Back then, breaking out of your garage and getting your music out there professionally was an expensive hassle. Thanks to music distribution services, uploading your music on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music has been much easier these days.

If you’ve been looking for a music distribution platform, chances are you’ve heard of companies like DistroKid and TuneCore, two of the giants in the music distribution industry. While popular, no music distributor can be deemed objectively superior to the other. Based on their services, prices, and customer service, the decision boils down to each independent artist's subjective goals, needs, and budget.

You might have heard of Ditto Music as well; a music distributor that is not a frontier like CD Baby or DistroKid but offers plenty of good deals. However, Ditto Music also has its drawbacks that you must know before spending money on its services. In this post, I will break down everything you need to know about Ditto Music to decide whether or not it is for you.

Advantages of Using Ditto Music

Let’s start by going over what Ditto brings to the table that makes it a desirable music distributor for indie artists and labels. First of all, Ditto offers a 30-day free trial, perfect for musicians who are not sure about investing their money in publishing music on streaming platforms.

Moreover, Ditto offers competitive pricing that covers almost all of the essentials, even with its most affordable plan. Ditto’s services come in three tiers: Starter, Pro, and Labels. All of them allow you to keep 100% of your royalties, which is really critical to consider.

For $19 a year, Ditto’s “Starter” plan allows you to upload unlimited tracks on all of the major streaming platforms and online stores, including Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes Store, Amazon Music, and Tidal. Moreover, the Starter package includes access to what Ditto calls ‘industry’ tools, including dedicated ISRC codes, metadata, and everything else you need to officially release your music out there and get revenue. Also, Ditto automatically splits royalty payments on tracks that you collaborate with other artists.

You can opt for the “Pro” plan for $59 annually, which gives you access to all the features from the previous plan, plus much more. Ditto Music will add your tracks to its sync team’s roster and if your music fits the bill for a brief, they’ll pitch it to TV programs and such. Moreover, you’ll get a dedicated YouTube Content ID that allows you to get revenue from other creators who use your tracks in their videos. Instead of one, the Pro plan allows you to publish music under two artist names. You’ll also get a quicker response from Ditto’s customer support team.

Lastly, as the name suggests, the “Label” plan is for labels seeking a music distributor to upload music for different artists. For $89 a year, Ditto’s Label plan allows you to upload music under five artists. That price can go all the way up to $319 a year if you want to include as many as 40 musicians that work with your label. Other than the number of artists, services and features that come with this tier are similar to Ditto’s Pro plan.

One of the advantages of Ditto over a distributor like DistroKid is that, even with the Starter plan, you get all of the essentials you need to get your music out there. On the other hand, DistroKid comes with a bunch of rather pricey add-ons that can increase your final bill. Although optional, some of them are necessary if you want to maximize royalty from different platforms. In another post, I’ve thoroughly explained what DistroKid extras are and if you should get them when uploading your music.

Ditto Music’s Disadvantages

On the other hand, there are some disadvantages that Ditto has compared to other competitors like DistroKid and TuneCore. One of Ditto’s first drawbacks is the time it takes to publish music. It usually takes at least two weeks for a track to get through and show up on streaming services. On the other hand, a distributor like DistroKid can do it significantly faster for you and have your music in the stores within a couple of days.

Ditto gives you the option to jump the queue and share your release with fans faster for an additional $40 cost. Opting for this, Ditto will put your music on Apple Music and iTunes within a few hours and other major platforms like Spotify in three days or less. Bear in mind that if you want to make changes to a track—something like the metadata or the copyright information—you’ll have to go through that two-week process again.

Moreover, some users have complained that the customer support services are relatively slower than most other distributors. Services like TuneCore give you a fixed response time based on the plan you choose. For higher plans, TuneCore’s response time will only take two business days. On the other hand, some users mentioned waiting for a week or even more before they heard back from Ditto’s customer service.

Final Thoughts: Who Is Ditto Music For

In conclusion, Ditto Music offers very promising features and services that make it go shoulder-to-shoulder with giants like DistroKid and TuneCore. However, it is not without shortcomings either. I highly recommend Ditto for independent musicians looking for an affordable music distributor that offers a straightforward platform. Considering the one-month free trial, Ditto is an excellent choice for dipping your toes in the industry and seeing if the tools and services offered by Ditto are what you’re looking for.

If you’re interested in working with Ditto Music, click here to sign up.