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Think DistroKid is the cheapest option for distribution? Think again.

With DistroKid’s mandatory annual recurring fees and additional charges for essential features, the cost of distribution grows exponentially over time.

With iMusician you have found your DistroKid alternative: You only pay once to keep your music online forever on the widest range of streaming services and download shops worldwide – without a yearly fee to keep your music in stores such as DistroKid does.

Choosing your music distribution platform is a crucial step in your music-making journey, often influencing your potential growth and determining the legacy you leave behind. At iMusician, we hope to be your ultimate-one-stop-360 music industry and business partner, centering everything we do around you and your needs as an independent musician. This page gives you an easy-to-read, informative breakdown of the differences between DistroKid and iMusician — covering the most important subjects independent artists and record labels need to think about.

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DistroKid VS iMusician Comparison

How is iMusician better than DistroKid?

DistroKid vs iMusician Logo

Your Music Online Forever

Commission

0%

Unlimited Artists

Electronic Music Distribution on Beatport

$9.99 every month

Electronic Music Distribution on Traxsource

Classical Music Distribution

No Withholding Tax

DistroKid will take 30% of your revenue if you’re not a US citizen or don’t fill out complicated forms

Enhanced Music and Revenue Analytics

YouTube Content ID

$4.95 per single/year

$14.95 per album/year

+ 20% commission on your YouTube ad revenue

Personal Support via Community

Languages Available

English

Free Submissions to iMusician Playlists

Subscription Flexibility

iMusician Logo

Your Music Online Forever

Commission

Up to 0%

Unlimited Artists

Electronic Music Distribution on Beatport

Included with AMPLIFY+

Electronic Music Distribution on Traxsource

Classical Music Distribution

Included with AMPLIFY+

No Withholding Tax

We’re Swiss, we don’t charge withholding tax.

Enhanced Music and Revenue Analytics

YouTube Content ID

$1 one time per track and you can monetize your music forever.

Personal Support via Community

Languages Available

English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese

Free Submissions to iMusician Playlists

Subscription Flexibility

Think DistroKid is the cheapest option for distribution? Think again.

Tell Us About Your Release Plans

What are iMusician benefits compared to DistroKid?

Your Music Stays Online Forever with iMusician

At iMusician, you will get truly unlimited music distribution. All you have to pay is a single one-time fee to get your music on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and all other streaming and download music shops and stores — FOREVER AND EVER!

Unlike DistroKid, iMusician doesn’t charge an annual fee to keep your music on these platforms — no matter what subscription you’re on. Even if you decide to switch to our free plan, your music stays online forever, continuously generating streams and royalties. This way we want to make sure that by distributing with us, you’re leaving a legacy behind, allowing your fans to listen to your music for the rest of eternity.

What’s also truly unlimited, is the amount of artists on one account. We believe that music is about creating together, combining ideas and enjoying powerful synergies to compose dazzling melodies and write compelling lyrics. Therefore, with us, you can release compilations with as many artists as you’d like, whether it’s one or one hundred. With DistroKid, you’ll have to increase your yearly subscription by a tremendous amount if you want to add more than one artist to your release(s).

Flexibility is your best friend

We understand that as a musician, you want to stay as flexible as possible when it comes to expenses. Therefore, flexibility is exactly what we provide. At iMusician, we don’t want you to get yourself locked into any long-term contracts that hold your music career to ransom. DistroKid will remove your music from the stores if you don’t pay the annual subscription.

Whatever subscription you choose, you can switch to our Free planat any time, for as long as you need to. With DistroKid, if you choose a high subscription, you can’t even downgrade to a lower subscription when you need to, you’re locked in.

The Swiss music business partner you can trust

Unlike most music distributors, we don’t charge any hidden fees, like withholding taxes. If a digital music distribution company charges withholding tax, it means that they keep 30% of your music revenue, if you’re not a US citizen or you don’t fill in loads of forms. As a Swiss company, we simply don’t do that.

Our main goal is to always remain transparent and make sure that your tracks are released right the first time, without any bad surprises coming later.

Widest range of shops and genres worldwide including classical and electronic music

At iMusician, we believe that the genre of music you make should showcase your strengths not cause you trouble. Afterall, what really matters is that you get your music out in the world and heard. Unlike DistroKid, we’re proud to distribute your music, no matter what genre, including electronic and classical music.

Speaking of electronic music, we also cover the largest selection of electronic music shops, including Traxsource, Beatport or Juno Download. This way we make sure you’re able to maximize your reach to your audience wherever they listen to music, without compromising on your choice of music genres or your artistic vision. DistroKid makes you pay a monthly fee to get your music on Beatport which can be very expensive only after a few months and doesn’t distribute on Traxsource.

Personal support at its best

We are aware that talking about all things ‘music business’ can be complicated and daunting. We understand that it’s much easier to communicate about these things in your mother language, and in your own words.

That’s why we have an excellent Artist and Label Relations team that is here to provide you with the best service among music distribution services — in six different languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese. You can ask us anything and we’ll be more than happy to guide you.

FAQs

Definitely not. DistroKid can be very expensive over time with their mandatory annual subscription.

For example, if you decide to release an album with 3 main artists, you’ll pay $79.99 every year. After 5 years, that album will cost you $399.95 while at iMusician, you don’t pay for extra artists on your release, your album will cost you $20 and that’s it.

Yes, DistroKid will remove your music from all the stores if you don’t pay the renewal fee for their subscription. At iMusician, your music stays online forever even if you downgrade to our Free plan.

No, DistroKid keeps 20% of the ad-revenue from YouTube videos and you only keep 80%. With iMusician, you keep between 90% and 100% of your revenue depending on your subscription plan.

Yes, if your country of tax residency is not in the United States, DistroKid will take 30% of your earnings as withholding tax. iMusician, as a Swiss company, does not charge withholding tax.

This is simple.

  1. Keep your ISRCs codes and UPC barcodes of your releases distributed via DistroKid

  2. Request the takedown of your releases on DistroKid

  3. Create your releases on iMusician and be sure to insert the same UPC and ISRCs codes where it is required so you will keep the same count of streams, downloads, playlists, etc

musician on stage

Explore For Free

Join our community of half a million independent artists and labels who trust iMusician to sell and monetize their music online.

Truly Unlimited.
Your music stays online forever. No yearly or monthly fee to keep your tracks in stores.

Your Music is Safe With Us.
We're Swiss! That means no withholding tax, and no minimum payouts. You own 100% of your music copyrights.

Discover Your Potential.
Use the power of data to find out where your listeners are with our Music Analytics tool.

Break Through the Noise.
Artist Hub helps you grow your fans, get more streams and reach your goals as an artist.

Stay Free, Stay Flexible.
Switch your subscription to our free plan anytime, for as long as you need to.

Reach Fans All Over The World.
Sell and monetize your music on the widest range of shops all over the world such as Spotify, Deezer, Beatport, Amazon, Traxsource & more.

Get Playlisted.
Playlists are crucial for a successful career. Get your tracks on our lists, and increase your chances for editorial playlists.