Distribution

How to release your music globally, choose a distributor, and maximise your streaming royalties as an independent artist.

24 articles

Independent Music Distribution in the UK: What to Look For and What to Avoid
Pillar guide

Independent Music Distribution in the UK: What to Look For and What to Avoid

Not all distributors are equal. This guide covers what independent artists should actually evaluate when choosing a distribution partner, and what the fine print often hides.

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Physical Music Distribution Companies UK: Vinyl, CD and Cassette

Physical Music Distribution Companies UK: Vinyl, CD and Cassette

Physical music distribution in the UK covers vinyl, CD, and cassette releases into retail, online stores, and independent record shops. This guide explains how physical distribution works, the main UK companies, and what independent labels need to consider.

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Afrobeats Music Distribution UK - A Complete Guide for Independent Artists

Afrobeats Music Distribution UK - A Complete Guide for Independent Artists

Afrobeats has become one of the most commercially significant genres in the UK music market. For independent Afrobeats artists and small labels in the UK, understanding how to distribute globally - including to African markets - while collecting all available royalties is essential infrastructure.

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Amazon Music Distribution UK - How to Get Your Music on Amazon

Amazon Music Distribution UK - How to Get Your Music on Amazon

Amazon Music is one of the world's largest streaming platforms, with over 100 million paid subscribers across Amazon Music Unlimited and Amazon Prime Music. UK independent artists can get their music onto Amazon Music through any major digital distributor, but maximising your Amazon presence requires understanding how the platform works.

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AudioSalad Review: What Independent Labels Need to Know

AudioSalad Review: What Independent Labels Need to Know

AudioSalad is a UK-based B2B music distribution platform used by independent labels, aggregators, and label services companies. It is not designed for individual artists - it operates at the label infrastructure level. This review explains what AudioSalad does, who it is for, and how it compares to alternatives for label-scale operations.

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Best Music Distribution for Christian Artists (2026)

Best Music Distribution for Christian Artists (2026)

Christian music distribution has specific requirements that general distributors do not always address: CCLI integration, faith-based platform reach, and the unique release calendar around the Christian music market. This guide compares the main options for UK Christian and gospel artists in 2026.

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Best Music Distribution Services in the UK (2026)

Best Music Distribution Services in the UK (2026)

The UK music distribution market in 2026 is crowded with services that look similar on the surface but differ significantly in royalty rates, metadata handling, label-tier features, and support quality. This guide compares the main options for independent UK artists and labels.

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Gospel Music Distribution: Getting Your Music Heard

Gospel Music Distribution: Getting Your Music Heard

Gospel music distribution in the UK requires understanding both mainstream streaming platforms and the gospel-specific channels that drive real discovery - Black gospel radio stations, gospel-specific festivals, church networks, and the diaspora streaming platforms that serve UK gospel audiences.

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Reggae Music Distribution: UK-Based Options for Artists

Reggae Music Distribution: UK-Based Options for Artists

Distributing reggae music from the UK requires reaching both mainstream streaming platforms and the specialist reggae distribution channels that serve the Jamaican diaspora, Caribbean community, and global reggae audience. This guide covers the UK-based options and what reggae-specific distribution needs to include.

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Soca Music Distribution: Timing Your Releases for Carnival

Soca Music Distribution: Timing Your Releases for Carnival

Soca music distribution is uniquely governed by the Carnival calendar. A soca track released at the wrong time in the Carnival cycle achieves a fraction of the impact of the same track timed correctly. This guide covers the soca release calendar, the distribution channels that matter, and how UK-based soca artists can maximise their Carnival season.

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Switching Music Distributors Without Losing Your Streams: An ISRC Preservation Playbook

Switching Music Distributors Without Losing Your Streams: An ISRC Preservation Playbook

Switching music distributor is one of the highest-risk administrative decisions an artist can make. If your ISRCs are not preserved correctly, your streaming history fragments across two artist profiles, your royalty collection breaks, and your chart position is reset to zero. This guide explains exactly how to switch distributors safely.

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How Long Does Music Distribution Take? UK Artist Guide

How Long Does Music Distribution Take? UK Artist Guide

Most UK artists plan their release date without accounting for distribution timelines. This guide covers standard and expedited delivery windows, what causes delays, and how to structure your release plan around real platform timelines.

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How to Get Your Music on Spotify the Right Way

How to Get Your Music on Spotify the Right Way

Getting a track onto Spotify is straightforward. Getting it onto Spotify in a way that maximises royalty collection, algorithmic discoverability, and playlist eligibility requires more care. This guide covers every step, from metadata to release strategy, for UK independent artists.

