Which distributor to choose: DistroKid, TuneCore and CD Baby compared

There are only two pricing models

• Annual subscription: you pay every year and upload as much as you want. You keep 100% of royalties. Stop paying and your music comes off the platforms.
• One-time fee per release: you pay once for that song and it stays up. In exchange, the distributor takes a cut of what you earn.

Neither is better in the abstract. One is better for your release pace.

The math that matters

Say your music earns $1,000 a year:

• DistroKid: you keep $1,000 and paid $24.99 for the subscription.
• TuneCore Rising Artist: same, $1,000 minus $24.99.
• CD Baby: you keep $910, and never pay a subscription again.

With those numbers the subscriptions win. Now flip the scenario: you release one single a year and it earns $80 annually. CD Baby charged you $9.99 once and keeps $7. DistroKid charges $24.99 every year, regardless of what your song earns, and the day you stop paying your music disappears.

That is the real decision, and it is not about which is "better" but about how much you publish.

Which one fits your case

• One single a year or less: CD Baby. Pay once, forget about it, and your song is still there in five years.
• Four or more releases a year: DistroKid. Four EPs through CD Baby would run close to $60; DistroKid stays at $24.99 no matter how much you upload.
• Building a long-term catalog and worried about losing it: CD Baby, for the permanence model.
• You need maximum store and territory coverage: TuneCore.

Things to check before you commit

How the money reaches you

Spotify does not pay artists: your distributor does. Depending on which one you pick, you get paid by international bank transfer, PayPal or Payoneer. Check two things before deciding: the minimum payout threshold and the currency conversion fee. A bad conversion rate eats several months of streaming when the amounts are small.

The subscription risk

If a year comes when you cannot pay the renewal, your discography leaves the platforms. Links you shared break, playlists drop you, and when you resume paying your song re-enters as a new release with no accumulated history. For an artist who releases rarely, that risk usually outweighs the price difference.

Regional distributors

Services keep appearing that charge in local currency and promise one-time pricing. Some are legitimate and some do not last. Before handing over your catalog, check how long they have operated, look for real artists using them, and confirm how and how often they pay. With the big three you have years of verifiable track record; with a new one, you are betting.

Frequently asked questions

Can I switch distributors later?

Yes, but it is not painless. You have to publish the same release through the new one and take down the old one, keeping the same ISRC so you do not lose your streaming history. It is doable, but better to choose well from the start.

Which one publishes fastest?

DistroKid has the reputation for speed. But that only matters if you are racing the clock, and if you are racing the clock you already lost the chance to pitch to playlists. Schedule ahead and speed stops being a criterion.

Do any of them include copyright registration?

Some offer publishing services for an extra fee, collecting certain rights internationally. They do not replace affiliation with the collecting society in your country.

What about free distributors?

They exist and they work for testing. They usually keep a larger cut, have slower support, and give you less control over dates and metadata. Fine as a first release to learn the process. Not for a project you care about.