What does a music distributor do?

When comparing the best music distributors, you may wonder why you actually need a music distributor and what it does for you. In (extremely) short: it gets your song on Spotify. A music distributor performs a number of useful functions, both for the individual artists as well as for the streaming services on the other side. The key functions of any music distributor include:

1. Distribution Across Major Platforms: music distributors distribute songs to the various platforms so artists don’t have to upload their tracks individually to each service.
2. Revenue Collection: These services collect earnings from streams and downloads on behalf of the artist and pay them back through royalties.
3. Rights Management: They help protect an artist’s rights by registering music with royalty collection agencies and ensuring the artist gets compensated for their work.
4. Marketing Tools: Some services offer promotional tools, like playlist pitching, pre-save links, or social media integration, to help artists gain more visibility.
5. Data and Analytics: Many distributors provide data on how an artist’s music performs on each platform, giving insights into listener demographics, popular tracks, and more.
6. Physical distribution: Some music distributors also handle production and distribution of physical music assets, such as CD’s, DVD’s, vinyl records (again) and cassette tapes (again?).

Although the first function is the focus of this website, I will elaborate on each function in this article.

1. Distributes Music to Digital Platforms

• Uploading and Formatting: Distributors handle the technical side of getting music onto platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. This involves ensuring that each track meets the specific format, quality, and metadata requirements of each platform.
• Release Dates and Pre-Release Options: Distributors allow artists to choose release dates for their music and offer pre-release features, such as “pre-saves,” where fans can save the track in advance, so it appears in their library on release day.
• Artwork and Metadata: The distributor also helps with uploading cover art, listing credits, and setting up genre classifications, which can improve the chances of the music reaching the right audience.
• Territorial Distribution: Many distributors allow artists to choose the regions where they want to release their music, which can be helpful for artists targeting specific countries or languages.

2. Manages Royalties and Payments

• Royalty Collection: Distributors collect revenue on behalf of the artist from downloads, streaming, and sometimes even from other uses like YouTube ads or social media videos that use the music.
• Payouts: Distributors then pay royalties to the artist, typically on a monthly or quarterly basis. Some take a cut of the revenue, while others operate on a flat subscription fee.
• Detailed Financial Reporting: Many distributors provide itemized financial reports so artists can see exactly how much revenue was generated by each platform and for each song.

3. Handles Rights and Licensing

• Copyright Protection: Distributors help artists secure copyright ownership over their music by registering it with various copyright bodies. Some distributors, like CD Baby and DistroKid, offer Content ID services, which track where the music is used online (e.g., on YouTube) to ensure that the artist is compensated.
• Licensing and Rights Management: Distributors can help artists manage both master rights (ownership of the original sound recording) and publishing rights (ownership of the song’s composition), ensuring royalties are paid correctly.
• International Royalties: For music played internationally, distributors often help artists collect international royalties through licensing agreements with global collection agencies, such as SOCAN in Canada, PRS in the UK, and SACEM in France.

4. Provides Analytics and Insights

• Data Collection: Distributors gather and provide data on how music is performing across platforms, including insights on streams, downloads, listener demographics (like age, location, and gender), and even the playlists that have added the track.
• Audience Insights: This data helps artists understand who their listeners are and where they’re based, which can be useful for planning tours, social media marketing, and targeting specific regions.
• Platform-Specific Trends: Certain distributors break down analytics by platform, offering insights into which services are performing best for each track or release.
• Growth Tracking: Analytics can track an artist’s growth over time, showing trends in fan engagement and helping with long-term planning and promotion.

5. Marketing and Promotion Support

• Playlist Pitching: Many distributors have relationships with streaming platforms and can pitch new songs for inclusion in popular playlists. Placement in a playlist with many followers can significantly boost streams and visibility.
• Pre-Save Links: Distributors often provide “pre-save” links, which allow fans to save a track or album before its release. These links help build anticipation and ensure a track has immediate listeners on release day.
• Social Media Tools: Some distributors offer integration with social media platforms to help artists share links, promotional materials, and even short video clips directly from the distributor’s platform.
• Collaborative Marketing Campaigns: Premium distributors may also offer collaborative marketing support, such as assisting with ad campaigns or setting up interviews, though this is typically reserved for more established artists or those using a premium service.

6. Physical Distribution (for Some Distributors)

• CDs and Vinyl: While digital music is dominant, some fans still want physical copies, like CDs or vinyl records. Certain distributors, like CD Baby, offer physical distribution services to place physical albums in online stores and sometimes even in brick-and-mortar stores.
• Manufacturing Partnerships: Some distributors partner with manufacturers, making it easier for artists to order physical copies of their music in bulk.
• Inventory Management: For physical products, distributors can help manage inventory and handle shipping logistics for orders, making it simpler for artists to reach fans who want physical media.
• Direct-to-Fan Sales: Distributors may also enable direct-to-fan sales, allowing artists to sell physical copies directly from their own websites or social media accounts, keeping more of the profit from each sale.

Overall, music distributors are like a bridge between the artist and the public, ensuring that music is accessible, profitable, and properly represented across a wide range of platforms.