Spotify is ending its direct-upload program, the streaming giant announced today (July 1). The beta feature, which Spotify announced in September 2018, allowed artists to upload their music directly to Spotify without needing to use a traditional distributor or third-party company (e.g., Tunecore, Distrokid, and Stem) to get their music on the platform.

In its announcement today, Spotify said, “The best way for us to serve artists and labels is to focus our resources on developing tools in areas where Spotify can uniquely benefit them—like Spotify for Artists... and our playlist submission tool.” In addition, the blog post stated, “We’re working with our distribution partners to help make this transition as simple as possible for the artists who uploaded music through the beta.”

The company said it will stop accepting new uploads at the end of this month.

Revisit “Who Wins When Artists Upload Directly to Spotify?” on the Pitch.