DistroKid to lay off staff to outsource abroad, says union
The employee’s union state that DistroKid will layoff 50% of their staff “despite making more money than ever”.
Independent music distributor are reportedly making the shocking decision to lay off a significant number of its workforce. This news comes from the union representing DistroKid’s American employees and despite the fact that the company is growing.
The union writes: “DistroKid plans to lay off 50% of its unionised staff on 2 Nov. This decision impacts 37 dedicated employees, including five of the seven bargaining committee members. No non-union staff have been placed on administrative leave.”
The news comes as shocking because DistroKid is seeing success, but seems to look to save money on employees by hiring overseas. The union adds: “Despite making more money than ever before, the billion-dollar music giant plans to lay off the entire customer support team in order to replace them with overseas labour.
“These layoffs aim to save a few million dollars, less than 0.2% of its $1.3 billion valuation.” DistroKid have reportedly told employees that the money saved from their salaries will be used to pay for more marketing. However, it may backfire if this news sours DistroKid’s image in the eyes of independent artists.
The union adds how DistroKid have previously claimed to do right by their artist and their employees. They even state that many of the employees began their time at the company as DistroKid customers.
Responses from users show that the news is not welcomed by customers of their distribution services. One user writes: “I’ll be promptly removing my catalog. I will not support the union busting side of the music industry with my past or future works.”
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