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Indie Music Distribution in London: What to Look For and How to Choose

Indie Music Distribution in London: What to Look For and How to Choose

London is one of the world's most active independent music cities. But that concentration of talent makes choosing the right distribution partner more consequential, not less. This guide covers what London-based indie artists should actually evaluate, and what most get wrong.

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What is DDEX and How Does it Affect Your Music Distribution?

What is DDEX and How Does it Affect Your Music Distribution?

DDEX is the international standards body that defines how music data moves between distributors, streaming platforms, and rights organisations. Most independent artists have never heard of it; but the quality of their royalty reporting and the accuracy of their metadata on streaming platforms depends entirely on it.

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TikTok Music Royalties: How Independent Artists Get Paid (And What They Miss)

TikTok Music Royalties: How Independent Artists Get Paid (And What They Miss)

TikTok is one of the most powerful music discovery platforms in the world, but most independent artists don't understand how, or whether, they're being paid when their music appears in videos. The royalty system is more complex than it looks.

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YouTube Content ID Explained: How It Works and What Independent Artists Need to Know

YouTube Content ID Explained: How It Works and What Independent Artists Need to Know

YouTube Content ID is a system that automatically identifies when your music appears in other people's videos and lets you collect royalties from those videos instead of having your music used for free. Most independent artists have no idea it exists.

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DistroKid vs TuneCore vs CD Baby: Which Is Best for UK Artists?

DistroKid vs TuneCore vs CD Baby: Which Is Best for UK Artists?

These three distributors dominate the independent market, but they differ significantly on pricing, royalty splits, metadata quality, and publishing support. Here is a practical comparison for UK-based artists.

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How to Pitch Your Music to Spotify Editorial Playlists

How to Pitch Your Music to Spotify Editorial Playlists

Spotify editorial playlists are one of the most powerful discovery tools available to independent artists, and pitching for them is free. Here is exactly how the process works and how to give yourself the best chance.

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How to Release Music on Spotify as a UK Independent Artist

How to Release Music on Spotify as a UK Independent Artist

You cannot upload music to Spotify directly; you need a distributor. Here is a step-by-step guide to releasing music on Spotify from the UK, including what to prepare and what to avoid.

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What Is a DSP in Music? Digital Service Providers Explained

What Is a DSP in Music? Digital Service Providers Explained

DSP stands for Digital Service Provider, the industry term for streaming platforms and digital stores. Understanding how DSPs work helps you understand where your royalties come from and how they are calculated.

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How Streaming Royalties Are Calculated: A Clear Breakdown

How Streaming Royalties Are Calculated: A Clear Breakdown

Streaming royalties confuse most artists because the rate is not fixed; it changes every month based on platform revenue and total streams. Here is exactly how the calculation works.

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Music Pre-Save Campaigns Explained: How to Build Momentum Before Release

Music Pre-Save Campaigns Explained: How to Build Momentum Before Release

A pre-save campaign lets fans add your music to their library before release day and sends a signal to streaming algorithms that demand exists. Here is how to run one effectively.

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How to Get Your Music on Apple Music Editorial Playlists

How to Get Your Music on Apple Music Editorial Playlists

Apple Music editorial playlists offer some of the highest per-stream royalty rates in the industry. Getting placed requires a different approach than Spotify. Here is what works.

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Common questions about distribution

How do I get my music on Spotify and Apple Music as an independent artist?

Independent artists release music to streaming platforms through a digital distributor such as DistroKid, TuneCore, or AudioSalad. You upload your audio files, artwork, and metadata, and the distributor delivers the release to the DSPs (digital service providers) on your chosen release date. A label services company can handle distribution as part of a broader package.

How long does music distribution take in the UK?

Most distributors deliver to Spotify and Apple Music within 3–5 business days, but major DSPs recommend allowing at least 7–14 days before your intended release date to allow for editorial playlist pitching windows and quality checks. Pre-save campaigns require even more lead time — typically 4 weeks.

What is the best music distributor for UK independent artists?

The best distributor depends on your needs. DistroKid offers unlimited releases for a flat annual fee. TuneCore charges per release but pays 100% of royalties. AudioSalad caters to professional independent labels with full DDEX support. Larger catalogs or labels with complex needs should consider a full label services provider.

How are streaming royalties calculated?

Streaming royalties are calculated using a pro-rata model: the platform's total royalty pool for a period is divided by total streams, then multiplied by your stream count. Rates vary by platform and country — Spotify pays approximately £0.002–£0.004 per stream in the UK. The master rights holder (usually the distributor's client) and the publishing rights holder each receive separate royalty streams.

Can I switch music distributors without losing my streams?

Yes, you can switch distributors while preserving your Spotify stream counts, provided you retain your original ISRC codes. The key is to re-deliver the release with identical ISRCs so streaming platforms treat it as the same recording. Changing ISRCs resets your stream count to zero.