The first time I picked a distributor, I picked it on price. I compared two numbers, chose the smaller one, uploaded the song, and felt like I had made a business decision. I had not. I had made a guess with a receipt attached.
What I did not understand then is that the annual fee is the least interesting thing about a distributor. The interesting part is what the arrangement does to your catalog over years, especially in the years when money is tight and you are deciding what to cancel.
So this is a comparison of DistroKid, TuneCore, UnitedMasters, and Amuse with current 2026 pricing, checked against each company’s own pages. But the part I want you to actually read is the section on what happens when you stop paying. That is where the real cost lives.
Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links. If you use them, it supports AlwaysBeOG at no additional cost to you. Pricing was verified in August 2026 against each company’s own pricing and support pages, but these numbers move. Check before you buy.
The comparison, at a glance
| Platform | Entry price | Higher tiers | Royalty share | If you stop paying |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DistroKid | $24.99/yr (Musician) | $44.99 Musician Plus · $89.99 Ultimate | Keep 100% | Music removed unless you bought Leave a Legacy per release |
| TuneCore | $24.99/yr (Rising Artist) | $44.99 Breakout · $54.99 Professional | Keep 100% on distribution | Standard subscription lapse rules apply |
| UnitedMasters | Free (DEBUT) | $19.99 DEBUT+ · $59.99 SELECT · Partner by invitation | Keep 100% on paid tiers | Free tier remains available |
| Amuse | $23.99/yr (Artist) | $39.99 Artist Plus · $59.99 Professional | Keep 100% while subscribed · 15% on YouTube Content ID | 25% commission on every release you own |
Verified August 2026. Every one of these companies changes pricing, so treat this as a starting point rather than gospel.
The question nobody asks until it is too late
Every one of these platforms advertises unlimited uploads. What almost none of them say loudly is that unlimited means unlimited while you are paying.
DistroKid states it plainly in their own help center: if you do not renew your subscription, your music is removed from services. They sell an add-on called Leave a Legacy that keeps a release live after you cancel, and it is worth understanding that this is priced per release, not once for your whole catalog. A hundred songs means a hundred decisions.
Amuse takes a different route to the same pressure. You keep 100% of your streaming royalties while you are subscribed. Cancel, and Amuse applies a 25% commission on every release you own. Your music stays up. It just starts paying rent.
I am not saying either company is doing something wrong. Servers cost money and these are businesses. What I am saying is that this is the term that will actually affect your life, and it is never the number on the pricing page.
Ask it before you commit. Not what does this cost, but what does it cost to leave.
DistroKid
DistroKid has been the default recommendation in independent music for years, and the reason is speed and simplicity. Upload, keep 100%, get to Spotify fast.
Pricing in 2026 runs in three tiers. Musician at $24.99 a year covers one artist or band with unlimited uploads. Musician Plus at $44.99 covers two artists and adds daily streaming stats, a customizable label name, custom release and preorder dates, and synced lyrics in Apple Music. Ultimate at $89.99 covers up to 100 artists and adds advanced analytics, music monitoring, playlist contact search, and the ability to replace a song’s audio after release.
The Splits feature deserves its reputation. If you made a record with three other people, DistroKid can divide the money automatically and send each person their share directly. That single feature has prevented more friendships from ending than most contracts have.
Two honest cautions. The base tier is genuinely basic, and several things you will eventually want are add-ons rather than included. And the takedown-on-lapse policy above means DistroKid works best for artists who are confident they will keep paying every year for a long time.
Choose it if: you release often, you want speed, and you are committing to the subscription for the long run.
TuneCore
TuneCore invented the flat-fee model, got passed by faster competitors, and has spent the years since rebuilding. It has been owned by Believe since April 2015, and the current lineup is a genuine answer to DistroKid rather than an echo of it.
Rising Artist is $24.99 a year for unlimited distribution to 150-plus stores, with advanced analytics and YouTube Content ID. Breakout Artist at $44.99 adds Store Automator and Cover Art Creator plus faster support. Professional at $54.99 adds multiple artist management, a custom label name, priority support, and access to TuneCore Direct Advance, with additional artist profiles at $14.99 each. There is still a pay-per-release path if you prefer it: $24.99 for a single, $44.99 for an album in year one and $56.49 for each year after.
Store reach is the real differentiator. 150-plus stores against DistroKid’s core set matters more than it sounds if any part of your audience lives outside the big three platforms.
Choose it if: you want the widest store footprint at the same entry price, and support response time matters to you.
UnitedMasters
UnitedMasters was built by Steve Stoute to be a label alternative rather than a file-delivery service, and the structure reflects that.
There is a free DEBUT tier. DEBUT+ is $19.99 a year for unlimited monthly releases to 35-plus services. SELECT is $59.99 and adds access to sync licensing opportunities. PARTNER is by invitation. On the paid tiers you retain 100% of your royalty earnings.
