Frequently Asked Questions

Sign up with your email or Google. The first 7 days are free and no card is needed. The setup guide on your dashboard then walks you through five steps: create your artist, add a release (an album, EP or single, with a title and cover), upload your audio, share your release, and turn on your artist page. Nothing is public until you share it.

Yes. Sign in with your email: type it on the sign-in page and tap the link we send you. It works inside Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and other in-app browsers, and the link from your email usually opens in Safari or Chrome, where you stay signed in. Google sign-in is the one thing those in-app browsers block, so we hide the Google button there. If you prefer Google, open Gatefolded in Safari or Chrome first: tap the app's ••• menu and choose "Open in browser", or use the "Copy link" button on the sign-in page and paste it into your browser.

On your dashboard, click "+ Create Release" and give it a title; it is created under the artist you are viewing. Then upload tracks, add a cover and choose your share settings. If you manage more than one artist, open the right artist first.

Yes! On any album page, click "Upload" to select multiple audio files at once. They'll be uploaded and added to your tracklist in the order selected. Drag and drop to reorder tracks after uploading.

MP3, WAV, FLAC, AAC, M4A and OGG. Each file can be up to 500MB, which is enough for a long lossless master. For best results, upload high-quality files: 320kbps MP3 or a lossless format.

There is no fixed storage cap, within fair use for sharing music (see the Terms). Each audio file can be up to 500MB. On a computer, listeners stream the file you uploaded. For WAV or FLAC uploads Gatefolded also makes a 320kbps MP3 copy, and phones and tablets stream that copy, so playback starts quickly over mobile data; other formats stream as you uploaded them everywhere. To stream your original file on every device instead, turn on Always play the original file in the release’s Share Settings. When you allow downloads, listeners can download your original file as well as the MP3.

Gatefolded is your music page, not a list of links. When fans tap your link in bio, they land on your page and actually listen. Full tracks, lyrics, credits, streaming links, tips, all in one place. You can also collect emails directly from visitors, share exclusive content that streaming platforms can't offer, bundle digital extras with vinyl and merch, and share unreleased music privately with labels and press using password protection and email allowlists. $49/year, everything included.

Linktree gives fans a list of buttons: they tap one and leave. Gatefolded is the page itself. Your music plays right there, with lyrics, credits and tip links, and fans can sign up to hear from you. You also get releases only the email addresses you add can open, themes that match your artwork, and real listening analytics, not just click counts. Linktree can show a Spotify preview, but it can't host and play your own audio files, unreleased tracks, lyrics or credits. Its paid plans can put a 4-digit code on a link, but they can't limit a release to the people you choose. Gatefolded is $49/year with everything included, and there is a side-by-side comparison. Start your free 7-day trial, no credit card needed.

Any musician who wants a better link-in-bio. Independent artists who want fans to actually listen (not just click through to Spotify), bands selling vinyl who want to bundle digital extras, producers sharing beat catalogs, and labels sending advance copies to press. If you want one page where fans stay, listen, and connect with you (instead of a list of buttons that sends them somewhere else), Gatefolded is for you.

No, they are the same thing. A release is one album, EP or single, and the dashboard calls them releases. A few places still say "album"; nothing behaves differently either way.

Yes, from MusicBrainz, the open music database. Search for the release, review the match we found, and confirm it. That fills in the title, tracklist, release date and label. It does not bring in audio: MusicBrainz does not hold any, so you upload your own files afterwards. It also does not import artwork, streams, followers, or anything from Spotify or another streaming service. If your release is not in MusicBrainz, enter the details yourself instead. Nothing else changes.

A beautiful, professional music page. Your album artwork, a full tracklist with a built-in player, lyrics, credits, streaming links (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.), social links, and tip buttons (Venmo, PayPal, Cash App). No ads, no algorithmic recommendations for other artists, no account required. They tap play and listen, right there on your page. You can also collect their email with an optional signup form that never blocks listening.

Linktree's free tier gives you a list of links. It can show a Spotify preview, but it can't host and play your own audio files, unreleased tracks, lyrics or credits, and it has no private sharing. Linktree's paid plans add longer analytics history, deeper reports, customization and a 4-digit code lock on links, but still don't host your music or limit a release to the people you choose. Gatefolded gives you everything for $49/year: a real music page with built-in streaming, 7 themes plus custom colors, password protection, email allowlists, email and phone number signups, promo card generator, per-track analytics, and unlimited albums. One price, no tier to upgrade to (see everything included), and a tool that actually understands music. Start your free 7-day trial, no credit card needed.

Absolutely, this is the primary use case. Put your Gatefolded link in your bio and fans land on a real music page instead of a list of buttons. They stream your tracks, read lyrics, see credits, tip you, and you can collect their email. Streaming platforms give you plays but not your listeners' contact info. Gatefolded gives you both. You can also offer exclusive content fans can't get on Spotify (alternate mixes, demos, bonus songs) and bundle digital extras with vinyl or merch.

Create a Gatefolded album with your bonus content (demos, instrumentals, alternate mixes, commentary tracks, anything fans can't get on streaming). Set it up with password protection. Print the password on a card included with your vinyl or merch, or email it to buyers after purchase. Fans enter the password and instantly stream or download their exclusive content. No separate shipping costs, no file hosting hassles, and you can see how often your bonus tracks get played. It's the modern equivalent of the hidden track at the end of a CD.

