How to choose a music distributor: questions and checklist

Choose a music distributor on the answers to a handful of concrete questions. How do you pay: commission, a subscription or a fee per release? Do you keep ownership of your recordings? Are you tied in exclusively, and how do you get out if you want to leave later? How detailed are the statements, and when and how does the money reach you?

Ask these questions before you sign, and get the answers in writing. Below, each topic covers what to ask, why it matters and what a clear answer looks like. At the end you will find a checklist to hold against any offer, plus a short summary of how Crystal Distribution answers the same questions.

Pricing: commission, subscription or per release

Distributors charge in roughly three ways. Which model works out well for you depends on how much you release and how much your music earns.

Hybrids exist too, so look beyond the headline price and ask about additional costs, for example for:

• ISRC or UPC codes
• changes after delivery, or taking a release down
• extras such as YouTube Content ID or the TikTok and Instagram music libraries
• payouts, currency conversion or a minimum payout amount
• leaving, or moving your catalogue elsewhere

Then run the numbers for your own situation. How many releases do you expect over the coming year, and what do your tracks earn per month right now? Those two figures quickly show which model suits you, and whether a model with low entry costs could become expensive later.

Who owns your masters and rights?

The master is your recording. A distributor needs your permission to deliver that recording to stores and streaming services. That permission is a licence: you remain the owner, and the distributor may distribute for as long as the agreement runs. With an assignment of rights, someone else becomes the owner. Ordinary distribution does not require that.

Read the agreement for words such as "assign", "ownership" and "future works", and ask:

• Am I granting a licence or assigning rights?
• Which services, territories and types of use does the licence cover: streaming, downloads, video, social platforms?
• Does the licence end when the contract ends, or does anything carry on?
• Does it say anything about recordings I make later?

If you are offered an advance, ask what you give in return: a longer term, a bigger share or rights to future work.

Keep the difference between recording and composition in mind as well. A distributor handles the income from your recordings. The rights in the composition, the music and lyrics themselves, form a separate income stream that runs through collecting societies and, if you have one, a music publisher. Music royalties explained sets out how these streams differ.

Exclusivity: can you release elsewhere too?

An exclusive agreement means that only this distributor may deliver the recordings, for the services and territories named in the contract. Ask exactly what the exclusivity covers: only the releases you put out through this distributor, or all your music, including future releases?

Exclusivity per release makes practical sense. If you deliver the same release through two distributors, you end up with duplicate versions or conflicts in the stores, and it becomes unclear who receives the income.

For YouTube Content ID, exclusivity is a requirement. YouTube states that you must have exclusive rights to the material in the reference file in the territories where you claim ownership. Content licensed non-exclusively is not eligible. In any given territory, a recording should therefore go into Content ID through one party only. What Content ID and the TikTok and Instagram music libraries can do for you is covered in YouTube Content ID, TikTok and Instagram.

Contract length, notice and switching

A good contract makes leaving as clear as joining. Ask:

• How long does the contract run, and does it renew automatically?
• What is the notice period, and can you end it per release or only for everything at once?
• Does leaving cost money, for example to take releases down?
• What happens to your releases when you leave? Are they removed straight away, or do you choose the moment?
• Will you keep receiving statements and payouts for streams from before you left?

That moment of removal matters more than it seems. When you switch, you want the new delivery to be live before the old one disappears. Otherwise your music drops out in between, and tracks in playlists stop playing.

Also ask whether you can take your codes with you. The International ISRC Agency, run by IFPI, is clear on this: a recording that already has an ISRC keeps that code, including when it is licensed to another party. If your new distributor delivers the same audio with the same metadata, Spotify can link the old and new versions so that the play count is kept. Switching music distributor walks through this step by step, and ISRC and UPC explained covers what the two codes are.

Payouts and statements

There are several steps between a stream and money in your account. Stores report to the distributor with a delay, and the distributor then settles with you. So ask:

• Is there a minimum payout amount? What happens to a balance below it: does it roll over, expire or get paid out when you leave?
• How often are statements produced and payouts made?
• Which currency are you paid in, and who pays for conversion and transfer costs?
• How much time passes between the month of the streams and the payout?

You should be able to check the statement itself. Ask whether you can see income per period, per store and per track, and whether you can export that data, for example as a CSV file for your own records or your accountant. Ask how errors are corrected, too: as a visible correction, or by adjusting amounts after the fact? A statement that can change without notice is hard to check.

Finally, look at the difference between reported revenue and money actually received. A good overview shows what a store has reported and what is available to pay out.

Splits with collaborators

If you work with a producer, a featured artist or a band, you will want to divide a track's income. Ask:

• Can you record, per track, who gets which share?
• Do collaborators get their own access and payouts, or do you have to pass their money on yourself?
• Can you agree that costs are recouped before the income is split (recoupment)?

If you have to pay everyone yourself, you become your collaborators' bookkeeper. Either way, put splits in writing before the release comes out. Royalty splits with collaborators explains how.

Support, takedowns and claims

You only notice support when something goes wrong, and that is when it counts. Ask how you get help: through an assistant, a form or a person? Can you escalate a question to a human, and can you see its status? If the distributor quotes a response time, ask what it is based on.

A takedown, removing a release from the stores, normally goes through your distributor. Spotify asks artists to contact their label or distributor and have them issue a takedown request. So ask how you request a takedown, whether you can choose a date and whether it costs anything.

Ask as well what happens if someone files a complaint about your release, for example over copyright. Will you hear about it, can you provide evidence, who decides, and can you object? And does a warning stay on your record for good, or does it lapse after a while?

Security of your account and your money

A distribution account gives access to your music and your money. So ask:

• Is two-factor authentication available?
• Does changing your bank account trigger an extra check, such as a fresh confirmation or a waiting period?
• Are payouts checked by more than one person?
• Can team members, such as a manager, get their own access with a role instead of sharing your password?
• Is there a record of who did what?

How Crystal Distribution answers these questions

Crystal Distribution is a music distribution and royalty administration platform for independent artists, producers and labels. In short:

• Pricing: no subscription. The current price is on the pricing page.
• Rights: you keep all your rights; Crystal receives a licence to distribute.
• Content ID and social platforms: YouTube Content ID and the TikTok and Instagram/Facebook music libraries are separate choices in the distribution agreement and require exclusive rights.
• Review and delivery: staff review metadata, rights and media before a release goes to the distribution partner, which delivers to the stores. Each store decides how long it takes; Crystal does not promise a fixed live date.
• Catalogue transfer: existing ISRC and UPC codes are kept (in the portal under Tools → Transfer). A recording without an ISRC is assigned one.
• Statements: per period, per track and per store, with CSV export. A published statement does not change; a correction is issued as a new statement.
• Payouts: the minimum amount and how often statements are settled are set out in your royalty agreement (see payouts). Money goes to a verified bank account, after two-factor authentication and approval by two people at Crystal.
• Splits: per track you record who gets which share. Once they accept, collaborators get their own access to their streams, share and payouts. Recoupment can be agreed.
• Support: an AI assistant for general questions and, at any point, a handover to a member of staff as a ticket whose number and status you can see.
• Claims: only a confirmed copyright infringement counts as a warning. An objection is assessed by a different member of staff, and a warning lapses after a year.
• Security: two-factor authentication, organisations kept separate at database level and an audit log that cannot be altered afterwards. More on the security page.

Checklist: every question at a glance

Hold this list against every offer you are considering, and ask for the answers by email or in the contract. What isn't on paper is hard to enforce later.