Online music distribution is the delivery of music through a digital platform/ internet, which can then be downloaded or streamed. This online business has helped new artists break into the music scene and get recognized, with pricing and ownership rights to their music.
Music distribution is all about how an artist’s music gets delivered to the listeners. Music streaming, on the other hand, does not give ownership rights of the source file to the patron, only full or partial listening of the music.
There is a good number of online music distribution companies out there, but the big difference lies in their fees, the cut they take from royalties, and other hidden charges. Let’s take a close look at Songtradr.
->> Check Out the ULTIMATE Music Distribution Guide (Reviews & Chart)
What is Songtradr all about?
Songtradr is a world-class platform that was founded in 2014 by Paul Wiltshire. This was a platform where artists can be able to distribute, license and monetize their music at zero charges.
Songtradr music professionals get to customize the price of their music, get global distribution to more than 200 major outlets, with access to licensing opportunities that are relatively high paying. The Songtradr marketplace has 200000-plus registered artists and catalogs, is designed to benefit artists and buyers.
The platform comprises of passionate musicians, thinkers, coders, business professionals, and artist advocates. The music licensing platform is automated, connecting artists to many potential buyers worldwide.
Songtradr has all the specific music you might be interested in and is ideal for music label artists, independent artists, producers, and sound engineers, among others.
Songtradr is also beneficial to buyers of music like advertising agencies, filmmakers, documentary makers. TV networks, to mention but a few. It is the ultimate goal of an artist to see their music on these platforms and get paid for it at a price that the artist has dictated.
The automatic pricing in the platform, however, is ideal and set to the current industry pricing.
At the Songtradr App:
- From your catalog of songs, you can easily select the track mixes you want
- Music Wanteds updates are done daily
- You can tell the Music Wanteds that you have submitted your content to at a glance
- Submission progress page shows the status of your song
What to expect from Songtradr?
As an artist, it is crucial to conduct a due diligence before settling on a certain site that you might be interested. In the recent past, Songtradr has proven itself amongst other market competitors by leading in helping connect both the seasoned and newcomers of the music industry to the buyers and having their music licensed too.
Songtradr has unique, value-added offerings to support an artist scale their music career heights that they never thought would be possible in the recent times.
- Artists on the Songtradr platform can manage their music assets for rights and licensing from one single platform-Songtradr.
- Artists are also able to have their music available for downloading and streaming.
- This digital platform collects royalties on behalf of the artists and distributes 100% of them to the artists and other right-holders.
- Registration to the Songtradr is free, with the Pro subscription fee at under $5 per month.
- Filmmakers and brands seeking to license artists’ music can use the demographic metadata of the artists on the platform to easily match the music demographics with their product’s audience demographics.
- Music creators are connected to the worldwide music licensing marketplace, saving time and costs.
- Free, unlimited CMS. with a 24/7 sales team working non-exclusively.
- As an artist, you still retain all your rights to the music, and the agreements with the distributor are non-exclusive; you can always shift to the other platforms without complications.
- The app has a public profile feature that allows artists to update their profiles, feature their tracks, and interact with their fans directly.
How do you upload your music on Songtradr?
- It is straightforward to upload music on the Songtradr platform; you just follow these simple steps.
- First, complete your music ownership settings by creating an account
- On the navigation bar, click on ‘Upload music.’
- Accept the terms and conditions of Songtradr by checking the music rights box
- On the upload window, click ‘Browse’ to select the audio file to upload
- For instrumental song versions, select ‘Main Mix’ on the ‘Version’ drop-down.
- If the audio file is an instrumental mix, cutdown, or stem, choose the right version under ‘Version drop-down.’
- Select the right song from your catalog
- At the bottom of the window, click Add &Edit’ or Add & Close’ and enter the song information
- Song information clears your music for discovery on the Songtradr licensing platform. The information needed is on recording, creative metadata, pricing, audio files, copyright, and approvals.
- You can either upload your music either through Starter or Pro accounts. The Starter account is free; the Pro account is charged a favorable annual fee.
The biggest mistake that an artist can make is keeping their music to themselves instead of getting their music out there.
Songtradr Prices and plans
While getting your music into an Online music distribution platform, consider these tips:
- Choose the plan with the pricing option that is most beneficial to you and a perfect fit for your resources and goals.
- Ensure your music is searchable so your fans can find you easily. Ensure that your metadata list includes: Your bio, your name, song or album title, music genre, release date, track titles, composer information. The metadata list should be short, has the most common words, is simple and timeless (without trendy words)
- Promote your music. The music promoter can’t do all the marketing work for you. Your budget for this must be realistic but enough to create a powerful presence online and on social media.
- Post previews of your music to create a buzz before you drop it to get it to as many ears as possible. You can also make calls, send emails, use blogs and radio or even TV to get your music out there.
