Choosing a Distribution Agent as an Independent Artist

As an independent artist (a term I prefer over “unsigned”), choosing a distribution agent is one of the biggest business decisions you’ll face. Musicians today are not just creators but are expected to manage everything from distribution to social media, marketing, web design, and even sound engineering! It’s a lot to juggle, but with the right tools, it’s doable.

When it came to distribution, Crimson Medici has been using Ditto Music since 2015. Back then, I needed a platform to release a charity song I wrote, “Angels & Stars,” for Abbie’s Army. I checked out Distrokid, TuneCore, and Ditto. Since Ditto was UK-based, I went with them. Uploading the track was straightforward, and Ditto handled streams, sales, and payments to the charity seamlessly. For 4 years, they did exactly what I needed them to do.

In 2019, when Crimson Medici officially formed, we needed a reliable distribution agent for our releases. I explored other options again but quickly realized that no platform is free from bad reviews. All of them—Ditto, Distrokid, TuneCore, etc.—had complaints, ranging from payment delays to errors in listings. But with over 40,000 songs uploaded daily on Spotify alone, mistakes happen. As musicians, it’s important to ensure all our metadata, song info, and artwork are accurate to avoid issues.

After weighing my options, I stuck with Ditto. They’d been reliable for us for years, and everything, from payments to reporting, was in place. Since then, we’ve released 5 tracks through Ditto without any problems—it’s been smooth sailing.

However, in April 2020, we decided to try TuneCore for a charity release we did for Helping Rhinos to keep it separate from our other tracks. TuneCore came highly rated, and the upload process was simple. The artwork and audio quality checks were fine, but their pricing was higher than Ditto’s. For example, TuneCore charges for new platforms, while Ditto includes these updates in their annual fee (£19/year for a single artist).

One advantage of Ditto is their Smart Links, which create a dedicated page that directs listeners to various platforms. This makes sharing music easier across social media. TuneCore, unfortunately, doesn’t offer this feature, meaning you’ll need to manually share links for each platform like Spotify or Apple Music.

In terms of reporting, Ditto also updates faster. We released the Helping Rhinos track in April, but TuneCore didn’t show Spotify streams until June. With Ditto, I usually see results almost instantly.

That said, TuneCore does have some benefits. It’s easier to monetize YouTube through their platform, and their reporting for that is clearer. Both services have their limitations when it comes to metadata—one of my issues with Ditto is that I can’t update the “Produced By” fields on Spotify.

Customer service for both has been decent. Whenever we’ve had inquiries, they’ve responded and resolved the issues without much fuss.

In the end, for Crimson Medici, Ditto works better overall. TuneCore is fine, but Ditto’s ease of use, Smart Links, and quicker reporting make it our go-to for now.

Good luck choosing the right platform for you! Thanks for reading!