@@CoDLab that isnt legal,as you can check.So,no,it is a scam.That 30% tax does not exist in US system,which anyone can check.Dan Vasc already covered the subject pretty well.Also,they have to show the official copy of their payments...funny how that lacks and their IRS papers
Pete Johns m.ruclips.net/video/egg2t9tlKK4/видео.html just an instrumental project, made it a couple years back. was actually gonna be a throwaway until I listened to it this year after forgetting about it and loved it. I have an album coming up (and that has lyrics). Figured I would release at least something before I deliver a whole album out of nowhere... lmk what you think!
nikolai Vasilev I wanna know if you got any evidence to back that up? Not mad in the slightest I just wanna know fr if this is a thing... thanks for giving my comment your attention. But believing random internet comments without proof or reason would be kinda ignorant of me.
Thanks Pete! I wanna really prove myself to my mom that I can make something from what I like creating. Hopefully one day this can all pay off. :) For anyone that wants to give up. DO NOT GIVE UP! :)
My friend. That should not be why you make music. And If I have to explain why, thats a whole other issue. But, ONE simple reason is you music will lack heart and soul eventually and just be a product, which works but not very creative and original. If James Brown went into music to just make money, we wouldnt have soul music.
Hey Pete, thank you for the video. I am stuck with how to withdraw my earnings because distrokid is asking for tax information. Did you have a tutorial on how to fill out this tax form as an Aussie citizen? Cheers!
Hey mate. This is a new thing and I’m working through it myself at the moment. This has been added since the last time o did a withdrawal so I’m just doing a withdrawal now and will share what’s needed. I think it’s your tax file number that is needed but will confirm once I try it.
@@PeteJohnsMusic Hey there mate, I've been digging for a video trying to explain the tax details for a while. Have you had any success? I'm also stuck at this point
when i go to bank on distro is ask me this .. Before you can access earnings, we need some tax info from you. ,, how do i even get all these info, i live in the Caribbean.. can i get some help ?
Hey there. You just need to enter whatever your country’s tax identification number is. Here in Australia it is caked a TFN (Tax File Number), so once you enter the equivalent in your country your should be good. 👍
@@PeteJohnsMusic That's not it. they are actually asking for an individual tax payer number and i don't have one because i never worked here in the UK. I've done some research and it costs about 120$ per year to get a tax payer number. Could you please make a video about it? Thank you.
Because money earned from selling your music online is taxable revenue, I believe you need to be registered as a taxpayer in your country of residence to receive royalties. Seems this is something DistroKid are required to do now to help avoid and tax evasion from people earning money and not declaring it as income and therefore paying tax.
Hello sir, Im from India who used to share my songs via DISTROKID for few months.I have been stuck in filling the tax form and it seems to be very complicated.Like my self there are some of my friends struggling too.Please if u have time to make one video or U can share any good links which will help us sir.And its my kind request and your subscriber from India.
Hello there! Yes, unfortunately due to DistroKid being a US company and needing to abide by US tax laws, it can make this more complicated. You should be able to just follow the prompts and provide your country and tax ID and it will work for you. More info is here - studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
@@PeteJohnsMusic 🙏🏻I subscribed you since I saw your first video about using GarageBand. In fact, after learning about plugins from your video, I decided to start making music on GarageBand iOS because that is all o have for now. Your videos are extremely informative and motivating. Thanks so much.
Hey Pete, question. I'm planning on using distrokid soon. My question is should I update my PayPal account from Personal to Business? I kno for sites like Bandcamp they say to use a Business account cuz it will except cards for payment so I may have to upgrade regardless. Would a business PayPal account matter on distrokids end if I upgrade? Just curious on what u use for account on PayPal. Thanks duder
So, I haven’t filled in the TAX page yet so I can get paid. We haven’t registered our group as a LLC, S/C Corp. etc... Any thoughts on this Yaallzz? Thanks. I manage all the clerical/ Social Media Marketing for the group. So? Should I just register as a Sole Proprietor? Or Partner ?
@@PeteJohnsMusic i registered as an individual. this tax form page is impossible to pass. Now it says I must fill the W-8ECI form. Because I'm not a US resident. I haven't found any file online to download the official form for free can you help??? This form is a bit confusing too. Given that my country has no postal code. some info required i do not have so i'm worried
HUGE QUESTION!! So what if I'm under 18? I know I'd have to use the information of one of my parents but how does all of it fit in? For example for the full legal name do I enter mine or my parents? Or after I click Individual, what do I enter in the Business name?
