Ditto Music Distribution: Costs, Pros and Free Alternatives

What do music distribution companies actually do, and not do?

Digital music distribution companies deliver your recordings to stores and collect the master (recording) royalties those stores pay. They do not automatically collect your songwriting royalties. They also do not promote your music or guarantee playlist placement.

Here is how the money is split in North America:

• Master royalties. These are paid by streaming services for the recording. Your distributor collects them.
• Performance royalties. These are paid for the composition when it is streamed, broadcast or performed. In the US, songwriters join a performing rights organization like ASCAP or BMI. In Canada, it is SOCAN.
• Mechanical royalties. In the US, streaming mechanicals for the composition are collected by The MLC. Some distributors sell publishing administration that handles this for you.

If you write your own songs and only use a distributor, you are likely leaving songwriting royalties uncollected. Registering with a PRO is free or low-cost in most cases, and you can learn more on ASCAP's guide to joining.

For the store side of things, Spotify for Artists explains how music gets onto Spotify through distributors and labels. Spotify does not take direct uploads from most independent artists. For a full walkthrough of costs, timelines and pitching, see our guide on how to release music on Spotify.

Can you distribute AI-generated music through Ditto or other distributors?

Often yes, but you must have the rights to the audio, and you must follow each distributor's and store's AI content rules. Distributors and streaming services have tightened their policies on AI-made tracks, spam uploads and impersonation. Read the current content guidelines before you upload.

Three things to check before you release an AI-assisted song:

1. Your license. The tool you used must allow commercial use and distribution. Free plans on many tools are personal-use only.
2. No impersonation. Do not use a real artist's name or voice, or sound-alike claims that suggest they are involved. Stores remove these, and they can create legal risk.
3. Copyright ownership. The US Copyright Office has said material generated entirely by AI, without enough human creative input, generally is not protected by copyright. Your own lyrics, arrangement choices and edits can be. See the US Copyright Office's AI guidance for the official position. This is general information, not legal advice.

Remixy is one example of how licensing works in practice. Its free plan is for non-commercial use only and streams songs without MP3 downloads, so it is not suitable for distribution. Paid Premium and Pro plans include a full commercial license and 320 kbps MP3 downloads, and Pro adds lossless WAV downloads, which is the format most distributors prefer. The details are on the plans and pricing page.

Writing your own lyrics also strengthens your claim to the human-authored parts of the song. If you have lyrics ready, you can turn your own lyrics into a sung song and keep editing until it sounds like yours. If you are still weighing up tools, our guide to choosing an AI song generator covers licensing questions to ask.

How do you release a song through Ditto, step by step?

The process takes about an hour of setup per release, plus a few weeks of lead time. Have these files and details ready before you start:

• Audio: WAV, ideally 16-bit or 24-bit at 44.1 kHz. Avoid uploading an MP3 converted to WAV, because stores can flag low-quality audio.
• Cover art: a square image, commonly required at 3000 x 3000 pixels, JPG or PNG. No website URLs, social handles, blurry images or store logos.
• Metadata: exact artist name, song title, featured artists, songwriter and producer credits, genre, language and an explicit-content flag.
• Splits: collaborator emails and agreed percentages, if you share royalties.

Then follow these steps:

1. Create your account and choose the plan that matches your number of artist names.
2. Start a new release and choose single, EP or album.
3. Upload audio and cover art, then fill in every credit carefully. Typos in artist names can send streams to the wrong profile.
4. Pick your stores and territories. Most people choose all of them.
5. Set a release date at least 3 to 4 weeks out so you can pitch to Spotify editors through Spotify for Artists and share pre-save links.
6. Submit for review and fix any flagged issues quickly.
7. Once the release is live, claim your artist profiles and check the song appears under the right name.

Common reasons releases get rejected

• Cover art that does not match the title or artist name, or that includes text like "new single."
• Generic artist names such as "Relaxing Music" or keyword-stuffed titles.
• Uncleared samples, or covers released without the proper license.
• Duplicate audio uploaded under several titles, which stores treat as spam.

How do you choose the best music distribution for you?

Pick based on how often you release, whether you share royalties and what happens to your music if you stop paying. Brand names matter less than those three answers.

Use this quick checklist:

• Release frequency: 1 to 2 songs a year points to a free tier or pay-per-release. 4 or more points to an annual plan like Ditto or DistroKid.
• Royalty cut: Do you keep 100%, or does the service take a percentage? Over years, a percentage can cost more than a flat fee.
• Cancellation policy: Do releases stay live if you stop paying?
• Splits: Can collaborators get paid automatically?
• Payout terms: What are the minimum withdrawal amount and fees, and are PayPal or bank transfers available to US and Canadian accounts?
• Tax forms: US artists will fill out a W-9. Canadians typically fill out a W-8BEN to avoid unnecessary US withholding.
• Support: Is there live chat, email only or a help center?
• AI policy: If you use AI tools, does the distributor accept that content and under what conditions?

What should you watch out for with music distribution services?

The biggest risks are surprise add-on fees, releases disappearing when a subscription lapses and paying for promotion that delivers fake streams. Read the terms before you upload anything you care about.

• Fake stream schemes. Never buy streams or join "guaranteed playlist" deals. Stores can remove tracks and withhold royalties for artificial streaming.
• Upsells at checkout. Extras like store maximizers, shazam tracking or premium pages can double your cost. Add them only when you know you need them.
• Lock-in. Switching distributors is doable but fiddly. Keep your own copies of final audio, artwork and metadata in a folder you control.
• Unrealistic promises. No distributor can promise streams, playlist placement or income. Treat any service that does with suspicion.

Distribution is the final step, not the first. Make sure the song itself is finished, mixed and something you are proud of. If you are starting from an idea, you can describe a song or paste lyrics to make a finished track and then decide whether it is worth releasing widely.