Does DistroKid have hidden fees?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Technically, no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DistroKid publishes information about its additional charges and Album Extras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there is a big difference between a fee being publicly disclosed and an artist understanding how much the service may ultimately cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s where things become interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DistroKid starts at $24.99 per year in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For that, an artist can upload unlimited music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, numerous additional features can cost extra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DistroKid currently lists extras including cover-song licensing, Leave a Legacy, Social Media Pack, Dolby Atmos and loudness normalisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Individually, many of these prices aren’t particularly high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At catalogue scale, they can become significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leave a Legacy costs $29 for a single and $49 for an album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It means the selected release can remain available if your DistroKid subscription later lapses or you cancel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have one successful single, $29 might feel reasonable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you eventually have 100 releases, paying to protect every one would be an entirely different calculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DistroKid currently charges $12 per cover song every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That means ten cover songs could create $120 in annual licensing administration charges before considering the cost of your DistroKid membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For artists building large cover catalogues, this deserves attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DistroKid’s Social Media Pack costs $4.95 per single per year or $14.95 per album per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DistroKid also retains 20% of the advertising revenue generated through that service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Again, completely disclosed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But also another cost beyond the headline subscription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are costs when artists withdraw royalties too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, current non-US local bank transfer\/SEPA withdrawals cost $5.62 per payment, while international wires can be significantly more expensive. Currency conversion can also carry an FX fee of up to 3%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Small artists should pay particular attention because a fixed withdrawal fee represents a much larger percentage of a small royalty balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A better description would be costs that are easy to overlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DistroKid can still be very good value for prolific artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But compare distributors based on what you will actually use rather than the cheapest number displayed on the pricing page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes the cheapest-looking music distributor isn’t actually the cheapest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Does DistroKid have hidden fees? Technically, no. DistroKid publishes information about its additional charges and Album Extras. But there is a big difference between a fee being publicly disclosed and an artist understanding how much the service may ultimately cost. That’s where things become interesting. The subscription isn’t necessarily the whole price DistroKid starts at $24.99 per year in the US. For that, an artist can upload unlimited music. However, numerous additional features can cost extra. DistroKid currently lists extras including cover-song licensing, Leave a Legacy, Social Media Pack, Dolby Atmos and loudness normalisation. Individually, many of these prices aren’t…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3482,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2119,1378,1365],"coauthors":[2],"class_list":["post-3777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-costs","tag-distrokid","tag-pricing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n