What is a distributor

What is an Independent Distributor? What is the difference between a music distributor and a P.R.O?

Alex Thomas avatar
Written by Alex Thomas
Updated over a week ago

As a songwriter, producer or musician, you will have access to many different platforms. When it comes to getting your music out there, your heads should be turning to the Distributors/Publishers. These services allow you to distribute your music to online streaming platforms and will also take care of the revenue collection on your behalf.

Often, it can be hard to break through all the information and find out the difference between a PRO and a Distributor. A Distributor’s main job is to publish your music on the online stores you request, such as Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, iTunes, Amazon Music, and so on. Additionally to that, they will also manage the collection of your mechanical royalties. On the other hand, a PRO will only track the royalties payable to you. They don’t publish your songs, so you will still need to find a Distributor or a label that takes care of this.

If you were affiliated with a PRO and not a publishing service/ music distributor, you’d have to wait while all the PROs across the world work out who you are and how to get the music to you. This could literally take years, if it made its way to you at all. Additionally, you’d be unable to get your track uploaded to many platforms so would really limit your audience size.

By using a digital music distribution platform like Identity Music, your music can get online to all the platforms your fans use. What’s great about the Independent Distributors of today, is that any artist who produces original music can get it on any platform and get paid for it!

Using Independent Distributors is the easiest way for you to just concentrate on music and let these companies do the work for you.

Companies such as Identity Music collect both performance and mechanical royalties, and pay you directly every few months. On top of that, they distribute your original music to any online store you want, which PROs, as we mentioned, don’t do.

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with us. Contact us by completing this contact form or equally, by clicking on the support chat button on the website. (Video below to show how)

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