How does RouteNote Compare to other music distribution services?
Most companies suck.
And I don't mean that they are evil they don't deliver on the services...
They just have a business model that forces you into limited options:
Either it's Free Music Distribution... But their boutique services are too overpriced.
OR the distribution fees are at mid-range price points, however, they charge you frequently (monthly often.)
So with this in mind, my goal isn't to look at RouteNote with extreme scrutiny...
No company is perfect.
Instead, I'll make a fair comparison to the other music distribution options available and see if this is the best fit for you.
To start things off, RouteNote (as you are aware) is a free music distribution service, and pretty interestingly, they primarily focus on European talent.
If you live in Germany or France and want a free way to distribute your music then I would say that this is the best avenue for you to proceed in some ways!
When it comes to VAT and all that non-American style they're well accustomed. (Muricah!)
Let's take an intimate approach and really break down how this music distributor holds its own against the others.
Routenote's free music distribution takes a cut of your earnings and places limitations on your distribution.
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Does RouteNote withhold your royalties?
No, RouteNote will not withhold any of your revenue. You will one 100% percent paid - just read the user agreement so you know exactly when.
That being said, the RouteNote attribution process can change the outcomes.
This is related when Getting A RouteNote Review.
For example: if you're releasing music with split royalties, then streaming services (Spotify) can index you as a "feature" artist.
Not sure about the backend of every distribution service but at times this can mean you're getting paid later...
Since the main artist needs to send and validate the payment.
It gets messy... But that's the game for some artists.
Some streaming platforms like Tidal pay much longer after your release date than others.
That's why even with a free plan or paid plan, monthly reports can change.
One independent artist from Reddit complained that RouteNote distribution was holding $800 from them...
Only later to discover that they did get paid.
Fortunately, you can avoid these random mistakes by reading the terms of service and help center with each distribution company.
This goes for CD Baby and all the others.
Routenote's free music distribution takes a cut of your earnings and places limitations on your distribution.
Check Boost Collective out for a FREE music distribution alternative better than Routenote! 👇
RouteNote Royalty collection policy
Yes, RouteNote does take a 15% to be exact, but only with their free service. For paid services, you're getting 100% of earnings.
I even love that you have unlimited releases - while Amuse Distribution takes the same amount of time, it restricts you severely.
Even if you aren't European, RouteNote is so evidently the better option than Amuse, it's insane.
It's absolutely fine to use the free plan if you have little following, but for popular artists, this is not the best service.
On RouteNote you're able to have unlimited artists.
Compare that to DistroKid which only allows you up to five artists (at the time this blog is written) so not even remotely the same thing.
I have to admit, the free distribution process is better than other distribution companies paid services.
does RouteNote charge a fair amount to get music online?
So... This is one thing about RouteNote that's very subjective: pricing.
While RouteNote prides itself on a free service to distribute your music, do you have a bunch of other prices and options for music distribution services?
This makes sense because depending on your budget and goals, you may want to pack a little bit more power behind your releases.
The best distributor is a myth - every other distributor has a different moderation process and company service offering.
(Example: using CD Baby to avoid upfront costs in selling physical records.)
Personally, I love free!
Making music is pricey and so is marketing...
So the free plan lets your songs get live easier.
To me, that is the future that other distributors need to get on because the price of technology is getting lower and lower...
I don't see why we shouldn't bring that saving to the end consumer.
(That is just my personal ethos though, I do understand that RouteNote is a business and they need to bring in revenue to survive so I'm not knocking them.)
It's kinda awesome that they have both options, to begin with so I highly respect this distributor.
Unlike Routenote, Boost Collective lets you have your cake and eat it too. You get all the features of a paid music distributor but for free. You still keep full ownership and 100% of your earnings. And best of all, you get to distribute your music FAST - within 24-72 hours:
Con: RouteNote has a crappy customer support ticket
So this is the starkest aspect that popped up when researching other artists' experiences with the distribution process.
See, In American culture, the customer is always right is a VERY strong thing.
Things like quick moderation time, company ethics, and knowing what's happening in large aspects.
The idea of an unanswered support ticket is unheard of since the same service is offered by competing distribution services...
We don't wanna lose even one client!
However, in many European nations, this is not even remotely the case...
And RouteNote happens to follow that same trajectory.
If you want to get a hold of the team for any sort of support query then good luck.
Distribution services are notorious for a bad support ticket system, and this follows the same boat.
The moderation team does its job relatively fast, it's only when you have issues uploading music or getting feedback that this can be slow.
Well, you win some and lose some I guess.
Also, RouteNote does NOT have a designated public support person.
DistroKid has Phil Kaplan and Boost Collective has Jabari to keep accountable.
