It’s Not Me, It’s You: How To Transfer Your Releases to TuneCore

Back in the day when physical distribution ruled and your music sales were measured in units like records, cassettes and CDs, the concept of simply “switching distributors” required a lot more heavy-lifting. Even finding a distributor to help you out as an independent artist was a task in and of itself.

With the emergence of digital music as the main method of consumption among fans, independent distributors like TuneCore made it possible for artists to get their releases on platforms like iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music. It’s old news that we still love: independent artists are able to empower their careers, support themselves through their music, and control how their releases are sold and marketed.

Of course, as digital music evolved, so too did the options for distributing it. Oftentimes, independent artists begin their careers using one digital distributor only to find that, over time, they’d benefit from using one with a different model.

Maybe an artist simply feels their digital distributor is not meeting their needs at a service level, or perhaps that artist has gained popularity and seeing much higher streaming numbers and sales – but they’re still giving their distributor a cut. At this point, they’d be wise to move over to a distributor like TuneCore that is going to give them 100% of their revenue.

Understandably, a common question for artists who have the sudden desire to use a different distributor is: How?

It’s not just about moving forward with a new distributor for future releases: if you’re interested in relocating your entire catalog so that you can begin receiving 100% of your revenue from those songs, you may want to make sure all of your streaming and sales data remains visible on those platforms. If you’ve received thousands or even millions of streams on Spotify, it’s safe to assume you’d want those stats to stick around!

If you’re interested in switching your music catalog over from another digital distributor to TuneCore, just follow the easy steps below:

1. Sign up for TuneCore for FREE.

2. In your dashboard, begin the distribution process for your releases.

• If you are planning on transferring 75 or more releases, email volume@tunecore.com for information on discounts.

3. For each release, make sure you upload the same exact metadata and information: use the same ISRC codes in our “Optional ISRC” field of each track, upload the same audio files, keep the same song titles, etc.

• This process will help the stores retain your streaming counts and playlist information.*

• While it’s usually not a problem on the stores’ ends, TuneCore cannot guarantee everything will transfer.

• You can use the same UPC code for your album, as long as the album/single you’re redistributing is exactly the same. If the release is changing in any way (you’ve added or removed some tracks, or tracks are in a different order) you should not use the same UPC.

4. Get in touch with your current distributor and request that they ‘take down’ your releases. 

• You can distribute with TuneCore while your releases are still live on stores like Spotify via your previous distributor. In fact, both versions of your releases should be temporarily up at the same time in order for metadata to migrate.

Just like that, you can make the distributor switch and be a member of the TuneCore Artist community in no time. If you’ve been using another distributor and have been wanting to begin receiving 100% of your revenue, we’d love to have you.

For more information on TuneCore’s distribution services, be sure to hit our Knowledge Base and browse through the robust library of FAQ topics.

*For iTunes and Apple Music streaming info will NOT migrate because there will be a new ‘Album Apple ID’ associated with your new TuneCore release.