Answering the most common questions asked about RouteNote

By Tom NewmanSeptember 1, 20215 mins read

What is RouteNote? Is RouteNote really free? Is RouteNote safe? How long does RouteNote take to upload? We answer the most Googled questions.

Google RouteNote and the top four questions are as above. This article clears up the most common questions people have about RouteNote. Starting at the bottom:

What is RouteNote?

RouteNote are a leading music distribution company, providing independent artists and labels with the tools they need to share their music and earn revenue on all of the world’s largest online music stores, streaming services and social media platforms.

Is RouteNote really free?

Yep! For absolutely no money, we can help you distribute your music online. Our Free Distribution model has zero fees or recurring costs, while artists keep 85% of the revenue. Our Premium Distribution model costs a small fee upfront and annual payment, while the artists keep 100% of the revenue.

Is RouteNote safe?

Yes! We don’t require any personal details when you sign up to RouteNote, just a username, email address and password. As there are no unfront costs with Free releases, you don’t need to input any payment details. For Premium releases or should you decide to switch from Free to Premium, payment is securely managed via PayPal or Stripe. Once your release starts earning revenue, you can link a PayPal or bank account to your RouteNote profile to transfer funds.

How long does RouteNote take to upload?

We aim for RouteNote moderation times to take around 72 hours for initial submission. Please note that this can be delayed during times of high demand.

Once your release has been approved, presuming you haven’t sent a sales start date, our stores will get your release live in 48 hours to 2 weeks. Our larger stores such as Spotify and Apple Music will normally upload your release within 5 days of approval.

If you have any more questions, please see our Support Hub for answers to all of the most commonly asked questions or drop a message to our support team.

Click here to sign up to RouteNote today and discover all of the exciting opportunities for artists.

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Join the conversation

44 replies

G3B says:

October 5, 2021 at 3:02 pm

How lond does it take to approve my song. It said average is 48 hrs but it has been 5 days since we uploaded.

Reply
1. Jacca-RouteNote says:
  
  October 5, 2021 at 4:12 pm
  
  Hello, it can take up to a week in busy periods. Please make sure to check your discography page within your RouteNote account to see if any action is needed on your releases.
  
  Reply
Igor says:

December 13, 2021 at 4:55 pm

Once a song is uploaded and distributed by routenote do songs remain uploaded forever without a renewal-sort of fee?

Reply
1. Jacca-RouteNote says:
  
  December 14, 2021 at 1:13 pm
  
  If you’ve uploaded your music on our Free tier then it will be free for as long as you keep your music live. If you’ve paid for a Premium release it will cost £9.99 a year to renew your release on Premium no matter whether it’s a single, EP, Album, or Extended Album. If you don’t have a payment profile linked to your account then your release will be automatically moved on to our Free tier so that it isn’t removed from sale.
  
  Reply
2. Aniket says:
  
  July 6, 2022 at 4:09 am
  
  If I have any upcoming releases pending or waiting for approval & I decide to delete my Routenote account , will the upcoming song will be in stores after deletion of account
  
  Reply
  1. LucyLH says:
    
    July 6, 2022 at 9:31 am
    
    Hey,
    
    No, we will remove any live releases from stores and delete any pending releases from your discography when closing your RouteNote account.
    
    Reply
    1. Jiggy Damilee says:
      
      February 16, 2023 at 9:49 pm
      
      I thought the moderation time is 72hours mine is taking up to 7days now
      
      Reply
      1. LucyLH says:
        
        February 20, 2023 at 11:40 am
        
        Hey,
        
        We’re currently approving content within around 5-7 working days of submission to our moderation team, providing that there isn’t any further action required from you during the moderation process.
        
        I apologise for the wait you are experiencing.
        
        Thank you for your patience.
Igor says:

December 13, 2021 at 5:03 pm

Is it possible to upload the songs to different platforms with different custom descriptions via RouteNote? For instance, if I want my song on Youtube with description “a” and on Soundcloud/Bandcamp with descrption “b”.

Reply
Anh Duy says:

January 22, 2022 at 2:26 pm

What audio does RouteNote actually accept , I have uploaded .mp3 & .wav files both failed

Reply
1. Jacca-RouteNote says:
  
  January 24, 2022 at 10:28 am
  
  Hi Anh, we accept .mp3 and .flac but not .wav files. Your audio must be formatted in stereo as a FLAC or MP3 file, it has to be a minimum of 320kbps and the sample rate should be 44.1kHz. You can upload 15 tracks per session (you can come back here at any stage of the upload process to add more tracks). If you’re still having any trouble after ensuring your audio file hits these requirements then please let us know at support@routenote.com.
  
