ONE of these distributors is a disaster for new artists (Landr vs Distrokid vs CD Baby)

[@troydavidmill]

Signed up for Landr because of your comparison vid. Even used your discount, so double thanks!!

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Thanks bro! So glad this content is helping!

[@JasonZorn]

​@@IndieMusicAcademy Great review. Nevertheless, I would recommend mentioning that you either have an affiliate relationship with -- or are sponsored by -- the product you are reviewing. You surely understand how your review is favorable to the product for which you are providing an affiliate discount sale, right? Furthermore, there are no affiliate discounts for the other two products, adding to the suspicion of bias. Please take this feedback constructively. (It isn't that your review doesn't adequately make the case, in detail, for why Landr is a better deal: it is a matter of the lack of transparency, which I'm certain was accidental.)

[@JasonZorn]

Edit: I see in your other videos that you do, in fact, provide discount codes for other products, including some of those reviewed in this video. So, that certainly weakens my argument regarding bias. Nevertheless, I still think there is value in mentioning this, as not everyone landing on this video will have a "viewership track record" with you and your channel. Many thanks.

[@TheSpeedyGonzi]

@@JasonZorn you're making a big deal out of nothing.

[@defryingpan4290]

@@TheSpeedyGonzinot really. if, say, in an academic journal, a researcher documenting a study around sleep with and without melatonin pills, for example, was found to have been paid by a melatonin manufacturer, that researcher would lose their credibility and the paper would probably be revoked. he’s being paid by these companies to review their products- hopefully favorably. there is bias and that is worth putting thought into when you make a decision.

[@CyberpunkNightClub-z2z]

Sent them my album on April 14. They took the money two weeks ago and since then there has been silence. They don't answer letters. Awesome service, I recommend it to everyone!!!

[@GHOST-iw3yb]

how about now??

[@cassandrahuskey8866]

LANDR across the Board!!! So much comes woth Landr, and NOT with the other distro companys. Id never know about Landr had I not seen your video Landr is Legit!!

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

So glad! Yeah they offer a TON of extras and I like how you can sign up for whatever level you need.

[@JasonZorn]

But how do you deal with video distribution, such as to KZbin? Landr, to my knowledge, doesn't submit videos to KZbin or elsewhere. Curious about how you might suggest one go about approaching music video distribution? Any alternative or complementary distro service you'd recommend?

[@Nalpha]

Just sent my first song to Landr, because of your advice. Thanks Ryan, seriously thanks

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

You are so welcome! Thank YOU for watching :)

[@winviki123]

Could you tell me how long they took to release your soundtrack?

[@misternarwhalart]

Also would be interested in knowing how long it took to release

[@XXzoroXy]

Thanks, man! I think that Landr is the top one out of the other major distributors. Your videos helped to reveal that fact to me. Having add-ons like Shazam and ContentID included and 100% revenue at the same time are the killer features here. No hidden and additional payments to fully distribute your music, like Distrokid does

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

You’re welcome man! Yeah I think so too. It just makes so much sense to have no hidden costs and get all the pro features. It’s a no brainer imo.

[@Stephenabumusic]

I am 15, how do I register my song. On BMI and ASCAP you have to be 18 and older, what is the best thing to do for my situation?

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

You have to complete the "minor application" to affiliate with a PRO under 18 years old.

[@Stephenabumusic]

@@IndieMusicAcademythanks so much, very helpful!!!!!

[@geodasilvamusic]

I have some songs on Landr, they are great on many things. But you need to account including this: They do not distribute directly, they are under another distributor - FUGA. So my important question for all of you and to Landr: So that 0% is actually zero?

[@remnantrizing-therealgospe4340]

You hit everything bro, what a major help this is to me right now! Thank you so much,stay blessed 🙏

[@iampep]

Yeah man great video you pretty much make it seem like LANDR is a no brainer! Thanks Alot Great content!!!!

[@s3nm3tsu]

thanks for making this, heavily considering going with landr now

[@cassandrahuskey8866]

Can you do a detailed video about Soundcloud in comparison to Landr?

