Distrokid: The Secret’s Out

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I’m elated. It’s been 24 hours since discovering what I feel is one of the greatest secrets that’s been kept out of public view. It’s the hands-down easiest, no-bull, best and fastest way to get your songs onto iTunes, Spotify, Google Play or Jay-Z’s new streaming service Tidal … You name it, your music can be on it.

The secret is called DistroKid, a simple, automated digital music distribution service based in San Francisco that costs merely $20 a year for independent artists (and a tad more for labels) to distribute their music worldwide through services like iTunes, Rdio, Beats, Spotify and dozens more.

For several months now, I’ve put off adding releases from my record company Aloha Got Soul to digital music services like iTunes because it seemed exorbitantly expensive and overly involved. (Maybe that’s just the Millennial me talking?)

I’m telling you this because I don’t want others to be putting off this opportunity any longer. Maybe a friend of yours makes music. Maybe they’ve recorded a few EPs in recent years, but they’re hesitant to add them to digital music stores because of the cost or requirements. I don’t think it’s fair to pay $50 per year to add one of your albums to iTunes. Oh, you have two albums? That’ll be $100 per year. That’s how much it’ll cost if you choose a digital distribution provider like TuneCore, arguably the most popular distributor on the web.

Consider DistroKid your savior. It costs a flat fee of $20/year to add an unlimited number of albums and singles to any digital music store of your choice. Unlimited! It’s so cheap you won’t even need a Kickstarter to pull the funds together.

You might be thinking this week’s column is too business-oriented. But I can’t help but stress that in today’s music environment, to be a successful artist means to be everywhere your listeners are. In other words: everywhere. Physical, digital, mobile, desktop, automobile, office, online, offline — consider your fans and their listening habits to make the most of your music career (or hobby!).

The creator of DistroKid, Philip Kaplan, believes that musicians “shouldn’t have to think about it” when it comes to distributing their music to online stores such as iTunes. Bravo.

Best of all, you keep 100 percent of your royalties. The only fee DistroKid charges is an annual one, plus any additional options you choose (Shazam recognition is 99 cents per song a year — I’m still wondering if this is worth it, but for now it’s pretty cool to be able to Shazam a track by Mike Lundy!).

I signed up and submitted the first Aloha Got Soul release last night. Within 24 hours, the release was up on iTunes and was Shazamable. It’ll be up on Spotify, Amazon, Google Play and Deezer by the time you read this. Do yourself (or your music-making friend) a favor and give distrokid.com a try.

For more from Roger, check out his blog at alohagotsoul.com.