Hello guys,

it’s me again… I have two questions:

1. I read somewhere on the internet that if you register with DistroKid but don’t choose a plan immediately, they will send you a coupon after a few days. Can anyone confirm if that’s true?
2. I’m located in Germany. Do they deduct taxes immediately before sending me royalties, or do I handle that later with my tax return?

Thank you very much for your help.

 

fwiw if you place music at spotify, distrokid is a scam actually owned by spotify used as way to get double the fees and legacy % royalties from your streams royalty income. they dont give a shit about you or your music only your money. I avoid it like the plague. much better options available today! real distribution only makes money when they make you money which is their job to do!

 

...yeah, I know, Distrokid, Tunecore, Landr all the same s***. They make money from your membership not from your music. But believe me I have a reason why I want to use them. I cant place this kind of music with a regular distributor. But if you can name me a distributor which is not an affiliate of Spotify I would appreciate. Tunecore is a no go for me...owned by Believe Digital and the same crap. And like I mentioned, I cant offer this music to serious companies like FUGA etc. etc.

 

You declare your music income in your German tax return.
Sie geben Ihre Musikeinnahmen in Ihrer deutschen Steuererklärung an.

 

It's true. At least, that was the case when I registered a few years ago.

BTW, I'm very dissatisfied with Distrokid. My account got hacked (it wasn't my fault) and someone else got my earnings. It was an obvious fraud. Distrokid did nothing to give back my earnings. Generally, they have very bad customer support: if you manage to get in touch with them, they respond like bots. So bear that in mind. I'm searching for an alternative.

 

Last edited: May 2, 2026

Thank you!

 

WOW thanx so much for that bit of information.
I always wondered why they never took any percentage of our royalties. Because I'm sure that one time fee ain't enough.
What about CD Baby?

 

Thanks for the hint.
Yes, thats one of my biggest concerns that there will be almost no customer support.

 

Spotify only owns a 4% stake in DistroKid. Because of that, I think calling DistroKid a 'Spotify scam' is a bit of a stretch. There are surely valid reasons to be against DistroKid (I dont know much about it), but that doesn’t seem to be one of them.

 

So what are good and real alternatives today in 2026 to distribute your music?

 

What kind of music is it—pop, punk, classical, etc.?
Is your music unique, or does it sound like a lot of others?

In principle, you can register and post your song anywhere, but Bandcamp (https://bandcamp.com) is the best option.

Burn your music to a CD-ROM, put your website or email address on the
back, and then give it to friends and acquaintances in your city.

 

Try to get a feet into the door of serious distributors like e.g. Label Worx (UK), The Orchard Enterprises (US) or FUGA (NL).
Most time you need a huge catalouge to get a distribution deal with them these days.

 

What would be a good distributor for an independent artist no label, no big fanbase at this point, just some gigs and if it earn some money in the future even better but mostly as a way to get the music out there on all kinds of platforms?

(electronic music, nothing special)

 

wrong. if you bother to look beyond the surface you will find all sorts of underhanded secretive if not criminal activities. yes spotify the company sold $170,000,000. million of its share in distrokid after going public with the spot cash grab obviously, but still owns $53,000,000. in shares today 2026. in addition, the same companies that own spotify today, are the largest majority dominant owners of distrokid today. facts, spotify owns distrokid and it is a blatant conflict of interest and nothing short of unscrupulous maleficence.

also these same companies including spotify founder are all owners of arms manufacturing and major institutional-investor-contractors in various governments war departments and front offshoot companies around the world, if that matters at all to you. to start you can look up prima materia, helsing, silversmith capital, insight partners, only to scratch slightly beyond the surface to quickly learn who and what you are funding by paying these distribution fees and your streaming royalties to these scoundrels. they are taking your money and money from anyone who subs or even clicks or listens to your music, both upfront and on the backend always and forever.

the entire history of spotify and owners reads like a big scheming fantastical wallstreet cold war spy movie script where anything goes in the name of bottom-line cash and "winning". its not a conspiracy theory when its happening everyday in real life and factually available to anyone who bothers to spend 5 minutes investigating who you are dealing with and supporting. open your eyes man. beats, not bombs, right?

 

I hate them all with avengance as they are a not needed 'middle man', i can distribute my own music myself if given the right platform and tools.

Back in the day I had to pay for vinyl distribition as that was the only way of hitting specialist shops, fair enough. But today there is no need for physical distribution, yet i have to pay a massive multi million company to upload my tracks when i could do it pefectly well myself???

I no longer do my own social media, but I prefered Soundclouds pro service and I'm still with them, to me they are the lesser evil.

No expert but CD baby distrokid and all the others, i wouldn't touch 'em with a 10ft barge pole. Period.