Good question? And not one that I’m super familiar with sorry, as I’ve never worked with any artists under 18. You might need to check in with DistroKid.
Thanks for this very useful video again. I watched my DistroKid account and the more recent period I can see in the Bank section is January 2022. I released an album in may witch as lot more views and I can’t see the results. Other than FAQ, it’s not easy to get in touch with DistroKid. Do you have an idea? Thank you so much!
Hey there. The fees are pretty standard but the tax situation is different in every location depending on the treaties in place with the US and your country.
@@PeteJohnsMusic Thanks for your reply. I asked the question, because I distribute my music from TuneCore. TuneCore generates the artwork for me. But lately I discovered that TuneCore charges annual fees for each release. I am an avid songwriter and I have literally 100+ tunes ready to go nuclear. I am one of those songwriting machines that should be built for unlimited uploads rather than getting charged per release. Now it’s more clear that Distrokid is a perfect alternative for me rather than TuneCore or cdbaby.
Got it. Yeah, you would need to do some album art for each song, or at least album, but yes - for $20 per year to released unlimited is indeed a pretty good deal.
Do you actually have to go and "withdraw"....??? That would be terrible... Because I have used cd baby for a decade and I never have to do anything.... I have it set up to send me payment as soon as it hits $10... It sends me automatically to my PayPal.... And they pay out every Monday.... So I don't get why distrokid doesn't pay out weekly
Not really a big deal. I actually like having control over when I withdraw. Being outside the US is makes sense for me to withdraw less often to avoid the PayPal fees.
@@PeteJohnsMusic so basically your saying that they do not have a option to set it up to pay automatically? Am I correct? That would be a bummer from my perspective, not a deal breaker, but a hassle
Hey Pete, Donald here and I'm in South Africa and so in South Africa there's an association called SAMRO SOUTHERN AFRICAN MUSIC RIGHTS ORGANISATION SAMRO’s primary role is to administer Performing Rights on behalf of our members. We do so by licensing music users (such as television and radio broadcasters, live music venues, retailers, restaurants, promoters and shopping centres), through the collection of licence fees which are then distributed as royalties. We protect the rights of composers and authors (music creators) both locally and internationally. Sorry for that long text but I got that from their website. What I want to know is that how does DISTROKID compare to SAMRO? I know you might not know much about SAMRO but if you can share some light regarding this issue.
Hi there Donald. Thanks for your message. So, put simply, most countries have similar performing rights organisations. The goal of these organisations is to collect revenue and pass on to artists when sofa ate played on the radio, TV and live venues. Usually, you pay a yearly fee and then the PRO pays you royalties based on how popular your songs are, as clearly they can’t monitor every radio station, TV station and live venue. DistroKid and other distributors on the other hand help you get paid royalties for the actual streams and purchases of your music online, such as through Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon etc. A rights organisation won’t actually release or distribute your music, and don’t cover buying or streaming royalties. Hope this makes sense and helps you out. Might be a good topic for a video actually.
Hey there. DistoKid will pay you the full amount of your royalties. It is up to you to declare the income you make and ensure you are paying the appropriate income taxes relevant for your country.
Hi, I can’t really fill the module for tax etc. Because I’m not 18, I know I shouldn’t do this, but I can guess i can sign on behalf of the beneficial owner, (there’s an option for that) who is over 18, but the real question is, while filling the detail what I should write, like for example the address should be mine or his, and the Foreign tax number is it mine or his? And the date of birth (because i’m underage)? Can you explain please? If that’s useful I live in Italy. Thanks
Hey Enrico. I’m unsure exactly how this works in other countries I’m afraid so can’t really advise you on this. Because you need to use PayPal to withdraw money I suggest you would need to make sure everything matches. Can you have a parent or guardian complete it with their details?
Hi Pete, i want to ask you something about Distrokid. It says"PayPal's fee of 2% or $20 USD (whichever is less)" if i want to withdraw my royalties. Is 2% the number of percentage of paypal charge or it is 2% and the maximum is 20$ ? Thanks Pete :)
Hey there my friend. Yes, from memory you (like me) are outside the US so we are charged 2% on all withdrawals to PayPal up to a maximum of $20. So $100 would be a $2 fee. $200 would be $4. $2,000 would be $20, but then there wouldn’t be no more fees after than for anything over $2,000.
How precisely do you make money from RUclips via Distrokid? Any idea? I’m not talking about RUclips Money but just having your music on RUclips. Do you get paid per stream?
Hey there. I’m assuming that the actual RUclips music plays are combined with the “Google Play” streams and paid together, as Google have basically replaced Google Play Music with RUclips Music. But I’m actually really not sure sorry! It may well be nothing?
Hello there; I'm making music only as a hobby and use Distrokid just to get my music out there so is it okay if I just don't provide that tax info and not withdraw that (probably very little) money my music generates? What happens to that money in that case? Thanks in advance
Dear Pete It has been almost a week (6th day) since I uploaded my first single through Distrokid on various streaming platforms like Spotify and iTunes.What am I supposed to do if my song doesn't release by tomorrow ?
Hey there. What emails have you received from DistroKid? Have they confirmed it has been submitted to stores? You should start getting emails confirming releases for each store like I show in this video - ruclips.net/video/-4jd4rG8YaA/видео.html
@@PeteJohnsMusic Till now I have got only one mail saying my lyrics has been successfully submitted and when I login into distrokid it is saying "Your song is in the midst of being transferred to the stores" and I am able to see only a yellow dot
@@PeteJohnsMusic I am actually based in India and my song is actually not an English song (based on a regional language)... So is there any chance of them rejecting my song having that as a reason ?
Hey there. Did you select the correct language when you released it? I have only released songs in English so not sure about other languages I'm afriad.
@@PeteJohnsMusic how does it feel to scam people out of their money? Ups,sorry,I mean to help other scam them,so you can get your cut by a third party ? You are bottom of the bottom of human kind
Hi there. You can pay via credit card but can’t get paid this way. There are other ways to get paid but only if you are in the USA I believe - studiolivetoday.com/yml
Great video thanks. Actually distrokid what money pays out?for example does it include distributor money, does it include stream money? What else is included in the payment? Thank you
Hi there. So DistroKid will pay all your steaming and store purchase royalties from all the platforms they distribute to. They don’t handle things like public performance and radio play - you need to register with a PRO for that - ruclips.net/video/OPZ_RnENTWQ/видео.html
@@PeteJohnsMusic Hey Thank you for helping me on that. however there are some news questions that come out of this one. 1. Don’t i need to register also with Songtrust.com so i can collect the Publishing royalties as well? Because Distrokid only take care mainly the distribution royalties right? 2. In the Pro my country that i’m about to register asap they claim that they collect Royalties from streaming which seems they are straight up lying (We have very shady Pro’s here). So i am thinking of disabling that option (Streaming royalties) and having the control with Distrokid. So now that i release with distrokid everything is ok but when later i will co-release with an artist that belongs to a label (kinda famous) could i have any problem receiving streaming royalties just because i have disable the option “recieving streaming money” with my PRO? In other words can those streaming royalties come to me when i release only singe songs with a label while i am also independent with distrokid? do they somehow pass these on Distrokid or in this case (when releasing with a label) i pretty much can’t get the streaming money? Thank you very much for your help. This legal stuff is so crazy complicated that blows my mind
Man I love your videos, thanks for the work you're doing by sharing your knowledge, you're cool! I have this question. I've seen that some artists can upload videos on their RUclips official account. For example, promotional videos for their next release or tours or something. Probably they do it even manually. How can I do this? Does Distrokid let me log in to the accounts it generates for releasing?
Hi there. Look up “RUclips artist account”. Basically, you can have your music topic channel changed to an artist account and then get more control over it.
you will love losing 1/3 of your earnings as well,thanks to this scammer.Let me see,a company without a real adress,without any real info on them...and dozens of musicians losing 1/3 of their money without notice.And if you ask them,you will get a generic letter if you are from outside of USA.This guy is a piece of sh!t and a scammer.
@@fsands69 you could have researched...which makes me guess you are either LAZY or literally a bot. First,where is there physical address of business? 2nd Where is there any official record of business info and standing of their company? Why didn't you even check? Just that alone makes them illegitimate business,but problem is finding them and suing them due to that as well.A HUGE problem.And worst part,these scammers that support them(and this is not the only company that does such nor just in that line of business),always say the same thing " We just recommended them and were not lawyers to know if they were legit +as well as did not get payed by them for it.We just had good experience with them and wanted to recommend them.We had no problems with them and had no idea of this scam" . The plus part is sometimes not there,but you get the picture.They are not responsible and can not be sued later either,due to feigning ignorance and their pays usually coming from a third party. As for one of many that were scammed ruclips.net/video/UZ9P80XPIWY/видео.html Next time do research a bit about what you are getting yourself into...and if you are one of the fake accounts these people use,well hope you get cancer for robbing people of like that
So what about the metadata?-- I understand that no matter how much info you have and "keywords" to help for search engines...Distrokid has indicated that all of it will be disreguarded once sent to the stores?