A quick Songtradr review will show that exceptional Support by Songtradr for artists comes under these plans where artists can list their music in. The plans and their features are as below:
1. Starter Account
As an artist:
- You own and fully control your music
- You enjoy unlimited music distribution
- You can license and monetize your music and get to keep 60% of the sync licensing income from Film, TV, Apps, radio and other platforms, and 100% as performance royalties.
- A starter account receives 95% of distribution royalties
- You receive 20 credits on signing up for music submission to licensing opportunities
- You get to share and manage your music by yourself
- You open this account at no monthly charge
- You receive 75% of tipping proceeds
2. Songtradr Lite plan
- There is a $19 charge per month
- You own and fully control your music
- Unlimited music distribution for one artist
- License and monetize your music and keep 60% of the sync licensing income from Film, TV, apps, radio, and other platforms, and 100% of the performance royalties.
- You receive 20 credits per month for music submission to licensing opportunities
- Sharing and managing your music is your right
- You get analytics and statistics of how your music is performing in the industry
- Receives 75 % of tipping proceeds
3. Songtradr Pro plan
- There is a USD 49 charge per year
- Unlimited music uploads and storage for one artist
- Unlimited playlists and unlimited access to the monetization portal
- Mobile-enabled notifications
- Artists receive 80% of the sync licensing fees and monetization revenue from TV, film, Apps and other platforms, and 100% from performance royalties.
- 250 credits a month (3000 per annum) for music submission to licensing opportunities
- 100% distribution of royalties under Pro account
- Songtradr Pro classification under Pro account
- Pro account receives 100% of tipping proceeds
- You own, manage, share and control your music
- You get analytics and statistics of how your music is performing in the industry
- ISRC/UPCs included
Songtradr Pros
- You can view the progress of your submissions and your selection round1 through notifications, as every submission gets listened to.
- This package comes with a free content management system (CMS) and a 24/7 sales team.
- Songtradr platform is unbelievably cheaply priced, with the most expensive plan being the Pro plan for $49 per year. It is affordable for one managing multiple artists.
- Internet music distribution through Songtradr saves an artist on costs and the challenges associated with physical delivery. You can find all your fans in one place online.
- Songtradr offers a platform to the new artists, as well as the music veterans alike. It is made to suit different types of musicians.
- Artists can own, control, and manage their music from anywhere around the world, managing their music assets from all other platforms from Songtradr.
- The platform has comprehensive tools for artists to manage their careers professionally. They can upload, license, and monetize their music under one roof.
- Some online music platforms have seen artists lose tons of money from being conned. Songtradr offers a risk-free business environment for musicians.
- If you have a financial challenge, you can still get your music on the platform through the Starter Account, which has free registration and zero monthly charges.
- The platform accepts varied payment options, which include MasterCard, American Express, Visa, Discover, and PayPal. Which is very convenient.
- Songtradr’s notification system helps artists to track how good their music is performing, who is listening to it and where from. The systems also collect statistics on the music, and this data is vital to an artist’s career.
Songtradr Cons
- Limited opportunities for licensing submissions, mostly less than 15, yet most have hundreds of submissions, thus high competition
- College Radio feature, which gets highlighted in Songtradr’s blog of Monthly Mixdown, only picks five artists a month, yet there are many artists on the platform.
- Single or album access to Vevo has to be done independently
- A lot of micromanaging
- They do not help much with promotion
- Experimental artists and those whose music and lyrics are original have slim chances of being considered when it comes to licensing opportunities.
Verdict on Songtradr
The internet has brought drastic changes to music distributors’ roles. Traditionally, record labels would enter into distribution agreements with the distributors, who would sell the music in their stores for a commission, Songtradr earns its cut only after their clients have.
Music distribution through Songtradr links an artists’ finished music with their listeners, getting their content to as many listeners as possible. A Songtradr review will clearly show that it is the best way now that an artist can get their records to the market while having all the rights to the music records and keeping 100% of royalties when people stream and buy the music.
Songtradr not only increases the chance of your music being played but also ensures that you get paid through sync licensing.
Conducting this music business online through the digital record shops is the smart way to get your music and name as an artist out there. The artist receives royalties when people download or stream your music, depending on where they listened. A process that would take months is now a few clicks away.
The goal of digital music distribution is to get the music to digital music stores, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and many other streaming platforms.
Songtradr is a music marketplace leader, who is focused on equipping artists with tools to monetize their money rights, open markets for music creators, the one music platform where every artist needs to be. Digital music distribution is that direct route that can make your music out there and to the ears of many fans worldwide at the click of a button.
->> Check Out the ULTIMATE Music Distribution Guide (Reviews & Chart)