How To Upload Your Music To Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, & Tidal

I’ve received a good amount of emails from hip-hop artists asking if I think it’s better to upload music on Spinrilla or Livemixtapes. And, while you can make a case for which one of those 2 platforms are better for you – the better answer in most cases is to do as many as possible.

Suggested Read: How To Promote Your Music On YouTube

This is especially true when dealing with bigger music streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, and Tidal.

A majority of your target audience will probably be using one of these big 3 music streaming platforms. However, it’s unlikely that they’ll be using all of those platforms. So, in order to reach as many fans as possible – you should distribute your music on all 3 of them.

How To Upload Music To Streaming Platforms?

 

There are several different ways you can get your music on streaming platforms but I’m going to show you one of the simplest (and cheapest) methods.

This method is called DistroKid.

What is DistroKid?

Distrokid is a service/web app that allows you to upload your music and get it placed on to online stores and music streaming platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Amazon, Pandora, and more.

Why use DistroKid?

There are 2 reasons why I recommend using Distrokid to get your music on big music streaming platforms:

1. You pay 1 yearly flat fee instead of paying for each single or album you put out. Thus, saving you money – especially if you release a lot of music.
2. You get 100% of your sales.

Now, you can make the argument that their backend could use some updating – but I’m not the type to complain when something is cheap and works well.

How Does DistroKid Work?

To get your music distributed across streaming platforms, you simply click the “upload” tab at the top of your screen when logged into DistroKid.

 

This will take you to the page that will allow you to select what streaming platforms and internet stores you’d like your music sent to, input the artist and song information, as well as allow you to purchase optional services like YouTube’s Content ID (get paid whenever someone uploads a video with your song in it).

 

 

 

 

Then you click the “done” button and that’s it. It’s pretty simple.

How Much Does DistroKid Cost?

 

I mentioned the cost earlier in this post but I’ll mention it again here, as well as some of the more expensive membership plans.

DistroKid’s memberships range from $20/yr to $80/yr – depending on how many different artists you’d like to upload music for, if you’d like daily stats, and a few other things.

Membership Plan #1

The “Musician” plan is the cheapest at $20/yr and allows you to upload an unlimited amount of music from 1 artist (which will probably be yourself). This is the ideal plan for any artists on a strict budget that wants distribution.

Membership Plan #2

The “Musician Plus” plan is $36/yr and allows you to upload an unlimited amount of music from 2 artists and gives you access to daily stats and other cool features. This is the plan that I’d recommend for most artists due to the fact that can get more frequent stats and other cool features for an extra $16/yr or $1.30 more per month.

Membership Plan #3

Last, but not least, there’s a “Label” plan. This plan is $70 and allows you to upload an unlimited amount of music from 5+ artists and comes with everything that’s included in the “Musician Plus” plan. This is the ideal plan for any artists that has started his label or sharing an account with friends.

While I’ve never used the “Label” plan and the “+” in 5+ artists leads me to believe that you’d have to pay extra for the 6th artist, It is still the best deal if you’re able to use it to its full potential.

Where To Sign Up For DistroKid?

If you’d like to sign up for DistroKid and save 7% on whichever plan you choose (even if it’s the $20 plan) – go here: //artistshortcut.com/DistroKid

The link above is an affiliate link – which means that we’ll make a commission if you purchase using that link (but you’ll save 7% on your order).

Since this post was not influenced by possibly getting a commission, but due to actually liking the service to get your music on streaming platforms, you can go here to sign up and we won’t get a commission (but you won’t save 7% either): https://distrokid.com/