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.
Why the comparison matters more than it looks
On the surface, DistroKid, TuneCore, and CD Baby all do the same thing: they put your music on streaming platforms and pay you royalties. The differences become apparent in the details — how they handle metadata, whether they collect publishing royalties as well as recording royalties, what their contracts say about your rights, and how their support performs when something goes wrong. For UK-based independent artists, there are additional considerations around currency conversion, VAT, and UK-specific payment processing.
DistroKid: the volume-first option
DistroKid charges an annual fee (currently around $22.99/year for artists) for unlimited releases. There is no per-release or per-track fee. DistroKid pays 100% of streaming royalties directly to artists, which is the selling point. The trade-offs: metadata delivery is adequate but not the most robust; the publishing administration add-on (Splits and Publishing) is available but basic; customer support is primarily ticket-based with variable response times. For high-volume, low-catalog-value releases, DistroKid's economics are hard to beat.
TuneCore: the release-by-release model
TuneCore charges per release — currently around $9.99 for a single and $29.99 for an album — plus an annual renewal fee to keep releases live. It pays 100% of recording royalties and has a more developed publishing administration offering (TuneCore Publishing) that collects songwriting royalties in addition to distribution income. For artists releasing infrequently with high-value catalog, TuneCore can make sense. For prolific artists, the per-release fees accumulate quickly.
CD Baby: the one-time fee model
CD Baby charges a one-time fee per release (around $9.95 for a single, $49 for an album on the Pro tier) with no annual renewal. The Pro tier includes publishing administration — CD Baby will register your works with publishing societies on your behalf and collect songwriting royalties. CD Baby takes a 9% commission on digital royalties (or 15% on the standard tier), which is the main trade-off against the no-renewal structure. For artists who want a one-time cost and basic publishing coverage, CD Baby Pro is a reasonable entry point.
What UK artists specifically need to consider
For UK-based artists, the relevant questions beyond the pricing model are:
- GBP vs USD — all three distributors operate in USD; currency conversion fees apply to UK payments
- PRS/MCPS coverage — does the distributor's publishing offering cover PRS registration specifically, or is it US-centric?
- PPL registration — does the distributor register your recordings with PPL for neighbouring rights, or is that left to you?
- DDEX compliance — are your releases delivered in a format that ensures correct metadata delivery to UK-facing DSPs?
The publishing gap all three leave
All three distributors offer some form of publishing administration as an add-on, but none provides the level of multi-territory registration, active royalty monitoring, and dispute resolution that a dedicated publishing administrator offers. Their publishing services are primarily registration-focused — they will register your works with the major collecting societies — but the active recovery component (pursuing unmatched distributions, auditing international income, resolving disputes) is generally outside their scope.
Which distributor for which situation
For UK artists releasing frequently with modest per-release revenue: DistroKid's annual unlimited model is most cost-efficient. For artists releasing infrequently with higher-value catalog and US market focus: TuneCore's publishing add-on provides broader US coverage. For artists wanting a one-time cost with basic publishing included: CD Baby Pro. For artists serious about maximising total royalty income across recordings and compositions: pair any of the three with a dedicated publishing administrator for the composition side.
If you are evaluating your current distribution setup and want to understand whether your publishing royalties are being collected alongside your recording royalties, our free Catalog Assessment covers both sides.