Worth flagging, because the old model is still repeated everywhere: UnitedMasters used to take a percentage on its entry tier. That is not how the current paid tiers are structured. If you read an article saying they take 10%, check the date on it.
What you are actually buying at the SELECT tier is access. Brand and sync placement is a door that has historically been closed to unsigned artists, and that door is the entire argument for paying more here than you would elsewhere. Fewer stores, a narrower catalog reach, but a different kind of opportunity.
Choose it if: you have momentum and you want brand and sync opportunities more than maximum store coverage. Or if you need a free way to start and DEBUT gets your first release out.
Amuse
Amuse built its name on free, mobile-first distribution. That era is over: the free tier was discontinued in March 2024, and the current lineup is Artist at $23.99, Artist Plus at $39.99, and Professional at $59.99 a year. The tiers scale by how many artist profiles you manage and by features like hi-res audio and priority support rather than by royalty rate.
You keep 100% of streaming royalties while subscribed. Amuse takes 15% on YouTube Content ID earnings across all tiers.
The genuine standout is the royalty advance system, which offers funding against projected earnings ranging from about $10 to tens of thousands of dollars. For an artist waiting months between a stream and a payout, cash flow is not a luxury feature. It is the difference between finishing a project and shelving it.
Then there is the cancellation term. Stop subscribing and Amuse applies a 25% commission on every release you own. Read that twice before you build a catalog there.
Choose it if: you work from your phone and the advance system solves a real cash flow problem for you, and you have read the cancellation term with clear eyes.
The money most artists never collect
Here is a distinction that costs independent artists more than any subscription fee.
Your distributor handles the master — the recording itself. Publishing royalties are a separate stream, owed to you as the writer of the composition, collected by different organizations under different rules. If nobody is collecting them, they sit unclaimed.
None of the distribution plans above include publishing administration. TuneCore offers it as a separate service at $75 per writer to set up, after which they retain 20% of the publishing royalties they collect on your behalf, and 50% on synchronization earnings. Whether that is worth it depends entirely on how much you are earning, but the decision only exists if you know the money is there.
The mistake is not choosing the wrong administrator. The mistake is not knowing the second stream exists.
How to actually choose
You can lose a week to this decision. Do not. Here is the short path.
- First release, no budget: UnitedMasters DEBUT. Free gets the song out. You can move later.
- Releasing often, one artist: DistroKid Musician or TuneCore Rising Artist. Same $24.99. Pick DistroKid for speed and Splits, TuneCore for store reach and support.
- Running several projects: DistroKid Ultimate at $89.99 if you have many, TuneCore Professional at $54.99 if you have a few.
- Chasing brand and sync placement: UnitedMasters SELECT.
- Cash flow is the bottleneck: Amuse, with the cancellation term understood going in.
Whichever you choose, keep your own records. Your split agreements, your ISRC codes, your registration confirmations, your release dates. Distributors merge, change terms, and occasionally get things wrong, and when that happens the artist with documentation wins and the artist without one waits. I wrote about building that system here, and about the invoicing side of getting paid here.
Frequently asked questions
Is DistroKid or TuneCore better in 2026?
They now start at the same price, $24.99 a year for unlimited releases. DistroKid is generally faster to platforms and has stronger collaborator tools like Splits. TuneCore reaches more stores, at 150-plus, and offers faster support on higher tiers. If speed and splits matter most, DistroKid. If reach and support matter most, TuneCore.
What happens to my music if I stop paying my distributor?
It depends on the platform, and this is the term to check before you sign up. DistroKid removes your music from services unless you purchased the Leave a Legacy add-on for that release. Amuse leaves your music live but applies a 25% commission on every release you own once you cancel.
Does UnitedMasters still take 10% of royalties?
Not on the current paid tiers. DEBUT+ at $19.99 and SELECT at $59.99 both state that you retain 100% of your royalty earnings. Articles describing a 10% cut are describing an older structure.
Is Amuse still free?
No. Amuse discontinued free distribution in March 2024. Plans now start at $23.99 a year.
Do these plans collect my publishing royalties?
No. Distribution covers the master recording. Publishing is a separate stream and needs a separate administrator. TuneCore sells publishing administration separately at $75 per writer to set up, then keeps 20% of what they collect and 50% on sync.
Can I switch distributors later?
Yes, and most artists eventually do. The friction is in the details: you may lose your Spotify release date, your playlist placements can reset, and your streaming history can fragment. Switching is a real option, not a free one.
The part that matters
Distribution got democratized, and that was genuinely a good thing. Anybody can reach the world now. But democratized does not mean simple, and it definitely does not mean neutral. Every one of these platforms is a business with terms, and the terms are written for the years you are not thinking about.
You do not need to pick perfectly. You need to pick knowingly. Read the cancellation terms, keep your own records, and understand that the catalog you are building is an asset you will still own in ten years if you treat it like one now.
Pick one this week and get the song out. That is the next right thing, and it is enough.
