Thanks a lot for this video man ! And sorry for your thing turned up like so.. Guys, check well the comment section, there are some solid info laying down there.

@IndieMusicAcademy

4 жыл бұрын

🙌🙌🙌

@macavalli2619

4 жыл бұрын

TIL, Distrokid can shadow ban you for having a certain style or making "similar sounding music. I can already see how many trap rappers they will trap ban due to "editorial discretion"

@VSChris-ut8ip

3 жыл бұрын

Indie Music Academy what should I use to get my music out there what’s the best option to use

@Josh-py9rq

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah man soo thankful for this video lol 😂 I am releasing my first album and not with distrokid lol

@losintocables7834

Жыл бұрын

@Azaz Beats were you able to collect your money from distrokid?

Doctor to Nurse: "He's dead...notify his wife and send an email to Distrokid."

@theviolinoob

4 жыл бұрын

hahha

@LuciensMusic

4 жыл бұрын

They may want a picture of the corpse,lol

@CokeBeats

4 жыл бұрын

ha ha ha otherwise will carry to next generation

@Neillusion

4 жыл бұрын

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

@alexandermasons418

4 жыл бұрын

@Barstool Astronaut you have the littest account name

The common thread with bad Distokid experiences is: Everything went well for a while, then suddenly something went wrong for no apparent reason and nobody can ever figure out why, because apparently their customer service is absolute dogshit.

@nvisionbeats

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah for me it’s the customer service, they are a very archaic in how they operate. They are unprofessional in this aspect and not very transparent - even with the whole withholding a third of royalties because of tax reasons.

@Wxve6

Жыл бұрын

@@nvisionbeatsthe DK founder creeps reddit like a fool under his real name ... so yeah you're right. company culture trickles down from the top

@losintocables7834

Жыл бұрын

@Azaz Beats Were you able to collect your winnings after the ban?

@heeeeeythere7480

5 ай бұрын

3 years, after that it’s nothing but problems.

"I'm not telling you to quit Distrokid" *Me contemplating quitting Distrokid*

@compositionsforever2466

4 жыл бұрын

@Shovine Kazama what's wrong with that? Cheaper than Netflix that has majority films I've already seen or can see without Netflix.

@compositionsforever2466

4 жыл бұрын

@Shovine Kazama I mean to have ya music in many stores isn't as easy without a distributor. As long as you pay distrokid ya sorted . Other distributions are slightly weird like I also have Ditto but only uploaded one track due to there's toonly many tabs but better for doing draft releases I guess, I only joined ditto to one day take advantage of the Vevo Channel creator feature that cist around $c .. Not too bad.. But that one track took a week to reach anywhere and they have free KZread content id.. distrokid content id isn't free but there's free services out there to do that separately like pay a one time fee to a publisher and they handle worldwide stuff for every track

@compositionsforever2466

4 жыл бұрын

@Shovine Kazama distrokid always takes a day or two at most to reach iTunes. Before KZread took a week to reach stores a two years ago but recently takes same time as iTunes apple music, two days is amazing to be in over ccc stores and a new oriental store has just been added so go back into albums or singles and add to more stores that don't charge. Simple

@Zvrra

4 жыл бұрын

@Shovine Kazama WAT

@saint_iri

4 жыл бұрын

@Shovine Kazama 🤔 this can't be correct

I think we need to take a stand and start making ways to be able to distribute our own music instead of using distributors

@HindiRapGuru

2 жыл бұрын

I agree with you. This world is now getting strictly controlled for power and money in every way. It was done in shadows before but now it is done in broad daylight and they are not scared!

@therecipe415

Жыл бұрын

Agreed. I want to start a union for artist

@feadycrocka

Жыл бұрын

lets open one

@kinadabambino6872

Жыл бұрын

Im down!

@LegendaryWoke

Жыл бұрын

Simply go to each distributor and distribute instead of going with the multi-distributors, yawn

this should be a lawsuit. Sounds like fraud to me

@phenomenallyupnext

4 жыл бұрын

distro kid is the worst i know 3 artist who got screwed by theme

@jacejaxon7197

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, sounds bad, but most of what this dude is saying is just ACTUAL LIES. The way he described the "Leave a legacy" thing isn't how it works at all. He probably *did* release something that could've gotten him in trouble (distrokid straight up says that if a song that you released get's in any legal trouble they will unrelease it so that neither you or them get in lawsuit territory.(Which is in your favor) He also doesn't show any of his and distrokids conversation so most of that is probably made up as well. I mean what can you expect, he's a small youtuber who needs content and controversy videos get the most views.

@vandenhengel978

4 жыл бұрын

@@jacejaxon7197 Those are harsh words you are using and assumptions are just that, not facts. There are however a few inconsistencies in the story. Like the impossibility to get another distributor. And then show how to do just that. Also the mentioning that DK does not give you all your payments from the mentioned resources is a first I hear that one. Implying the need for additional services.

@AccioFreaks

4 жыл бұрын

@@vandenhengel978 could not watch the video because I'm in a pretty loud environment. Just came here to read all the comments. While I don't know what this guy is talking about in the video, DistroKid not paying the full amount to artists is not something new. Check out Dan Vasc's video about it. /watch?v=UZ9P80XPIWY

@freakenh

3 жыл бұрын

@@jacejaxon7197 This guy probably works for distrokid

Title of video starts around 4:28 for those as impatient as me 😬 I hate that we have to pay for distribution. There's really no reason for that except for artificially created barriers, and it's a step backwards from the CD days where it was absolutely possible to do your own distribution if you where prepared to do the necessary work

@CreativeMindsAudio

4 жыл бұрын

Cd days?! are you kidding me?! do you know how expensive that stuff was?! I released a compilation album of local artists to sell at shows in high school. did everything myself: printed out cd cards, bought jewel cases, and CD-Rs and the rest. without factoring in ink it was like $2-3 PER CD. Of course i made more than i needed and am still stuck with some (yay memorabilia). Stuff is much cheaper now. complaining that you have to pay to get stuff out there and Cds were cheaper isn't an argument i understand.

I am more concerned that he was banned without a legitimate explanation.

@AikiraBeats

3 жыл бұрын

Right that doesn't sound right to me

@jacksonmckoy

3 жыл бұрын

Fake streams

@bradleythewitch

3 жыл бұрын

Same.

@josianelessard

3 жыл бұрын

@@AikiraBeats no same crap happened to me. I think duplicated releases get you flagged

@makingbangers8624

3 ай бұрын

Spotify loves fake streams, it still benefits them. @@jacksonmckoy

They won me over a few years ago by convincing me they were the only honest player in the business, and fighting for your ability to collect royalties. Now I feel a bit naive for falling for their nice guy marketing.

By popular request: in this video, I share my Distrokid story. I'll be answering every comment for the next 3 hours so let me know if you're shocked or have questions, or even want to share a story of something that has happened to you!

@KalebDingmon

4 жыл бұрын

Hey what's good bro! Don't forget about Amuse and United Masters for free distribution with them not taking any cut and with them having FREE FEATURES such as KZread content ID etc 🙏🤍🔥check it out bro

@IndieMusicAcademy

4 жыл бұрын

Those platforms are freaking rocking the music distribution world!!!! It will be amazing to see what happens with them long-term and if it's going to mean trouble for platforms like CD Baby 😮

@hrithikbeats

4 жыл бұрын

Hey brother same thing happened with me man they i mailed them today and they said me same thing now i want a solution my friend what do i do they said is change your distributed plz tell me brother what do i do

@hrithikbeats

4 жыл бұрын

And what will happen to my money i'm still keep making from streams on distrokid man

@thenowchurch6419

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for making this video. Based on the buzz for months now, I thought Distrokid was on the up and up and was the best way to go. I was so close to putting my music on their service. This has been quite an eye opener. Scams are everywhere. Do your due diligence people.

staying clear from the Dark Side of the business.. this is a great public service. thank you

Looks like Distrokid changed the Leave a Legacy part after seeing your video, this is the new policy: "DistroKid will never delete this album, even if you cancel your account or your credit card is declined. You can always choose to delete it any time-or not. You will continue to accrue all royalties, as normal. Leave your legacy for future generations."

@m3taljel

Жыл бұрын

@Angelfleshimpaler Leave a Legacy has been the same since 2016

@DjSiN71

11 күн бұрын

@@m3taljelnot according to this video

@m3taljel

11 күн бұрын

@@DjSiN71 ☝️🤓

Wow that's crazy! Would you be willing to make a video on how you changed distributors without giving up stream counts or UPC codes? Might be a good resource to have, just in case.

@levigotit3029

4 жыл бұрын

definitely something id look forward to!

@dgeniux

4 жыл бұрын

This will be very important

@TheToobNube

4 жыл бұрын

Yes please!

@JocelinoRodrigues

4 жыл бұрын

I second this!

@AntonioRockGP

4 жыл бұрын

Yah! Please!

Music lesson 101, record labels are shady (also distributors)

@AidanChickTV

4 жыл бұрын

all of entertainment is shady lmao Daft Punk's Interstella 5555 is a perfect metaphor for this

@1337murk

4 жыл бұрын

@@AidanChickTV Or there is the Q Tip line "Industry rule number four thousand and eighty , Record company people are shady"

@marcoescobar8578

4 жыл бұрын

@@1337murk I think they smoke crack. I don't doubt it; look at how they act

@Kikan319

4 жыл бұрын

Not necessarily true at all. It's pretty clear most people have never dealt with Indie labels. Most people can think of an indie label as a stepping stone if they really wanted to. Indie labels and Major labels don't usually use the same contracts. It's much simpler and easier to deal with. Most of the time.

@blinkinbaboonbiskit

3 жыл бұрын

... been the truth since Record Merch and all the rest... forever...

I received that same message today, it is a copy paste, I think that the issue is something easy to solve like "this song doesn't suit X streaming service" or "this streaming service said that you need to change A", but because they are such a big company they prefer not to give support to artists as they don't have the motivation to do so. Thanks for the review, I'm applying to Awal now.

Forget disctrokid!!!! You posting this saved me thank you.

Yo, when you said you were about to pay for Leave a Legacy, I thought my head would explode. Oh man, I’m so furious this is happening to anybody. They’ve always been a bit shady though. I mean, you can’t even see the terms of agreement until after you pay & are in the upload process. They also hide their full pricing until you create an account. It’s always been strange. Glad to hear you got away.

@IndieMusicAcademy

4 жыл бұрын

Me too!

@Payusnomind

4 жыл бұрын

@@drzplatano1923 Huh?

@drzplatano1923

4 жыл бұрын

@@Payusnomind Hah!! my bad. "Pay me no mind" 🤦🏽‍♂️ thought u were Jhawk Productions. Lol smh. It's fustrating trying to find a decent digital distributer. It seems they all have shitty reviews.

@jowyjozef

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks to @@Payusnomind reviews, I'm going to use *ONErpm*

@NINESKYZ

4 жыл бұрын

PUNM Yo, when you said you were about to pay for Leave a Legacy, I thought my head would explode LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

Really sucks to hear this dude. It's a bummer you had to go through all this, but it's good you were able to bounce back. Thanks for sharing!

People are the ones that can destroy those crock companies. If all artists work together and if we have online community we can have them run out of the business . That was horrible experience!!!

@therecipe415

Жыл бұрын

Artist owned distribution systems

I was going to start up an account for beats after clearing samples and now I changed my mind. And this is not the first video I saw that customers had serious issues with DistroKid! Thank you for posting this video because the negativity of this seems true as well as the other artists that suffered the same and/or similar problems. It’s a shame when you put in all your hard work the legit and legal way and still gives you a hard time. Sorry to hear that man🤦🏻‍♂️!

@teonsnnow3548

3 жыл бұрын

Share worldwide to all Artists DITTO MUSIC DISTRIBUTORS HAVE BEEN BLACKLISTED BY THE WORLD COUNCIL OF MUSIC ARTISTS for cheating Music Artists . All music Artists must leave DITTO MUSIC DISTRIBUTORS worldwide.Have nothing todo with them A WORLDWIDE BOYCOTT. Blocking Artists, taking money without rendering services well. Fighting with Artists. When once Artists make progress , they fight with Artists seize your royalties and lock you out of the account. World Council of Music Artist . YOU ARE THEIR CUSTOMERS SHOULD BE TREATED WITH RESPECT THEREFORE THE COUNCIL CAN NOT ALLOW SUCH BEHAVIOUR TO CONTINUE. DITTO IS BLACKLISTED. ALL ARTISTS ARE TOLD TO LEAVE DITTO WORLDWIDE . UNLESS THEY STOP FIGHTING AND LOCKING ARTIST OUT POLICY THEY ARE BLACKLISTED.

macklemore seemed like such a nice guy too sorry to see this happen to him

@bproducer

3 жыл бұрын

Lol

@CC_AE

2 жыл бұрын

Broooo

It’s just incredible all you had to pass thru with Distrokid. Thank you for letting us know you experience with them. I’ll have to keep researching about which music distributor is ideal for me. Once again, thanks! 🙏🏽

Thanks for sharing your experience bruv. You actually did a great job sharing your experience. Now please do share with us if distrokid comes to you again for sharing your experience through this video. Glad you shared your experience 🙌🏻

*Learns about leave a legacy *fakes death *tells Distrokid he is dead *legally changes name *releases with new distributor under old name "phew, that was easy!"

@macavalli2619

4 жыл бұрын

You know how much it costs to fake a death and get a new legal identity? Not to mention a new artist name, style, plastic surgery? Just pay Distrokid for life, simple

@DjSegwon

4 жыл бұрын

Lmao

@CyanBlackflower

4 жыл бұрын

Indeed. That is at LEAST what my response to them would be...Just SEE if I wouldn't try and have as much fun with their algorithm, bot, or persons as possible. I might even SERIOUSLY get some Goddamned ATTENTION!! One way or ANOTHER...Because... I'm under the impression that in this business...there is NO such thing as "Bad Publicity".

@kgmsosa8230

4 жыл бұрын

Tells distrokid he is dead??? Him: “I’m dead” DK: “no ur not” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

@lukeabram

4 жыл бұрын

@@kgmsosa8230 😂

Bro my heart really goes out to you, I’ve watched a lot of your content and you’re awesome, bad things always happen to good people smh. I’m glad I watched this I’ve only distributed 3 tracks through distrokid, I’ll be transferring those few to another distributor!

You should do a video that shows how you switched.

@brunoamaral8881

4 жыл бұрын

AGREE

@itsmdnight

4 жыл бұрын

Agree

@happydrumstick5371

4 жыл бұрын

Yes

@IndieMusicAcademy

4 жыл бұрын

Hey! Here is the video showing how I switched without losing stream counts or playlists: kzread.info/dash/bejne/rIKCuMmhpZfHpZs.html

@chadgarber

4 жыл бұрын

@@IndieMusicAcademy Thanks so much!

Thank you so much for your informational video's Ryan. I'm about to jump into the industry and have been researching non-stop for months for un-biased information regarding digital distribution aggregators, PRO's, copyright law, etc.... And to be bluntly honest, have have not found anyone as concise, educated and experienced putting forth truly helpful, understandable information (without ulterior motive & based on experience) as you have made available. For this, I am truly appreciative. I will support and follow what you are doing as well as recommend to others... Great work.

This is such a terrifying possibility that could happen to anybody.

