by Zac Shaw

Editor’s note: This chart is a work in progress and we have made numerous corrections since publishing. If you have a correction, email info@songhack.com and we will make it ASAP. A new version of this chart will be published in the coming weeks with more distributors, more information and greater accuracy. We appreciate your patience.

Editor’s Note: We have made a few corrections and apologize for the errors: (1) Ditto Music does mention they have an annual fee on their website, however we did not find the figure $20/year subscription fee mentioned by number, we had to contact their support team; (2) we listed ReverbNation’s monthly $19.95 subscription when we should have listed their $34.95/year distro only package; (3) we got ONERpm’s rates backwards, they have no annual fees but have a setup fee. If you find errors in this document email info@songhack.com. It is a work in progress and we are always working to improve its accuracy. Current figures are based on research done on the marketing websites of each company.

TuneCore vs. CDBaby vs. OneRPM vs. Ditto Music vs. Indigo Boom vs. SongFlow vs. DistroKid vs. RouteNoute vs. Loudr vs. Mondotunes vs. ReverbNation

No wonder musicians are confused. No two digital distributors were created equal… not even close!

We compared pricing for the top 11 services distributing recordings to online retailers on behalf of independent musicians. The variety was striking. If you plan on making any significant revenue off your distribution, you’d better choose carefully, as fees can skyrocket over time.

Many of these platforms offer many other services besides digital distribution, adding significant value. Here, we focus only on the price of distributing one’s album.