  Reply
2. Brother's Music says:
  
  February 3, 2022 at 1:59 pm
  
  Hey
  
  RouteNote can only accept MP3 files with a sample rate of 44.1khz. The bitrate of the MP3 can be anything above 192kbps, however, we recommend users to use 320kbps for the highest quality
  
  Reply
Neitanlion says:

July 18, 2022 at 9:43 am

I tried to upload a song and finished with everything but it talked me that my album title version and my song type version are not the same

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  July 18, 2022 at 11:14 am
  
  Hey,
  
  When uploading a single track release your album and track title must match exactly.
  
  Check out our support article for more information – https://support.routenote.com/kb-article/how-do-i-format-single-track-releases/
  
  Reply
2. Ell Grey says:
  
  March 26, 2023 at 11:46 am
  
  Hello.. It’s been 9 days since I uploaded my first release.. But it’s still on moderation process.. Is this normal?
  
  Reply
  1. LucyLH says:
    
    March 28, 2023 at 11:37 am
    
    Hey,
    
    Please reach out to our support team (support@routenote.com) with your UPC and we will check up on this for you.
    
    Apologies for any inconvenience, and thank you for your patience.
    
    Reply
sil says:

October 23, 2022 at 11:58 pm

Hi!
How long after I’ve uploaded a song will it be available on Spotify for Artists to pitch for playlists?

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  October 24, 2022 at 10:47 am
  
  Hey,
  
  Check out our guide – https://support.routenote.com/kb-article/how-do-i-get-my-music-on-spotify-playlists/
  
  Reply
Rafael Lacson says:

November 17, 2022 at 1:19 pm

If I chose to upload my song to YouTube through Routenote, will I be the one making a channel and uploading it myself or will Routenote make one for me?

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  November 18, 2022 at 10:24 am
  
  Hey,
  
  By selecting YouTube Music as a store, this will add your release to the YouTube Music library as well as create a topic channel with automatically generated art tracks on YouTube.
  
  Topic channels are automatically created by YouTube as part of distribution to YouTube Music.
  
  We have an article on our support hub regarding this, please refer to this link for more information – http://support.routenote.com/kb-article/how-do-i-create-a-topic-channel/
  
  If you have any further queries, please feel free to let me know!
  
  Reply
Arjun says:

November 19, 2022 at 9:12 am

Hey routenote, i have put a specific release date so after the approvement, will it be live on all the platforms on the mentioned date?

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  November 21, 2022 at 12:57 pm
  
  Hey,
  
  Yes, if you have selected a sales start date your release will go live on that date.
  
  Please see our support article for more information – https://support.routenote.com/kb-article/what-is-my-sales-start-date/
  
  Reply
Bow12005 says:

December 22, 2022 at 4:52 pm

Hi, Routenote. I wanna release a Phonk song via Routenote. What genres do I choose while creating the release?

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  December 28, 2022 at 11:15 am
  
  Hey,
  
  Unfortunately, our genre list is quite limited as it needs to comply with all of our distribution partner store requirements.
  
  iTunes/Apple Music have a much wider genre list – if you let our support team know the UPC of your release and your desired genre, we will see if we can find an option that is more applicable to your release.
  Your UPC can be found just under the release title within your discography.
  
  https://routenote.com/contact
  
  Reply
Project Otium says:

April 13, 2023 at 8:13 am

Hi Routenote, my release has been in review for over 100 hours, and it hasn’t been approved yet. As far as I know it normally takes 72 hours for releases to be approved. Why it’s taking this much time? Can anyone help me?

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  April 13, 2023 at 9:57 am
  
  Hey,
  
  I’m sorry for the wait! Unfortunately we are experiencing some delays due to high demand.
  
  Please reach out to our support team with your UPC and we will check up on this for you.
  
  Reply
Prashant Sharma says:

May 30, 2023 at 4:15 pm

My song has been approved. Now what I have to do to listen it on Spotify and other apps?

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  May 31, 2023 at 9:22 am
  
  Hey,
  
  Once your release has been approved, it will be available on most major stores within 2 weeks – please note that if you set a sales start date later than this, your release will not become available until that date.
  
  In general, Spotify tend to be one of the quicker stores for release availability and usually have your music live within 48 hours of your release being approved. However, this is not guaranteed and your release may become live on each store at any point within 2 – 14 days of approval.
  