Yes. This is what Gatefolded was originally built for. Protect a release with a password, or with an invite list so only the email addresses you add can listen. Turn downloads off to make leaks harder. Set the link to expire on a date or after a number of plays for time-sensitive promo copies. You get an alert when someone unlocks the link, and analytics show which tracks were played. Listeners stream in the browser on any device, with your artwork and track list, instead of downloading a ZIP file or opening a Dropbox folder. Start your free 7-day trial, no credit card needed.

Yes! Every artist you create can have a public page at gatefolded.com/artist/your-name (or on your own domain): turn on "Make artist page public" in the artist's settings. It shows every release whose share link is on, plus your bio, photo, and social links. Releases behind a password or an invite list never appear there. It's perfect for your Instagram bio or anywhere you want one link to everything.

Your public artist page displays your artist name, bio, and photo at the top. Below that, visitors see every release whose share link is on, presented as clickable cards, except releases behind a password or an email allowlist: those are for the people you send them to and never appear on your artist page. Your social media links (Instagram, TikTok, X, website) appear as icons. It's a complete hub for fans to discover all your public music.

Yes. Drag and drop releases to reorder them from your dashboard. It works on desktop and mobile. The order you set is reflected on your public artist page.

Yes! Gatefolded has built-in collaboration. As the artist owner, you can invite up to 4 additional members by email. Once they accept, they can create releases, upload tracks and extras, and edit release and track details. Some things stay with the owner: publishing a release, passwords, invite lists and expiry, the rest of a release's Share Settings (downloads, alerts, feedback, email signups and the like), links and themes, moving a release to another artist, managing members, deleting the artist, and seeing subscriber emails, which collaborators can't see. Want to check edits first? Turn on approval. Perfect for bands where everyone contributes to the release process.

Yes! As the artist owner, you can enable "Require approval for member changes" in the Members tab. When enabled, any changes made by collaborators (like editing album details or track titles) will be held for your review. The bell in your dashboard tells you when changes are waiting, and you can approve or reject them. You can also roll back changes if needed. The collaborator gets a notification in their bell when you approve, reject or roll back their change. This gives you final control while still letting your team contribute.

Yes! If you manage multiple artist profiles, you can link them together. Go to your artist profile settings and open the Linked Artists section. Select any of your other artists, and their albums will appear on your public artist page grouped by artist name. Perfect for musicians who play in multiple bands, labels showcasing their roster, or PR firms featuring their clients. One page with everything in one place.

Yes! If you manage multiple artist profiles, you can move albums between them. On the album page, click the artist name to see options: rename the current artist, move the album to another artist you own, or create a new artist for it. Moving a release is up to the owner of the artist it is under; collaborators see Rename only. This is helpful if you started under one name and want to reorganize your catalog.

Yes! Each album has a "Collect Emails" toggle in its Share Settings section. Turn it on and an optional signup form appears on that album's share page. For artist-wide defaults (custom call-to-action text, phone number collection, and form placement), configure the Email / SMS Collection section in your artist profile settings. Each album can override the artist default independently. Submissions are stored in your dashboard where you can view and export them as CSV (who sees them).

They are yours. Only you, the artist's owner, can see them; collaborators can't. Gatefolded never emails your subscribers, never sells or shares their details, and never markets to them. Every signup form tells visitors their details go to you, and that Gatefolded never sells or shares them; signing up is always optional. You can export any artist's list as a CSV from that artist's page. A list above 25,000 subscribers comes as several files of up to 25,000, which together hold every subscriber exactly once. If a fan asks to be taken off, use Remove next to their address; a fan can also email us and we will remove them. Deleting the artist deletes its subscribers.

Open the artist's page in your dashboard, find the address in the Subscribers list, click Remove and confirm. It is deleted from that artist's list straight away. There is no unsubscribe link on the form, so a fan who wants off the list asks you, or emails us and we remove them.

Your artist page, yes: it is listed in our sitemap and carries structured data, so search engines can index it properly. Release pages are not in the sitemap. A public release page can still be found through links to it, such as from your artist page, and a release with a password or invite list is never indexed. Both kinds of page show your cover art and details in link previews on social platforms and in messages. There is nothing to set up.

Gatefolded was founded by Jasen Samford, a working musician who spent a decade as employee #2 at DistroKid, helping build it into the world's largest distributor for independent artists. After years of helping independent artists with distribution, he built Gatefolded to solve what distribution doesn't: a direct channel to fans, and a safe way to share unreleased music. Gatefolded is an independent company based in Seattle. More about us.

File transfer services work, but they're not built for music. With Gatefolded, recipients don't need to download anything. They can stream directly in their browser. You get password protection without sharing clunky folder links, a branded experience with your artwork and track listings, and listeners see a professional album page instead of a generic file list. Plus, you can add streaming links, socials, and tip options all in one place. It's the difference between emailing a ZIP file and sending a polished preview of your work. See Gatefolded vs Google Drive. Start your free 7-day trial, no credit card needed.

Gatefolded works perfectly as a promo companion to streaming platforms. Use it to share music before it's released. Send password-protected links to press, playlist curators, or collaborators for early feedback. Once your music is live, add your Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming links to the same page. Fans get one link that lets them preview tracks and then click through to save on their preferred platform. It's your complete pre-release and post-release hub in one place.

