Question 1

What is the Minimum Age to Use Break'em Off Music Group?

Accepted Answer

You must be 18 years of age or older to sign up for DistroKid, per our Distribution Agreement. If you're younger than that, please have an adult sign up on your behalf.o add a new question go to app settings and press "Manage Questions" button.

Question 2

How Long Does It Take for My Album to Be Available in Stores?

Accepted Answer

It can take several days for albums to be reviewed, approved, and sent to stores. If it's important that your album go live on a specific date, click here to read about release dates. Otherwise, by default, your release should go live once ingested by stores according to the rough schedule below.
iTunes/Apple Music: 1-7 days. A very small percentage of albums go through manual review at Apple, which takes an additional 1-2 weeks or so.
Spotify: 2-5 days
Amazon: 1-2 days
Google Play/YouTube Music: 1-2 days.
Deezer: 1-2 days
TIDAL: 1-2 days
Facebook/Instagram: 1-2 weeks.
TikTok: 1-3 weeks.
Note: Delays are rare, but they do happen, and are typically outside of Artofficial Ent direct control.
Pandora has their own in-house review process to curate content, so we are not able to provide too much info in regards to how long it might take releases to be added to Pandora stations (if they are). To be included in Pandora Premium (Pandora's rad streaming service), please read THIS.

Bonus: For many stores (iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Spotify, more) we'll detect the moment your album goes live, and send you an email with the link! 
Please note: Securing cover song licenses can take up to 14 business days. Releases with cover songs will be submitted as soon as the license is approved by Harry Fox Agency (who handles our cover licenses).

Question 3

Refund Requests

Accepted Answer

After the process has been started there no REFUNDS OFFERED! Please make sure all information and content is correct! We can only update content after this point with no refund offered.

Question 4

What Stores Will My Music Appear In?

Accepted Answer

You can specify for your music to appear in any or all of the following stores:
Spotify
iTunes
Apple Music
Amazon.com
Google Play & YouTube Music
TikTok
Deezer 
Pandora (For more info, click HERE.)
ClaroMusica
Saavn
TIDAL
iHeartRadio
Napster
Anghami
KKBox
TouchTunes (More info HERE.)
Plus many smaller outlets through MediaNet, such as Dubset and these other services

These stores cover the vast majority of music purchases. We feel that adding a lot of smaller online stores only adds complication, without adding any significant amount of additional buyers.

If there's another store you really want to be in, let us know and we'll look into adding it.

Question 5

Can I Set My Own Prices?

Accepted Answer

Yes! In iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play.
If you have the Musician Plus or Label plan, you can set your iTunes, Google Play & Amazon.com track and/or album price.
If you don't specify your price (and for non-iTunes/Google Play/Amazon.com stores) your music will sell for whatever the stores' default pricing is. For example, as of this writing, singles are 99-cents on iTunes (you keep 70-cents). Both you and the stores want to sell as much of your music as possible. Allowing stores to determine pricing may net you the most sales and money.
Please note that we will send your specified prices to iTunes, Google Play & Amazon.com, but they have the option of overriding this & setting their own price.
Stores like iTunes may set a higher price for singles that are longer than 10 minutes in length.

Question 6

How and When Do I Get Paid?

Accepted Answer

Sales reports and payments are available to you based on when DistroKid receives sales numbers and earnings from stores. Stores usually deliver these reports monthly, and they reflect sales from about 3 months ago. So a song you sold yesterday won't be reflected for about 3 months. That's how long it takes before stores send us (or any distributor) the information.

Each store & streaming service delivers reports & payments on their own schedule. So, for example, you likely won't receive updated iTunes & Spotify numbers on the same day. The same thing goes for different distributors--if you have other music online via a distributor other than DistroKid, that distributor may reflect your Spotify (and so on) numbers before or after DistroKid does. We're usually first! But not always.

To see detailed information about your streams & sales—such as country and currency—visit "Bank", then click "See Excruciating Detail."

Your money will be sent within 1-14 days of a withdrawal request from https://distrokid.com/bank.

Question 7

Can I Upload Cover Songs

Accepted Answer

Yes, with some exceptions.

Some examples of songs that may be licensed:
A song that was released at one point on iTunes and/or Amazon MP3.
A song that appeared on a limited pressing of vinyl, which you can purchase at a record store in the United States
A song that was made available as a promotional music download on the artist’s website
Some examples of songs that may NOT be licensed:
A song that was used in a film score, but itself was never released separately from the soundtrack
A song that appeared in a video game, but itself was never released separately from the game soundtrack
A song that was released as part of a CD compilation, but only in some country that was not the United States
An old traditional song that is now in the public domain
Medleys, mashups, etc.
 
To upload a cover, make sure to click "Another artist wrote it" on DistroKid's upload form, in the "Cover song" section.
Artofficial charges a fee of $30 per year, renewed annually, to manage each cover song for you. We will:
Obtain license(s)
Pay the original songwriter(s) every month
Keep up-to-date on copyright laws affecting your music
Do the things described here and here
A "cover song" is a song that you performed & recorded yourself, but the music was written by someone else. For example, when your band plays "Smooth Criminal" (written by Michael Jackson). This is totally okay—Artofficial Ent/DistroKid makes it easy and legal to sell cover songs.

Artiofficial Ent/Distrokid will obtain the required compulsory mechanical license for you. We'll automatically deduct the legally-mandated fee (9.1 cents or 1.75 cents per minute of playing time or fraction
thereof, whichever is larger) from your earnings and pay it to the original songwriter. You'll get 100% of the rest. You don't have to do anything else.

