- TuneCore offers independent artists and labels the most affordable unlimited distribution plans on the market, starting with a first-of-its-kind free distribution plan (no annual fee) while continuing to offer the highest pay-out to artists, enabling them to accelerate fan discovery
Today, TuneCore, the leading independent digital music distributor for self-releasing artists, announces the company’s biggest change since opening for business 16 years ago—its new Unlimited Release Pricing Plans. The announcement was made by Andreea Gleeson, Chief Executive Officer, TuneCore.
Since its inception, TuneCore, a division of global digital music company Believe, has democratized access to music distribution for self-releasing artists by introducing the first flat fee, pay-per-release distribution model on the market. Today, successful release strategies have shifted from doing a few EPs or one album per year to releasing singles more often and more regularly to stay top of mind with existing and potential fans. With the launch of TuneCore’s Unlimited program, constant music creation is made more accessible for all artists by giving them the control to release an unlimited number of singles and albums. For the free plan, artists are able to get their music directly into the music libraries of social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube and start making money right away, as they crowdsource the music’s popularity directly with fans. As they move through their careers, artists will be able to upgrade their plan to better meet their evolving needs as they grow.
Commented Gleeson, “We’ve spent a year speaking directly to artists and labels about how we can make our service better for them. What emerged is: artists want to be able to test their new music for free before distributing to all services and they want to release the music they are creating instantly, regularly, and seamlessly with one annual subscription enabling unlimited music distribution. TuneCore’s new program gives self-releasing artists at any stage of their careers the freedom to choose the plan that works best for them, while maintaining the high quality of service TuneCore is known for. With TuneCore Unlimited, artists pay less and earn more.”
Sylvain Delange, Managing Director, Believe Asia Pacific added, “In a region where fan engagement is essential for Artists, access to the right tools, resources and most importantly the ability to generate revenues on social platforms and DSPs with their music, without limitations is critical to fuel the growth of a healthier more diverse Independent Music Ecosystem in SouthEast Asia. TuneCore was the first DIY platform to offer a fully localized solution in countries like Thailand and Indonesia giving artists an even better access in their home language. Today, with the launch of a free plan and an unlimited plan, TuneCore demonstrates yet again its commitment to ALL artists, wherever they are in the world, giving them equal access to best in class distribution service and unrivaled monetization.”
TuneCore’s new Unlimited program includes four plans catered to give options and choice to meet the unique needs of all artists:
- The New Artist Plan – FREE is a unique one-stop solution on the market that empowers unlimited release of songs to the music libraries of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube (including Shorts, Content ID and access to YouTube’s Official Artist Channel) to facilitate discovery and virality on key social media platforms with no upfront fee and paying out 80% of what is collected to the artist. The first-of-its-kind plan is great for artists who are just starting out, giving them the ability to make money while experimenting and testing their music.
- The Rising Artist Plan – $14.99 per year is among the most affordable unlimited distribution plans on the market. It includes everything from the New Artist plan plus Unlimited release distribution to 150+ streaming and store partners like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer and Tidal all while continuing to pay artists 100% of revenue. This plan also includes access to pre-schedule all release dates, official verification on Spotify and Apple Music, as well as artist support response time within 72 hours.
- The Breakout Artist Plan – $29.99 per year includes everything from the “New Artist” and “Rising Artist” plans plus free access to Automator (automatically including your release in all streaming and digital stores that will be available in the future), downloadable reporting and artist support response time within 48 hours.
- The Professional Plan – $49.99 per year is designed for labels, managers and artists who are more advanced in their careers and would benefit from more sophisticated release features. It includes everything from the other three plans plus premium sales reporting, use of your own UPC and a custom label name, access to select country restrictions, exclusive partnerships, and promotional opportunities. This plan also gives the ability to add additional artist profiles (for $14.99/artist per year) and the fastest artist support response time, within 24 hours.
Cyrus Chen, Head of TuneCore, SouthEast Asia explained, “Last year, we launched a plan for artists to distribute unlimited releases on Social platforms for FREE. Now, we’re extending unlimited releases to all our paid plans. This reflects and reaffirms our commitment in democratizing access to music distribution to best serve independent artists and labels. In addition to getting top level service and higher payouts, our artists will now have the most affordable unlimited distribution plans in the market. We want to empower creators to unleash their full artistic potential with Unlimited.”
TuneCore artist, Papoose, commented, “Anyone who has followed my career closely would know that I believe in giving as much control to the artist as possible. 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.”
The new Unlimited program gives artists the freedom to create more music and experiment with different release strategies to advance their careers and feed their growing fanbases. Even those sensitive to pricing can utilize the New Artist free plan or the Rising Artist $14.99 plan to experience TuneCore’s expertise in independent distribution and become eligible for upstream into Believe Label & Artist Solutions or Believe Artists Services divisions’ “Signed By” program which has benefited over 400 TuneCore artists globally.
Continued Gleeson, “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. Ultimately, we’re here to help them make their music better, and help them become better known.”