If you are trying to find the right music distributor when comparing DistroKid to Landr, I’ve thoroughly researched both of their offerings and wrote my findings here for you.
DistroKid is better than Landr because DistroKid is cheaper, faster and actually focuses on distributing music (having built its entire reputation on quality music distribution.)
…with that said, Landr can be a better option if you are already using or have a need for Landr’s other services.
This is why we will be taking a deep dive into both of these services, looking at their different plans, what they charge, and what they offer so that you can pick the better distributor for your music.
P.S. If you got the info you want already and want to get started with DistroKid, make sure you learn about the DistroKid discount first so you save some money. 🙂
Is DistroKid Better Than Landr?
DistroKid is a better music distributor because they focus on distributing music, provide more value for the money, and have built their reputation on quality music distribution. However, Landr can be a better option if you are already using or have a need for Landr’s other services.
The main benefit of using DistroKid over Landr is the fact that you can submit unlimited songs and get to keep 100% of your streaming royalties regardless of which DistroKid plan you select.
In comparison, Landr charges you between $5 and $9 per song as well as takes a 9% to 15% cut of your earnings when you use their Pay as you go or Complete plans to distribute your music.
Ultimately, Landr’s music distribution offering seems to be more of a “value add” than a “core feature” as it seems to be a way to upsell its current customer to make more money or to be seen as a “one-stop-shop” for newer customers.
This is why if you are actually already a Landr customer then doing your music distribution can genuinely be a good idea since you can save money with their “All Access Pass” and not have to jump around between services to do your music work.
With that said, for most artists and musicians, I still strongly believe that your best option for music distribution is DistroKid and is still my #1 recommendation.
Let’s take a closer look at the plans that DistroKid and Landr offer you and what they charge for these plans so you can choose the right music distributor.
DistroKid Plans VS Landr Plans
Before taking a close look at the pros and cons of using either DistroKid or Landr, let’s look at what plans the 2 companies offer and for what price.
What You Get With DistroKid
DistroKid has 3 main plans that are available to you. These plans are the Musician ($19.99 USD), Musician Plus ($35.99 USD), and Label plans ($79.99+ USD).
It’s also possible to save on these plans even more when using the widely available DistroKid discount.
Each DistroKid plan includes unlimited song and album uploads while keeping 100% of your earnings, in addition to this you can upload to over 100 stores, get instantly verified on Spotify with access to Spotify For Artists, and much more.
The main difference between DistroKid plans is that the Musician plan has unlimited song uploads for 1 artist, the Musicians Plus plan gives you unlimited uploads for 2 artists, and the Label plans give you unlimited uploads for 5 – 100 artists.
However, another key difference when comparing DistroKid Musician vs Musician Plus is that the Plus (and Label) plan allows you to customize your release, such as by setting a specific release date, while the basic Musician plan does not.
DistroKid also offers some optional paid features that you can apply per release, however, these aren’t required and I always ignore them when uploading music.
To learn about how each DistroKid plan compares and which plan is right for you, check out my article called DistroKid Pricing Explained. 🙂
What You Get With Landr Music Distribution
Landr has 3 music distribution plans available to you. These plans are the Pay as you go plan (no yearly fee, $9 per song + 15% cut), the Complete plan ($20 yearly fee, $5 per song + 9% cut), and the Unlimited plan ($89 yearly fee, no song fees or cut).
The main difference from DistroKid is that Landr charges you between $5 and $9 per song as well as takes a 9% to 15% cut of your earnings when you use their Pay as you go or Complete plans to distribute your music.
Each Landr plan allows you to earn royalties even if you cancel, get your music up on 100+ stores and streaming services, get instantly verified on Spotify with access to Spotify For Artists, and much more.
Alternatively to this, you can also pay for Landr’s “All Access Pass” plan which also gives you access to online mastering and other audio production tools for $24.99 per month or $149.99 per year.
Now let’s take a good look at the pros and cons of using DistroKid when compared to Landr’s music distribution service…
DistroKid: Pros & Cons
DistroKid is a digital music distributor that uploads your music, album art, and metadata to streaming services and stores like Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Tidal, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, and more.
The main benefit of using DistroKid over Landr is the fact that you can submit unlimited songs and get to keep 100% of your streaming royalties regardless of which DistroKid plan you select.
This and the fact that DistroKid’s core business and focus is on quality music distribution is the reason why you’ll find that DistroKid is still my #1 recommendation for anyone looking to get their music up on streaming services.
For this list, I won’t include where DistroKid distributes to as neither a pro nor con because both DistroKid and Landr distribute to roughly the same places and really all that matters is Spotify and Apple Music (lol).
P.S. If you do want to learn about every single place that DistroKid can get your music distributed to, learn more in my article: Where Does DistroKid Distribute To? 🙂
With that out of the way, let’s dive into the pros and cons of using DistroKid…
Pros
Here are the main benefits of using DistroKid as your music distributor when compared to Landr:
- Widely available DistroKid discount to save on your first year
- Unlimited song uploads for a much lower cost
- You keep 100% of your Spotify royalties and other streaming royalties regardless of which DistroKid plan you select
- Never have to pay a fee per song or album
- Music distribution is DistroKid’s core business meaning that they are completely focused on providing quality distribution
- Their customer support is pretty good once you know how to contact DistroKid
In summary, the main benefits I’d call out when comparing DistroKid to Landr are that it is much cheaper to get unlimited song uploads and the fact that you get to keep your streaming royalties regardless of the plan you choose.