I don’t like the fact that you can’t even talk to them over the phone and get clear answers. I’m glad I had problems with my very first release so now I’m looking for other alternatives.

Hey Ryan, I'm so glad that you made a video about this because THE EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED WITH ME!!! After a few weeks of wondering when my music will be up in the stores, I wrote to distrokid asking about my releases, just like you did. As a reply, distrokid sent me an email stating the exact same thing, the only difference being that the mail they sent to me did not have any reasons stated, like how they gave to you. Distrokid just sent me an email saying, "due to "editorial discretion" you will no longer be able to upload music through Distrokid, please find a new distributor." There was no reason given what so ever, even when I replied asking for one!! This was so frustrating!! . I wanted to ask, how you moved your music, from distrokid to another distributor and whether it made any difference to your streams?? and which distributor do you recommend??

@djproducerccm

4 жыл бұрын

Sorry to hear that too, It doesn't make any sense. I moved my catalog from Reverbnation, to Tunecore, and then finally to Distrokid. I had to take my music down from one service first before uploading again to the new one (kept the same UPC & IRSC). I didn`t see a drop in Plays on Spotify but that was a few rears ago. Hang in there I kinda know the feeling, Pandora banned me since calling them out on Twitter back in 2013... Keep Rocking Sama =)

@SamaThakore

4 жыл бұрын

DJ Producer CCM oh no so sorry to hear that🙈 I really hope spotify and other platforms bring in the upload your songs yourself feature soon!!

@giulioboobzilla

4 жыл бұрын

Check out Bandcamp rather than f‘in around wit thieves

@chills2447

4 жыл бұрын

Use Amuse It's free

@percycarey6555

4 жыл бұрын

Spotify owns DistroKid.

Thank you so much for this video. In addition to Dan Vasc's video, this has revealed to me the nature of Distrokid's business model; however tempting their seemingly "unbeatable" price, you just might be paying a much higher price (money, time and hassle) in the future. Once again, much appreciated!

That was just awful to hear man I'm so sorry that happened. A lot of the stuff on my end has been turning out the same way but theres always a way through. Happy Holidays and cheers to your music bro.

Hey, Thanks for the vid. I was just about to go with their label plan but saw your video and canceled just in time. I've been told by others that their customer service is terrible.

This is a powerful video and has so much relevance to life as a whole, not just your experience with DK....Hidden truths are everywhere; one has to keep all 3 eyes open!

@IndieMusicAcademy

4 жыл бұрын

Totally my brotha!

Blown away by everything you shared. Thank you!

Glad I'm taking my time, studying the pros and cons before choosing a distributor! Thanks for sharing, and I'm sorry this happened to you.

hi Ryan and wow... that sucks on so many levels ! Thx for the heads-up !

@IndieMusicAcademy

4 жыл бұрын

Hey Marti, no problem my man. Most artists will be just fine, just beware of the subscription model!

I was literally entering my credit card info while listening to this video and canceled, thanks, the reason I ditched is actually because of shady pricing, not being up front about what add ons you have to pay for. Do you have any experience with ditto? They were my second choice.

@IndieMusicAcademy

4 жыл бұрын

Oh man lol Distrokid is gonna come after me pretty soon!! You know I’ve talked to a ditto employee and am familiar with their features and I was honestly pretty impressed. The best part about ditto is that they have marketing packages that you can add-on. Those marketing packages are run by a small team at ditto who will actually dedicate man-hours towards your launch. It’s pricey but a really cool concept for artists who need support for marketing. I’ve never used them but in my opinion it seems like a solid choice.

@95TurboSol

4 жыл бұрын

@@IndieMusicAcademy ok cool, thanks mate

@user-rf4vc7mt4d

4 жыл бұрын

Bro me too. I was going to create an account just to be able to collect royalties from a feature I had with another artist. I wasn't planning to use it to put out my music. Then they hit me with that subscription fee regardless. I was so close to putting in my info, then the KZread algorithm recommended me this. I'm so happy I didn't do it lmao. Since I'm kind of friends with the guy, I might ask him to have my percentage and paypal me the money or maybe i won't even care anymore and everyone else can split my money

@lifestyle6993

4 жыл бұрын

Use United masters

@95TurboSol

4 жыл бұрын

@@lifestyle6993 Funny enough I did end up going with Distrokid because of various features I wanted like revenue share. I've had nothing but a good experience so far, it's been about 6 months now.

I released 2 albums and 1 single via DK, starting from late 2017 to autumn 2019. Went smoothly as ever until I tried to get my third album released - editorial discretion with very vague email responses. Decided to cut my losses and pay for the legacies. Looking at other distributor platforms right now for future releases. Ended up releasing my third LP only on KZread/Bandcamp, so far so good.

@Wxve6

Жыл бұрын

so you intentionally switcvhed from DK (after buying the leave a legacy) and DK still pays you your royalties despite 'intentionally' switching from DK to another distributor? Isn't that exactly what OP said DOESNT happen? I feel like they treated him differently than usual. Like if @indiemusicacademy didn't email them and just bought the leave a legacy then switched they'd keep paying him, no? I cxould be totally wrong. DK support is poops i've messaged them some strongly worded emails , still didn't get banned tho thankfully lol but still like all these tech companies have poops customer service they r run by bots lol

I`ve also released multiple artists and albums via distrokid and even paid leave a legacy fee. You confirmed my fears sadly... also if I want to send shares via distrokid all the receivers will need to pay the yearly fee. So it`s actually quite expensive.

