Music Distribution for Rappers

You can't upload directly to Spotify. You need a distributor — a company that delivers your files and metadata to every streaming platform and collects the royalties back. Here's how to pick one and set the release up correctly.

The main options

DistroKid — ~$23/year, unlimited releases. The default for independent rap. Flat annual fee, upload as much as you want, keep 100% of royalties. Fastest delivery times. Downside: extra features (Shazam, YouTube Content ID) are paid add-ons, and if you stop paying, your music comes down.

TuneCore — per-release or subscription. More expensive historically, now competitive. Strong publishing administration arm if you want royalties collected globally.

CD Baby — one-time fee per release. Pay once, music stays up forever. Better if you release rarely and want permanence over volume.

Amuse / SoundOn — free tiers. Genuinely free distribution exists. Slower delivery, fewer features, sometimes a revenue share. Fine for a first release.

For most rappers releasing regularly: DistroKid. The math works out once you're putting out more than two songs a year.

What distribution does not do

This is where people get disappointed. A distributor delivers your file. It does not:

• Promote your music
• Pitch you to playlists (except one Spotify submission you do yourself)
• Guarantee anyone hears it

Distribution is plumbing, not marketing. Budget your effort accordingly — promotion is a separate job.

Metadata that actually matters

Most releases are damaged before they go live by sloppy metadata.

Artist name: identical every single time. "Lil Example" and "Lil example" become two separate artist pages with split streams. Pick the spelling once and never deviate.

Song title: clean. Don't write "MY SONG (Prod. Producer) [Official Audio]". Just the title. Producer credit goes in the credits field.

Explicit flag: mark it honestly. Wrong flags get releases pulled or blocked from playlists.

Release date: set it at least 3–4 weeks out. This is the single most important setting, and here's why.

The 4-week rule

Spotify only lets you pitch an unreleased song to their editorial playlists. If you upload on Monday for a Friday release, you've thrown away your one shot at editorial consideration.

Deliver at least four weeks early, then pitch through Spotify for Artists. That window also lets you build pre-saves and gives algorithmic systems time to register the release.

Credits and splits

If you leased a beat, you generally hold the master recording and the producer keeps their publishing share — check your specific license. Our licensing breakdown covers what each tier includes, and exclusive vs non-exclusive covers what changes when you buy the beat outright.

Credit your producer in the metadata. It costs nothing, it's usually required by the license, and it makes producers want to work with you again.

Cover art requirements

• 3000×3000 px, square, RGB, JPG or PNG
• No URLs, no social handles, no logos of streaming services
• No trademarked material you don't own
• Text must be legible at thumbnail size — this is where most amateur art fails

Test it: shrink it to 150 px. If you can't read the title, redo it.

After it's live

The song being on Spotify is the start line, not the finish. Add it to your own playlists, update your artist profile, submit to independent curators, and push from wherever your audience already is.

The full sequence is in releasing your song after buying a beat.

Before you distribute: check your license

Streaming platforms pay per stream, and most basic leases include a stream cap. Blowing past it puts you technically out of license mid-campaign — an awkward problem to solve when a song is working.

If you're distributing seriously, the Unlimited license removes the cap entirely. It's the tier most independent artists should be on before they hit distribute.

Browse the beats to start the next one.