Hey Richie. It seems to depend on the store. I don’t think that many stores do much with meta data yet. Apple and Instagram now use lyrics which is good, but the other data doesn’t seem to be used. Not yet at least.
Yeah I’ve used Amuse and demonstrated it in a few videos. Not quite as easy to manage your music (eg. no remove option) and a few less options overall but still pretty solid.
@@PeteJohnsMusic They’ve added a Take Down Release option for each track you upload. I’m glad you think it’s solid. I really value your opinion. Your videos got me started and keep me going. Thanks a bunch.
I’m not sure what you mean by “auto generated” sorry? Royalty earnings from platforms take around 3 months to be displayed in DistroKid. Check out this video for more info - ruclips.net/video/BNL9LQUm6JI/видео.html
Hey there. Should be able to just follow the process when you go in to “bank”. It will guide you through which tax form and declaration you need for your country. I imagine Canada had a treaty with the US you to either not withhold tax or only withhold a small amount.
It usually only takes 3-5 business days to hit my PayPal. Contact details are in my FAQ if you need to get in touch - ruclips.net/video/qUW6mD5EdQw/видео.html
I produced a song for an artist, and he never added me to the email section for me to recieve my percentages of my royalties. Someone told me to email distrokid kid so they can send me an email for me to add myself but they haven’t responded to me. Whats my bext step.
Hey there. You definitely could in the past as I’ve put the same songs that I released as single on EPs and albums. Stores are cracking down a little more in duplicates these days but I think that’s only if you try to for instance release the exact same song twice as a single. My DistroKid FAQ is here studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Hi pete john i wanna ask...if my music already in youtube that has been uploaded by distrokid and the music in my youtube have the adsense and people watch the adsense like 1k people watch the adsense in my music video..does it earn money? Because i check on my bank in distrokid all of it 0$ ..should i wait for 3months?
Hey there. This is a bit of a complex isssue. You do get royalties from RUclips Music playback via DistroKid just like any other streaming platform and it is reported with a 3 month lag like everywhere else. More info is here - studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
@@PeteJohnsMusic Do you or anyone use PRS (copyright & licensing)? If so let me know if we have to copyright/license our ttacks for any distribution (like DistroKid, Tunecore, etc) we send our music to
Thanks for the video Pete, really helpful! Just a question (as the help article doesn't seem to go into it), am I able to use my business paypal account to recieve payment, or do I need to create a personal paypal account for distro? Cheers
Hey there my friend. I would imagine so? There is nothing that mentions that it needs to be a business account, and many folks using DistroKid are labels and producers so you would imagine many are using business accounts.
Hi there. Yes, you'll need to include your tax identification number. For us here in Australia this is called a "Tax File Number", so you'll need to add in your equivalent.
Hello! Thank you for your help! I had given them my SSN not too long ago and then then now they’re asking for my name info AGAIN! I’m nervous to give it to them again but has there been reports of identity theft and things like that by DistroKid?
Hey there. Nothing is 100% however DistorKid are a large and established company and seem to have good privacy controls. I provided my tax file number several months ago and have had no issues.
they are large company that witholds their info and addresses,as well as steal as much as 1/3 of the earnings later on,especially from those that earned a bit more,then later to just say it is tax witholding with no factual coverage of how or why and with every single tax lawyer saying it is bullcrap..............Kick this guy in the balls if you ever see him
hey Pete for how much long can i leave money on distrokid? like lets say i make 50 dollars in 2019 and in 2020 another 40 , i chose not to withdraw them so in 2021 i withdraw them to paypal (considering that i pay my distrokid service every year ) or i withdraw only a certain amount of money , will they keep the money for as long as i choose so , thanks
hi pete thks for this video... I have a question, how can you change your PayPal account to another PayPal account on distrokid ? and also does do you need to fill up a taxes form to get paid by PayPal ?
Hey there. Yes, you will need to submit a tax declaration to get paid using any method. And I haven’t actually notes how to change your PayPal account sorry. I believe it would just be in the same “bank” section.
Not for PayPal, but for a DistroKid. They are passing on revenue in the form of royalties so are obliged to report on this to the relevant tax organisations.
DO NOT do any business over them,since they will without notice start taking more money,as much as 1/3 of your earnings and you wont get ANY live contact with them,only generic mails they send to everyone ! DO NOT trust this scammer !
