Free music distribution: who is free and what they keep
Free distributors charge nothing up front and keep a share of your money instead. RouteNote Free keeps 15% and anyone can sign up. ONErpm has no fees and keeps a share. AWAL has no fees and keeps 15%, but only takes artists it accepts. Amuse says it no longer offers free distribution.
SOURCE: RouteNote: Which pricing model should I choose? · CHECKED 16 October 2026Music Distributor Picker runs in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded.
Nothing is free in distribution: someone pays for the delivery to Spotify and the rest. With a free plan, you pay later, with a share of what the music earns. That is a good deal when the music earns little and a worse one when it takes off.
Free distributors, checked on 16 October 2026
| Distributor | Fee | What it keeps | Who can join |
|---|---|---|---|
| RouteNote | No up-front or yearly fee | Free: you keep 85%. Premium: you keep 100% of streaming and download money. | Anyone |
| ONErpm | No up-front or yearly fee | Its FAQ says 85% for download stores and 70% for YouTube but gives no streaming figure. An older agreement on its site says 80% of digital distribution. | Anyone |
| AWAL | No up-front or yearly fee | You keep 85% on the standard deal. | By application |
When free costs more than paying
A 15% cut costs less than a $24.99 yearly plan until the music earns about $166 in a year. Above that, a paid plan with no cut keeps more money for you. RouteNote lets you move a release to Premium ($10 per single, then $9.99 a year from year two) when it starts to earn.
The cheapest paid plans
If you can spend a little, these plans keep 0% of streaming money. Prices for one single in the first 12 months:
- CD Baby: $9.99 on Pay per release, keeps 9%.
- Ditto Music: $19 on Starter.
- UnitedMasters: $19.99 on DEBUT+.
- Too Lost: $19.99 on Artist.
- Amuse: $23.99 on Artist.
- LANDR: $24 on Distribution Basic.
Things free plans may not include
- YouTube Content ID: RouteNote includes it on Free and keeps 15% of it; ONErpm pays you 70% of it.
- Splits: RouteNote's Revenue Sharing is set up by a form that staff process. ONErpm pays shareholders automatically.
- Cover licences: none of the free distributors sells one; you buy it elsewhere.
Stage is not paid by any distributor and none of the links on this page are affiliate links. We read each distributor's own pricing and help pages on the date shown and link every fact to the page it came from. Prices change, so open the source before you pay.
Questions artists ask
Can I put my music on Spotify for free?
Yes, through a free distributor such as RouteNote Free or ONErpm. You cannot upload to Spotify yourself; a distributor delivers it. Free plans keep a share of your money instead of charging a fee.
Is Amuse still free?
No. Amuse's own FAQ says it no longer offers free distribution; its cheapest plan is $23.99 a year.
Which free distributor keeps the least?
RouteNote Free keeps 15% and says so plainly. ONErpm's live FAQ does not state its streaming share; an older agreement on its site says you get 80%.
Is AWAL free?
AWAL has no up-front or yearly fees and keeps 15%, but you have to apply and it only works with a select group of artists.
Related
- Which music distributor should I use?
Answer 7 questions and get a ranked shortlist of 12 music distributors, with each one's price, cut and rules, read on its own site on 16 October 2026. - The cheapest music distributor for how often you release
The cheapest music distributor depends on how often you release. First-year costs for 1, 4 and 12 singles at 12 distributors, from their own price pages. - DistroKid vs RouteNote: free or a yearly plan?
RouteNote Free costs nothing and keeps 15%. RouteNote Premium is $10 per single. DistroKid is $24.99 a year and keeps 0%. Who each one fits, with sources. - Streams to money calculator: what every platform pays per stream
What Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and 7 more pay per stream in 2026, after your distributor's cut and splits. Sourced, dated ranges. Free. - Music release planner: every deadline from upload to release day
Free release planner: pick a date and distributor and get every deadline (upload, Spotify pitch, pre-save, release day), each with its dated source. - Can you upload AI music? Rules for 24 platforms and distributors
Spotify: yes. Bandcamp and CD Baby: no. Most distributors: yes, with limits. AI music rules for 24 platforms in each company's own words, dated. - Artificial streaming checker: your Spotify numbers, notice and fee
Got an artificial streaming notice? Check your Spotify for Artists numbers, estimate the €10 per track fee, and see what your distributor says to do.
Sources
- RouteNote: Which pricing model should I choose? · checked 16 October 2026
- RouteNote: How much does Premium cost? · checked 16 October 2026
- RouteNote: How can I monetise with YouTube? · checked 16 October 2026
- RouteNote blog: Revenue Sharing · checked 16 October 2026
- RouteNote: How do I get my Pre-save links? · checked 16 October 2026
- RouteNote: Can I upload cover songs? · checked 16 October 2026
- RouteNote Support Hub: Can I upload AI releases? · checked 15 October 2026
- RouteNote blog (21 May 2024): What Spotify's artificial streaming policy means for RouteNote artists · checked 15 October 2026
- ONErpm: How it works · checked 16 October 2026
- ONErpm FAQ · checked 16 October 2026
- ONErpm distribution agreement (classic site) · checked 16 October 2026
- ONErpm: Business Intelligence · checked 16 October 2026
- ONErpm blog: covers · checked 16 October 2026
- ONErpm Blog: Artificial Intelligence in Music (release classification) · checked 15 October 2026
- ONErpm blog: Inorganic activity (bot farms and inauthentic playcounts) · checked 15 October 2026
- AWAL submit form · checked 16 October 2026
- AWAL FAQ · checked 16 October 2026
- AWAL help: Collaborators · checked 16 October 2026 · page blocks automated reading, re-checking by hand
- AWAL: Terms & Conditions (section 7) · checked 15 October 2026
- AWAL Help: Avoiding artificial activity on streaming platforms (fake streams) · checked 15 October 2026 · page blocks automated reading, re-checking by hand
Found something out of date? Email info@groovegainer.com and we fix it, usually the same week. How we check our sources.