They charged me 40 dollars and my Acount vanished like dude wtf. I emailed them waiting to see the excuse.

@arnav6753

3 жыл бұрын

What Happened After ?

@jgiddinstheartist6582

3 жыл бұрын

Any update???

@YungDonCorleoneTV

3 жыл бұрын

Having a similar issue. They charged me the annual fee but I see no receipt and don’t even know if it went though on their end, but my card is most def charged. Smh

Hey Ryan, thanks for everything. I've got a question, in the end when you switched to the other distributor were you able to upload the song that gave you trouble? The same master with same artwork or was there something to be modified before that track was accepted? I'm a little curious because Ditto has me "In review" for 8 days now and I'm scared the music stores are doing something similar.

@palaska.

5 ай бұрын

I was banned for some reason and then I bought a new account with a new email and when I tried to upload my songs that were already uploaded and not copyrighted, they told me that my songs contained other samples. So why did you upload them before? Can anyone help me if they have any information?

This was very eye opening, thanks for sharing your story with us!

I'm having MASSIVE TROUBLE with distrokid and being met with NO SUPPORT & a brick wall - my music is being discriminated against & it FEELS HORRIBLE! I am SO relating to this story SO MUCH right now!

@TashkaUrban

4 жыл бұрын

Their reason is "it's not in the Spirit of Distrokid" - even tho I have an entire album the same already that's been successful!!!! & NO WAY of getting in contact with them. Every response I get is completely automated

@thisislilalice

Жыл бұрын

So hit up the stores and tell them you’re having problems they figure it out from the back end.

@veyselaydn6711

Жыл бұрын

@@TashkaUrban i cant use spilts.what can i do

@smokehashxuriahjahvid

6 ай бұрын

I've used distrokid never had a problem. I've uploaded music with samples and audio clips from well known movies etc... Very obscene music etc.. So this is crazy it seems like internally "gatekeepers" that can ban an artist from a distribution are at work to ban artists for no real reason ... Recently someone sabotaged me and paid for bot streams on one of my songs. It was near 50k streams I thought naturally cause I never paid for any promo but I received a message from distrokid that they detected bot streams and I must delete the song so my most played song of all time I had to delete

@smokehashxuriahjahvid

6 ай бұрын

​@@TashkaUrbanspotify is changing and now only provide royalties for songs with 1000 or more plays maybe this has something to do with it... Imo it's a (conspiracy) big record label companies are mad that independent artist can make allot off streams as a independent record label so they are trying to stop it cause they want to control all music and revenue earned from music .... 99.9% chance my conspiracy theory is the truth

Man after finding out all of this I am a lot less likely to use distrokid, I was leaning toward them before this.

@MichaelOrtega

4 жыл бұрын

Even before watching this video I always had a hunch that DistroKid was “too good to be true”. I use CD BaBy and even though it’s quite expensive but they have literally changed my life especially as an original Composer.

@nopuddingcups4360

4 жыл бұрын

@@MichaelOrtega id honestly like to know the details on how it changed your life. 👍

@yungsaintj

4 жыл бұрын

@jesse Edmondson I use distrokid for all my releases and as long as your don’t used non-cleared samples and other people’s work you should be fine releases your music out there !

@suzyhits

4 жыл бұрын

@@MichaelOrtega more details about CD Baby please

@MichaelOrtega

4 жыл бұрын

Suzy Hits IF you have a good size fan base say 250k+ and you make original work (no samples, no covers, remixes) then CD baby is very effective on the Pro-publishing. I released an album as a test and paid $100 in 2018 for all the features for collecting mechanical royalties, registrations, content ID collection from youtube, Facebook, and anywhere online, and today I can say that I am happy they take 15% of my revenue because I have been able to collect a substantial amount of income from all around the world using my music. It all adds up. I like my pease of kind. I now release all of my albums and music with them. I wish they were cheaper but again, if you are making 100% original work, they do a great job on squeezing the last little dollar your music can generate world wide, And the results amplify a lot the more you collect. If I keep growing (fan wise) I might need to switch since percentages can be huge with bigger numbers of fans but all I can say, they changed my life. The collections tripled my earnings as an independent musician. I could live just from my music. Right now I have a family and bought a house but I am debt free thanks to the extra income. Once I’m done paying the house (my last expense) I can retire by the age of 34 (if CD baby Keeps helping me collect the same or more.

I appreciate you took the time to tell us your story. this helps everyone to make good decision when it comes down to distribution.

Thanks a lot for informing, and I'm sorry that happened to you and so glad I still haven't picked a distributor, because now I'm reconsidering my options.

Had this happen to me as well. I literally boycott distrokid for everything you stated here. Their customer service is absolutely terrible and the e-mails you get are exactly as stated here, a laundry list of possible things but they never tell you exactly what it is. Fun Fact - If you make a new account under the same artist name and try to distribute again through them, they will ban the new account.

@11451254

Жыл бұрын

What if you change emails !

@palaska.