[@jackburtonmusic]

Curious: on what scenario would one need to update the meta data?

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Scenario: forgot to credit the producer of the song. Or something like that

[@cassandrahuskey8866]

So I have had a few issues with Landr, and was going to contact them, but no where on their website is there a point of contact.. whats up with that?? How do you get ahold of someone with issues with your account in Landr?

[@Londya]

Ok, so I just left a comment on your other video. This was what I was looking for when I signed up for your freebie mentioned in the other video. Thank you for delivering on the promise (somewhat...I am hoping to see a comparison chart ALL of the distributors - hoping that's in the plans for your next videos)! This was super helpful.

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Thanks so much! I'm building it slowly :)

[@DanielAlcalá-x1i]

I read many commnets on reddit saying that Landr delays so much in accepting your song, and i saw one saying that landr delays to pay him, is this true?

[@Synfluence101]

I have already my own record label and I want to expand my digital distribution past Bandcamp, which plan on Landr would keep my label name and work well for just myself as the artist?

[@Tastypr]

Do they delete your songs without any reason like distrokid?

[@cassandrahuskey8866]

So how long does it take really for Landr to release your tracks? Its been 13 days so far... nothing

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

For me usually 3-5 days when I use the “ASAP” setting (I’m on the higher tier account)

[@cassandrahuskey8866]

@@IndieMusicAcademy I bought the Studio version with everything! Dont necessarily remember seeing an ASAP option, if I remember correctly the option I know I didnt want to wait. I just put something out to see if it actually works and seeing whats the process... All the music stores all say pending , distribution doesnt even have a link, says still generating. When I put a ticket in with support 3 days ago, the reply was, it will take someone 2-7 days to reply!

[@SynthWaveSC]

Question for the artists switching from distro: when yall switched, did yall pay for the legacy or yall don't care and reuploaded it through LANDR??

[@EdwinvandenAkker]

I have a question about cover *song licensing.* Do I get any proof when I let LANDR deal with licensing? Just in case I run in some issues in the future, and for some reason LANDR is gone? _(Worst case scenario thinking…)_

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

That’s a great question, I don’t believe it’s automatic but I would just ask support to provide it for you

[@offgridrvliving]

This was super helpful. The one piece that would seal the deal for me would be a comparison of their terms of service. Price is not everything. Especially when a service craftily reduces your rights as an artist to the point that you are defenseless. Just a suggestion.

[@Momusicproducer]

Please I have a question I want to transfer all my previous albums from the old distributor to Lander… I have everything the isrc code and I have all the information and I also have a screenshot of the dashboard with the old distributor but I removed the albums from the old distributor.. Is this a problem? Should the albums remain in the stores with the old distributor when I send them to landr And Please, I have a question. When I subscribed to Lander, I chose the old Spotify and Apple Music account because I had albums before, but it did not appear that I could choose my account in KZbin Music... What is the solution? Will my albums be distributed to a new KZbin Music account, or how can I select my original account in KZbin? The KZbin

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Usually you’re supposed to have a bit of overlap when you’re switching distributors.

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

I think you’ll be okay because the ISRCs should help link to your existing artist profile on KZbin

[@omarcamposmusic]

Hey Ryan! This is Omar, alumni of the academy. I'm very tempted to join Landr thanks to your explanation. There is a current promotion on the Distribution Pro plan at the moment (50% off). Do you know if it is the price just for the 1st year and then full price for the following years? Or is the promotional price the price for the 1st and following years? It's not very clear in their website. Thanks bro! Your content and emails are very valuable.

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

I'm almost positive that you get locked in on that subscription. But in their terms of sercice they say that subscription prices could change when they update the pricing. So I'm honestly not sure. I would ask the support team so that you can get their answer in writing!

[@omarcamposmusic]

@@IndieMusicAcademyThanks Ryan for your answer! Yeah, I asked their support team several days ago but don’t respond. Cheers!

