How to Switch Music Distributors Without Losing Your Streams

You've decided to move your music to a different distributor. Maybe it's price or a feature you need. Maybe it's a takedown nobody would explain, or support that took weeks to answer. What stops most artists is the fear of starting over: play counts back to zero, playlist spots gone, fan saves lost.

I spent a decade as employee #2 at DistroKid. This is the guide I'd want an artist to read before moving a catalog anywhere: what carries your history over, the order to do things in, the email to send your old distributor, and what to do if a release doesn't come across cleanly.

What keeps your stream counts

When a new distributor delivers a release that's already in stores, the stores link it to the version they have by matching identifiers and details. The most important is the ISRC, which CD Baby describes as a permanent code assigned to a specific recording that never changes, even if ownership of the recording changes.

Distributors that take transfers all ask for the same thing: the same audio, the same codes and the same details as the version already in stores. TuneCore says matching metadata is what keeps your existing stream counts, playlists and fan saves. CD Baby says that with identical metadata there shouldn't be a change in play counts or playlist inclusion.

Both also say plainly that it isn't guaranteed. CD Baby can't promise every partner will carry over counts or playlist placements, and TuneCore says it's impossible to guarantee every platform will accept the transfer. Matching everything exactly gives you the best chance; it doesn't make the outcome certain.

Before you upload anything: your release record

Fill in one of these for every release you're moving, from your current distributor's dashboard (or ask their support for a list). Start with your most-streamed release. Copy it into a document and fill in the brackets:

The audio matters as much as the codes. TuneCore says the file needs to be precisely the same as your original released version, and a remaster or remix should go out as a new release. If you can't find the exact master you delivered the first time, sort that out before you start.

The order that protects your streams

1. Upload to the new distributor with the same codes and details. Use the release record above, field by field. Enter the original release date and mark the release as previously released where the form asks; TuneCore says that keeps it from appearing as a new release. Where the form asks about each artist, link your existing Spotify and Apple Music profiles rather than creating new ones, or the release can land on a second artist page with none of your followers.
2. Leave the old version live. TuneCore, CD Baby and RouteNote all say not to take anything down until the new version is live.
3. Wait for the stores to link the two versions. RouteNote suggests allowing 3 to 5 business days for linking. TuneCore says its releases take five business days to go live again on average, after a review of 1 to 2 days.
4. Check that it matched. Compare your play counts on the store and in Spotify for Artists against the numbers you noted before. TuneCore says Spotify desktop shows "1 new version" of the release when the new delivery has matched the old one.
5. Only then ask your old distributor to take it down. Use the email below.
6. Check again after the takedown. Look at the counts, your playlists and your old store links once more.

Move one release first and watch it through every step before moving the rest. If something goes wrong, it goes wrong once.

What doesn't move with your music

• Money you've already earned. TuneCore says balances from other distributors aren't transferable. Before you close the old account, ask your old distributor how long it keeps reporting and paying earnings after a takedown, and withdraw what's there.
• Split payments. If collaborators were paid through splits at the old distributor, set them up again at the new one and tell them about the change.
• YouTube Content ID. If both distributors claim the same recording, YouTube treats it as an ownership conflict, and monetization claims on it are typically put on hold until it's resolved. Turn Content ID off at the old distributor before turning it on at the new one.
• Release history that a store removed. CD Baby warns that if a platform removed your content before, delivery might fail. Switching distributors doesn't get around a removal; if that's your situation, read what to do when your music is taken down for artificial streaming first.

The takedown email to send your old distributor

Send it only after you've checked that every release in it has matched. Copy this and fill in the brackets:

If a release doesn't come across cleanly

If you see two versions side by side, or the new version shows a count of zero, don't take the old version down and don't upload a third copy. Write to the new distributor with the release title, the UPC, the ISRCs and links to both versions in the store, and ask them what differs between the two deliveries and whether they can correct it.

A small difference is the usual suspect: a title written differently, a featured artist added or dropped, a different audio file. CD Baby says a redelivery with different metadata can be hidden or even rejected by partner sites, which is why the release record asks for everything exactly as it appears in stores.

If the answer is that the history can't be carried over for that store, you have a choice to make with all the facts: keep the old version live with your old distributor for that release, or accept a fresh start for it. Get that answer in writing before you send the takedown.

Your links during the switch

Every link you've shared to a specific release, in your bio, old posts, a newsletter or a press kit, depends on that release staying where it was. After the switch, open each one and make sure it still leads to the right version. If a link you posted in a dozen places is wrong, that's a dozen fixes.

With a Gatefolded page, your bio, posts and newsletter all point to one page you control. The streaming links for each release live there, so when one needs to change you change it once. Fans can play your music right on the page, and can leave their email, so you can still reach them whichever distributor delivers your music. More on that in how to collect fan emails as a musician.

What to do today

Open your current distributor's dashboard and fill in the release record for your most-streamed release: the UPC, every ISRC, the exact titles and the original release date. Note its play counts today. That one record tells you whether you're ready to move, and it's the first thing your new distributor will ask for.