rocnation bc no up front cost

Soundcloud and maybe bandcamp

Youtube is also great

YouTube before anything, the filmmaking based aspect and cover friendly format that only it has lends itself perfectly to music, either for music videos or albums

This too must be revolutionized

why is Symphonic better?

Got you good

if i post my music on ktt can i be raps next big superstar?

If you can actually build yourself within the community itself as a familiar face at least, a respected and loved one at best, ktt is a great grassroots resource that could potentially lead to the right ears

Live shows, literally go the talent shows/contests

speech bubble implies working DMs finally

Bandcamp, YouTube, SoundCloud and a distribution of choice for Spotify/apple/tidal (I use CDBaby)

And video versions of songs, either 20sec to 40sec snippets or full songs, on twitter/insta/bluesky/tumblr/facebook

And a thread on ktt2

Why? I been stacking up the ball and about to get ready to release the stuff sometime in the middle of next year

Distrokid is ass and scummy, plus there are way better options nowadays too

Distrokid used to have prestige before when they were like the only real option, and before they got exposed

There is pretty much no reason to use distrokid in today's age

What’s the best now in your opinion?

CDBaby imo, it's not subscription based (10 dollars per song single, 15 dollars for an EP or album) , they don't hold your music for ransom and allow you to transfer stuff to it (and from it) from other distros, their packages are great such as physicals and marketing, they connect you to artist profiles for streaming and such, they have lot of good articles and tips plus they've been around for decades and have other sources of revenue beyond music distribution so they're professional, already cut their teeth plus since they make money in other places they aren't sweating indie distribution money like that (which is prob why they're so lax with your music too) - they also have actual customer service as well and usually it takes just two weeks for them to upload to the big 3 streaming services (Spotify/Apple/tidal and also YouTube) with even way more streaming service options - they also have way to monetize thru social media as well among other things, and make the ability to split revenue with collaborators super easy even ones that are on other distribution services

There are a few other good ones as well, but CDBaby imo is the best with the connections they give you, their packages, monetization opportunities and physical options plus I like they have actual customer service and have other avenues of business to where they aren't scummy about indie music - plus their seniority as a legacy company makes them professional and have kinks worked out unlike most of the other distros and don't treat their service as a walled in gatekept garden

Okay I was talking to a few of my producer friends and they were telling me distro kid and I wasn't too hip because I kind of just focused on making music and not releasing it. But when I asked about other options that's the only one that they provided

tiktok

Roc Nation Distribution

Ktt2 obviously, have you seen how chimp1 has blown up?

Greatest hits out now

Everywhere tbh

Twitter and Instagram have a lot of album marketing potential that has been untapped imo

Yeah some people are still stuck on distrokid due to its brand awareness, but if you weren't there for the distrokid blow out a few years ago when everything got exposed - you can look up YouTube vids about it now of the time and also in retrospect

They treat their service like a walled in garden, will delete music that doesn't "get enough" plays to save server space, they don't fight if Spotify or others think you are bot or if you get bottled out of your control either by random ai playlist that randomly added or a malicious hater and will just let them ex you out, they will delete your music after a bit if you miss a subscription payment, they don't have many options outside of uploading, are pretty much impossible to contact unless you're a sponsored partner, and they make it extremely hard to leave their ecosystem or to bring stuff in from others - their uploading time is not consistent neither and flaky, and their contract is ass and flagrant.

CDBaby is my choice, I think it's best as I explained above and I actually use it for my own music with singles and an album already.

ktt2.com/water-givers-denzel-waters-official-self-made-music-thread-32587653

There are other good music services you can check out as well such as Amuse, TuneCore, Ditto Music and Landr which are the other ones I would also recommend.

Landr tho is very new, it's the Nas one, they're great on pricing and even have a mastering option (although it's AI) that can be good for people that don't know how to or don't have a full engineering situation settled yet, but since they are very new they due struggle sometimes of getting music released on time

• sidenote: Landr thing reminded me that I didn't mention this in my above, but CDBaby has also always been on time for me too. You just have to have a release date planned that is two weeks or more out from the time you submit for verification. And they make taxes super easy at CDBaby.

I originally started out as a producer, became an engineer and now just started doing my own music two years ago with my music actually releasing earlier this year. From my own research plus talking to other music and business people and me reading the actual terms n conditions n just being around, that's why I chose CDBaby, n how they are laxxed with your music, have actual customer service and have other avenues of revenue.

But don't just take my word 100%, I will def suggest checking these services out yourself and doing research for what fits you're own situation and goals the best.

I seen screenshots

Spotify and Instagram