Hey Cam. I’ve just started using Xero which helps track income and expenses. Until now though it’s just been “fun” spreadsheets to track income and pay those lovely taxes. 😁
Hi, your video was really helpful! One thing I would like to clarify; what exactly is the difference between sales and royalties regarding music? My first impression is that 'sales' are the amount of albums purchased, while 'royalties' refer to the # of times a song(s) is/are played without individual payment. Though i thought you have to buy songs individually on Spotify....please clarify, thank you!
Hey there. So DistroKid and distributors deal on saws and streams. Sales are when someone buys your song or album and you get 70% of this revenue usually. Streams lay a small amount per stream which some call “royalties”, but it’s not completely accurate. Royalties are usually what is paid when your song is okayed on radio or live and is usually managed by BMI/ASCAP or a rights management group.
Hello Pete.. I’ve just found you and watched a some of your vids.. you seem to know what you’re talking about 😎 I’ve slowly got a set- up together.. GarageBand on iPad, Focusrite dock.. MAudio Axiom (which I cannot get to work).. I know it’s a bit off this topic but, I am creating loads of stuff but am struggling with mixing and mastering.. please can you point me in the right direction to do this... tips for panning.. tips for getting the levels up, bass levels etc - I’m sure you’ve probably done a video on this... can it be done well on an iPad ?. Thanks mate
Hey there Christian. Thanks for watching and taking the time to reach out. So yes, there’s a heap of videos here about mixing and mastering. What sort of music are you producing? This is an older video but might be a good place to start - ruclips.net/video/8bnd3CfMFCU/видео.html EQ is also a pretty important thing that can help clean up your tracks really nicely. I have a newer video here which also might be of interest - ruclips.net/video/ehMKUVO3qgM/видео.html
@@PeteJohnsMusic Hey mate, thanks for getting back to me - hard to describe, elements of reggae, rock and prog - real bass and guitars - keyboards to add layers and texture with some lead - I can probably manage a half-decent attempt at a mix, it is knowing how to pan the instruments and the vocals... but it's getting all the signals boosted in the mastering that I'm a bit clueless about and getting the lows and highs balanced - I will check out the links, thanks
Hey there. No withdraw earnings at all? Have you received any commissions yet? It does take three months for them to show up usually. And you do need to provide tax information also these days.
@@lauwanz nah,he is just part of the scam.Better keep your eye on how much money goes to them and how much to you....Since with first big pay off,you will get sudden notice(mostly if you are not from USA) that they had to withold 30-33% due to taxes,which is actually false and many musicians were scammed this way.DO NOT support Distrokid or this scammer ! CHECK out their scams and warn others !
Thanks but can you show teh paperwork that we need to do in order to get paid if you know, Or if you have information about what to do with the paperwork when we are outside of USA. even Distrokid Avoid that answer by telling me consult an accountant. unfortunately in my country accountants are not educated about those things
It’s actually quite straightforward if you just follow the prompts. You’ll just need your country and Tax ID number and then follow the prompts. studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Hey there. Yes, they’ve since added a new tax declaration fork to ensure they are compliant with US tax laws. Just follow the instructions and it will automatically determine any tax withholding for your country based on the US tax laws.
Hey there. DistroKid and any company that sends you revenue as income will need your tax information to comply with tax laws, so you need to provide it if you want to get paid. In my experience, DistroKid take privacy seriously and will protect your data.
For me the money doesn’t automatically show up in PayPal and i get this email that says “Claim money” from PayPal with a button that says Claim Money. When i press it, i get transfered to the PayPal login page, so i login, and then PayPal just completely forgets about the transaction and nothing happens.
Good day Pete. I withdrew some cash on distrokid but I didn’t cash out on PayPal and now paypal is telling me distrokid canceled the payment but when I try withdrawing it again on distrokid it shows as if I have already withdrew it instead of the amount showing in my earnings. Please help me if you read this 🙏🏾
Hey there. Have you contacted DistroKid to advise? I haven’t come across anything like this before so I suggest getting in touch with them to query it.
Hi there. I believe so? They support users in a lot of countries so I’m assuming African countries are included. When you go to sign up you should be able to select your country to confirm this.
Hey there Pete, Please could u help me because I am in England UK and there are asking about foreign tax identification number and idk that please could u help me
Hey there. I'll be covering this soon, but in short, you'll need to follow the prompts and complete the W8 form to get paid in a country outside the US. They didn't have this previously, but seem to have added it to become compliant with US tax laws.
dont be stupid and believe them.Dostrokid is stealing money...You can research their scam,as well as small favt they lack official business info and address
Hi there. PayPal is definitely the most convenient way to get paid. There are other options of you are in the US, but PayPal is available worldwide and offers an easy way to get paid.
