In today’s digital age, rising musicians have more opportunities than ever to monetize and share their music with the world. A few decades ago, artists who wanted to build a music career had to sign up with record labels. Nowadays, independent musicians can record, produce, and distribute their music worldwide from the comfort of their homes.

As one of the largest streaming platforms in the world, Spotify has revolutionized the way we consume music. With millions of active users daily, getting your music on Spotify is a vital step in growing your audience and having people around the globe listen to your songs.

Many artists are often deterred by the misconception that getting their music on Spotify requires hefty fees and complicated procedures. While that might’ve been the case a few years ago, many companies have made it quite straightforward and affordable for newer artists to kick-start their music careers.

The top-tier music distribution services out there offer a vast array of services through reasonably priced plans. Still, if you’re not yet ready to invest your money in distributing your music, there are various companies that offer their services with no upfront fees. In this post, I’ll go through some of the most popular distributors that put your music on Spotify for free.

1.  RouteNote

As one of the best free music distributor companies, RouteNote offers a compelling proposition to independent musicians seeking to distribute their music across various online platforms, including Spotify. Through their free tier, artists can submit unlimited songs to add to Spotify’s database. Although the company doesn’t charge you upfront for putting your music on Spotify, RouteNote takes a 15% cut of your streaming revenue.

If you’ve just started, sharing your revenue with your distributor won’t cost you much. Fortunately, RouteNote allows you to upgrade to their paid plans and keep 100% of your revenue. Once you start gaining an audience on Spotify, I recommend switching to RouteNote Premium.

Compared to other distributors, RoutNote’s promotional tools are pretty limited. Therefore, artists must rely on their own abilities and social media presence to grow a fan base. Moreover, some users have complained about unusual delays in having their songs published on Spotify. Typically, it will take RouteNote about 3-4 weeks to upload your song after you send your work to the company. It’s best to plan your releases at least a month ahead to ensure you won’t face any unexpected issues when promoting your music.

2. Unchained Music

Unchained Music is one of the few distributors that offers free services without taking a cut of your streaming royalties. Similar to RouteNote, you can upload as many songs as you want on Spotify with Unchained Music’s free plan. Moreover, the company claims you can keep 100% of your streaming royalties.

Although it sounds great at first, there is an alarming number of negative reviews from users who uploaded music on Spotify through Unchained Music. Some have complained about not having full transparency on revenue figures and how they flow, and some others had issues with the system’s customer service and other features not working as they should.

3. FreshTunes

Lastly, FreshTunes is another music distributor that puts your tracks on Spotify with no fees upfront. Also, you can keep 100% of your Spotify revenue. However, FreshTunes takes a cut from other royalties like Songwriter and YouTube Content ID.

The company’s free plan covers the basics, but the upload time and payout time are quite long compared to other services. Some users have complained about having a subpar experience talking to FreshTune’s customer service.

Compared to the other two, FreshTunes is more established, with experience in this business that extends over twenty years. Though the real user reviews are mixed, FreshTunes holds a better record in working with indie artists compared to other free distributors.

Final Thoughts On Distributing Music On Spotify For Free

Breaking out of your home studio and releasing your music can be quite intimidating at first. However, companies that offer music distribution services for free can aid you share your music out there on popular platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.

Although they might cost more at first, I recommend paid distributors over companies that offer their services for free. Most free distributors take a percentage of your streaming revenue and song royalties. Ten or fifteen percent might not sound much at first, but once you start growing your audience, your distributor’s commission can sum up to a hefty number that goes out of your pocket. Moreover, paid distributors often offer better services, including promotional tools that allow you to grow your audience and reach your goals much quicker.