[@omar_eco]

@@IndieMusicAcademy So I just heard from them that the discounted price is just for the first year. From the 2nd year it will go back to full price. Good to know. Thank you!

[@tomlindsey2284]

@9:35, "...if you cancel your subscription what happens is that Lander goes into a different pricing model and will start to take your backend royalties once your subscription is cancelled...." Hmmm..... I don't like that. Seems like CD Baby is the best choice.....?

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

CD baby is a great choice, but just FYI: they also takes your backend royalties from the start (9%). Just want to make sure that’s clear.

[@AdrianBreakspear]

@@IndieMusicAcademy 9% of nothing is still nothing ;) by the time 9% becomes significant, you're making decent $$$ anyway! that's why I never understand why people care about %ages, it's monopoly money until you're doing REALLY well - by which point you'll qualify for a better distributor such as AWAL anyway.

[@Ayomaz]

@@AdrianBreakspear as he mentioned in the video, LANDR only take 15% and this is only if you choose to stop paying the annual charge.. sounds like a no brainer to me!

[@mybestselfenrico]

Amazing, wasn't sure if it was too good to be true but I guess it is🔥🔥🔥

[@gruvhard]

and i wrong or is this not accurate... in the distrokid area, if you pay the base fee all 5 years do you have to pay the legacy fee every year or are you adding if you are only a base customer for a year

[@metal-magazine]

thank you so much for the detailed info, what do you think about Ditto ?

[@JorjWick]

Where i transfer monay in landr? Withdrawals?

[@lynnstanphill2293]

seems to me that over 10 years, and standard streaming for the average artist, cdbaby is still the best option

[@XXzoroXy]

still a good option. But sharing revenue with them might not be beneficial once you really get many streams

[@lynnstanphill2293]

@@XXzoroXy yes ... that would be correct, but the odds of getting huge streams is small, and if the focus is the classic 1000 super fans, well ... and ... you could always move the catalog at that point - but that is a risk to do

[@MDOurMD]

CDBaby is $9.99 for an album and it's a one time fee. My crap doesn't make any money so this is the best deal for me. I doubt most people using these services are making much money either, so why pay more money to not make money? (Note: Even the big time artists aren't making much money on these streaming services.)

[@AntonioTonyNewtonMusic]

Thank you so much! What about Symphonic?

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

I’ll check them out and see what I find!

[@pixelgriffstudios]

Tried them all and LANDR is the best by far.

[@kyanielouis]

can you do another video on united Masters because they just released a new subscription plan

[@eXpas04]

wait so if i get landr studio the middle option I only pay monthly? and I get the pro distribution service?

[@alainchristian]

Saw the thumbnail and thought Skeeter Jean posted a new video 😅

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

😂

[@cjadream7]

What about a Landr vs Tunecore comparison?

[@Heather-kz7tn]

Hi! I am really enjoying your videos but I am confused about the KZbin Distribution ID… does this automatically get applied to your songs in LANDR? I have seen other videos stating you don't want to use the KZbin one via the distributor so that you can upload the music to YT yourself and build a brand/channel and get paid from YT directly. Are you able to do both? I.e. have the YT Distro ID so it applies to other people using your songs but have it not be affected on your artist channel?

[@mcelf168]

Thanks for making this video. I've watched several of your reviews, which helped bid time! I've been using LANDR for nearly a year and am very pleased. I've had great experiences with customer service, and the sample library is awesome. The cost might seem expensive, but you definitely get a big bang for your buck. The mastering option alone was what did it for me. I'd imagine you'd be paying way more if you also had to pay for mixing and mastering elsewhere.

[@alexanderentertainmentllc]

Great presentation!! Thank you!!

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Thanks so much!

[@cassandrahuskey8866]

Can you explain about cover songs? Does that mean singing/recording your favorite artist song, then distributing it? And how do you go about that? Step by step. Can you do a video on all the steps of releasing your favorite artist song? Whats all the correct verbage?

