The short answer
Artists rarely leave over the revenue share alone. They leave when an annual fee quietly resumes, when music comes down because a subscription lapsed, when support is only a bot, when payouts are held for months, when the catalogue cannot be exported, or when nobody answers in their language. Each point can be checked before you sign.
Fees that resume, and takedowns when they lapse
The most common complaint is not the fee but its memory. A subscription that was cheap in year one renews automatically, often at a higher price, and the card is charged without anyone noticing. Where the plan is per-release, each release renews on its own, so a growing catalogue becomes a growing annual bill.
The second complaint follows from the first: on many subscription models, when payment stops the releases come down. Streams, playlist positions and saves vanish with them, and a later re-upload usually starts from zero unless the original codes are carried across.
- Read the renewal clause: what renews, at what price, and with what notice
- Ask in writing what happens to live releases if you stop paying
- Check whether a per-release plan charges again every year
Support that is only a machine
Distribution breaks in small, specific ways: a release stuck in review, a wrong artist profile, a Content ID claim against your own video, a missing store. Each needs a person who can open your account. Artists leave when the only path is a ticket answered by a template, closed automatically, and reopened into the same loop while the release date passes.
- Send a real question before you sign, time the reply, and note whether a person answered
- Ask which hours support keeps and which problems a human can act on
- Ask how a profile fix or a takedown request is handled and how long it takes
Payouts held, thresholds and fees on the way out
Stores report two to three months after the month of listening; that lag is normal. What drives artists away is what is added on top: a minimum balance that a small catalogue never reaches, a hold for suspicious streams with no date for a decision, an account frozen on an automated flag, or payout and currency fees that eat a small payment. Tax withholding can apply too; this varies by country.
- Ask for the payout schedule in writing: when, how often, minimum balance, method
- Ask what triggers a hold, who reviews it, and the longest it can last
- Ask what fees apply to a payout to your country and in your currency
A catalogue you cannot take with you
The quiet lock-in is data. If the distributor assigned your ISRC and UPC codes and treats them as its own, or offers no export of your releases with their codes, dates and credits, then moving means rebuilding by hand, with new pages and lost history. Takedowns that take months, or Content ID assets never released to the new distributor, have the same effect.
- Confirm in writing that you may reuse the ISRC and UPC codes after you leave
- Check that a full catalogue export exists, with codes, dates, credits and territories
- Ask how long a takedown takes and how Content ID ownership is released
Help in your own language
A distributor's form, agreement and support are written in one language, and for most of the world that is not the artist's own. An artist who cannot read the agreement cannot check the points above, and one who cannot explain a problem in their own words waits longer and gets less. This sits behind many of the other reasons, and it is the easiest to test.
Mazufa Records exists for that reason: artists are served in their own language, in the form, the agreement and the support, on the same terms for everyone: no upload fee, no subscription, no per-release fee; the revenue share is set out in your written agreement.
- Open the agreement in your language and read the fee, term and takedown clauses yourself
- Write to support in your language and see whether the answer comes back in it
- Check that the release form and the statements are readable without translation
Questions people ask
Is a low fee or a high share the right reason to choose?
Neither alone. A fee that resumes, a share that comes with holds, or a catalogue you cannot export cost more than the headline number. Check the points in this guide first, in writing, and only then compare the share set out in each agreement.
Can I switch without losing my streams?
Usually yes, in the right order: export your catalogue first, deliver to the new distributor with the original ISRC and UPC codes, wait until the new delivery is live, then request the takedown. Keep the old account open until the last statement is paid.
How do I check a distributor before I sign?
Read the agreement yourself, send a real support question in your language, ask for the payout schedule and the hold policy in writing, and confirm that the codes and a full export are yours. Written answers are the test; a page of promises is not.