For listening, yes. Gatefolded is a great fit for streaming your full tracks on a page you control: no account required, no ads, no algorithmic recommendations pushing other artists. But it doesn't sell downloads or merch directly, because there is no checkout. For income, add Venmo, PayPal or Cash App tip links (no fees from Gatefolded) and a custom link to your Bandcamp or Shopify store for sales. For vinyl buyers, a password-protected release makes a digital bonus. See Gatefolded vs Bandcamp.

No. Anyone with your share link can listen immediately. No sign-up, no app download, no subscription. If you've enabled password protection or email allowlist, they'll just need to enter those credentials. The listening experience is completely frictionless for your audience.

When you enable password protection on an album, anyone who visits your share link will need to enter the password before they can listen. You set the password, and you can change it anytime. Changing it immediately locks out anyone who had already entered the old one, so a new password is a way to cut off access, not just a way to hand out a different code. Otherwise an unlock lasts up to seven days; to end them all now without changing the password, use Sign everyone out under Access Control. After saving, you'll see the password displayed once with a copy button. Save it somewhere safe since you won't be able to view it again (for security, passwords are hashed, not stored). Great for sharing with a select group of people.

The email allowlist lets you restrict access to specific email addresses. When enabled, visitors must enter their email and verify it with a one-time code sent to their inbox. Only emails on your allowlist will be granted access. Taking an address off the list takes effect straight away, including for someone who had already verified and started listening. This gives you precise control over who can hear your music.

Absolutely. You can enable or disable downloads on a per-album basis. When downloads are disabled, the download button is hidden and listeners can only stream your music, which makes leaks harder. Anything that plays in a browser can still be captured by someone determined, so downloads off is a deterrent, not a lock. When enabled, they'll see a download button for each track.

Yes. A link can expire on a date or after a number of plays; either way, visitors then see a message that the link is no longer active. Presets are 1, 7, 30 and 90 days, or pick any date. A play limit counts every play the release has had, including ones before you set it, so choose a number above the current count; the settings show it.

Yes! You can enable recipient feedback on any album. When enabled, listeners can leave their name, email (optional), and comments after listening. On a release with a password or invite list, the form appears only once a listener has unlocked it. You'll see the latest feedback in that album's Share Settings. Great for gathering reactions from collaborators, labels, or press before release.

Yes. On an invite-only (allowlist) release, visitors who aren't on the list can ask for access from that release's page. They submit their name and email, and you'll see pending requests in your dashboard under the "Requests" tab. Approve to add them to your allowlist, or deny to reject. You can also pre-approve emails before they even request by adding them to your allowlist in advance.

Yes. On a release protected by a password or an invite list, turn on "Hide Details Until Access Granted" in its share settings. Until someone unlocks it, visitors see a locked placeholder instead of your cover, and no release title, track titles or artist name, and link previews show only "Private release".

Yes! Instead of a random token, you can set a custom slug for your share link like gatefolded.com/s/my-album-name. This makes links more memorable and professional when sharing with press or on social media.

Yes. Once a release is published, open Promote in the dashboard menu and pick the release, or click the QR code button next to your share link, then download it.

It adds a Share button to a release page for the people you send it to. It only matters for a release that is neither protected nor listed on your public artist page: a release on your artist page always offers sharing, and one behind a password, an invite list, an expiry date or a play limit never does, because passing that link on would defeat the protection. It is off unless you turn it on.

Published means the share link is switched on, so anyone who has the link can open the page. Private (or "not published") means the link is off and only you can see it. Publishing is a choice you save; it is not the same as the page being reachable, which also needs your subscription to be active. Password protection, email allowlists and expiry sit on top of a published link and narrow who can get in.

Use the Share link switch at the bottom of the release's page. The first time, you are asked to confirm you have the rights to share the music. Turning it off stops the link opening straight away.

Yes! Each track has a hide/show toggle (the eye icon) in your dashboard. Hidden tracks stay in your tracklist for your own reference but are completely removed from the public share page. This is useful for works-in-progress, bonus tracks you're not ready to share yet, or instrumentals you only want certain people to hear. Hidden tracks can still be managed, edited, and reordered from your dashboard; they just won't appear to visitors.

Yes! Each track has independent visibility toggles for lyrics, credits, notes, and extras. When you open the editor for any of these fields, you'll see a toggle to show or hide that content on the share page. For example, you might want to share lyrics for some tracks but not others, or hide credits while keeping notes visible. The content is preserved in your dashboard either way; toggling visibility only affects what visitors see on your public share page.

Track extras let you attach additional content to individual tracks: things like sheet music, chord charts, guitar tabs, lyric PDFs, behind-the-scenes photos, or links to tutorial videos. Listeners see these displayed right below each track on your share page. It's a way to give fans more context and value beyond the audio itself.

You can upload PDF, JPG, or PNG files, up to 10MB each. You can also add external links with custom labels, great for linking to YouTube tutorials, lyric sites, or anything else you want listeners to find alongside a track.

Up to 3 extras per track. Each extra can be either a file upload or an external link. Mix and match however you like: for example, a chord chart PDF, a behind-the-scenes photo, and a link to a tutorial video.

