Digital Music Distribution: A Musician's Guide

As an artist, it’s easy to think that great music is all you need to succeed, but that’s only half the battle. The other half is figuring out how to get your music out into the world and to the ears of the right audience. Welcome to the world of digital music distribution.

Whether you’re an independent artist or a big label, effective distribution is critical to success in the music industry. Many artists' careers have been derailed because they didn’t understand the distribution process — or they partnered with the wrong distributor.

In this article, we’ll help you understand some of the key concepts of digital music distribution, so you can make sure your financial interests are protected and your creative vision reaches as many people as possible. Let’s dive in.

What Is Music Distribution?

Music distribution is the process of delivering your finished recordings to the widest possible audience and ensuring creators receive rightful compensation. In the past, this meant getting your records into as many stores as possible. These days, digital streaming platforms are king. In any case, the challenge remains the same: reach as large an audience as possible and collect all rightful royalties and revenue.

To achieve this goal, you need a rock-solid distribution method and strategy. You could try to do this yourself (not recommended), or you could partner with a professional distributor to help you navigate the complex world of digital music distribution.

A distributor is a business entity that handles the distribution process, connecting creative artists with the outlets audiences access for music. To succeed, distributors need to understand both the creative and business side of the industry. As you can guess, choosing the right distributor can seriously impact your career.

Digital Music Distribution Process

While the music distribution process is complex and will vary based on distributors and other factors, this is a basic breakdown of what it looks like:

• Choose a distributor. Your first step is to decide if you want to handle distribution yourself or find a professional distributor to manage this process for you. There are pros and cons to both approaches, so consider this carefully. Seek a distributor that provides service to all major streaming outlets, offers a fair royalty rate, has a good reputation, and preferably does not charge any upfront fees.
• Audio, artwork, and metadata requirements. Carefully follow your distributor's guidelines for submitting audio, artwork, and metadata files. These requirements are crucial to meet the mandated guidelines for digital music service providers worldwide and will ensure successful product submission.
• Release strategy. Finally, you and your internal team must develop a release and marketing strategy to ensure your work has maximum impact in the marketplace. This should include choosing the right release date, which your distributor can help you with. The key is to coordinate all promotional efforts into a unified strategy.

Digital Music Distribution Breakdown

Here are some key advantages and challenges of the modern digital music distribution system:

• Reach. The biggest advantage of digital distribution is instant global reach. Music can move at the speed of light to markets previously unreachable in the physical media era. With a few clicks, your recordings are available worldwide from New York to New South Wales. Of course, everyone else also has this advantage, which increases competition.
• Accessibility. What was once the exclusive territory of powerful industry gatekeepers has been democratized by the digital revolution. Now, anyone can access the global media market. But again, this advantage is available to everyone, which means the market is full of noise — and standing out is harder than ever.
• Analytics. Digital platforms give you access to mountains of data and analytics you can use to measure your reach and adjust your distribution strategy. The problem is that sometimes you may get too focused on data and forget what audiences really want: authentic art. You must find the right balance.
• Revenue. You deserve fair compensation for your artistic efforts. Your distributor will monitor sales reports from digital music service providers to ensure accurate royalty payments.
• Copyright. Copyright infringement is a constant headache in the digital music market. Your distributor and digital service providers will oversee and maintain technological solutions to prevent copyright infringement and to help ensure your music is protected.

How Distributors Can Help Artists

Choosing the right distributor can help you simplify the distribution landscape, allowing artists to focus on what they do best: creating music and connecting with fans.

Here are some things to look for:

• Worldwide release. The main job of a distributor is to connect your music with audiences. A good distributor will ensure your products are released securely to the hundreds of music streaming platforms available across the globe.
• Fair revenue splits and fees. A key responsibility of a distributor is royalty management. Make sure your distributor offers a fair revenue deal, and beware of upfront costs and hidden submission fees.
• Full-spectrum knowledge. The music industry consists of a complex interplay of many technical, artistic, and business factors. Along with distribution, an experienced distributor will have a solid grasp of music publishing, music licensing, and more.
• Deep industry experience. Like anything else, knowledge and wisdom in the music industry comes from experience. Find a distributor that has been around the block a few times and knows the ins and outs of this challenging but rewarding business.
• Intellectual property management. Protecting intellectual property should be taken seriously by your distributor, and they should oversee digital rights management on your behalf.
• Additional benefits. Good distributors will often offer additional, value-added services such as organizing your music publishing and connecting you with opportunities for placement and licensing.
• Customer service. It’s important to feel like you have a dependable partner in distribution. This means having access to real people for help and support when you need it.

Takeaways

Music distribution is the connective tissue that ties the artistic and business sides of the music industry together, linking great music with eager audiences. While it would be nice to focus only on creating art, modern musicians like you need to understand all aspects of the business if you hope to succeed. Fortunately, you’re not in this alone. Distributors are here to help — choose wisely!

If you’re an aspiring musician and you’re ready to take your music to the next level, it’s important to partner with an experienced distributor you can trust. Sugo Music Group has been helping artists distribute their musical recordings worldwide for over 30 years. By working with one of the industry’s top leaders, you can get your music the exposure it deserves and become the musician you’ve always wanted to be.