Music distro giant TuneCore, one of the world’s biggest revenue generators for DIY artists, has shifted to annual subscription plans with ‘Unlimited Plans’.
The shift, effective immediately, will allow artists and labels to distribute an unlimited number of songs and albums per year for one flat fee. TuneCore is now offering multiple annual subscription plans tailored to artists in varying stages of their careers.
The transition serves as a major upgrade to TuneCore’s long-running DIY music distribution offering. TuneCore says its move to a subscription-based unlimited model will give artists the freedom to create more music, while affording the flexibility to experiment with new release strategies.
Under the new model, artists will still receive 100% of their revenue from 150+ digital stores. Additionally, the company emphasized that its worldwide reach, dedicated artist support team, suite of publishing tools, and content review and rights specialists will remain part of the core offering.
From early-stage artists looking to share music on social platforms, to professional labels and producers seeking advanced distribution and management, TuneCore offers access to 150+ digital music stores in over 200 countries. Earlier this year, TuneCore joined forces with DMN to further expand the company’s impact on DIY artists.
TuneCore’s transition to an annual subscription platform offers different perks across a number of different tiers.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the new pricing plans.
The New Artist Plan is free and designed to kickstart music careers via social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. With this plan, creators can set up an Official YouTube Artist Channel and add YouTube Content IDs to their releases. The New Artist Plan is a free annual subscription and pays out 80% of earnings to artists.
The Rising Artists Plan offers one of the most affordable and competitive distribution options available to music creators. At $14.99 per year for Unlimited Releases, new artists can take advantage of TuneCore Rewards programming to boost industry knowledge and receive guidance on the release of new tracks. The Rising Artists Plan adds to the perks offered within the free tier, while also allowing musicians to pre-schedule release dates and receive instant Apple, Spotify, and YouTube verification.
The Breakout Artist Plan facilitates Unlimited Releases to digital stores and social platforms. A flat annual fee of $29.99 buys a complete distribution suite — including advanced features to customize releases, access to cover art creator tools, a ‘Store Automator,’ and daily trend reports.
TuneCore’s Professional Plan is tailored to meet the distribution demands of labels, music managers, and collaborative artists. At $49.99 per year, TuneCore’s premium plan offers every perk found within the lower plans, along with the option to add additional primary artists (at $14.99/year per artist). It also offers access to pro panels and expert advice sessions, promotional opportunities, exclusive partnerships and priority-level artist support response within 24 hours.
TuneCore’s subscription tiers
TuneCore emphasized that artists and labels will continue to keep 100% of their revenues from digital stores with Rising, Breakout, and Professional plans.
The company further noted that all of its plans are focused on amplifying artist releases and augmenting exposure. Alongside the announcement, TuneCore is also partnering with a range of DSPs and platforms to maximize the discoverability of music by listeners worldwide.
Beyond its bread-and-butter distribution, TuneCore also continues to facilitate sync licensing, copyright protection, and monetization services across all platforms. On the sync side, that includes strategically pitching music for placements. Streaming reporting and analytics are also bundled into the various plans.
The platform’s transition to annual subscription plans will not impact current releases and distribution for existing TuneCore users.
That includes the collection of publishing royalties on compositions currently being distributed via the platform. TuneCore artists will also continue to maintain control over how they receive payments from the sale and use of their compositions around the world.
Launched in 2006, TuneCore was one of the first services to allow creators to release music on digital stores independently. TuneCore gave artists unprecedented access to fans and digital markets by offering a cost-effective way to release music. That eliminated the middleman for DIY artists, and dramatically reduced the barriers of entry that had previously existed in the music industry.
“With all of these changes, one thing stays the same — TuneCore will never waiver from putting artists first and with each update to our service, we will keep our artists’ needs front of mind,” said Andreea Gleeson, CEO of TuneCore. “Ultimately, we’re here to help them make their music better, and help them become better known.”
TuneCore is owned by Believe.
Also bolstering the subscription rollout is the rapper Papoose, a longtime TuneCore artist.
“Anyone who has followed my career closely would know that I believe in giving as much control to the artist as possible,” Papoose relayed. “This is done by allowing the artist to create what they want and to release music when they please. It is exciting to see that TuneCore values its artists enough to give them the freedom of consistent creation and I truly believe that this will change the face of the music industry. TuneCore has always been the best distributor and now everyone can afford it.”