Yes. File extras (PDFs, images) are accessible to anyone who can view the share page. Files are served through secure, private URLs, and they're not publicly indexed or discoverable outside your share page.

A showcase is a page type that features multiple artists on a single shareable link. Each artist gets their own section with a photo, bio, and tracks, and one page-level player plays continuously from the top of the page to the bottom. It's built for newsletter editions, label samplers, artists-to-watch roundups, and PR rosters: anytime your link is about a lineup, not a single release. You'll find it in the Showcases tab of your dashboard.

An album page is about one release: one artist, one tracklist, one link. A showcase is about several artists at once. Each gets a self-contained section (photo, bio, tracks) stacked on a single page, and the player flows across every section continuously. Use an album page to promote your own music; use a showcase when you're curating or featuring multiple artists in one place.

Go to the Showcases tab in your dashboard and click to create a new one. Give it a title, then add a section for each artist: upload a photo, write a bio, add their tracks, and optionally a Spotify link. Pick a theme, add an optional contact / licensing CTA for the footer, confirm you have the rights to share the music, and flip the share toggle on. Copy the link and you're ready to send it.

Yes. Showcase sections are self-contained: you type the artist name and bio and upload their photo and audio directly into the section. The featured artists don't need their own Gatefolded accounts. You just need the rights to share the music. This is what makes showcases work for newsletters, label samplers, and PR rosters.

Yes. A showcase has one player for the whole page, and it plays continuously across sections. A listener can hit play on the first artist and let the entire edition run (through every artist and every track) while they keep scrolling or switch tabs. It plays like a curated mixtape rather than a list of separate links.

Yes. Because every track plays through Gatefolded, you get listening analytics per artist: plays and listeners, broken out by section. When you send a sampler, you can see which artists actually got listened to, not just whether the link was clicked.

Yes. Each showcase has a duplicate-for-next-edition action that clones it (theme, layout, CTA, and structure) into a fresh draft. Set up the format once, then duplicate it each period and swap in the new lineup. Perfect for a monthly featured-artist newsletter or a recurring label sampler.

Because a showcase often publishes other people's music, the share toggle is gated behind a rights confirmation. You confirm you're cleared to share the music before the page can go live, and turning rights confirmation off also takes the page offline. It's a deliberate step so featuring multiple artists stays on the right side of permissions.

Yes. Showcases support the same seven themes as album pages, so you can match the tone of the edition. You can also add an optional contact / licensing CTA that appears at the bottom of the page. Point it at your inbox for licensing inquiries, bookings, or a reply-to for the newsletter.

Yes! Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Bandcamp and SoundCloud each have their own field, and appear as buttons on your share page, making it easy for fans to listen on their preferred platform. For any other service, such as Tidal, Amazon Music or Deezer, add a custom link and it appears alongside them. Your artist page has its own set of links.

Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter) and your personal website each have their own field. For anything else, such as YouTube, Facebook, Threads or Bluesky, add a custom link. These appear alongside your streaming links, giving fans a single place to connect with you everywhere.

Yes! In addition to the built-in streaming and social links, you can add custom links to any album. Click "Add Custom Link" in the Links section to add any URL with a custom label. Great for linking to your merch store, music videos, press kit, or any other page you want to share.

Yes! You can add your Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App handles to your album pages and your artist page. Fans will see support buttons and can tip you directly without any platform fees from Gatefolded.

Yes! Use the "Add Custom Link" feature in the Links section of any album to add links to your Bandcamp merch page, Shopify store, Big Cartel, Etsy, or any other URL. Give each link a custom label like "Buy Vinyl" or "Merch Store" and it will appear alongside your streaming and social links on the share page. You can add up to 20 custom links per album.

Not directly. Gatefolded has no checkout. Fans can tip you through Venmo, PayPal or Cash App with no Gatefolded fees, and you can add custom links to your Bandcamp, Shopify, Big Cartel or other store. For physical sales, the password-bundle workflow lets vinyl or merch buyers unlock exclusive digital extras.

Yes. A release page gives press full-track streaming, artwork, credits, lyrics and your links in one place. Protect it with a password or invite list, turn downloads off, and get an alert when a writer unlocks it. Add a press photo or one-sheet PDF as a track extra, and link your full press kit with a custom link. Your YouTube and Vimeo videos go on your artist page, not on the release page. More in our EPK guide.

Yes. Paste a YouTube or Vimeo link into the Videos field of your artist page settings. Gatefolded does not host video, so there are no uploads. You can add up to 6, and the first is your featured video, shown larger above the rest. Visitors see a thumbnail served from Gatefolded, and the YouTube or Vimeo player loads only when they press play, so neither service gets a request from your page before then. Videos appear on your artist page only, not on release pages or showcases. A video is only as private as its own setting: anyone with the link can watch an unlisted YouTube video, private YouTube videos can't be embedded, and paid Vimeo plans can limit embedding to chosen domains.

Create your artist, add a release and upload your audio. Add your streaming, social and custom links, including anything you had on Linktree. Turn on your artist page, then swap the link in your Instagram and TikTok bio for gatefolded.com/artist/your-name or your own domain. It all fits inside the 7-day free trial. Start your free 7-day trial, no credit card needed.

