Does DistroKid Promote Your Music? What Distributors Do After Release (2026)

Last checked: 8 October 2026 · How these guides are checked

Disclosure: MusicPromoLab sells music promotion. Every claim below links to its source at the end.

What does a distributor do for your music?

A distributor delivers your releases to Spotify and other services, then passes on what they earn [17] [1]. Spotify’s advice fits in one line, “Work with a distributor to get your music on Spotify,” and it adds that “Most distributors charge a fee or commission.” [17]

DistroKid, TuneCore and CD Baby are all on Spotify’s list of preferred providers, which “offer instant access to Spotify For Artists for all their users” [1]. That access is where the work after release happens: Spotify for Artists lets you “see audience stats, promote your music, and manage your profile” [18].

Which distributor you pick doesn’t change how Spotify’s editors judge a pitch. Asked in 2020 whether artists must use a preferred distributor, the editors replied: “We don’t look at distribution information when listening to new pitches.” [19]

Does DistroKid promote your music?

DistroKid gives you tools to promote your music yourself, and most of them are free [9]. Its help centre groups them under headings such as “Get Heard Now” and “Promote Yourself”:

• HyperFollow: a free page created for every upload, with links to your music on every service. Before release it collects Spotify pre-saves, and anyone who pre-saves also follows you and saves the release. Fan email addresses come with the Musician Plus and Ultimate plans only [15].
• Promo Cards and short videos: “Dozens of free, instantly customized images” for new releases, Mini Videos for social media and a Spotify Canvas generator [9].
• Playlister: contact details for Spotify playlist owners, on the Ultimate plan only [9] [16].
• Spotify for Artists Instant Access: listed with similar shortcuts for other services under “Special Access” [9].

Each of these is something you use yourself. The exception is DistroKid’s own playlists, where a vote or a spin can place a song for you.

Will DistroKid get your song on a playlist?

On DistroKid’s own Spotify playlists, yes, through a fan vote and a spinning wheel [6] [7].

• Playlist Spotlight is “a contest, like a rap battle or battle of the bands.” Songs go head to head, anyone can vote, and each week the songs with the most votes are added to a DistroKid Spotify playlist [6].
• Wheel of Playlist lets you spin once a day, three times per session. Your best spin sets your slot on DistroKid’s Spotify playlist, and you keep it until someone else spins the same number [7].

Spotify’s editorial playlists are a separate route. They run through a pitch that you send yourself, covered next.

Will DistroKid pitch your song to Spotify’s editors?

DistroKid’s help centre puts the pitch in your hands, through the Spotify for Artists app or website [4]. Its article says that once your release is submitted to Spotify, “you can pitch your song through the Spotify for Artists app on mobile, or on the Spotify for Artists website.” [4]

What DistroKid controls is timing. The same article says “your release must be uploaded to DistroKid at least 3 weeks ahead of your planned release date,” which is “only possible with DistroKid’s Musician Plus or Ultimate plans” [4]. Its plan table confirms that a customizable release date isn’t part of the basic Musician plan [16].

Spotify’s own rules then apply to everyone: one song pitched at a time, delivered at least 7 days before release so the editors have time to listen, and no pitching once the song is live. A pitch made 7 days ahead also puts the song in your followers’ Release Radar [20]. The full steps are in how to pitch Spotify editorial playlists, and the free Spotify pitch writer turns your answers into a pitch.

Does TuneCore promote your music?

TuneCore runs opt-in promotion programs called TuneCore Accelerator, free to join, with a 20% commission on streams those programs generate [10]. TuneCore says plainly that “inclusion in specific campaigns or programs is not guaranteed” [10].

Its first listed program is Spotify Discovery Mode, with TuneCore choosing the tracks rather than you. Spotify’s 30% commission applies to streams in Discovery Mode contexts, and TuneCore’s 20% applies to those same streams while a track is activated [14]. All other streams carry no commission from either.

Artist Pitch Forms are where TuneCore pitches on your behalf. It uses them to pick songs for its TuneCore New Music Friday playlists and to “pitch new releases to DSP partners for their discovery playlists” [8]. They need a Professional Unlimited plan, an Accelerator opt-in and an account in one of the listed territories, which include the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. TuneCore recommends pitching at least 4 weeks before release and says it can’t promise your release will be chosen [8].

Spotify for Artists access comes through TuneCore once your release date has passed, and its article lists pitching your singles among the features you get [2].

Does CD Baby promote your music?

If you opt in, CD Baby markets your songs itself to one audience: music supervisors, through its sync library [12]. Its help page says: “We promote your music to music supervisors and licensing professionals worldwide.” Sync licensing is part of CDB Boost, a paid add-on, and for film, TV and commercial placements you earn 60% of the fees CD Baby collects [12].

For reaching listeners, its help centre lists promotion tools. HearNow is “a one-page website used to promote your CD Baby release,” with Spotify follow and add-to-playlist buttons, for $2.95 a month or $24 a year per release [11]. Its Spotify for Artists article points to the CDB Video Creator for Canvas clips [3].

Editorial pitching happens in Spotify for Artists, and CD Baby says so itself: “Discovery Mode and playlist pitching both happen inside Spotify for Artists, not through CD Baby.” [3] Its help centre advises submitting a single “at least 3-4 weeks in advance” and says a first release can’t be pitched, because claiming a profile needs a title already live [5]. Spotify’s access page does describe a route before a first release: ask your distributor for your artist link, then contact Spotify with that link and the release’s UPC or EAN [18].

What are HyperFollow and Promo Cards?

Both are free ways to send fans to your music: HyperFollow is DistroKid’s release page, and Promo Cards are shareable images [15] [21]. “Your HyperFollow link never changes,” DistroKid notes, so one link can sit in your bio from the first pre-save to the release and beyond [15].

Promo Cards come in two versions. Spotify’s own tool lets you “Create and share a Promo Card to highlight a song, album, artist profile, or milestone” [21], and DistroKid offers its own set of free, ready-made images [9].

What is left to do after release?

Bringing listeners to the song: distribution puts it on Spotify, and every tool above works once people visit, follow or share. Your followers do get your new release in Release Radar, which updates every Friday [22].

That makes each new follower worth more than one play. Release Radar keeps offering a new song to a follower for up to 4 weeks if they haven’t heard it yet [22]. How Release Radar works covers the rules, and the free music release planner turns a release day into a dated plan.

Release week is when a song most needs new ears. If you’re weighing paid promotion for that job, the guide on whether Spotify promotion is legit lists what to check before you choose.

Keep reading: How to pitch Spotify editorial playlists · How Release Radar works · All guides · Free artist tools