In December I embarked on an interesting journey, albeit not a physical one. It involved the transit of my music files from one distributor to another. Here is my story.
When I wanted to release my first EP I did some research looking into which distribution service was best. The distributor handles the process of putting your audio files on to the various stores and streaming sites, like Apple Music, Tidal and Amazon Music. Usually you either pay a fee for each album, or you pay an annual subscription and you can upload as many releases as needed.
I went with DistroKid, as it seemed a good value and had positive reviews. Pro tip – make sure that the distributor you choose has good customer support, as sometimes you need it in the complex world of distribution, and it helps to have good people taking care of you.
So why the switch? After my initial release, I hadn’t planned on releasing in Spatial Audio/Dolby Atmos, but as a fun test I remixed three of my tracks in the format. Unfortunately I didn’t know that DistroKid doesn’t upload Dolby Atmos tracks for free, but charges a > $20 fee per track to handle the files. This would have meant for my EP of 10 tracks, nearly $200 to also upload Atmos files, and needless to say it is cost prohibitive.
I decided to just release the files on my Bandcamp site, but the process for the listener to actually hear those files is convoluted at best.
Fast forward to the end of the year, and my interest in Dolby Atmos is renewed by conversations with my friend Michael Palumbo, who is the organizer of the concert series Exit Points here in Toronto. I had the privilege of performing in the October event alongside 9 other amazing musicians, as we improvised a 30 minute piece together. The live album release for our concert is Feb 2nd, available on Bandcamp and everywhere, if you’re interested.
The Exit Points series is a perfect kind of concert to be mixed in spatial audio, and up to that point the mixes were being down converted to binaural mixes and released that way, but not available on the streaming services that can deliver the full Atmos experience (Apple Music and Tidal). I decided to look into it, as there must be a way we could get these files distributed without incurring a huge cost.
Were there any distribution services that included Dolby Atmos masters uploads in their subscription cost? One of my contacts on Threads, and a fellow modular synth artist, told me about similar struggles, but noted that AvidPlay seemed to be a possibility. I also found in my research that LANDR did not charge additional fees to upload Atmos masters. There may be others but these seemed like the biggest ones. Since customer service was important to me, I heeded the warnings of many negative review experiences with AvidPlay, and I ended up going with LANDR.
Another Pro tip: it seems like a lot of distribution services have sales quite often, and especially at the end of the year. Take advantage, and try to catch a sale.
LANDR offers a lot more than just distribution, including AI assisted audio mastering and studio mixing services. I only signed up for the distribution arm on its own, which you can do. So what was the switch like?
I feel as though it had the same kind of vibe as what you had to do in the old days when you were switching your cell phone from one company to another. There are steps involved and you have to follow them closely. And things don’t always go smoothly, but it works in the end.
In a nutshell, you must upload your same audio files to the new distributor, keeping the same IRSC codes and naming, wait till they’re live on the streaming sites, and then ask the old distributor to take down their files. You will have two versions online temporarily, but eventually it will be only the new distributor who has the files online. There is a risk of losing your play count, and this is a real thing. My play count from before the switch on those files was not carried over, although I hear that it is possible to have it work, it did not in my case. Not that there were that many plays, so no great loss on my part, but this may be an issue if you have a high number.
How about the Atmos part? Once you have the regular stereo files uploaded, you then contact LANDR support, and manually do a file upload with them and then they handle the rest. I ran into an issue where the web based form to submit files wouldn’t upload the files (too big, perhaps?) and the nice folks at LANDR just told me to send the files directly through wetransfer. After that it was smooth sailing. That part is actually quite easy, and support was excellent through the process.
So as of now, my Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio mixes for 3 tracks on the EPHEMERRATA EP can be heard on TIDAL and Apple Music. Pretty neat.
My next releases will all feature spatial mixes, and you can look for my appearance on the Exit Points 43 album as well.
If you’re interested in trying out LANDR Studio, here is a 20% off referral link which helps me as well! – https://join.landr.com/referral/landr-studio/?utm_campaign=sales_platform_en_intl_1stpromoter&utm_medium=paid_referral&utm_source=landr&fpr=wei-en86
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