How to distribute compilation albums
RouteNote is the ideal solution for unsigned artists to get their music on stores quickly, easily and for free. RouteNote can also be the best choice for labels and compilation curators too.
If you’re managing a label, a compilation can be a great way to show off many of your artists in one release. Anyone can create a compilation album on RouteNote, but there are some things you need to consider before you send over your tracklist.
Permission
This is the most obvious and important one. You need to have permission from every artist on the release to use there track in a compilation. Make sure you have this in writing. An email or DM is sufficient between friends, but a contract is recommended for any high profile artists to ensure you have all the finer details signed off.
Revenue Split
During contact with the artists, you’ll want to work out exactly who will receive what portion of revenue from the release. Maybe the label will receive all revenue for a one off payment to artists. More likely, you’ll want an easy way to dish out portions with little effort. RouteNote can help here. We make splitting between RouteNote accounts easy and autonomous. Just make sure everyone is setup with individual accounts, then royalties will be paid to all accounts monthly and forwarded to the PayPal account linked.
Stores
Where you distribute your compilation albums is an important aspect of the release and something you need to inform your artists of. Presuming your artists’ music is already on stores such as Spotify, iTunes and Apple Music, a re-upload of the music is fine in compilation album format. However selecting stores such as YouTube Content ID and Facebook may cause issues with content already on these sites. Compilations albums sent through RouteNote will not be sent to YouTube Content ID or Facebook unless you have proof of exclusive rights.
Moderation
When your release is being moderated, we may ask for proof of permission to distribute these artists. A screenshot of the message/email/contract or DM from the official artists social channel to one of our team member ought to do it. Once you’ve verified permission to distribute a high profile artist, we’ll be sure to note this on your account, so you aren’t asked every time.
Stores
With multiple of the same track on stores, you may be wondering how these tracks will appear in search results and on the artists profile. Results vary based on the store. We’ve used Spotify in the examples below.
Search Results
For search results, the single is front and centre, followed by the compilation inclusion to the right.
Artist Profile
All compilations an artist features on can be found at the bottom of an artist’s profile, under ‘Appears On’.
Play Count
As you can see, handily Spotify combines plays across different versions of the track, even if different ISRC codes are used on upload.