5 ай бұрын

I was banned for some reason and then I bought a new account with a new email and when I tried to upload my songs that were already uploaded and not copyrighted, they told me that my songs contained other samples. So why did you upload them before? Can anyone help me if they have any information?

I got a similar response concerning their so called "Leave a Legacy" option. If you close your account even "Leave a Legacy" gets cancelled, which kind of makes "Leave a Legacy" false advertising. I deleted my one release from them and I'm sticking with cdbaby, who had the decency to confirm that even upon death my releases will stay in the stores. Sorry for your experience, but thanks for publicizing it. Shame on them for not even giving you a straight answer concerning your ban.

I was literally just about to sign up with them.. so glad this popped up in my recommendations!

@Makemoneyonline4lf

3 жыл бұрын

Did someone try to talk to them,i mean it's 8 months later now this video been uploaded,i really like the features from distrokid and how easy it is but since i watched this video I'm scared to use it,anyone help🙏

Hey Ryan, I think Distrokid has done the same thing to me. My account appears to be locked. What would be the best way to transfer songs to another distributor? Would it be best to delete them an reupload? Similar to you I have a label account with over 2 million streams

distro kid blocked me from pulling out my funds and they don't have a customer service number 😤 😡 😠

@Chxpter

4 жыл бұрын

Shit 👀😭😭😭😭

@sierra-q

4 жыл бұрын

support@distrokid.com Email those thieves

@plasma_mb3

3 жыл бұрын

"Quite suspicerous." - Mr. Krabs

Literally signed up with Distrokid today. It would be very interesting to hear if anyone figures out why this happens? From this story it seems one day they decide they no longer want you as a customer.

@singmysong1167

2 жыл бұрын

See Eric Maher's comment, about 14 comments above...gives a somewhat reasonable explanation, friend.

Thank you so much for making this video. It's good things like that are being discussed publically.

What a pain! Sorry you had to go through this. Thanks for the info.

Maybe they can be sued for their actions and keep lock your copyright materials in their platform.

@IndieMusicAcademy

4 жыл бұрын

Maybe... but an independent artist would bury themselves in legal fees long before any resolution is reached. Distrokid has a big enough bank account to outlast any lawsuit and get saved by the bell.

@LeoGuerreroMusic

4 жыл бұрын

@@IndieMusicAcademy You are right, that sounds like David vs Goliath. Maybe it is collective will work for everyone, but that will take a lot of your time and I think is better to continue making music and focus on your projects.

@titovalasques

4 жыл бұрын

Leo G. You mean like a class action lawsuit?

@anupambanerjee4718

3 жыл бұрын

It’s pretty difficult and subsequently expensive to get into a legal battle if ur from a country different from the one ur target is originally

Man, scary, I just signed up for Distrokid

Thank you! I have been tempted to sign up with Distrokid and did think it sounded too good to be true. Thank you for the really helpful info

Thanks Ryan! Btw I just signed up for your 80/20 music business crash course. I’ll see how this goes before I course on marketing 🙌🏽

Hi! I'm sorry to hear that happened to you! Could you still have released music with distrokid on your record label as other artists? Like did they ban only that one artist? Or did they ban your whole record label and prevent you from releasing again as any artist? Really curious! Thank you!

@palaska.

5 ай бұрын

I was banned for some reason and then I bought a new account with a new email and when I tried to upload my songs that were already uploaded and not copyrighted, they told me that my songs contained other samples. So why did you upload them before? Can anyone help me if they have any information?

Crazy man, this same thing happened to me last week. I noticed weeks had gone by and my album wasn’t on any platforms. They banned me too but said it was due to play fraud but didn’t explain. Sorry this happened to you! I moved to United Masters ✌🏼

@CC_AE

2 жыл бұрын

Don’t Do UM the shut down my distro

@verybadbaby1991

Жыл бұрын

Big artists' fans listen to their songs on loop all the time but nothing happens to them. One Direction, BTS, Justin Bieber,.... But when smaller artists' listeners do it, they get banned. It's crazy how easy a small artist can be taken down. Imagine a hater playing your songs on loop with the intention of getting you banned.

@palaska.

5 ай бұрын

I was banned for some reason and then I bought a new account with a new email and when I tried to upload my songs that were already uploaded and not copyrighted, they told me that my songs contained other samples. So why did you upload them before? Can anyone help me if they have any information?

This is very interesting, I'm sorry you had to go through this. At least you are raising awareness and the more people know. The less people will sign up to Distrokid, making them lose their business. But what music distributor do you recommend?

This happened to me too right now. I can’t get into my account, just like that, no explanation, nothing.

@IndieMusicAcademy

9 ай бұрын

Shoot. I’m so sorry that this happened to you too

@MidnightDreamer1997

9 ай бұрын

@@IndieMusicAcademy thank you! No remorse, all for the better I guess.

@rachitsaraswat6726

6 ай бұрын

Try to make another account with different IP address and e mail I'd hope it works and with different details and artist name

I enjoyed your frankness and classy restraint in what was clearly a maddening and disappointing experience. Full respect and a sub from me 👍

And this should have more views! I closed my account with them recently, but I moved my music prior to closing my account. They literally when closing the account that 'If you decide to close the account forever, even if you paid Leave a Legacy fee, your music will be deleted from stores" sooo what's the point of a "Leave a Legacy" model anyway? Just like you said... a lucrative business model. I switched to Soundrop. It's a free service. They take %15 commission (which is a lot), but I really don't care because I don't do music as a living yet and I get to just focus in the creation process, upload my music and they take care of everything else.

