DistroKid vs. CD Baby: Which is the Better Distributor for You? CD Baby vsDistroKid Just suppose that you are set to release your very firs...
DistroKid vs. CD Baby: Which is the Better Distributor for You?
CD Baby vsDistroKid
Just suppose that you are set to release your very first album as an indie musician. You are hearing such names as DistroKid and CD Baby over and over. Both are able to place your tracks on streaming services and online stores. Now though you do not know which of them to take. They share a common root line of work, however, there are certain important differences.
The following table is the complete comparison of both music providers that will aid in decision making.
A basic comparison -
DistroKid and CD Baby are both companies which help independent musicians distribute their music, but are slightly different. DistroKid has a social complexity in that musicians are expected to create a profile which contains their genre, influences, social links as well as their bio. The community tools of DistroKid use such information. CD Baby lacks artist profiles as well as a social network on the other hand. Nevertheless, its site feels more superior and is more user friendly as you browse through your tools and releases. DistroKid simplifies uploading of songs. You complete all this in one page. CD Baby presents many pages each with certain steps to follow and this may be quite intimidating. There, it is easier to ignore things.
By 2024, there is a changing view in the game of independent distribution. DistroKid has now introduced AI and playlist support to market and develop an artist and their music. CD Baby is not able to provide AI capabilities, though it is well-established in respect to physical sales and interacting with fans. All the systems have merits and therefore the most appropriate one is your goals.
Affordability --
DistroKid and CD Baby employ two very different pricing. The service at DistroKid is a yearly fee that is set where you can add an unlimited amount of songs or albums. It has three plans which include musician, musician plus and label. The lowest plan is the Musician one; however, there is a limitation. There is no chance to plan a future release or see the statistics of your music. It has the additional fees besides the annual fee. When you give up your plan with DistroKid, but do not want your music to disappear, you will have to cover the Leave a Legacy option. This will be 29 dollars/single and 49 dollars/album. DistroKid allows you to pay options to monetise on YouTube and also Shazam as well.
Very differently, CD Baby operates on the other side. You pay release by release and the majority of services are a part of the price. The process would be more applicable to those musicians who publish less. The CD Baby does not charge a legacy fee unlike DistroKid. After you have submitted your song online it can never be deleted. This is cheaper over the long term when you are not putting out tunes regularly.
A publication service known as CD Baby Pro publication is also available at CD Baby and takes collection royalties on publications. It is more expensive than the normal plan. Not having a UPC code yet you will be billed single at 5 and album at 20. This is the pricing review:
Single is priced at 9.95 (Standard) and 29.95 (Pro).
Album: standard: 29, pro: 69.
DistroKid might save you money in case you have frequent releases. But when you have a taste of less releases and a long term access, CD Baby is a better alternative.
Ways to collect and distribute royalties -
Both DistroKid and CD Baby relate reproduction royalties generated out of your master recordings. DistroKid enables you to retain 100 percent of all your revenues whereas CD Baby retains 9 percent of these royalties. However, when you publish with CD Baby Pro they also take 15 percent of your publication earnings but there are minor variations in the mode of their payment. The payment company DistroKid pays monthly over PayPal or Tipalti. Three payment options that Tipalti brings are direct deposit, wire transfer, and cheque.
CD Baby, however, does pay you each Monday, however once you hit a payout threshold of between 10 to 10,000 it will instead round off to the nearest dollar. They remunerate artists with Payoneer, PayPal, bank checks or direct deposit. Still, you cannot round up your money simply by using one of the services. In order to get the full composition royalties a person needs to join a performing rights organisation (PRO), e.g. ASCAP. It is also necessary to sign up with a publisher or a publishing administration agency.
You need CD Bay Pro Publishing to do this, DistroKid does not offer it. Rather, it will guide you on how to get publication royalties, through Songtrust. Therefore, although the two platforms will facilitate simple royalty content, full-scale profits will demand other configuration beyond their platform.
Distributional times and associates:
CD Baby takes a long stretch in reviewing the releases before assigning it to the market. DistroKid also does not go through this process and distributes your music to platforms right away. That is faster but there is concern to it. In case of copyright or file issue, you will be unreviewed on your own. Besides that, when you are on the cheapest plan on DistroKid, you cannot fix a release date. This may make your song to be seen on one platform rather than the other and this may present a bigger challenge on how to promote it.
Both platforms are integrated with big online streaming giants and online retailers. Nevertheless, CD Baby partners with some others. Big advantage of CD Baby is that, it submits your music to SoundExchange on your behalf. This enables you to receive sound recording performance royalties and CD Baby will share in it. DistroKid does not do this so you can join SoundExchange independently herself and earn the full compensation. Thus, CD baby provides the most built in support, but DistroKid will provide you with speed and freedom.
Quality of sound –
Any artist must ensure that he/she uses the best audio file possible on future releases. DistroKid accepts WAV, WMA, M4A, AIFF, FLAC and MP3. You will be able to transfer 24-bit WAVs of up to 96 kHz sample rate so long as it does not exceed 1 GB in size. CD Baby supports WAV, FLAC and MP3, but highly discourages MP3. CD Baby also insists on all files being stereo files, 16-bit files and 44.1 kHz sampling rate so that they can give them the best quality in the distribution process.
Artist Development Resources -
CD Baby and DistroKid are two similar services that offer beneficial services to artists however they do so with different focus. CD Baby provides extra study and career growth possibilities. It does offer cost-effective automated mastering and it can get you to actual professionals in the audio field. I would recommend the CD Baby Blog, DIY Musician, as the blog has numerous useful tips that artists can consider to advance and gain a greater impact. The platform also partners with Show.co to offer discounts on promotion tools including, Spotify audio advertisements and banner advertisements on various sites like Rolling Stone. CD Baby Prints CDs and Vinyls itself. Thereby, it is very convenient to share your music in numerous formats and expose it to more listeners.
DistroKid on the other hand is community and digital centred. It entails community tools where artists can interact with each other to motivate them. An example of that is Playlist Spotlight, which presents you with two songs by DistroKid artists every week. You may vote on your favourite, and the winner will appear on one of the playlists that DistroKid creates on Spotify. Personally owned songs can be submitted to be considered as well. Artists receive a chance to be heard on a regular basis through the playlists that are changed frequently.
In other words, CD Baby ensures learning, concrete sales and business networking. DistroKid is focussed on visibility, online capabilities, and promotion based on community. Select the one which best conforms with your professional goals.