Leave a Legacy is one of DistroKid’s most interesting Album Extras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also reveals something important about the economics of subscription music distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DistroKid says Leave a Legacy prevents the selected release being removed because of lapsed membership payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also allows that release to remain available after an account is cancelled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The current price is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$29 per single<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$49 per album or release containing two or more tracks<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fee is non-recurring, but applies separately to each release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Normally, using a subscription distributor means maintaining the relationship with that distributor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leave a Legacy gives artists the ability to protect particular releases even if they later stop paying for DistroKid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it also raises a question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why should catalogue permanence need to be purchased separately?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For one important single, $29 probably isn’t a major issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For twenty singles, protecting every release would cost $580.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For 100 singles, it would cost $2,900.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly the economics look different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most independent artists won’t necessarily buy Leave a Legacy for everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But musicians building large catalogues should understand the implication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other distribution models handle catalogue permanence differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amuse currently states that music stays live even if an artist downgrades or cancels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Too Lost currently allows cancelled subscribers to leave releases live while receiving 85% of royalties until they resubscribe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RouteNote Free has no annual subscription to maintain in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you’re already committed to DistroKid and have a few important releases you want protected, it can be useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But before paying for it across a large catalogue, calculate the total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cost of permanence matters just as much as the cost of distribution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leave a Legacy is one of DistroKid’s most interesting Album Extras. It also reveals something important about the economics of subscription music distribution. What is DistroKid Leave a Legacy? DistroKid says Leave a Legacy prevents the selected release being removed because of lapsed membership payments. It also allows that release to remain available after an account is cancelled. The current price is: $29 per single $49 per album or release containing two or more tracks The fee is non-recurring, but applies separately to each release. Why does Leave a Legacy exist? Normally, using a subscription distributor means maintaining the relationship…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3782,"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":[1378,2349,1365],"coauthors":[2],"class_list":["post-3795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-distrokid","tag-legacy","tag-pricing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n