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What it costs over five years

The first-year price is not the price. Put in your own numbers and see what each charging model actually takes from a catalogue over five years.

THE HONEST COMPARISON

Music distributor comparison 2026

Every distributor sounds the same until you read the fine print. This page lines up what each one actually charges, what it takes from your royalties, and what happens to your music the day you stop paying.

DISTRIBUTOR COST TO RELEASE CUT OF ROYALTIES IF YOU STOP PAYING HUMAN REVIEW
Mazufa No submission fee, no tiers Set in your written agreement No recurring subscription to lapse Yes — every application
DistroKid $22.99–$49.99 per year 0% Music is removed from stores No — self-serve
TuneCore $9.99 per single, $29.99 per album, renewed yearly 0% on distribution; 15% on publishing admin Release is taken down when not renewed No — self-serve
CD Baby $9.99 per single, one-time 9%, ongoing Release stays up; the 9% continues No — self-serve
UnitedMasters Free tier, or $59.99 per year 10% on the free tier, 0% on the paid tier Drops to the 10% free tier No — self-serve
Amuse $23.99–$59.99 per year 0% Subscription features lapse No — self-serve
Ditto Music £19–£29 per year 0% Release is taken down when not renewed No — self-serve
RouteNote Free tier available 15% on the free tier Stays on the free tier No — self-serve
ONErpm Free to distribute 15% Commission continues Selective for some tiers

Figures reflect each company's own published pricing as reviewed in September 2026. Prices, tiers and commissions change — check the source before deciding. Mazufa's own commercial terms are set in the written agreement issued after review; this page does not state them on your behalf.

What is not a difference

Distributors like to advertise things every one of them already does. Knowing which is which saves you from paying for a promise you already have.

"You keep 100% of your rights"
Standard. DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, Amuse, Ditto and Mazufa all leave ownership with the artist. It is a baseline, not an advantage.
"Delivered everywhere"
Every major distributor reaches the same large stores. What differs is regional coverage — Anghami, Boomplay, JioSaavn, Melon, QQ Music — and how fast a new service is added.
"Unlimited uploads"
Unlimited only while the subscription is active. On several services the catalogue comes down when payment stops, which is the cost that never appears on the pricing page.

What actually differs

The renewal trap
A subscription model means your catalogue is hostage to a card that has to keep working. Miss a renewal and releases can be pulled — losing playlist positions and the stream history behind them.
A percentage forever
A one-time fee with an ongoing 9–15% cut is cheap on day one and expensive on year five. Compare over the life of a catalogue, not the first upload.
Review versus upload
Self-serve services accept anything that passes an automated check. A reviewed roster is smaller, and every release on it has been read by a person before it goes out.
Regional reach
If your audience is in the Gulf, North Africa, India or Southeast Asia, coverage of Anghami, Boomplay, JioSaavn and JOOX matters more than another Western store.

How to compare for yourself

  1. Work out the five-year cost, not the first-year price — a yearly fee times five, or a percentage across everything you will ever earn.
  2. Ask what happens to live releases if you stop paying, and get the answer in writing.
  3. Check which regional services are included, not just the count of "150+ platforms".
  4. Read the exit clause before the pricing page: how you leave, what you keep, how long it takes.
  5. Confirm who owns the recording, the metadata and the ISRC after the agreement ends.

Compared everything and want a human to look at your music?

Applications are open to every artist, in any language, from any country. A person reads each one.

Apply to Mazufa