You must purchase a DistroKid cover license each and every time you upload a cover song to DistroKid. For example, if you upload the same cover song twice, you need to select the “Cover Song” option both times, essentially buying two licenses. That’s how our system knows to deduct the songwriter’s share of earnings from your earnings (for both uploads of that song, in this example). Furthermore, DistroKid licenses apply only to content directly distributed by DistroKid, and cannot be used for any purposes outside of DistroKid.

It is your responsibility to ensure that your song would be covered under the compulsory mechanical license.

We are not lawyers and can't help with legal advice. But please note that U.S. copyright law does not permit derivative works such as original-language translations of copyrighted lyrics. Under U.S. copyright law, cover (aka "compulsory") licenses only provide coverage if the main elements of the song, original lyrics & melody, remain fundamentally unaltered within the new sound recording. This is a copyright thing and affects all distributors, not just DistroKid.

For more information about uploading arrangements of works in the public domain, please check out the FAQ article here.

Please don't include the original artist's name in the track title. For example,

GOOD TRACK TITLE
Enter Sandman

BAD TRACK TITLE
Enter Sandman (originally performed by Metallica)
Enter Sandman by Metallica

For more information about purchasing cover song licenses through DistroKid, please see this article.
Please note: Securing cover song licenses can take up to 14 business days. Releases with cover songs will be submitted as soon as the license is approved by our third-party licensing service.

Question 8

Can I Uploas Songs That Are In The Public Domain

Accepted Answer

Any Song or Musical Work Published in 1922 or earlier is in the Public Domain in the USA. As long as there is no current copyright on the original work, it's probably OK, but public domain can be a tricky issue.

Public domain songs are not inherently free of all copyright protections. Although the original written music is no longer protected by copyright when a song is in the public domain, there are still copyrights that apply to recordings and other issues. No Sound Recordings are public domain in the USA due to a tangled complexity of Federal and State Law. Sampling public domain recordings is not allowed.

However, if you're recording your own original arrangement of an old, traditional song (originally published in/before 1922), you may be OK! You can search the database here if you're unsure.

If it's NOT an old, traditional song, and you're just not sure about the original songwriter, you need to do some research. Covers of copyrighted songs require a DistroKid Cover License. For more information about DistroKid cover licenses, please see the FAQ article here.

It's SUPER important to know the difference. Not opting covers into DistroKid's cover song licensing program can lead to stores taking down your content--or worse--songwriters taking legal action, and nobody wants that!
Note: if you’re distributing a public domain song, make sure to select “I wrote this song, or manage the songwriter (it's an original tune)” on the upload form when prompted.
As long as you're 100% positive there are no other known songwriters, you can list yourself as the songwriter for your own arrangement of a public domain work, or list "Traditional Music" as songwriter.

Question 9

How Much Does It Cost?

Accepted Answer

Break'em Off Music Group offers multiple plans, ranging from a singles artist/band plan, to Label plans for up to 100 artists.
Musician: 1 band/artist, $39.99/year
Musician Plus: 2 bands/artists, $35.99/year (save 10%)
Label 5: 5 bands/artists, $79.99/year (save 20%)
Label 10: 10 bands/artists, $139.99/year (save 30%)
Label 20: 20 bands/artists, $239.99/year (save 40%)
Label 50: 50 bands/artists, $599.99/year (save 40%)
Label 100: 100 bands/artists, $1199.99/year (save 40%)
For information about DistroKid's optional Album Extras, please check out the FAQ article here.

Question 10

What Single or Album Extras Are Offered?

Accepted Answer

Shazam & iPhone Siri: $0.99 per song/year

Make it easy for people to identify this single if they hear it playing on radio/tv, in stores, restaurants, parties, etc.

Store Maximizer: $7.95 per album/year

DistroKid will automatically deliver this single to new online stores and streaming services as we add them. Which is often. We'll give you notice before adding.

YouTube Money: $4.95 per single/year, $14.95 per album/year, + 20% of YouTube ad revenue

Get notified & paid if your music is ever used in any YouTube videos. We'll add this single to YouTube's Content ID database, and continually scan for matches. When your music is detected in any YouTube video, you'll be notified—and ad revenue will automatically go to you, instead of to the person who uploaded the video. Watch YouTube's video explaining Content ID.

Leave a Legacy: $29.00 per single, $49.00 per album of 2+ tracks (nonrecurring fee)
The “Leave a Legacy” extra can be added to a release so that it won't be removed due to a lapsed membership payment (if your credit card is rejected, etc.). However, adding this extra to a release does not replace your annual membership fee, and it is not a one-time payment for all of your releases. If you manually close your DistroKid account, these releases will be removed. You will continue to accrue 100% of royalties, as normal, forever.
Cover Song Licensing
$12 per cover song, per year. For more information about DistroKid cover licenses,

Question 11

What Is Streaming Fraud?

Accepted Answer

Streaming fraud is when an artist uses artificial means to increase their streams.

This is bad. Don't do it.

DistroKid works with our streaming partners to detect this type of activity.

If you're caught committing streaming fraud, your music will be removed from stores and you won't get paid. You may receive a warning from DistroKid and/or your DistroKid account will be closed.

Sometimes, streaming-fraud stems not from an artist being malicious--but from hiring a shady marketing firm. If you're planning on hiring a marketing firm, please do your research and only work with reputable companies. There are many so-called marketing companies that appear legit but actually use bots and other shady methods to artificially increase streams. This almost always ends badly. Please check references and do your research.

Question 12

Do I Need a UPC or ISRC code?

Accepted Answer

No.
They are codes that the music industry uses for stuff and things. Sometimes.

DistroKid takes care of these things automatically (generates them, associates them with your music, etc.) so you don't have to think about it. Focus on your music and leave the technical to us.

Question 13

My Question Isn't Here In The FAQ's May I Contact Break'em Off Music Group?

Accepted Answer

Don't See your question here simple email us your question!

Frequently asked questions