Routenote distribution?
Moderator: drumsound
- digitaldrummer
- cryogenically thawing
- Posts: 3561
- Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 9:51 pm
- Location: Austin, Texas
- Contact:
Routenote distribution?
anyone have any personal experience with Routenote?
https://routenote.com/
for those that don't know what I'm talking about, they are a music distributor similar to Distrokid. The big difference is they have plans that charge $0 up front and then take 15% of profits. To me that sounds like a good deal for those of us that may not have 1M streams. And you can switch plans later if your stuff blows up. I had used Distrokid in the past, but I could not justify the $20/yr (actually closer to $40 because I had several "bands" on my account) to reap a whopping $0.54 of streaming revenues per year or whatever ridiculous amount it was. And I know others that might want to have their own account.
anyway, I may try it out...
https://routenote.com/
for those that don't know what I'm talking about, they are a music distributor similar to Distrokid. The big difference is they have plans that charge $0 up front and then take 15% of profits. To me that sounds like a good deal for those of us that may not have 1M streams. And you can switch plans later if your stuff blows up. I had used Distrokid in the past, but I could not justify the $20/yr (actually closer to $40 because I had several "bands" on my account) to reap a whopping $0.54 of streaming revenues per year or whatever ridiculous amount it was. And I know others that might want to have their own account.
anyway, I may try it out...
- digitaldrummer
- cryogenically thawing
- Posts: 3561
- Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 9:51 pm
- Location: Austin, Texas
- Contact:
Re: Routenote distribution?
so far I'll just say the website is pretty frustrating. first, it timed out on me while uploading tracks -- no error message, just stopped everything at 99%. I finally clicked "help" and then it gave me a 403 because, basically I was logged out... WTF? (update: I contacted support and got a reply a few days later saying they were aware of it and were working on a fix)
then when trying to process the files, it kept giving errors because the ISRC (which the system provided) were duplicates (i.e., already used). It did this about 6 times and every time it told me which ISRC was invalid, but the number it gave wasn't actually one that I had... So I had to dig through each track and luckily the platform would have a "generate ISRC' button next to the one that was actually invalid (or already in use). WTFF? you would think since they are the one assigning the ISRC in this case, that they could keep track of them?
So I will say so far that I do NOT have great confidence in the ability of this company. But that's why I'm testing it with some old releases of my own vs having a client try it and get pissed off at me for recommending it. definitely a few bugs for them to work out still.
then when trying to process the files, it kept giving errors because the ISRC (which the system provided) were duplicates (i.e., already used). It did this about 6 times and every time it told me which ISRC was invalid, but the number it gave wasn't actually one that I had... So I had to dig through each track and luckily the platform would have a "generate ISRC' button next to the one that was actually invalid (or already in use). WTFF? you would think since they are the one assigning the ISRC in this case, that they could keep track of them?
So I will say so far that I do NOT have great confidence in the ability of this company. But that's why I'm testing it with some old releases of my own vs having a client try it and get pissed off at me for recommending it. definitely a few bugs for them to work out still.
Last edited by digitaldrummer on Tue Sep 27, 2022 4:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- digitaldrummer
- cryogenically thawing
- Posts: 3561
- Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 9:51 pm
- Location: Austin, Texas
- Contact:
Re: Routenote distribution?
finally got a couple projects uploaded and now waiting the review process before they are sent out.
a couple "pros" that I see so far...
1. They can distribute to a lot of places - all the typical and a lot I'd never heard of including more in Europe and Asia. more chances to make $
2. You can go the "free" route, pay nothing up front and if you sell or stream, then they take 15% of your profit. right now I'm Ok with that.
3. I was able to submit tracks under a couple different band names. That would cost 2x, 3x, etc on other distro platforms.
4. you can split profits between multiple writers (pretty normal on other platforms too but you still all have to be on the same platform)
a couple "pros" that I see so far...
1. They can distribute to a lot of places - all the typical and a lot I'd never heard of including more in Europe and Asia. more chances to make $
2. You can go the "free" route, pay nothing up front and if you sell or stream, then they take 15% of your profit. right now I'm Ok with that.
3. I was able to submit tracks under a couple different band names. That would cost 2x, 3x, etc on other distro platforms.
4. you can split profits between multiple writers (pretty normal on other platforms too but you still all have to be on the same platform)
- digitaldrummer
- cryogenically thawing
- Posts: 3561
- Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 9:51 pm
- Location: Austin, Texas
- Contact:
Re: Routenote distribution?
it took about 5 business days for the review and everything got approved first time through. Now waiting for it all to appear in the online stores and streaming (it's starting...), etc so I can watch the $$ roll in.
Re: Routenote distribution?
15% of nothing is still nothing, lol. I’ll have to check this one out, as another person who no longer has a full time markering dept for the band.
- markjazzbassist
- tinnitus
- Posts: 1050
- Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:33 am
- Location: Cleveland
Re: Routenote distribution?
good to know, i've always wondered what these services charged, thanks for posting actual monetary figures.
Re: Routenote distribution?
Thanks for posting your experience with this company. Been reading several accounts of smaller acts very unhappy with Distrokid lately so good to get feedback on other options.
Cubase Pro 12, RME FireFace 800, Adam A7X
- digitaldrummer
- cryogenically thawing
- Posts: 3561
- Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 9:51 pm
- Location: Austin, Texas
- Contact:
Re: Routenote distribution?
I posted some more music recently and everything went pretty smoothly for the upload (no timeouts), etc. The only gotcha was that there was an audio snippet in one of the tracks that was like a news voice. They flagged it and asked for license. I did not have that and was not 100% sure of the source. but I did have all the tracks since I had mixed it. So I just took that audio dialog, chopped it up and then reversed the audio on most of those sections. then it just sounded like gobbledygook (which was OK) and that allowed the track to pass inspection lol. It was then available on all the streaming apps in the matter of a few days. I think I may be up to about $0.54 again but at least I didn't have to pay up front, so it could be an actual profit (if I ever hit the threshold to receive payment).
on the flipside, I placed an order for 100 CDs and sold 40... to the band members...at cost... then gave away a few to additional musicians that played on it. Unfortunately the streaming is still not going to offset this loss (need to sell a few at upcoming shows so I can hope to break even).
on the flipside, I placed an order for 100 CDs and sold 40... to the band members...at cost... then gave away a few to additional musicians that played on it. Unfortunately the streaming is still not going to offset this loss (need to sell a few at upcoming shows so I can hope to break even).
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests