Whether you’re a veteran musician or an emerging artist, you can be among the hundreds of thousands of musicians around the world who use DistroKid.
Big-name artists that use DistroKid include the likes of Ludacris, Kei Henderson, Rob Scallon, and Arizona Zervas.
A service that brings your music to the spotlight through streaming services and online stores, DistroKid ensures that you earn money while people listen to your music.
Perhaps, you’re already using a music distribution service, such as TuneCore, but you want to switch to DistroKid.
Luckily for you, the process is fairly simple, and that’s exactly what we’re going to outline in this article.
Switching distributors is basically the same no matter which ones you’re using or want to use. Still, we’re going to give you a step-by-step guide on how to switch from TuneCore to DistroKid.
Switching from TuneCore to DistroKid
Switching to DistroKid from TuneCore is quite easy. The first step is to upload your music to the site. The following day, you need to remove your music from your old distributor, TuneCore.
Because DistroKid is so fast when uploading your releases, you shouldn’t be surprised if your music appears in both streaming services. The short overlap is nothing to be worried about.
Detailed Step-by-Step Guide
As you well know, the first step when switching from TuneCore to DistroKid is to simply upload your releases to DistroKid.
To begin, head over to the website’s upload form. If you’re new to the platform, you’ll have to sign up and create a new account.
DistroKid Plans
Once you sign up, you’ll be asked to choose from three plans: Musician, Musician Plus, and Label, which will range in price.
While the Musician plan includes a Spotify verified checkmark and the ability to collect earnings from royalty splits and upload unlimited songs and lyrics, the Label plan includes all of that plus daily streaming statistics, synced lyrics, and customizable label names, iTunes pricing, and release dates.
Song Information
After choosing and paying for your plan, you can begin taking advantage of DistroKid’s unlimited uploads.
At the top of your portal, you’ll see a button at the top that says “Upload.” After clicking that button, you’ll see stores ranging from Spotify to TikTok to Apple Music.
Select your stores, and then pick the number of songs you’d like to upload. For each song you upload, you’ll have to provide information about your song, including song and album titles and ISRC.
It’s extremely important that metadata like these, as well as your audio files, are the exact same ones you used with TuneCore. Otherwise, you might lose playlists or play counts on certain platforms, like Spotify.
DistroKid can’t guarantee that you won’t lose these features if you use the same information, but ensuring your metadata is the same will definitely lessen your chances of losing play counts or playlists.
There’s also the possibility of losing reviews on Amazon and iTunes, so keep that in mind.
When you’re filling out the information, DistroKid might ask things like whether the song was previously released, whether the artist is already in Apple Music, and whether you want buyers to be able to pre-order your song before its release date.
“Extras” Section
Those with the Musician Plus and Label plans might see an “Extras” section when providing information about their song. Users can select all the “Extras” that they want, and these features might include:
- Instagram and Facebook (free) – With this feature, you can add your single to Instagram’s Music in Stories in addition to other Instagram and Facebook products.
- Shazam and iPhone Siri (additional fee) – If you want people to be able to easily identify your single when it’s playing on TV or radio or in a public location, you might want to take advantage of this feature.
- Store Maximizer (additional fee) – Selecting this feature will deliver your single to streaming services and online stores as DistroKid adds them. The platform, which regularly adds new stores and streaming services, will give you notice every time your single is added to a new service.
Review and “Important Checkboxes”
Right before clicking “Done,” you’ll need to select all the “Important Checkboxes.”
These mandatory checkboxes include authorizing your selection of stores and verifying that you’re not using any other artist’s name in your song or album title without their approval.
It’s also wise to review all the information you provided and make sure you selected all the right checkboxes. Click “Done” and your song is all ready to go on DistroKid!
TuneCore Takedown Requests
Thankfully, removing your music from TuneCore is just as seamless.
Just log in to your TuneCore account. Head to your Manage Subscription page, and from there select the release you want to remove. If you want to take down the release immediately, click “Takedown All Stores.”
If you want it to be taken down when your subscription period expires, click “Cancel Renewal.” Lastly, scroll down and click “Submit.”
Although most removal requests are processed within 2-3 business days, some might take up to three weeks to complete.
This might mean a longer overlap period during which your songs appear in both TuneCore and DistroKid at the same time. Again, this is nothing to worry about and will only be temporary.
Why Should I Switch from TuneCore to DistroKid?
There’s a plethora of reasons to switch to DistroKid from TuneCore.
One is that DistroKid is much more affordable, and while DistroKid allows you to upload unlimited songs, TuneCore only allows you to upload songs in the album you paid for.
Besides pricing, DistroKid also wins when it comes to its exclusive features. These include:
- Prevention of name mixups – If there’s one artist or multiple artists who share the same name as you, DistroKid makes sure you have your own unique identity and no one mixes you up.
- Instant verification – On sites like Spotify, you get “that little blue tick,” which lets listeners know your account is authentic, in addition to exclusive stats.
- Unlimited free backups – Free, unlimited audio file backups for your songs ensures you never lose your music.
- Ultra fast uploads – As you can see in the sections above, the process to upload songs to your DistroKid account is fast and easy.
- Cover song licensing –Any time an artist wants to cover another artist’s song, a cover song license must be issued. DistroKid streamlines this process, making covering songs easier than it’s ever been.
- Automatic “splits” – Want to easily pay your collaborators? You can take advantage of DistroKid’s automatic “splits,” which divide up ownership percentages and payments.
Furthermore, many users report that DistroKid’s customer support and user-interface are unbeatable and that even TuneCore can’t match DistroKid in these areas.