No. Gatefolded is not a distributor. We don't submit your music to streaming platforms on your behalf. What we do is give you a direct-to-fan music page where fans actually listen, plus tools for private sharing, access control, and fan engagement that distributors and streaming platforms don't offer. If you need distribution, services like DistroKid, TuneCore, or CD Baby handle that. Once your music is live on streaming platforms, you can add those links to your Gatefolded page so fans can find you everywhere from one place.

Distribution is a solved problem: there are plenty of good services that get your music onto Spotify and Apple Music. What's not solved is what happens after. Streaming platforms don't give you your listeners' contact info, don't let you offer exclusive content, and don't let you control the experience. Gatefolded focuses entirely on the direct-to-fan relationship: owning your audience, sharing exclusive content, collecting emails, and giving fans a reason to come to you instead of just streaming your tracks alongside algorithmic recommendations for other artists.

They're complementary. Your distributor (DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby, etc.) gets your music onto streaming platforms. Gatefolded gives you a direct channel with your fans that those platforms can't provide. Use your distributor to get on Spotify and Apple Music for discovery. Use Gatefolded as your link-in-bio so fans land on your page, where they stream your tracks, see lyrics and credits, tip you, and sign up for your email list. You can also offer exclusive content on Gatefolded (demos, alternate mixes, bonus tracks) that isn't available on streaming platforms, giving fans a reason to engage with you directly.

Yes, this is a great workflow. Upload your album to Gatefolded first and share it privately with press, playlist curators, or collaborators using password protection and email allowlists. Collect feedback before the public release. Once your distributor delivers the album to streaming platforms, add your Spotify, Apple Music, and other links to the same Gatefolded page. Your pre-release hub becomes your permanent fan page with zero extra work.

Distributors get your music onto platforms. Streaming platforms let people listen. Neither gives you: direct email collection from listeners, password-protected private sharing, exclusive content only your fans can access, per-track analytics showing how much of each song people actually listen to, alerts the moment someone unlocks a password- or invite-protected link, fan tipping with zero platform fees, bundling digital extras with vinyl or merch, or a branded page you fully control with no ads or algorithmic recommendations. Gatefolded handles all of that.

No. Plays on Gatefolded happen on your page, not on Spotify or Apple Music, so they don't count toward streaming numbers or earn streaming royalties. Gatefolded is for the direct relationship: fans who actually listen, their email addresses, and tips that go straight to you. Your streaming links sit on the same page, so fans who want to add you to their library can do that too.

No pre-saves. Your release page does the job of a smart link, with all your streaming links in one place, and fans can hear the full track before they click away. For pre-release, share the music privately with press and curators, then add streaming links on release day.

Gatefolded costs $49 per year with unlimited artist profiles, unlimited releases, and unlimited tracks. No add-ons. See the pricing page for everything included. Start your free 7-day trial, no credit card needed.

No. Gatefolded is $49 a year, which works out to about $4 a month, with everything included and no tiers. Try it free for 7 days first, no credit card needed.

No. Gatefolded is $49 a year with everything included: unlimited artist profiles, releases and tracks, no tiers and no add-ons. Share with as many listeners as you want; the price stays the same. Tips go straight to your Venmo, PayPal or Cash App with no Gatefolded fees. Start your free 7-day trial, no credit card needed.

Yes. Every new account gets a 7-day free trial with every feature, and no credit card is needed to start. We email you a reminder a day or two before it ends. If you haven't subscribed by then, nothing is deleted for 30 days, and subscribing brings everything back on the same links, so a link already in your bio starts working again. In the meantime your pages are offline: anyone opening your links sees a page-not-found, and you can no longer edit. After 30 days, an account that never subscribed is deleted along with its files.

Everything, on one plan: unlimited artist profiles (invite up to 4 collaborators per artist), unlimited releases and tracks, MusicBrainz import, linked artists, per-track extras, custom theme builder plus 7 presets, promo card generator, analytics with real-time unlock alerts, password protection, email allowlist with one-time-code verification, download controls, share link expiration, recipient feedback collection, email and phone number signups from fans, showcases, custom domains, retargeting pixels and artist intake portals. See the full breakdown at gatefolded.com/pricing.

Yes! Every Gatefolded subscription includes unlimited artist profiles at no extra cost. Create as many as you need; each profile gets its own page, albums, and settings. Perfect for managing multiple bands, solo projects, or aliases.

Yes, you can cancel your subscription at any time. Your account will remain active until the end of your current billing period, and you'll never be charged again after canceling. We don't refund partial periods, except where the law requires it (see the Terms). Here is what happens to your music after that.

Yes, and it pays. Every account has a unique invite link you can share with other musicians (find it in Settings under "Invite Friends," or use the banner on your dashboard). When someone subscribes using your link, you earn $5 in account credit and they get 10% off their first year. The credit is applied automatically to your next renewal, so referrals can add up to a free year or more. There's no limit on how many people you can refer.

Your $5 reward is credited after the person you referred completes their first paid subscription, not just when they sign up for a trial. It's added as account credit that automatically comes off your next renewal invoice (refer 10 people who subscribe and your next year is effectively free). You can track how many friends have joined and your total credit earned in Settings under "Invite Friends." If the person you referred is given a full refund (see Can I cancel anytime?) within 30 days of your credit being issued, that credit is reversed.

