At 360 Promo, we help artists distribute music every week, and DistroKid is one of the most common platforms we use. Here’s what we’ve learned the hard way about uploading correctly.
Uploading a song to DistroKid feels like a quick formality — drag, drop, done. But there’s a lot under the hood that can quietly screw up your release if you don’t catch it first. Here’s what most artists miss.
Table of Contents
1. Tagging and collaborator metadata — this is the big one
This single step decides whether your song shows up on your collaborator’s artist page — or gets buried as some random “various artists” upload. DistroKid’s tagging system isn’t forgiving. When you list featured artists, you can’t just type their names; you have to connect the right Spotify Artist URI.
The problem? DistroKid’s own instructions are outdated. They tell you to click the three dots under your artist profile and choose “Share → Copy Spotify URI,” but that option doesn’t exist anymore.
Here’s how you actually do it:
- Go to your artist profile on Spotify (open.spotify.com/artist/xxxxxxxxxxxx).
- Copy the entire link from your browser’s address bar. It will look like this:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6jYwQJk6bD7u0a6tMZg0kq?si=abc123XYZ - Delete everything after the question mark (if there is one). What’s left is your artist’s ID — the long code after “artist/”. In this example, it’s
6jYwQJk6bD7u0a6tMZg0kq. - Now format it manually as:
spotify:artist:6jYwQJk6bD7u0a6tMZg0kq
That’s your URI. That’s what DistroKid actually wants you to paste into the “Spotify Artist URI” field. Get that wrong and you’ll either create a duplicate artist profile or tag the wrong person entirely. If your collaborator’s name is even slightly common, that mistake will nuke your cross-promotion and cost you plays.
Go here for a complete article on tagging artists on Spotify correctly.
2. The so-called mastering and normalization add-on
DistroKid offers a $10 “loudness normalization and mastering” upsell before checkout. It’s not a scam — it actually adjusts your file’s LUFS (loudness units full scale) and makes sure your song hits roughly Spotify’s playback level so it doesn’t sound quieter than other tracks.
Is it worth it? If your mix is professionally mastered, probably not. But if you’re uploading a DIY track with questionable loudness, paying ten bucks for that peace of mind is better than releasing something that sounds weak on Spotify and Apple Music.
3. The paid plan upgrade — it’s not optional if you want control
The free-tier DistroKid plan doesn’t let you set a future release date. You’ll need to pay roughly $44 a year to schedule your drop, choose a label name, and unlock other features like automatic revenue splits. It’s annoying, but it’s also the cost of having any kind of control over your rollout.
4. “Leave a Legacy” — what it actually means
This one’s confusing on purpose. The “Leave a Legacy” add-on is a one-time fee that guarantees your release stays live even if you cancel your DistroKid subscription later. Your songs remain up forever, and any royalties they generate still accumulate in your account — you just won’t be able to upload new music without reactivating. In short: you’re paying a small insurance fee so your music doesn’t vanish when your card expires.
5. The extra metadata fields — don’t overthink them
DistroKid asks for things like songwriter names, producer credits, and performer roles. Be honest, but don’t panic. This info isn’t tied to any legal publishing or copyright database; it’s mostly there to satisfy Apple’s internal requirements. You could literally write “Mickey Mouse” and it wouldn’t affect your royalties. Just make sure the main performer and songwriter fields are filled or Apple Music may reject the release.
6. Social media monetization — read the fine print
Always enable YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok monetization — that’s how you get paid when anyone uses your music in a video. But understand the trade-off: DistroKid takes a 20% cut of all social media revenue, on top of whatever you paid for the add-on itself. They don’t take a cut of your DSP streaming income, but they do from this bucket. It’s still worth it for visibility and early income, but you should know what you’re giving up. Learn more about social media monetization here.
Bottom line
DistroKid is one of the easiest distributors to use — and one of the easiest to mess up. Take five extra minutes to format your URIs correctly, confirm your metadata, and understand what each paid feature really does. It’ll save you from hours of confusion and a release that doesn’t land where it should.
If you’re ready to take action on this kind of strategy, check out our campaigns and services that address just this issue — including our Digital Admin service.
360 Promo is a full-service music marketing, promotion, distribution and admin company. Learn more about us and what we do at 360 Promo, follow us on Instagram and contact us to tailor a plan that works for you.