It’s a revenue source so you need to declare it as income like any other money you receive. If you aren’t registered for tax you’ll need to do this (depending on your country) or get a parent or guardian to help.
You provide your tax details and then you can see any payments and declare these when doing your taxes. It varies depending on your country and situation.
@@PeteJohnsMusic i have a friend that has this and she said she's never got anything about filing. She said its probably because she makes under 500.00 here in the united states
Hey there. Depends on your country. The latest version has an easy step by step guide that you can complete. You’ll need the tax identification number for your country.
Hey im new to DistroKid. just signed up. My friend just sent me a team earning invite link. I received SSI (Social Security income) so i don't pay taxes. how do i go about signing up to get pay, if i don't pay taxes? Thanks.
Hey there. You might need to check in with DistroKid on this - studiolivetoday.com/distrokid Because this is revenue and treated as income, tax is generally payable on anything you earn.
My question is that before and after I signed up for distrokid I have had visuals for my songs up on my RUclips I was wondering how can I get the license for it so I can get payed for the visuals because that is where I get the most views for my songs please can you help me with that my Artist name is KāyPēsos Thank You for reading this,
Hey there. DistroKid only handle audio distribution unfortunately, so there are no videos delivered to stores or streaming platforms. I have heard some platforms are going to start allowing video similar to RUclips, so this may change in the future, however right now it is just audio.
@@PeteJohnsMusicok, but I mean this let me give you a example... I have a song out called Bestie its has over 1k almost 2k but it's the visuals not the audio so I was wondering how can I get payed for that as well because my audio dont get much views as my visuals i have seen some videos that has like the license thing on the button so I am assuming there getting paid for that
@@KayPopOut you have to have RUclips monetization to get payed for your RUclips videos. It takes 1,000+ subscribers and 4,000+ hours of watch time in the last year(which you will easily have by 300-400 subscribers) also 2k views on a video is nothing. even if monetized that many views would only generate about 2 dollars. You don't make any decent money on RUclips until you have 25,000+ subscribers which would make you about 400-500 bucks a month and would probably take 4-5 years of channel work to achieve. I have been building my channel for 14 months and I'm only at about 200 subscribers. I have had only one video go semi viral at 35k views and have made nothing from it because I'm not monetized yet. You gotta get subscribers that's the name of the game dude.
Nice video bro! I'm based in Australia as well. Just wondering, if you upload a track and have shares with other artists, would they have to put their tax information in as well? Or would it be better to have the individual track uploader handle all that tax crap and then send the profits to each artist individually?
Hey there. Yes, the tax is paid/withheld based on the amount paid to each individual, so any splitting would need all people to have accounts and set up tax info I believe. Might be easier to have one person manage this. Keep in mind I’m not a tax expert so always good to get advice fork an accountant on this stuff if you start generating significant revenue.
When you want to upload a cover song(a song which is already sung by another musician) using distrokid there's an amount of 12 dollars you need to pay.so my question is when I decide to delete my cover song will the 12 dollars be refunded or not? Please help I really want to know
Hey there. You pay $12 per year. If you choose to delete the song within that year, it is not refunded. It’s a yearly payment as long as your song is in stores.
Thanks for replying buh i mean if I uploaded the song like today morning and get charged 12 dollars and then I realise it a wrong song so I delete it in the afternoon.will is get refund or my 12 dollars will be gone regardless of deleting my song from all stores
I read, that you need to fill in a complicated tax form before getting paid. When you live outside the US, I don't understand most of their questions. Its a problem for me. Why don't they just deduct a flat rate on everysale and simplify it for everyone.
Hi there. It is a little more complicated than previously, but not a major problem. It’s to ensure that DistroKid comply with US tax laws. As long as you know your tax ID you just need to provide your country and everything is sorted for you. More info at studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
FYI: I have seen videos made by musicians from certain countries saying that distrokid has started to withhold a large percentage of the money made by musicians saying that it is about withholding tax. They didn’t do so before and do this only with certain countries, Brazil being one. Do you know about this? It might be legit, but those musicians think otherwise. Just thought you should know.
Yes, I’ve been following this one and actually have included tax in a “top 10 questions” video I’m working on. The tax withholding is 100% legitimate and correct. The controversy seems to be that that weren’t doing this previously but must have been advised that because they are collecting and paying royalties which are categorised as income, they need to withhold tax under US tax law. I’m assuming they probably had to back pay the withholding themselves or potentially were fined for not doing this previously. More transparency about this would have been good, rather than just changing without notice.
There are other payments options, like direct deposit but you likely need a US bank account. I use TransferWise which is a handy service that provides a US bank account.