Gatefolded tracks three main metrics for your shared music: page views (when someone visits your share link), plays (when someone starts listening to a track), and downloads (when someone downloads a track). These counts are anonymous: we don't store listeners' names or IP addresses. (Separately, when someone unlocks an invite-only release, the access log shows the email address they verified.) To count unique visitors without storing addresses, we use a one-way hash, and each visitor is counted only once per day per action to give you accurate engagement numbers.

Your analytics dashboard shows total plays, views, and downloads across all your music, plus a breakdown by artist and album. You can filter by time period: 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, or all time, and all time really does mean all time, with no hidden cut-off. Each album page also shows its individual stats so you can see exactly how each project is performing.

The player records when a listener plays, pauses, seeks, skips and finishes a track, with the position in the track. A release's analytics use this to show how far into each track people listened and where they stopped, so you can see which tracks hold attention.

Yes. On the analytics page, select an album from the dropdown and click "CSV" or "JSON". The export covers daily statistics (views, plays, downloads, unique visitors) and per-track breakdowns for that album across the range you picked. If that range holds more than 100,000 events it refuses and asks you to pick a shorter one: a partial file that looked complete would be worse than none. Good for reporting to labels, tracking a promo campaign, or keeping your own records.

Yes! Each album's share settings page shows a "Recent Access" log. This displays when someone unlocked your share via password or email verification. For email allowlist access, you'll see the verified email address. For password unlocks, you'll see that someone entered the correct password and when. Listening stats are per track and aren't tied to a person.

When you enable "Real-time Alerts" for an album, you'll see a pop-up in your dashboard within about 30 seconds whenever someone unlocks that release's password- or invite-protected link, while you have the dashboard open. Great for knowing when a label A&R or press contact opens your submission. Links with no password or invite list don't send alerts. You can enable this per-album in the share settings under "Notifications."

Email notifications send you an email when someone unlocks your protected share, which is good if you're away from the dashboard. Real-time alerts show a pop-up within about 30 seconds while you're browsing your dashboard. Both fire when a password is entered or an invite code is verified, not on every play. You can enable both, either, or neither depending on your preference.

Yes! Each album has its own notification settings in the Share Settings > Notifications section. You can enable email notifications and/or real-time alerts independently for each album. This is useful when you want to closely monitor a new release while keeping older albums quieter.

Only who you let in. Your music is private by default: nobody can reach it until you share it. A password or an email allowlist limits a page to particular people; a plain share link opens for anyone who has it; your artist page and showcases are meant to be found. Gatefolded doesn't listen to or use your music. A few named administrators can reach account content to handle support requests and abuse reports, and providers store and serve your files on our behalf. The Privacy Policy has the details.

Yes. You own 100% of your music, and Gatefolded claims no rights to it. You can delete a track, release, artist or your whole account at any time: it leaves your account and your pages straight away, and no new links to it are handed out. A link a listener already opened keeps working until it runs out on its own, up to about an hour. We don't promise the stored file is wiped the moment you press delete, and there is no undo, so keep your own copies.

Yes. Our Terms of Service explicitly state that you retain all ownership rights to any content you upload. We only have a limited license to host and serve your files to the people you authorize. Nothing more. You can review the full terms at gatefolded.com/terms.

No. We never sell or license your music, or hand it to anyone to use for their own ends. Our Terms give us a limited license to store, process and display it only to run the service, so it isn't used for AI training or our own marketing. Running the service does mean providers store and process your files on our behalf, and the Privacy Policy sets out the narrow cases, such as a legal request, where we might have to disclose data. Who can listen depends on what you publish: a password or an email allowlist limits a page to particular people; an ordinary share link works for anyone holding it and can be forwarded; your public artist page is listed for search engines; a showcase is made to be opened by whoever receives it. Nothing you haven't published goes into a public catalog or discovery feed.

Your account stays active until the end of the period you've paid for. After that your pages go offline, but everything is kept for at least 30 days in case you resubscribe. Then a daily cleanup job deletes the account and its files. It works in batches, so deletion happens on one of the daily runs after day 30, not on the dot. You can also delete your account yourself in Settings at any time.

No. We will never use your music, artist name, or artwork in any marketing or promotional materials without your explicit written permission. Your content is yours alone.

Turning downloads off removes the download buttons and the download-all ZIP, so there is no supported way to save the files from the page. Audio is streamed through short-lived signed URLs rather than a permanent public address, so there is no stable file link to pass around. Hiding playback stops new playback links being issued, but a link already handed out cannot be recalled and keeps working, for whoever has it, for up to about an hour. Be realistic about the ceiling, though: anything a person is allowed to hear, a determined person can capture; no streaming platform anywhere solves that. Disabled downloads stop casual copying; passwords, email allowlists and expiring links are what actually narrow who gets to hear it at all.

Your music is private by default, and nothing is published on your behalf. You decide who can hear it: a password or an email allowlist limits a page to particular people, while an ordinary share link, your artist page and a showcase open for whoever receives or finds them. Switch sharing off and the page stops opening and no new media links are issued; a link someone already loaded cannot be recalled and runs out on its own, up to about an hour later. Switch it back on and earlier listeners must unlock it again. Connections are encrypted, passwords are hashed, and audio is reached through expiring links. Providers store and process your files on our behalf. You keep ownership of everything you upload; our Terms give us only a limited license to operate the service. The Terms and Privacy Policy are the authoritative version of all of this.

