An independent label may distribute thousands of recordings to dozens or hundreds of music services.

The distributor dashboard shows that everything has been submitted.

But that doesn’t automatically prove every recording is available at every destination.

A music distribution delivery audit helps labels check what was intended, what was delivered and what actually became available.

Why run a delivery audit?

A catalogue can contain many types of releases:

• Singles
• Albums
• Compilations
• Remixes
• Live recordings
• Clean versions
• Instrumentals

Some may be eligible for particular stores.

Others may have territory restrictions or different rights.

Without a systematic audit, it becomes difficult to identify delivery gaps.

Start with your master catalogue

Create one authoritative list of recordings.

For every track, include:

• Artist
• Release
• ISRC
• UPC
• Original release date
• Master owner
• Distribution agreement
• Territory restrictions
• Selected destinations

The goal is to have one reliable record independent of an individual distributor dashboard.

Create a destination matrix

List your important services.

For example:

Spotify.

Apple Music.

YouTube Music.

Qobuz.

Audiomack.

Specialist commercial-music providers.

Relevant regional services.

Then identify which recordings should appear on each one.

Do not assume every track should go everywhere.

Your rights agreements may impose restrictions.

Understand delivery status

A distribution process may involve several stages.

Submitted

The release has entered the distributor’s system.

Approved

It has passed the required internal checks.

Delivered

The release has been sent to the destination or delivery partner.

Ingested

The destination has processed the supplied data.

Live

The recording is publicly available where applicable.

These stages are not interchangeable.

A delivered file may still require ingestion before becoming visible.

Verify important releases

For high-value catalogue recordings, check actual platform availability.

Look for:

• Correct artist
• Correct track title
• Correct audio
• Correct artwork
• Correct version
• Correct release date
• Correct profile mapping

Save the platform URL or another appropriate verification reference.

Audit downstream services separately

Some music is delivered through another provider rather than directly to the final service.

Ask your distributor how those arrangements are represented.

For example, if 7digital supplies a group of downstream services, does your account show each destination separately?

Are there service-level restrictions?

Does the distributor receive actual ingestion confirmation?

The answers may vary.

Watch for territory restrictions

A recording can be correctly delivered but unavailable in a particular country.

That may reflect licensing restrictions rather than a technical failure.

Check the relevant territory rights before reporting the release as missing.

Compare delivery with royalty reporting

A destination that shows no reported income is not automatically missing your recording.

The track may not have generated monetised usage.

Or the relevant statement may not have arrived.

Investigate whether the problem concerns:

• Delivery
• Availability
• Usage
• Reporting
• Payment

Those are separate stages.

Use a status dashboard

A label could maintain a simple table:

ISRC	Destination	Expected	Delivery status	Verified	Follow-up
Recording A	Spotify	Yes	Delivered	Yes	None
Recording A	Qobuz	Yes	Delivered	Yes	None
Recording B	Specialist service	Yes	Unconfirmed	No	Ask distributor

For large catalogues, automate this where reliable feeds or APIs exist.

How often should you audit?

A quarterly review can work for an established catalogue.

Also run targeted checks after:

• Distributor migration
• Acquisition
• Major metadata update
• Rights change
• New DSP onboarding
• Significant takedown
• Territory expansion

Prioritise commercially important recordings first.

Final thoughts

A store list tells you where a distributor can potentially send music.

A delivery audit tells you what actually happened to your catalogue.

For independent labels, that distinction matters.

A reliable destination matrix can improve availability, reduce support problems and make future royalty accounting more accurate.