links to your music - if not
provided by your distributor
- Spotify For Artists
- Apple For Artists
- Follow button on Spotify - generate your own follow button to embed in other sites
- Chartmetric - analytics platform
- Musixmatch Pro