Hey there my friend. Once you have made enough revenue, just go to your bank section, select PayPal, fill in the details and then withdraw your earnings.
Pete Johns when it says ”2 artist” like what does that mean, like can 2 artists can post their own music? Cus i bought the 2 artist one and me and my friend wants to upload music too, ir does he need to buy one for him self too?
Hey there my friend. I don’t tend to advertise and promote my music a lot, however my best tip is to get involved in groups online like Facebook, Reddit and other found and build relationships with people who are creating music or interested in your type of music.
Hey there. Yeah, I do share Music here, more as a by-product of my tutorials however. It can be possible, but tough, to promote just your music on a RUclips channel. You can pay to promote on other platforms like Facebook, but not so much on RUclips. This video might give you some ideas - ruclips.net/video/76O8tQshUWg/видео.html
you will be quite thankful after few months when you lose 30 % of your money..Look up about Distrokid a bit more and see how many musicians were scammed.This guy deserves kick in the balls for being a scammer as well
@@jaketyler6622 look up their physical address of business...Look up ANY IRS info on the company :) Just for starters ! Trusting someone with lack of any official business record and all of that is not smart.NEVER work with such. They are not the only company,but are growing fast and scammed quite a few. As for one of many who were scammed ruclips.net/video/UZ9P80XPIWY/видео.html The generic reply they sent to them not only counters what they wrote on the site,but also makes no legal sense...You can talk to any tax auditor or lawyer and he will tell you the same. Worst part is that these scum bags that advertise him cant be sued....since they feign ignorance ,put disclaimer that they are not legally responsible nor have any formal knowledge in that area and just wanted to help others...since they had no problems at all.With them getting more fro ma third party,everything stays clean...Thou some miss that step and still get away. It is not all that clever nor hard scheme to do,but gaining traction is.Most people that get small amount of money do not get robbed blindly,while minority does,thus they keep positive reputation and keep paying scumbags to advertise them to keep the traction going.And when they do get under serious investigation,they just close and reopen under a new name. Just avoid such dodgy companies,that lack even basic info about them and official business records anywhere
Hey Pete having issues with my distrokid Spotify for artist, it keeps linking me with my old Spotify account not the newly distrokid Spotify account, how will I correct that
Hey there. So, if there’s a Spotify Artist account in your exact artist name already, any new uploads will attach to this by default. Is there a reason you don’t want it to align? I believe you would need to use a different artist name if you want it to be separate.
@@PeteJohnsMusic it's a different name the old Spotify account is @HCIEN while the distrokid Spotify account is @HCIENMUSIC but when I try accessing the distrokid Spotify account it keeps linking me to @Hcien.. Been trying to access the @hcienmusic but its just not working
Hmmmm..... haven’t come across anything like that I’m afraid, so not really sure how to help. You might need to try asking DistroKid or Spotify directly.
@Pete - Some awesome stuff u got going :-) Tell me honestly, areDistrokid paying less? I got a message from a source stating - "Last month TC paid me 0.0018 and Distro paid me 0.0008 per stream." Can you share a screenshare of what ur getting from ur dashboard?
Hi there. I used my Australian “tax file number” which worked for me, so I suggest whatever your tax identification number is in Turkey would also work?
Get 7% off your first year - distrokid.com/vip/PeteJohns
So I can pick the money when ever I want to pick it right ?
Pete Johns how do you change PayPal accounts
how does it feel to be a scammer and steal money from musicians ?
why didn't you explained abou the tax?
there is 10% tax for USA citizens and 30% tax for non USA citizens lol
@@CoDLab that isnt legal,as you can check.So,no,it is a scam.That 30% tax does not exist in US system,which anyone can check.Dan Vasc already covered the subject pretty well.Also,they have to show the official copy of their payments...funny how that lacks and their IRS papers
I look up DistroKid questions on YT and you come up every time... thanks buddy you’re a life saver... Keep up the good work
Haha! Glad I can help out. Are you releasing some tunes? Make sure you share what you create with me. Always love to hear what folks are producing.
Pete Johns m.ruclips.net/video/egg2t9tlKK4/видео.html just an instrumental project, made it a couple years back. was actually gonna be a throwaway until I listened to it this year after forgetting about it and loved it. I have an album coming up (and that has lyrics). Figured I would release at least something before I deliver a whole album out of nowhere... lmk what you think!
