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DistroKid for music producers

DistroKid sends your releases to streaming services and stores for a yearly fee. Here is what matters for a producer who also licenses music, as of October 2026.

By , a composer with 300+ tracks on audio stock and 12 years in production. Checked on DistroKid's own pages on 26 October 2026.

Type
Distributor
How to join
Open to everyoneAnyone can sign up on a yearly plan
AI-made music
Allowed, if you say soAllowed if you own all rights; fill in AI credits

From my catalog. 137 tracks are released through DistroKid.

In short. DistroKid delivers your releases to Spotify, Apple Music and other services. You pay a yearly plan, and DistroKid says it passes on 100% of what the stores send. It is a non-exclusive distributor. Content ID is off unless you buy the Social Media Pack extra for a release. For a track you also sell on stock sites, that switch is the one to think about: DistroKid can allowlist single videos after a claim, never a whole channel.

How to join

Anyone can sign up and upload on a yearly plan. When checked on 26 October 2026, the pricing page listed three plans, billed annually:

  • Musician: $24.99, one artist or band.
  • Musician Plus: $44.99, two artists or bands.
  • Ultimate: $89.99, up to 100 artists or bands.

Optional extras cost more. Most of them are priced per release.

Exclusive or not

DistroKid says it is "a non-exclusive distributor". You can use other distributors alongside it or instead of it. You keep 100% ownership of the music you upload.

We found no DistroKid page about tracks that are also sold on stock sites. The conflict comes from Content ID, below.

AI-generated music

DistroKid accepts music made with AI tools, with rules. You must own 100% of the rights. No impersonation of someone else's voice or identity. No "mass-generated spam". No infringement.

You disclose AI in AI credits: when AI generated the lyrics, the vocals or instruments, or the melody or arrangement. Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube show these credits to listeners. You don't need them for pitch correction, AI-assisted mixing or mastering. More in Can you sell AI music?

Codes, Content ID and royalties

ISRC. DistroKid gives one free ISRC to each song. It is appointed by the US ISRC Agency to do this. If a recording already has an ISRC, you must use it. Entering your own ISRC works only on Musician Plus or Ultimate.

UPC. "There is no way to specify a custom UPC for DistroKid uploads." Every upload gets a new DistroKid UPC.

Content ID. It comes only with the Social Media Pack extra. When checked, it cost $4.95 per single or $14.95 per album, per year, plus 20% of the money it collects. It covers YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. Sending a release to YouTube Music does not put it into Content ID.

The eligibility page asks, among other things:

  • You own 100% of the sounds.
  • No beats, loops or sounds from sample libraries.
  • No other company, "such as TuneCore or CD Baby", has sent the same single to Content ID. "This will cause a conflict."

Claims appear on YouTube from Interstreet Recordings, DistroKid's Content ID partner.

The allowlist. You can allowlist a video at distrokid.com/youtubeAllowlist. DistroKid's words: "it is not possible to allowlist an entire YouTube channel – allowlisting is for individual videos, and only after a claim is placed on it". So a stock buyer's video gets claimed first, and you clear it by hand. Motion Array, for example, accepts Content ID tracks only from AdRev, Artlist, CD Baby, EpicElite, HAAWK and Identifyy. DistroKid is not on that list. See YouTube Content ID.

Social Media Pack also puts the release into YouTube Creator Music. There, creators buy a non-exclusive license for one video. A video with that license can no longer be claimed by Content ID.

How you are paid

DistroKid says it "does not take any percentage of what stores send us". It keeps 20% only of Social Media Pack money. Withdrawals can carry payment fees and tax withholding.

If your membership payment lapses, releases can be removed. The Leave a Legacy extra prevents that: $29 per single or $49 per album, paid once.

What to keep in your catalog

  • The DistroKid ISRC of each track and the UPC of each release. The UPC is DistroKid's own, so a release elsewhere gets a different one.
  • Whether Social Media Pack is on for the release, and since when. A track in Content ID here must not be in Content ID through anyone else.
  • Each video you allowlisted, with the buyer and the license it belongs to.
  • The AI credits you filled in, if any.
  • Your plan and its renewal date. A missed payment can take releases down.

Sources