DistroKid has a good claim to be the biggest music distributor in the world. It says it distributes approximately a third of all new music released around the globe, and that more than 2 million artists rely on its platform.
Now, the company is opening up a new line of business: enabling major and indie record companies to mine its data, and getting paid a finder’s fee each time one of these labels signs a DistroKid artist.
According to DistroKid Founder and CEO Philip Kaplan, this new service, Upstream, meets a need for both artists and labels.
Writing in a blog post today (January 28), Kaplan suggests that many independent artists using DistroKid today want help “getting noticed by labels”.
Meanwhile, says Kaplan, both major and indie labels are telling his company “that the bulk of new artists they sign use DistroKid”, and because of this, “labels often ask us for help finding more artists to sign”.
DistroKid describes Upstream as the “world’s first matchmaking service connecting unsigned artists and record labels”.
Republic Records – home to Ariana Grande, Drake, Post Malone and others – has been named as the first label to participate in the initiative.
The new service is free for DistroKid members and allows artists who opt-in to automatically share their streaming data with approved record labels. Artists can also opt-out at any time.
Kaplan explains that record labels pay “a small finder’s fee to DistroKid when they sign someone”, and that “any fee the label pays to DistroKid won’t affect artist earnings from the label”.
DistroKid says that Upstream does not take any rights or earnings from artists, and there is no obligation to opt-in.
“Upstream is 100% free for artists. Record labels pay a small finders fee to DistroKid when they sign someone. Artists don’t pay anything. Any fee the label pays to DistroKid won’t affect artist earnings from the label. And as always, artists receive 100% of earnings from DistroKid.”
Philip Kaplan, DistroKid
DistroKid has tapped music industry veteran Ché Pope to head the new Upstream initiative.
Pope previously served as A&R at Warner Music, and was COO at Kanye West’s record label, G.O.O.D. Music.
A Grammy Award-winning producer, Pope has also worked with artists such as Lauryn Hill, Eminem, Teddy Riley, Dr. Dre, Hans Zimmer, ASAP Rocky and The Weeknd.
In his role at DistroKid, Pope will work closely with the labels that join Upstream, and act as an advocate for artists who opt-in.
“Record labels have approached us about finding efficient ways to identify talent in the DistroKid community. With demand on both sides, it made sense to play matchmaker.”
Philip Kaplan, DistroKid
“Millions of artists rely on DistroKid and often ask for help getting noticed by record labels,” said DistroKid Founder and CEO, Philip Kaplan.
“And record labels have approached us about finding efficient ways to identify talent in the DistroKid community. With demand on both sides, it made sense to play matchmaker.”
Distrokid’s Upstream interface
Added Kaplan: “And by forming a relationships with the industry’s leading labels, DistroKid artists are able to identify potential partners who can accelerate their careers.
“Ché is a visionary with unparalleled experience & insight as an artist, label exec, and technologist. He will be hugely valuable to Upstream label clients, and his foresight into helping artists get a fair deal is trailblazing. Ché is awesome.”
“I believe this will be a game-changer for both artists and record labels and I couldn’t be happier that a world-class label like Republic Records will be our inaugural partner.”
“Ché Pope
Pope added: “Philip and his team have built DistroKid into a phenomenon that more than 2 million unsigned artists rely on, with thousands more joining every day.
“For those artists who want to be noticed, Upstream provides a powerful way to connect with record labels. For labels, Upstream opens a window into a cache of data that can help identify promising artists early in their career.
“I believe this will be a game-changer for both artists and record labels and I couldn’t be happier that a world-class label like Republic Records will be our inaugural partner.”
“Upstream provides us with artist insights we can combine with existing sources of data and insights to cast an even wider net with respect to identifying great emerging talent.”
Avery Lipman, Founder & President, Republic Records, said: “Republic’s track record of discovering and investing in artists and developing them into global names is unparalleled.
“Upstream provides us with artist insights we can combine with existing sources of data and insights to cast an even wider net with respect to identifying great emerging talent.
“However, data only gets you so far and our success has been based on our unique ability to identify passion and translate that into worldwide creative and commercial success for our artists. We look forward to working with Philip, Ché, and the team at DistroKid to identify a new vanguard of superstars together.”
Spotify made a ‘passive minority investment’ in DistroKid, back in October 2018.