  You can get some of your store links from us by heading over to the Artist Services tab of your account. There is a drop-down menu which allows you to hover over Marketing and select URL Requests. This will take you to the Pre-save URL Request form.
  
  We will source the relevant links for you as soon as they’re made available by the stores.
  
  Please be aware that your release will need to be approved before you complete this form.
  
  Reply
Suchetana De says:

August 30, 2023 at 12:52 pm

Are you distribute traditional songs ? Please inform me.

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  August 31, 2023 at 9:33 am
  
  Hey,
  
  Yes! To create a release, sign in to your RouteNote account, click on the ‘Distribution’ tab on the left, and then click ‘Create New Release’. You will then be able to upload audio and artwork, insert metadata and choose your stores and territories.
  
  Your release will then be sent to the moderation team for review before your release is sent to your chosen stores.
  
  For further information on how to create a release, please head to our Support Hub article: https://support.routenote.com/kb-article/how-do-i-create-a-release-on-routenote/
  
  Reply
Peter Anthony says:

January 4, 2024 at 8:30 pm

Two of my songs were taken out of sale without any notification nor reason, and I sent an email to your team but up till today I’m yet to receive a feedback

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  January 8, 2024 at 12:50 pm
  
  Apologies for the delay here – we have had reduced staffing over the holiday season. Sadly, this has resulted in a backlog of content that our teams are working through. You should hear back from our support team soon.
  
  Reply
Sean N says:

January 5, 2024 at 2:18 pm

Hey routenote, my songs have been in review for more than a week now and havent been approved even though no action is needed, i’ve read the conversation and emailed but still havent received a reponse there aswell. Please is there any help i can receive to even know the possible time frame for when it will be approved much less released

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  January 8, 2024 at 12:53 pm
  
  Apologies for the delay here – we have had reduced staffing over the holiday season. Sadly, this has resulted in a backlog of content that our teams are working through.
  
  You should hear back from our support team soon.
  
  Reply
Abdul Ghafur says:

February 6, 2024 at 2:59 pm

Hey routenote team!

Recently I have “404 forbidden” problem I already tried all tips that they give but it didn’t work! And then they ask me to send my IPv4, ISP & my address! I wanna ask is that safe for my privacy & data because it’s kinda sensitive!

Please, let me know what I need to do!

Thank you!

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  February 12, 2024 at 12:00 pm
  
  Hey, please reach out to support@routenote.com and express these concerns! They will be able to look into this for you.
  
  Reply
Mike says:

February 19, 2024 at 6:01 pm

Hi Routenote,
We have previously released 5 tracks with you. We initialy tried to upload high quaity WAV files – and of course you require either MP3 or FLAC format. Due to a misunderstanding we ended up uploading all 5 tunes in MP3 format.
Of course, we would much prefer to have all our tunes published in as high quality format as possible.What would we have to do to change the format of the existing tunes to FLAC? Would it be necessary to withdraw and republish? Or is there another way?
Thanks in advance

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  February 22, 2024 at 2:33 pm
  
  Hey, please reach out to support@routenote.com with your UPCs and we will check up on this for you.
  
  Reply
Tom says:

March 13, 2024 at 8:24 pm

hi,
how long is current waiting time for moderation of a”first” song? What are the criteria, you are checking for?
kind regard

Reply
1. Jacca-RouteNote says:
  
  March 15, 2024 at 1:06 pm
  
  Hey, I can’t provide a timeframe for that I’m afraid. Normally, we operate at a schedule of between 24-72 hours for moderation however we are experiencing delays right now. The team are working hard to get back to a regular schedule. The moderation team must check ease release to ensure the audio is of good quality and doesn’t contain copyright, that the metadata is all correctly formatted, and that the artwork meets guidelines.
  
  Reply
sayan says:

March 15, 2024 at 9:39 am

it has been more than 16 days after my upload to my release and still no moderation had taken place

Reply
1. Jacca-RouteNote says:
  
  March 15, 2024 at 1:05 pm
  
  Hey, the team are currently experiencing some delays but are working hard to get back to a regular schedule and respond to everyone as soon as they can. You will hear back very soon. Thank you for your patience.
  
  Reply
Arnav says:

March 24, 2024 at 9:47 pm

Hey, my song has not been released or approved even after almost one month despite having no problems. I wrote a support ticket which too has not been answered yet.

Reply
1. LucyLH says:
  
  March 25, 2024 at 12:32 pm
  
  Please let us know your ticket number and we will check up on this for you!
  
  Reply

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