Every public artist page and share page has a "Report" button at the bottom. Click it to report content that violates our terms, including copyright infringement, illegal content, or spam. Select the reason for your report and submit. Our team reviews all reports and takes action as needed. If you believe your copyrighted work is being shared without permission, please include details about the original work in your report.

Yes! Gatefolded offers 7 preset color themes (Dark, Light, Warm, Cool, Minimal, Bold, and Vintage) plus a custom theme builder. With custom themes, you can pick your own background, accent, and text colors using color pickers or an eyedropper tool that extracts colors directly from your album artwork. The system also automatically generates a color palette from your cover art that you can click to apply.

Yes, and you keep the domain. In your artist page settings, open the Custom Domain card and enter the domain, ideally a subdomain like music.yourdomain.com, which works with every registrar. Add the DNS record it shows at your registrar: a CNAME pointing to cname.vercel-dns.com for a subdomain, or an A record pointing to 76.76.21.21 for a bare domain (yourdomain.com). Wait a few minutes, then click Verify Domain, which checks that the record reaches Gatefolded and tells you what it finds if not. Your artist page then loads at your domain with HTTPS, and so do your releases; the share links and QR codes you make use your domain while it is working. We check the domain every six hours; if it stops pointing at Gatefolded we email you and add a notification to the bell in your dashboard, and do the same when it is back.

No. Gatefolded is not a domain registrar. You bring your own domain, purchased from any registrar (Namecheap, Squarespace Domains, Cloudflare, GoDaddy, etc.). You just point it at Gatefolded with one DNS record. This means you keep full ownership and control of your domain. If you ever leave Gatefolded, your domain stays with you.

Yes. SSL certificates are provisioned and renewed automatically. Once your domain is verified, it serves over HTTPS with no extra configuration. Your visitors get a secure HTTPS connection.

Yes, on share pages. Press spacebar (or K) to play or pause, the left and right arrows to jump back or forward 5 seconds, and the up and down arrows for the previous or next track. J and L jump 10 seconds, and S turns shuffle on or off. Volume has no shortcut, and the track players in your dashboard don't use these keys.

In Settings, click "Delete Account", type the confirmation phrase and confirm. Your artists, releases, tracks, analytics and subscriber lists go, and your pages stop working; releases and tracks you added to someone else's artist move to its owner. The account is deleted before any file is touched; if that fails, your releases and files are left untouched and you can try again. Then your uploaded audio, artwork and extras are removed from storage, except a file another account still uses (Add Existing), which stays with that release. Anything not removed is queued, and a nightly cleanup removes it. There is no undo, so hold the originals: "Download originals" on each release is a ZIP of its audio and artwork. "Export your data" is JSON without audio or artwork, with only your 10,000 most recent notifications and analytics events, or fewer. Subscriber lists download as CSV from each artist's page.

Yes! Gatefolded works as a Progressive Web App (PWA) for a faster, app-like experience. On iPhone, open gatefolded.com in Safari, tap the Share button, then "Add to Home Screen." On Android, tap the browser menu and select "Install app" or "Add to Home Screen." You'll get a full-screen experience, faster loading, and easy access from your home screen.

Yes. In Settings, under Preferences, choose an Appearance: System follows your device's light or dark setting, and Light or Dark keeps the dashboard that way. The choice is saved in the browser you make it in, so set it in each browser you use. It changes your dashboard only; your public pages keep the themes you picked for them.

Yes! On any album page, click "Add Existing" to browse tracks from your other albums. You can search by track title, album, or artist, select individual tracks or entire albums at once, and add them all at once. The imported tracks reference the same audio files so nothing is re-uploaded. It's instant. This is perfect for creating compilations, best-of collections, or curated playlists from your existing catalog. You can import up to 50 tracks at a time.

Yes! Each track has optional fields for professional metadata including ISRC code, composer, publisher, and PRO (Performance Rights Organization) affiliation. At the album level, you can add a UPC/barcode, catalog number, record label, and copyright info. This metadata is useful for keeping your releases organized and can be included when sharing with labels or distributors. Open a track's menu and choose "Professional metadata" to edit these fields.

Yes! You can set one album as your "Featured Album" on your public artist page. The featured album appears larger and more prominently at the top of your album list, perfect for highlighting a new release or your most important project. Just click the star icon on any album to make it featured.

Yes, as separate downloads, each with limits. "Export your data" in Settings is a JSON file of your profile, artists, releases, tracks, notifications and analytics. Your profile, artists, releases and tracks are included in full; notifications and analytics stop at your 10,000 most recent, analytics sooner if needed to keep the file under 4 MB. The file says how many of each it holds and flags anything cut short, and if a read fails you get an error and no file rather than a partial one. It has no audio, no artwork and no subscribers. For those: "Download originals" on each release's page (audio exactly as uploaded, artwork at display size, one ZIP); each artist's subscriber CSV from the artist's page; and each release's full analytics as CSV or JSON from its Analytics page. Before deleting an account, get all of them and make sure you hold your own masters.