@IndieMusicAcademy

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing your story. Soundrop sounds very similar to AWAL in that they take their cut on the back-end. Glad you are happy with your new situation!

@Fedbo

4 жыл бұрын

Do you mind sharing how do you move songs to another distributor like soundrop? Do you have to upload the same song twice?

@miguelsandremusic

4 жыл бұрын

Fedimusic make sure you upload your songs to the distributor you choose before deleting your songs from distrokid. When you are in the process of adding the metadata to the new distributor, for each song, you want to make sure you add the same exact ISRC, UPC and all related data. That will help to transfer the stream count that your already have. If you add different metadata, the streams will probably be lost so make sure the data is exactly the same. After the songs go live on the new distributor of your choosing, you may delete the songs from DistroKid.

@Fedbo

4 жыл бұрын

@@miguelsandremusic thank you

@brunoamaral8881

4 жыл бұрын

@@miguelsandremusic THANK YOU

WOW. I'm sorry to hear this. Thank you for sharing your experience. This was the "nail in the casket" video for me. Now I REALLY know not to go with distrokid.

Thanks for sharing your story, I saw so many musicians happy with distrokid. I have just started tryin to produce and release my music, so I just signed up for distrokid, which is a great deal. After listening to your story, I will think more about moving to some other platform, when things pick up and I can afford a more solid platform.

There is no way around this: proving no further explanation was given from Distrokid, it means this could happen to everyone. If anyone from Distrokid is reading this then you should do everything in your power to remediate this huge mistake.

I should note Awal isn't for beginner artists, you should already have a fanbase, established brand, number of releases prior to applying.

@lachinelli

4 жыл бұрын

I've been with them for like 15 years. I began distributing with them when they seemed to be a small company. All I remember is I had to send them a couple of mp3 files, and after they checked if the quality was good, they accepted me. The submissions had to be via snail mail, sending my songs on a CD-R. I don't think it has changed much towards accepting new artists, but I guess that you have to show you're serious, so having a Facebook page with some followers and at least more than a couple of songs with studio quality is a must. After all, they want artists that have them make some cash.

My track is stuck since 2 month . any idea ?

and this is the problem with outsourcing customer support. You generally get the sense that you are not being treated on an individual basis, and are receiving a robotic response based on policies that typically do not include any wiggle room for unique situations.

Thanks. Never using them. Sorry you had to deal with them. Do you know if the others let you leave and keep your music up?

I exactly had the same experience. Thank you fopr this video. I felt a bit in despair after I received Distrokid mails (same wordings than yours)

@IndieMusicAcademy

4 жыл бұрын

I'm so sorry to hear that :(

thanks so much for saving me this possible headache :-) Thanks for sharing!!

SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME...well nearly the same thing. Appreciate you putting your story out

Wow!! Important video! So sorry you went through this but so glad you shared. DistroKid has been useless trash to me (I also pay $80 a year) by not supporting features they boast that they do (eg Instagram lyrics). Support just runs you in circles and closes your threads without trying to fix anything. They'll run you in circles for months with no end.

thanx for confirming my caution about them. about to put out am album and also end up advising other artists i produce. we won't be using distrokid. cheers ✌🙃

@IndieMusicAcademy

4 жыл бұрын

Rock on!

Ouch. Sorry you went through that man. I've honestly never had a bad experience with them, and have been in contact with their personnel for a few weeks now. Frankly, it's hard to find a company that doesn't commit mistakes, this goes for any industry. In addition, DK is a relatively new (2015 I believe) and small company. If it wasn't for their lower priced model for distributing music I can honestly say I wouldn't have been able to put out music altogether when I first started using them because making music is already expensive enough. I'm always the type that says, give everyone a fair chance and see if it works for you. If not then move on. Thanks for sharing your experience, I'm a fan of the channel. (I don't work for DK nor was I paid to respond to this, this is just my own personal experience).

I just joined with Distrokid, but this is a great heads up. I will keep that in mind, thank you sir! (: Subscribed!

This video just recently popped in my recommended feed, and I'm glad I went with CDBaby with the EP I'm releasing at the end of the month. Paying that one-time fee where they're taking 10-15% of earning seems fairly reasonable to me, as someone who's just hoping into the professional music business. The most glaring thing about Distrokid was their "Leave a Legacy" option ONLY being for death. That honestly seems a bit sketchy, and why would I pay twice for one release especially if I'm the sole writer of an album? I totally agree that the payment splits are nice as well as some of the other tools, but they seem a bit sketchy overall.

You can keep your songs and streams and Playlistslots. Long version short, find your ISRC numbers, use the exact same file format/length/title and re-upload with your new distributer. Use the old release ISRC number. Your streams will be matched. Delete all the songs with distrokid and don't go for the leave a legacy. And enjoy life with a new distributer.

@KittyPurrnaz

4 жыл бұрын

blue-m if I do that, will the Spotify royalties transfer to the new distributor?

We really need a video on how you left DistroKid for another distributor without losing your views. I've been with DK for over 2 years and haven't had the time to really see what they do. Thanks for the enlightenment.