In addition to this, I really like that music distribution is DistroKid’s core business and focus. When you sign up with DistroKid you know that the solid reputation they have built is because of their distribution services and nothing else.
Cons
Here are the main disadvantages of using DistroKid as your music distributor when compared to Landr:
- You need to upgrade to the Musician Plus plan to be able to set custom release dates
- Have to keep paying the annual fee to keep your music up on the streaming services and stores
- Currently, there is no DistroKid app available (that is changing though)
- I honestly think that the dashboard and stats area kinda looks like bad
- Landr’s “Unlimited” plan is a better value than DistroKid’s “Label” plan
In summary, the main annoyances for DistroKid I would call out when compared to Landr are the need to upgrade to Musician Plus and the fact that you need to keep paying the annual fee for your music to stay up.
In addition to this, you can release music under 7 artist names with Landr’s Unlimited plan compared to only 5 with DistroKid’s Label plan (although this Landr plan is $10 more expensive per year).
Landr Music Distribution: Pros & Cons
Landr is an online music software that allows you to get your music mastered online. In addition to this service, they also offer rent-to-own audio plugins, sample packs, collaboration tools, and digital music distribution.
The main benefit of using Landr over DistroKid is that your music stays live on streaming services and stores forever after you submit your music.
However, a big disadvantage of using Landr is that they can take anywhere between 9% to 15% of your income and make you pay a setup fee per song or album depending on which plan you choose with them.
In addition to this, although it can be seen as a pro or con depending on how you look at it, I don’t like that Landr’s core business is online mastering instead of music distribution – I prefer a music distributor that focuses on distribution.
Just as we did with DistroKid, I won’t include where Landr distributes to as neither a pro nor con because they both distribute to roughly the same places and really all that matters is Spotify and Apple Music (lol).
Now let’s dive into the pros and cons of using Landr when compared to DistroKid…
Pros
Here are the main benefits of using Landr as your music distributor when compared to DistroKid:
- After paying once, your music stays live on streaming services and stores forever
- Landr has some additional services that you can pay for including mastering and a sample library
In summary, the main benefits of using Landr are the fact that your music stays up forever after paying and that they have some other features you can pay for.
Cons
Here are the main disadvantages of using Landr as your music distributor when compared to DistroKid:
- Landr can take between 9% – 15% of any income your music generates depending on which plan you choose
- You have to pay a setup fee per song or album on the “free” and most affordable Landr plans that are available
- Music distribution is not this company’s core business so they may not be focused on providing quality distribution and instead may be focused on pushing you to buy their other services and tools
In summary, the biggest disadvantage of using Landr when compared to DistroKid is that they take a cut and charge you per song/album depending on which plan you are on and that they are not a company that focuses on music distribution.
Is Landr Better Than DistroKid?
Landr can be a better option for you than DistroKid if you’re already paying for and using Landr’s other services. However, DistroKid is a better music distribution that actually focuses its business on distributing music.
Landr’s music distribution offering seems to be more of a “value add” than a “core feature” as it seems to be a way to upsell its current customer to make more money or to be seen as a “one-stop-shop” for newer customers.
When reviewing Landr’s pricing page, it is clear that they are pushing their “All Access Pass” subscription that gets you access to their mastering, music production, and music distribution features instead of simply focusing on distribution.
With that said, if you are actually already a Landr customer then doing your music distribution can genuinely be a good idea since you can save money with All Access Pass and not have to jump around between services to do your music work.
In addition to this, if you are a label or have a need to release music under several artist names then you may find that Landr is better for you than DistroKid.
This is because, for just $10 more, you can release music under 7 artist names with Landr’s Unlimited plan compared to only 5 with DistroKid’s Label plan.
However, for most artists and musicians, I still strongly believe that your best option for music distribution is DistroKid and is still my #1 recommendation.
Landr can be a better option if you are already using or have a need for Landr’s other services.
Landr Music Distribution Alternatives
Although my top suggestion for a music distributor is definitely DistroKid, I’ve gone ahead and compared DK to other popular services in case you are in the market for a new digital distributor or are simply just curious.
Popular alternatives to a music distribution service like Landr or DistroKid include TuneCore, Ditto, and Amuse.
If you would like to see how DistroKid compares to these services, more closely check out these articles:
- DistroKid vs TuneCore
- DistroKid vs UnitedMasters
- DistroKid vs Ditto
- DistroKid vs Amuse
- DistroKid vs SoundCloud
Or, if you would like a more detailed look into what DistroKid has to offer, you can check out my big fat DistroKid review. 🙂
P.S. If you also want to learn about music publishing and make sure that you are not leaving any money on the table with your music distribution setup, I’d recommend checking out these 2 articles:
