DistroKid’s music video distribution starting at $100 annually was recently updated and allows for Artists and Labels to distribute official music videos, lyric videos and concert footage or a live performance. Whether this can be a good return on your investment will depend on a few things. Let’s find out whether it’s worth it.
DistroKid/DistroVid delivers music videos to the following services:
DistroVid charges you a $100 fee per year for unlimited music video distribution and $49.99 for each next artist you decide to distribute music videos for. You also get to keep 100% of the revenue from streaming platforms.
The only downside to using DistroKid’s music video distribution service is the annual fee. No one likes monthly or yearly subscriptions, and if you’re not consistently releasing content or getting any traction on the platforms, then it might seem like you’re wasting your energy and effort. To some Artists or labels it simply doesn’t seem like a good return on their investment.
If you create a lot of music video content such as official music videos, lyric videos, performance videos and live concerts, then DistroKid’s music video distribution services could definitely be worth it for you, as they offer better monetization opportunities for your content and more exposure to different services and devices.
If you don’t create a lot of official music videos, lyric videos and performance videos, then DistroVid might not be worth it for you considering the annual fees for music video distribution. If you’re an independent artist who does not have a big active audience on Tidal, Apple Music or YouTube, then releasing 1-2 official music videos per year would not be worth it considering you won’t achieve much exposure or streams
Making enough revenue to recoup DistroKid’s music video distribution costs seems almost impossible to imagine for most Artists or Labels, especially in a world where short form content dominates over official music videos and lyric videos.
If you do plan on using DistroVid, the best way to go about it is to have a ton of ready content and consistently release high quality music videos. This will improve your reach and allow you to better monetize your content.
Absolutely, if you’re on a tight budget and won’t frequently release music content, then it might be best to just release your music videos on YouTube.
I like to see music video distribution as a way to reach new audiences and better monetize my music content. If there is no a lot of content that I can distribute, then I would probably stay on YouTube. At the end of the day, this subscription requires you to have a ton of music videos and release music consistently.
As you can see below, here’s how DistroVid compares to Symphonic and Horus music, which both charge a per video release fee.
While symphonic takes a 30% cut from your royalties, DistroKid and Horus Music let you keep 100%. Although Symphonic does do some extra promotion.
Choosing which one of these always depends on your specific circumstance.
Paying for music video distribution is expensive, especially if you’re an independent artist or an indie label with a tight budget. Choosing whether you want that extra reach on different music video platforms is entirely up to you and it depends on your goals. If done right, there are a lot of good things such as better monetization and exposure that you can benefit from. You might decide it’s more effective to pay per release rather than a yearly fee, or if you have a lot of content it might be more cost effective to pay a single fee and release a ton of music video content.
Have you distributed your music videos or plan to? Let me know if you have have a preferred distributor from the one’s listed, or a different one to do the job for you.
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