[@stevelast5719]

If you release through Landr and have projects under different artist names, do you have to get a plan for each artist name? I know Distrokid offers you an option where you can release different projects under different artist names and act basically like a label, for around 75 dollars per year…

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

You don’t need a plan for each artist. With Landr Pro you get a custom label name and 5 artists by default. And then if you need to grow the label for their, you can add additional artists for 10 bucks I believe.

[@AA-ho5mg]

@@IndieMusicAcademy Thank you for the information and video. You mean the Distribution Pro that is 44.99 right now comes with 5 artists by default?

[@TheLordGU]

Quite a helpful video, I say, thank you very much! Please correct me if I am mistaken, but apart from the Studio option, those Landr prices are based on they offer right now, 07-2024. While the prices are still great, the Basic subscription normally doesn’t include that KZbin ID stuff, and the Pro subscription normally is twice the price those calculations shown in the video are based on. So it would be interesting to know how those five year numbers would look like for Standard and Pro subscriptions if the points mentioned would be considered, ie. additional costs for that KZbin ID thingy in Standard and a doubled basic fee, both after the first year. I have to admit that I didn’t check cdb’s website, but just for the sake of the argument, it would be a bit more of a fair comparison if the aspects mentioned above would be included in the calculation, I guess.

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Thanks for the comment! Yes, what I’ve found is they actually have a sale pretty often so I would safely assume that these prices will be available more often than not. They seem to be a company that follows regular discount schedules.

[@TheLordGU]

@@IndieMusicAcademy Ah, I see! That sure is good to know, thanks for this hint!

[@cassandrahuskey8866]

Hey? Do you know if SoundCloud a PRO? Can you use LANDR AND SOUNDCLOUD to distribute music? How does Soundcloud work?

[@adehela13]

Do you have any knowledge about changing your artist name with Landr?

[@PrehistoricRexMusic]

You didn't put any cover song info for cd baby or distrokid. Looks like distrokid charges $12 annual fee and Cd baby sends you to another site for $12 plus royalties. That kind of skews the numbers, when you add so much for landr and none for the other two.

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Yeah sorry bout that. I am making the assumption that the license fee is going to be pretty much identical no matter where you secure it. So you can add the same cover song license expense on top of CD Baby and Distrokid and you’ll have an accurate picture.

[@cowboyrockstarrecords]

I believe I just found a new distributor.

[@splittertunes]

Does LANDR distribute to SoundCloud???

[@XXzoroXy]

Yeah

[@splittertunes]

@@XXzoroXy Is there a way to turn it off?

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

SoundCloud wasn’t an option for me in LANDR. I think you just gotta manage uploads to SoundCloud separately.

[@GRAUZAHN.]

im confused....so i pay these guys a yearly fee...but also an extra fee for every single Song i want to get on Spotify?

[@johnystudio]

Distrokid and Landr charges a yearly fee. CDBaby on the other hand does not and only charge you for each song you upload. CDBaby will also take 9% percent from revenue made and 30% from KZbin content ID for each song.

[@EtherealDawnOfficial]

Landr is the best i have found! Love their plugins and specially the mastering plugin!

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

So glad you’re using the mastering plugin! Super cool!

[@surrealstructures1497]

"Leaving your music up, even if your subscription lapses" You missed that LANDR charges a $5/mo to maintain the music on streaming services!! Nobody told me that! . Yeah CD BABY is cheaper. I was under the impression i could upload the advertised UNLIMITED RELEASES with landr but what LANDR meant was 30 tracks a month. But it will accept a large catalog from competitors 😔 Foiled again!

[@whathack4598]

so what distributor u gonna use?

[@pixelgriffstudios]

They don’t charge $5 a month to keep music up. If you don’t pay your subscription then they take like 10 percent of your revenue.