Now let's move on!
RouteNote premium: my honest thoughts
So RouteNote premium is the boutique service designed to get your song uploaded to all the platforms.
But this is very very pricey!
RouteNote Premium charges $10 for just to release a single, That is insane if you ask me!
At that price point, I may as well just use a regular paid service like DistroKid to get songs on Apple Music and other streaming platforms.
At least with DistroKid, you can upload unlimited releases for $20/year.
The approval process is easier than Route Note AND its premium plan is much nicer.
And to make this worse, this is on a subscription basis, NOT just a single payment.
So this website will charge you a LOT to distribute your release since the cost is renewed.
It may not seem like a lot of money, but imagine how most people don't recoup this.
What's happening is that artists are getting poorer with every upload.
Can't know the RouteNote distributor though, that's just the game.
Other distributors charge a lot for YouTube content ID (even though you can get it free) but this is wild to me.
Fortunately, since there is no lock-in, you can easily switch music distributors at your own will so it's not really a bad deal.
The free distribution and Soundcloud monetization are fine, but I personally would not spend my money on a distribution company if I could get the service for free.
It's just Business 101.
Upload unlimited music to Spotify, Apple Music, TikTok, and 150+ other stores and platforms for FREE:
Boost Collective is the #1 up-and-coming music distribution for artists, letting you put your music out there for free.
RouteNote all access: what exactly is it?
Now let's say potentially you're a label and have 200 tracks to be released just this month.
In this case, RouteNote free and RouteNote premium won't really cut it for you.
Since RouteNote free takes a significant chunk of your earnings (relative to other services) it doesn't really make sense for you to go through this method.
As a label, you get earnings based on song royalties!
It also wouldn't make much sense to use RouteNote premium because it would cost you $2000 just to release these tracks EVEN if you use the most basic version of this price point.
That's just not a good way to get an ROI out of your money.
Even with the best support tickets, your songs need better.
So finally, we have RouteNote all access.
This is a bee bespoke service, so for this distribution process, you'd have to get in contact with the team and really outline what your goals are for releases.
That being said, I haven't really heard much about RouteNote All Access, I didn't see any case studies.
They said that they do some pitching as well which could include either Spotify playlists or music sync libraries.
Who knows. Either way, it's free to reach out so definitely check it out!
It might just be one of the best things for your label.
Is RouteNote distribution better than the other distributors?
So this is the most interesting aspect of the entire blog.
There are some reports of RouteNote struggling to pay artists their royalties and taking unnecessary amounts of time to release the track ( or simply rejecting tracks.)
I don't think you should take any of these at face value - instead, let's do a deeper comparison.
I believe we can trust RouteNote's distribution service to come through.
It's a better service than other distributors for sure.
Don't forget that most songs an independent artist releases is shit...
No expert support team can help other people's songs in that case (which is frequent LOL.)
Let's compare getting your songs on streaming platforms like Apple Music when using RouteNote to distribute or the other 2 free music distributor companies.
RouteNote distribution VS. Amuse music distribution
I will say that all in all, RouteNote is a superior service to Amuse distribution.
Amuse takes a long time to release the track - up to four weeks even.
That alone deters you from releasing since it forces you to delay your output as a musician.
Music is your main product, you don't want to slow that down!
The premium plan for Amuse is decent though, but I still recommend RouteNote distribution.
The free option at least for the first release will keep your artist name in the pipeline.
While they both take 15% of your song releases, all things being considered RouteNote does not have that bad of a public press.
Regardless of what you think, it's definitely worth checking both services out.
That's just the most prudent way.
RouteNote vs Boost collective
So Boost Collective is a free music distribution service just like RouteNote.
The only difference is that Boost Collective does not take anything from your royalties.
That alone makes Boost Collective the more attractive option for independent artists.
This is only possible because Boost Collective generates revenue through its artist service store.
RouteNote does NOT specialize (or even offer) marketing services to independent artists!
Boost Collective does that for FREE when you choose to release their platform as an incentive to reward you for releasing on their platform.
Sure, I am biased (obviously) but when it comes to releasing music...
We think about you 3-4 years down the line.
Will people still be listening to your track?
We actually make sure that this happens!
Tap below to see our free music distribution options. 👇
Boost Collective is the #1 up-and-coming music distribution for artists, letting you put your music out there for free.
Conclusion
If you’re an aspiring musician, all the platforms are an excellent platform to build your fan base and make money.
Just make sure you select a distribution company service that cares for the independent artist.
Since they all get you on Apple Music, Youtube Content ID, and all streaming platforms... It's the small things that make the edge.
For a physical distribution process, CD Baby is king.
For ease of use, it's DistroKid.
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