Promo cards are graphics for promoting a release on social media. Open Promote in the dashboard menu and pick a release; it needs a cover, and it does not need to be published yet. A published release's page also has a "Promo Card" button. Pick one of 6 card templates (Dark, Light, Warm, Cool, Minimal, Bold; these are separate from the 7 themes for your pages), choose Story (9:16) or Square (1:1), and add badge text such as "Out Now", up to 8 streaming icons (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Tidal, Deezer, Amazon Music, SoundCloud, Bandcamp), an optional release date, a background image and a font style. The preview updates as you edit; export it as a PNG for Instagram, TikTok, X or anywhere else.

Yes! When downloads are enabled on an album share page, and the release has more than one track with audio, listeners can click "Download All" to get all tracks bundled into a single ZIP file. This is much faster than downloading tracks one by one, especially for albums with many songs. The ZIP file is named after your album and contains all tracks in their original format. A release with a single track shows no Download All button; use the download on the track itself instead.

When you download tracks on an iPhone or iPad, Gatefolded uses the native iOS Share Sheet, giving you the option to "Save to Files" directly. This lets you choose exactly where to save your music: iCloud Drive, your device, or any connected cloud storage. Much better than the default browser download behavior that buries files in a hard-to-find location.

Yes: Meta (Facebook/Instagram) Pixel, TikTok Pixel and Google Ads/GA4 tags. In your artist page settings, open "Advanced: ad tracking pixels", enter your IDs and save. They load on your artist page and release pages for visitors who have accepted cookies and, on a password- or invite-protected release, only once they are through the gate. They then send PageView, Play, Complete Listening, Download and Email Signup events, so you can measure ads and build audiences. Yours are the only advertising tags that ever run on a share page: Gatefolded's own do not load there at all.

PageView (a visit), Play (a track starts), CompleteListening (a track finishes), Download, and EmailSignup (a fan subscribes). They go to Meta, TikTok and Google at once, and only to the pixel IDs you set, never to Gatefolded's own ad accounts. None fire unless your pixels loaded for that visitor, so someone who declined cookies or is still on a locked page sends none. One to note: a visitor can subscribe from a locked page; the signup reaches your subscriber list but no ad platform.

No. Your pixels load only when two things are true: the visitor is through the gate (password entered or email verified) and has accepted cookies. While a page is locked, none of your pixel scripts are loaded, so nothing about that visit, including the page's address, reaches your Meta, TikTok or Google accounts. "Hide Details Until Access Granted" only controls what visitors see and has nothing to do with the pixels. Gatefolded's own advertising tags (Google, Meta) do not load on a share page at all, locked or open. Neither kind of tag loads before someone accepts. Protected share pages are also kept out of search results. The trade-off: locked-page views, and visitors who decline cookies, won't appear in your ad numbers.

Artist intake lets sync licensing agencies, labels, and music supervisors collect tracks and metadata from artists through a single branded form. Instead of juggling Google Forms and Dropbox links, artists fill out one form with their writer info (legal name, PRO affiliation, IPI number, publisher) and upload audio files, all in one place. Submissions go to a review dashboard where your team can listen, organize, and export everything. It is built for anyone who receives music submissions: sync agencies, music supervisors, labels, publishers, playlist curators. If you are currently running that on some combination of Google Forms, Dropbox, email attachments and WeTransfer, intake replaces the whole stack with one workflow.

Turn on Intake portals in Settings, then open Intake in your dashboard and create a portal: give it a name, slug, and notification emails. You get a branded submission page (e.g., gatefolded.com/intake/your-company). Share that link with artists. They fill in their writer/rights holder info once, then add as many tracks as they want, each with a song title and audio file (WAV or MP3). Audio is required by default; to accept submissions without files, edit the portal and turn off Require audio upload. When they submit, your team gets an email notification. You review submissions in the admin dashboard: listen to tracks in-browser, see all metadata at a glance, mark submissions as reviewed/approved/needs info, and export everything as CSV or JSON for import into DISCO or other catalog tools.

Yes. The admin dashboard includes CSV and JSON export. The CSV format is structured with one row per track, with columns matching common catalog import fields: song title, artist name, legal name, email, PRO affiliation, IPI number, publisher, and filename. This makes it easy to import directly into DISCO (disco.ac) or similar sync catalog management platforms.

WAV and MP3. These are the standard formats used in sync licensing. Files up to 100MB are supported. Artists upload directly to secure cloud storage, and your team can stream submissions in-browser without downloading anything.

Yes. The submission form is designed for multi-track submissions. Artists fill in their writer info (legal name, PRO, IPI, publisher, etc.) once at the top, then add as many tracks as they need, each with its own song title and audio file. Common info is shared across tracks to avoid redundant data entry.

Yes! Each portal supports custom form fields beyond the default writer info. Add text inputs, text areas, dropdowns, email fields, or checkboxes. Set each field as required or optional, add placeholder text, and define dropdown options. Custom fields appear on the submission form and their responses are included in your exports. Great for collecting genre tags, mood descriptions, usage rights, or any other info your workflow needs.

Yes! Each portal can be customized with a theme (Default, Dark, Warm, or Cool), an accent color, a font choice (System Default, Sans Serif, Serif, or Monospace), and your company logo. These settings are configured in the portal editor from your dashboard under "Intake Portals." Your branding shows up on the submission page artists see.