As a musician, you are more than likely to have a thousand questions around selling your music online, how it will help your career and what limitations each company has when distributing your music. It is important that you ask all of these questions to any distributor before choosing to go ahead. Why? You don’t want to be three months into distributing what could be your greatest track and think ‘have I chosen the wrong distributor?’.
At Identity Music we pride ourselves on our customer service and always doing right by our artists. We want you to know exactly what we can and can’t do for you, so here are the top questions to ask any music distribution company and our answers:
Do you have upfront fees?
Many DIY distributors charge either annual/monthly fees or per upload, per track, or per release fees to get your music live on streaming platforms - so checking how much distribution is going to cost you is an important thing to do.
At Identity Music, we have zero upfront fees! A lot of musicians at the start of their career don’t have fees upfront, so we don’t want to limit your ability to release your sound. With no startup fees and no track fees, you can release your music without it costing you the world.
How many tracks can you upload?
DIY distributors may have limitations on the number of tracks or releases you can distribute under a particular annual or monthly subscription. It's important that you know these limitations before planning your release schedule, so you're not surprised by unexpected limitations part-way through your plan.
When distributing your music with Identity Music, we understand that it is important that all of your music gets heard. We DO NOT have a cap on how many music uploads you can have at any one time. The more times your music is listened to, the more money you will earn. You are able to upload AS MUCH of your music AS YOU WANT on as many of our distribution platforms as you like.
What if I need help with a release?
While some distributors are notoriously difficult to get hold of, we pride ourselves on our artist and label support. Whether you're struggling with the distribution process or just have a question about how best to maximise your release promotion, our team are on hand to help.
You can reach out via email, use the live chat on our website, send us an Instagram DM or call us on +44 1892 280448. We are available between 10am and 6pm (UK time), Monday to Friday.
What other services do you provide?
We don't just distribute your music and leave you to it.
At Identity Music, we're invested in your success, which is why we offer a number of additional services as standard to all our artists and labels. To protect your music, we handle Digital Rights Management on your behalf, identifying illegitimate use of your music to avoid losing out on deserved revenue.
We also offer a variety of promotional tools, including editorial pitching on your behalf, pre-save/fan link generation, and social media promotion.
Can I switch from another distributor?
Absolutely! Finding the right distributor for you can take some time. If you realise that your current distributor isn't meeting your needs and feel like Identity Music is a better option, you can move any existing releases over from your previous distributor(s) to your Identity Music dashboard.
Find out more about moving your releases here.
To do so, you can speak to our Client Management team to get the process started. It's important that you don't takedown your music from your previous distributor until we give you the go-ahead and confirm that the tracklinking process has been successful, otherwise you risk losing streams, playlists, etc.
Still have questions?
Head over to the online chat using the blue button in the corner! Our team would be happy to help!