Is releasing music as an independent artist better than signing a record deal?
The DIY vs. record deal debate has been a hot topic in the music industry for some time now. While the success of artists who are doing it themselves might be tilting the scales towards going independent, this doesn’t necessarily mean a record deal won’t work for anyone. However, a viable record deal requires a sufficient level of artist autonomy, which might not be realistically achievable, especially at the very start of your career.
What does it mean to be an independent artist?
With physical distribution on its way out, getting your music out there basically means delivering it to the relevant DSPs via a music distributor. Don’t let the platform count fool you – the 5 biggest platforms, namely Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Tencent, and YouTube, cover more than 80% of the global music streaming market.
To sell your music online, we’ll deliver your music to the 34 most relevant DSPs, including the big 5. This will enable you to reach your existing fans regardless of their platform preferences and expand your fanbase by introducing your music to a worldwide audience.
All you need to do is provide the music and the artwork. We strongly recommend submitting your song at least 2 weeks prior to your intended release date. This gives us and the DSPs enough time to ingest your release and make it available on the release date.
On which DSPs will my tracks be available?
We’ll deliver your music to the 34 most relevant DSPs: Amazon, Anghami, Apple Music & iTunes, Audiomack, AWA, Boomplay, ClaroMusica, Deezer, Flo, iHeart Radio, Instagram, JioSaavn, Joox, Kanjian, KKBOX, Kuaishou, Medianet/Audible, Mixcloud, Napster, Netease, Pandora, Peloton, Pretzel, Qobuz, Shazam, Slacker Radio, Spotify, Tencent, Tidal, TikTok, Trebel, Triller, YouTube.
How do I prepare my songs for distribution?
We accept .WAV audio files in 16bit/24bit 44.1kHz resolution. We also need a square 3000 x 3000 pixels .jpg/.jpeg/.png image in RGB color, no larger than 10Mb. The name on the artwork must match the release name and must not contain website addresses or social media links.
Are there limitations on song distribution?
No. With your Viberate for Artists Premium plan, you can distribute as many releases and tracks as you like.
How much does distribution cost?
The entire digital music distribution cost is covered by your Viberate for Artists Premium plan. There are no hidden charges for distributing multiple songs or assigning splits. You can distribute as many releases and songs as you like. If your songs are a team effort, you can assign royalty splits to different collaborators, who’ll be able to claim their royalties directly from the platform. There are no fees for withdrawing royalties, other than the ones that might be imposed by the payment provider (Wise or PayPal).
When and how will I get paid?
Royalties can take 3 to 6 months to be processed from the end of the actual month of sale. This is due to the fact that we need to wait for the music services to process and audit all their sales figures before we can process these statements ourselves and attribute the royalties to artists. As soon as this is done, you can access your money from the payments page and request a withdrawal. We prefer payments via Wise, but can also do PayPal. Do bear in mind that you are solely responsible for any and all taxes that may be imposed on your royalty income.
As an independent artist, do I need to hire a marketing team to promote my song?
Release promotion has always been considered the prerogative of record labels, but with the options now available to artists, release campaigns have become much less scary and much more manageable.
By maintaining a strong social media presence and utilizing a few accessible tools, artists can promote their music with the genuineness and authenticity that can never be matched by any marketing team. And with DSPs opening their channels to receive direct promotional pitches, there’s very little in terms of release promotion that can’t be done by artists themselves.
To make targeting the right audience easier and your promotional efforts more efficient, our distribution dashboard will provide you with a detailed fanbase breakdown, as well as free promotional tools such as pre-save and share links..