In today’s rapidly evolving music industry, the rise of digitalization has made music distributors not only popular but essential for artists seeking to navigate the complexities of marketing, audience engagement, distribution, and royalty management. According to Virpp, the services of music distributors due to the digitalization of music are becoming increasingly popular and, in most cases, indispensable. With a music distributor, artists can take the burden of marketing, finding a target audience, distribution, and royalties off their shoulders. The distributor will take care of all this and more.
Why do artists use music distributors?
The main reason for signing contracts with music distribution services is the opportunity to be fully immersed in music creation and free from independent, often ineffective music distribution. Other benefits of working with music distributors:
- distribution and promotion of music on popular platforms: music distributors can distribute the artist’s music on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and other platforms, and social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube;
- application of effective online music marketing strategies: in addition to social media promotion, music distributors use email newsletters with individual offers, personalized advertising, and quality video content that attracts the listener’s attention;
- сollecting analytics and making decisions based on the data: partnering with a music distributor allows artists to have access to analyze listener trends, sales models, and engagement metrics to determine the effectiveness of their music, identify the most popular tracks, primary listener location, and more;
- fan engagement and brand building: cooperation with music distributors allows finding the artist’s target audience and engaging with fans, thus spreading the music to the masses;
- taking full financial responsibility: music distributors are responsible for pricing, selling tracks and albums, streaming, producing, and selling exclusive releases.
A music distributor also develops and realizes promotional strategies, such as selling introductory offers or package deals. A music distribution service is responsible for sales, commissions, and royalty payments to artists.
Why does your music need to be on music platforms?
Physical music distribution is losing popularity and remains in demand only by collectors who collect physical music editions in disks or vinyl records. Today, digital music distribution is effective due to the availability of phones to listeners, providing constant 24/7 access to music artists’ creations.
In addition, with the online music distribution services, artists have access to analytics that allow them to distribute music more efficiently, adapting to the specifics of their listeners. Also, uploading music to the Internet allows artists to communicate with listeners, creating fan loyalty and devotion.
Wrapping Up
Uploading, distributing, and receiving royalties from music is a multifaceted and complex process, especially for beginning music artists. Working with music distributors removes the responsibility of all aspects of marketing and data analytics, allowing artists to focus their time solely on making music and connecting with fans.
Moreover, the artists’ earnings are round-the-clock and depend on the chosen promotion model (monetization can be done by purchasing subscriptions on music platforms, individual tracks or albums, watching advertisements, etc.). The advantage of music distributors is also the cost of services, which can be fixed or fluctuate between 5-15% of the profit.
