Once you’ve finished a song or album, the first thing you want to do is to share it on a streaming platform. One of the major streaming platforms that musicians like to use is Distrokid.
When you upload a song or album, you’ll probably be wondering how long does Distrokid take to upload to platforms?
Distrokid distributes your music to streaming platforms, which can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to approve, depending on the platform.
Major platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon take anywhere from one to seven days.
On the other hand, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok can take anywhere from one to three weeks.
Below, we’ve compiled a list of how long each streaming platform takes to approve and upload music.
What is DistroKid?
DistroKid is a service utilized by musicians that helps put your music into online stores and other streaming services.
This includes large platforms such as iTunes, Instagram, and Facebook. But it also includes YouTube, TIDAL, Anghami, and other sites.
Artists will upload their names, album covers, and songs and submit them to DistroKid. From there, DistroKid will distribute the music to all major streaming platforms and digital stores.
After that, an artist will need to wait until the songs or album have been officially approved by the streaming platform or service.
How Long Will Each Streaming Service Take?
Depending on what you need to be uploaded, it can take a varying amount of time to get it uploaded to streaming services.
Suppose it’s essential that your music gets uploaded by a specific date. In that case, you will need to get a premium subscription and learn about release dates.
Below, we’ve compiled a list of each streaming service and how long it takes each service to upload.
- Amazon: 1-2 days
- YouTube: 1-2 days
- Deezer: 1-2 days
- TIDAL: 1-2 days
- Spotify: 2-5 days
- Anghami: 1-5 days
- iTunes & Apple Music: 1-7 days
- Facebook: 1-2 weeks
- Instagram: 1-2 weeks
- TikTok: 1-3 weeks
It should be noted that sometimes Apple does manual reviews, which can cause approvals to take another one to two weeks.
Aside from that, Anghami may also require a manual review which adds another two to three days to the process. If there is a delay in your music being uploaded, there may be another issue.
What Causes DistroKid Delays?
The number one delay in uploads happens if there are any delays with streaming service policy violations. Additionally, any errors in the song or uploading can also cause delays.
If you want to ensure that your upload isn’t rejected, then it’s best to check the specific rules of each streaming service. Otherwise, the music you submit will take a few days or weeks to get processed and rejected.
Not only is this discouraging if you’re on a strict deadline, but it also delays the process as you will have to start from scratch again. Things to look out for include the following:
- Uploading covers
- Featured artists
- Album art
- Copyrighted music
What About Covered Music?
Unlike original songs, covered music will take longer to get uploaded. This is because The Harry Fox Agency is in charge of cover songs.
So, it will take extra time to process any covers. You can expect it to take up to two weeks or more on streaming services.
What About Changing Info?
Changing any aspect of the track, title, or album cover will result in the music being placed back in the queue.
If your song has already been processed, then changing information will result in the music being placed at the back of the queue.
Hence, if necessary, you should only change something and account for the delay.
Other Known Delays
Below is a list of other reasons why delays may occur:
Blurry Artwork
When uploading artwork or album covers, the art needs to be clear. It’s known that DistroKid may reject the artwork, even if it’s intended to be blurry. So, make sure to upload to 3000 x 3000px.
Wrong Release Date
One major cause of delay is if you accidentally set the wrong date for your release. This includes setting a date that is in the past. Always double-check your release date to ensure that there won’t be any delays.
Too Many Uploads
A released influx of music uploads can also delay the process. While this is very rare with DistroKid, it can happen. If you sense that there are unusual delays, this may be one of the reasons.
Artist Name Issues
Artists re-release music under a different name, which can lead to their music being delayed or rejected.
If you are considering re-releasing songs, you will need to focus first on taking the old ones down. Once the old song is taken down, you can upload the new one with your new artist’s name.
Early Week Upload
A manual review that happens on a Friday can end up causing the song to be delayed until the following Monday. This adds an extra two to three days in delays.
If you want to ensure you’re not picked for a manual review on Friday, you should upload it on Monday or Tuesday.
Distrokid Upload FAQs
How long does it take DistroKid to upload on all platforms?
DistroKid can take anywhere from one day to three weeks, depending on the streaming platform. This is because the streaming platform must approve the song or album before it’s uploaded.
However, each platform will require a different amount of time for the approval process, which is why the time varies.
How long does it take DistroKid to put your music in stores?
DistroKid can take three to four weeks to put your music in stores. If you’re using the premium subscription to DistroKid, you can see your release date three to four weeks in advance.
However, if you have a standard subscription, you won’t be able to see the release date until it goes live.
How long does it take to release a song on streaming platforms?
For a single song, it can take DistroKid up to three weeks to release a song on another platform.
For other reasons, the song will need to be approved, which is why it may take a long time. However, some songs go live within 48 hours of submission.
Does DistroKid promote your music?
Unfortunately, DistroKid does not promote your music.
DistroKid is only a service that enables artists to distribute their music on multiple platforms and online music stores. Despite that, they offer no promotion or advertising for your music.