[@steviek6484]

Thanks for explaining it so well

[@nuthomemusic]

can you make a video on freshtunes? I have had a good experience with them so far, they are free and you keep all of your royalties. No extra charges as well

[@donaldramotsebe7051]

With Landr Pro do you actually have to be a record label or is this just a custom label name provided with the 5 artists add on? Instance if a group of individuals want to release different music genres that they collaborate on which would be the best package to go with? Are royalty splits calculated upfront based on artist or is whole chunk distributed to the record label and the artists figure out the rest behind the scenes?

[@ArtisttheC10wn]

Landr even would not remove your songs after you cancel sub! Distrokid instantly threatens you to remove your songs everywhere if you dare to cancel your sub with them. LANDR FTW! Distro´s Legacy Mode really only applies if you die! If you just cancel your sub, all your music get´s removed!

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Oh snap! Is that for real? Wow it’s even worse than I thought with distrokid :(

[@Rizzlyricist]

I've been hearing those sentiments as well. I'm looking for a distro that doesn't take down music, auto-split (and payout) royalties to parties involved.​@@IndieMusicAcademy

[@Eternaldrumscapes]

Look at their prices now! Basic is 120€/yearly now in Germany??? This is Basic?

[@claudiateh]

thank you !

[@BeanyB3ar]

so is landr just lying about Metadata updates? I bought the Distribution Pro thinking I would be able to easily change my metadata only to find out nothing changed is this a glitch or a blatant lie?

[@shabbyyyy]

Alright, Landr it is!

[@michaelblissmusic]

What about tunecore in comparison. Obviously distrokid is antiquated at this point and landr is quality, new and fresh. CD baby, still seems very affordable unless you see yourself as a very successful streaming artist.

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Tunecore is a good option! I’ll try to include them in a future video!

[@adehela13]

@@IndieMusicAcademyno they’re not!!! Terrible support service, terrible dashboard layout

[@pixel_enjoyer]

What happens to my music if DistroKid or LANDR goes bankrupt?

[@wwellsofficial]

Who thinks that way brother

[@Melissa-yg5uf]

Very good question considering how many digital services have already crashed and burned, or sold out (like BandCamp selling to Epic games). Likely scenario would probably end up that their catalog gets bought up by another service. Then (likely) send you an announcement that offers to transfer your account under whatever terms the new service offers, or opt out and lose your catalog listings and have to set up again somewhere else.

[@maikvanrossum]

Humm… you seemed to be an interesting channel for growing your online music ‘business’ in general, but lately you just release Landr promo videos. Why…?

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Trying a new thing with the channel “going deep” before moving on to the next topic

[@DeepE-Sense]

Me: Is there a limit on the number of releases that can be submitted with Distribution Pro plan? Landr: As a general rule, and to reinforce the fact that we expect our users to create music with passion, patience, and care, we limit releases to 30 new songs per artist within a rolling 30-day period for active subscriptions, excluding catalog migrations to LANDR. For example, if you receive the limit message on July 23, you will be able to submit more songs 30 days from the date of your last release for that artist. Exceptions to these rules may be considered at our sole discretion.

[@jazzampa]

Both

[@jazzampa]

Sucks for new artists 🫠

[@Juslowww]

@@jazzampabro stop hating 💀

[@NotMolly-jf2rh]

Please do a video on which might absorb the music into AI. (Bad)

[@martinsquare]

mmm again you need to pay each year for Landr. CD Baby is a one time $10 for a full album. If your songs doesnt take any attention which is almost always the case you never gonna get this money back or you gonna get almost this exact amount for the first year. The other year not even half of that... etc. until you realise you pay just to have your songs in the catalog & nobody is promoting your stuff. CD Baby need to promote to gain money & you pay $10 administration mainly & not some kind of fake or useless services.

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Yeah, that’s basically the deciding factor. If you don’t care about the back end cut of royalties then CD Baby hands down is best… but as soon as you get a few million streams then keeping 100% of your royalties is more attractive. I’m a big fan of CD Baby so you can’t go wrong either way!

[@garyclute9244]

I have lots of co-writers As soon as I reached 5 co-writers My yearly fee with distro?kid Went up to 99.9 dollars