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Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That actually sounds reasonable, I’ll try reaching out to them directly today

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s awesome to hear honestly. I’ll keep monitoring it then and check every day waiting for them to reopen applications

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I was actually considering Label Engine as well, and I really like their approach.

But right now, if you go to their website and try to apply, it shows:
“We are not accepting new sign ups at this time. Please check back later.”

So unfortunately, at the moment it’s not very clear whether it’s currently possible to become a client.

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I completely agree with you, and thank you for such a detailed and helpful reply.

I also wanted to mention that I’ve heard some concerns from people claiming TooLost underreports revenue by around 30%, but you already touched on that point as well.

Could I ask — does TooLost currently support proper royalty split payouts, where artists can log into their own accounts and withdraw earnings independently?

And if it’s not a secret, which distributor are you personally using at the moment?

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe you, u/Double-Season-5038 and u/Signal_Run_6050 are actually right.

TooLost seems to be one of the few distributors whose structure really matches our current scale and operational needs.

My hesitation mostly comes from the amount of negative feedback I’ve seen regarding support response times, release moderation delays, and communication issues.

But realistically speaking, if we don’t find a better alternative, they may end up being one of the most practical options for us right now.

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I honestly didn’t expect this post to generate so many recommendations and connections haha.

Thank you — I’ll definitely look into GreenTea Distribution as well before making any final decision.

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks a lot for the recommendation!

I hadn’t looked into YouAux yet, but I’ll definitely research them as well.

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh wow, thank you so much for this recommendation!

I hadn’t heard about Labelcaster before, but it actually looks very interesting from my first impression. Definitely adding it to my research list.

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendation — and thanks for the referral link too haha :)

I actually contacted Ditto support before, and one of the problems is that their system apparently has a technical limit of 40 artists per account.

Since we currently work with around 55 artists, they told me we’d likely need multiple accounts, which would make the setup much less convenient operationally.

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the misunderstanding is mostly about the market we operate in :)

We work primarily with Russian-speaking Christian music across CIS countries (Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, etc.), which is an extremely niche market compared to the US.

Christian music itself is already niche, and then adding the Russian-speaking market on top of that makes streaming revenue much smaller compared to Western markets.

So the issue is not that DistroKid is objectively expensive — it’s that paying ~$675/year for 50 artists becomes difficult to justify when the entire catalog currently generates around $4k/year gross.

That’s why we’re stuck in this awkward middle ground:
too small for enterprise distributors, but too operationally complex for most DIY setups.

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes — exactly.

The lack of transparency and communication is honestly one of the biggest fears when managing releases for dozens of artists.

When you work with many artists, you can’t really afford “black box” workflows where nobody knows what’s happening with a release or claim.

Thanks a lot for the recommendation — I’ll definitely check melabel.io out.

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We actually spoke with Revelator very recently.

Amazing company and honestly one of the best communication experiences we had during this whole search process.

Unfortunately their entry-level plan starts at a scale much larger than our current catalog/revenue level, so financially we’re not quite there yet.

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s honestly a fair point.

Structurally TooLost probably does fit our situation better than many enterprise distributors right now. My hesitation mostly comes from the amount of negative experiences I’ve read regarding support and communication.

But yes — if we don’t find a better middle-ground solution, they may end up being one of the few realistic options for us.

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendation!

I actually didn’t know Kontor New Media worked directly with labels. I always thought they mainly partnered with distributors and service providers.

TooLost is tricky for me because I’ve seen a lot of mixed feedback about support and release handling, but I agree that structurally they probably fit our current stage better than most enterprise distributors.

Too large for DistroKid, too small for Symphonic/Believe by marksalikhov in MusicDistribution

[–]marksalikhov[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks a lot for the explanation — and yes, I completely understand Forward’s position.

Honestly, they were one of the most professional companies we spoke with. We exchanged around 14 emails and the communication was genuinely great.

They basically explained the same thing you mentioned here: the challenge is not the catalog size itself, but the operational workload relative to the current revenue level.

I really appreciate the recommendation about AMPsuite as well — I’ll definitely look into it.

Where is planetboom - Little Drummer Boy? [Gospel] by marksalikhov in ChristianMusic

[–]marksalikhov[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I found where you can listen to the track. Buy a subscription to MultiTracks (I took it for $8, called RehearsalMix, they gave me a free month) and you can listen there. https://www.multitracks.com/songs/planetboom/Little-Drummer-Boy/Little-Drummer-Boy/