How to get your Music on all the Top Music Platforms

There were several learning curves I had to go through to get my music on all the top music platforms. Last month, I shared with you how to copyright your music. This month, I’m sharing with you which platforms and distributors I used to get my music out there to the world and how you can, too!

How to get your music on Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, etc… 

Once you complete an entire album, you have to find a recording studio and go through the recording process. The recording process involves a whole lot of mixing and mastering to create a final, cohesive album. 

Personally, once I’m done with the recording process, I go to production and make actual CD’s. (Yes, I’m old school and I still make a tangible CD)! There’s something magical about holding your piece of work in your hand. I recommend everyone get hard copies of their music!

Your sales will be tracked through your UPC code 

Every album needs a UPC. UPC stands for universal product code. This barcode is how you make a legal point of sale. It will scan and track your sales in whatever medium you choose- whether it’s through an actual CD or digitally. 

When you upload your music to different digital music sites, each song will receive its own code. This code will track how many times your song was played and where it was played. That number will determine how much you get paid. They pay per quarter by spending you a spreadsheet of the breakdown of when it was played and how much you made per play. It’s pretty cool how you can see where your music is performing best and which songs. It’s always something I look forward to seeing. I’ve made around $6,000 in royalties alone over the past seven years!

SoundExchange is the company I used to share and sell my music digitally. SoundExchange connects my music to all these other digital platforms that track the barcodes of each song.  Check out these screenshots that show you the breakdown of how it looks on the inside!

Where a new musician should start: 

I currently have four albums completed and I’m working on my fifth! When I made my first album, Cascade, I started with CD Baby. 

CD Baby is a digital music distributor. You send in your CD’s and then anyone can buy them through CD Baby and you will receive a paycheck from them or you can set up a direct deposit! 

When you upload a CD with them, you get to choose between a ton of boxes that you’d like to “opt-in” for your music to play on. They ask you where you would like your music to be played including large platforms like iTunes and Spotify- so, of course, I clicked all of them! 

For the first CD, I would still go with CDBaby to start out. It’s extremely user-friendly and once you’re in, you can send your music to all the other major platforms.  

Some platforms may require you to apply individually 

Pandora is a major platform in the music industry. Most musicians want to be on Pandora but getting on the platform is a little different. As wonderful as distributors like SoundExchange and CD Baby exists, every music platform doesn’t partner with them. 

To get on a platform like Pandora, you have to apply to qualify for the platform. I joined Pandora before it was such a popular platform so I don’t remember it being very difficult for me but I hear that they are picky. The good news is once you get accepted once, it’s easy to get your next album approved quickly. 

NEXT ON THE BLOG

If you found this helpful, I’m sure you’ll be excited to hear about what’s next on the blog! Next month, I’ll be sharing an in-depth look at the cost of getting an album ready to hit the market. I’m going to dive into each step on how I create four tangible albums and the price point of each (yes, they vary)!

I’m going to share tips and tricks on where you can save, as well as what you should splurge on to make it good! Be sure to subscribe to the email list to get goodies straight to your inbox every other Friday, including great content and ideas for your teaching studio. 

As always, feel free to comment below any questions you may have regarding the artist/composer journey and I’ll be glad to help where I can!