@zacharypoueriet3804

2 жыл бұрын

isrc codes

Man soo sorry this has happened bro . I’ve JUST managed to get on all MAJOR platforms this month after 15 years of doing music BUT KEEP GOING BRO❤️🔥💯🎶

actually, can you get back ur music streams if u get the ISRC from distrokid and let them remove ur songs and then reupload from another distributor and enter the ISRC to get bck the stats

@Pr0liX08

3 жыл бұрын

Yo I'm going to try this. Reverberation took all my music down without warning too. But I have the number for the codes. Upon re upload, I should be good?

@OFFICIALYUNGRIZZO

3 жыл бұрын

@@Pr0liX08 Yeah, ISRC is the identifier for each song. No matter where in the world the song tied to that ISRC will carry the metadata.

I guess it's time for me to switch also because it's been 3 weeks now and the Album is not released, the sad part is that I have to re-upload all my previous releases to my new distributor because distrokid will remove all my songs from stores🤦‍♂️ Distrokid sucks, I regret using it.

distrokid website says : ------------------------------------- Opt any album or single into DistroKid's "Leave a Legacy" feature. The “Leave a Legacy” extra can be added to a release so that it won't be removed by DistroKid due to a lapsed membership payment (if your credit card is rejected, etc.). On top of that, if you ever choose to cancel your subscription, any releases that have the Leave a Legacy extra added will remain in streaming services, even if you cancel your account. Adding this extra to a release does not replace your annual membership fee if you have an active subscription, and it is not a one-time payment for all of your releases: each release must have this extra included if you wish to cancel your subscription and keep your releases listed in streaming services. To opt-in, find the Leave a Legacy checkbox on DistroKid's upload form, or on your album page. -------------------------------------- so its so weird what your saying.

would it make sense/be possible to upload songs manually directly to spotify to an account that was registered via distrokid? would that spotify account (my artist name) still exist after i quit distrokid?

As a Distrokid user thank you for this video. I'm going to have to ensure I have everything together just in case this happens to me. I'm sorry it happened to you but it seems like you're in a better situation now

Is this the distrokid funeral? condolences.

@teonsnnow3548

3 жыл бұрын

Share worldwide to all Artists DITTO MUSIC DISTRIBUTORS HAVE BEEN BLACKLISTED BY THE WORLD COUNCIL OF MUSIC ARTISTS for cheating Music Artists . All music Artists must leave DITTO MUSIC DISTRIBUTORS worldwide.Have nothing todo with them A WORLDWIDE BOYCOTT. Blocking Artists, taking money without rendering services well. Fighting with Artists. When once Artists make progress , they fight with Artists seize your royalties and lock you out of the account. World Council of Music Artist . YOU ARE THEIR CUSTOMERS SHOULD BE TREATED WITH RESPECT THEREFORE THE COUNCIL CAN NOT ALLOW SUCH BEHAVIOUR TO CONTINUE. DITTO IS BLACKLISTED. ALL ARTISTS ARE TOLD TO LEAVE DITTO WORLDWIDE . UNLESS THEY STOP FIGHTING AND LOCKING ARTIST OUT POLICY THEY ARE BLACKLISTED.

Was considering DistroKid but after watching this video I'm crossing them out.

Loved this video - you did a fair assessment of the Distrokid - there are always pros and cons to every distributor, I'm so sorry this happened to you and Distrokid didn't take advantage of a moment to be kind and accommodating and helpful to you. Would've been so cool to watch a video on what they actually DID for you rather than how they missed the boat... I'm glad I got to watch your video though and discover you!

Wow! You're awesome! A great teacher! I really appreciate you sharing this ❤️♥️❤️

After watching half of this video, I checked "editorial discretion" and what comes up is that Distrokid explained that sometimes there's just too much of something on the shelf. They claim some people kinda spam them with too much generic stuff and the algorithm says no. Probably not your case, but worth checking why you were identified in that category of uploads.

still a mystery what the "editorial discretion" thing meant. Seems we will never know why the block happened in the first place.

Because of this, I'm looking for a distributor that is not based in the USA. It's just difficult to find a high-quality distributor that has as good tools in addition to distribution.

Same issue here, so when I switch to Awal, do I need to enter the isrc number? Or just upload my releases again? Would they be acceptable by spotify , apple music .. etc? Thanks

So it seems like, at this moment at least, the leave a legacy fee states "DistroKid will never delete this album, even if you cancel your account or your credit card is declined." - so maybe this video helped change that? Or maybe they are just saying this to say it lol

@ClaudeWooley

8 ай бұрын

Good question, did you ever find out?

VERY insightful. Thank you for sharing your story with us so we can make informed decisions. Best wishes to your continued success!

@IndieMusicAcademy

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching! Thanks for keeping a clear perspective on all of this. You'll go far!

@TeraGreene1

4 жыл бұрын

@@IndieMusicAcademy Much gratitude. Hope you are in good health and wellbeing. Be well. :-)

I also had problems with them. Sorry you went through it. Mine was because I got a famous person on a song with me - they wanted me to get a copy of their driver's license. I dropped them as a result of this.

Wow! Just...wow! Sounds like they need some meetings to deal with this crazy business model