Shall take a listen right now and leave a comment for you.
they rob people of 30 % of their money later on and do not inform their clients...These people supporting them are paid to do so and are scammers.
nikolai Vasilev I wanna know if you got any evidence to back that up? Not mad in the slightest I just wanna know fr if this is a thing... thanks for giving my comment your attention. But believing random internet comments without proof or reason would be kinda ignorant of me.
Thanks Pete!
I wanna really prove myself to my mom that I can make something from what I like creating. Hopefully one day this can all pay off.
:)
For anyone that wants to give up. DO NOT GIVE UP! :)
100%. And do what you want and what makes you happy... for you!
same here man good luck too you
Same bro how’s it been going? Are you evolving and progressing?
My friend. That should not be why you make music. And If I have to explain why, thats a whole other issue. But, ONE simple reason is you music will lack heart and soul eventually and just be a product, which works but not very creative and original. If James Brown went into music to just make money, we wouldnt have soul music.
Check me out just dropped a music video from illinois
Bro you were so much more informative then anyone else posting about this subject, A1 content brother appreciate you
Thanks my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos on the channel and consider subscribing if you haven’t already. 👍
Thank you! This definitely helped me check my distrokid account and check my earnings! Feels good to finally make something off your music!
Nice one Nicky! Glad to hear. I hope you get value from the other videos on the channel and consider subscribing if you haven’t already. 👍
Hey Pete, thank you for the video.
I am stuck with how to withdraw my earnings because distrokid is asking for tax information. Did you have a tutorial on how to fill out this tax form as an Aussie citizen?
Cheers!
Hey mate. This is a new thing and I’m working through it myself at the moment. This has been added since the last time o did a withdrawal so I’m just doing a withdrawal now and will share what’s needed. I think it’s your tax file number that is needed but will confirm once I try it.
@@PeteJohnsMusic Hey there mate, I've been digging for a video trying to explain the tax details for a while. Have you had any success? I'm also stuck at this point
Hi Pete. Any update on how to complete the tax info page for non-US tax payers? (I am in UK)
Also stuck on this -- I'm in Canada.
Also stuck on this, Canadian.
when i go to bank on distro is ask me this .. Before you can access earnings, we need some tax info from you.
,, how do i even get all these info, i live in the Caribbean.. can i get some help ?
Hey there. You just need to enter whatever your country’s tax identification number is. Here in Australia it is caked a TFN (Tax File Number), so once you enter the equivalent in your country your should be good. 👍
@@PeteJohnsMusic That's not it. they are actually asking for an individual tax payer number and i don't have one because i never worked here in the UK. I've done some research and it costs about 120$ per year to get a tax payer number. Could you please make a video about it? Thank you.
Because money earned from selling your music online is taxable revenue, I believe you need to be registered as a taxpayer in your country of residence to receive royalties. Seems this is something DistroKid are required to do now to help avoid and tax evasion from people earning money and not declaring it as income and therefore paying tax.
Hello sir, Im from India who used to share my songs via DISTROKID for few months.I have been stuck in filling the tax form and it seems to be very complicated.Like my self there are some of my friends struggling too.Please if u have time to make one video or U can share any good links which will help us sir.And its my kind request and your subscriber from India.
Hello there! Yes, unfortunately due to DistroKid being a US company and needing to abide by US tax laws, it can make this more complicated. You should be able to just follow the prompts and provide your country and tax ID and it will work for you. More info is here - studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
@@PeteJohnsMusic Thnk you so much for your reply Sir I will go through it..
@@SachinJAS hey use pan number... I used it
@@SupriyaMusic But there are many more dashes for filling other than pan😟 And thank you for ur rply
Thanks for the info Pete. I just finished putting my first song on distrokid. Thanks to uou
Awesome! I hope you get value from the other videos on the channel and consider subscribing if you haven’t already. 👍
@@PeteJohnsMusic 🙏🏻I subscribed you since I saw your first video about using GarageBand. In fact, after learning about plugins from your video, I decided to start making music on GarageBand iOS because that is all o have for now. Your videos are extremely informative and motivating. Thanks so much.
you maybe know how to change the PayPal email for Distrokid? Can't find it.
Go to the bank section. My DistroKid faq is here. studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Thanks Pete!!! Excellent info as always!!! God bless you!!
Cheers Sabine. Appreciate your support.
Hey Pete, question. I'm planning on using distrokid soon. My question is should I update my PayPal account from Personal to Business? I kno for sites like Bandcamp they say to use a Business account cuz it will except cards for payment so I may have to upgrade regardless. Would a business PayPal account matter on distrokids end if I upgrade? Just curious on what u use for account on PayPal. Thanks duder
Hey there my friend. DistroKid allows either personal or business accounts so you'll be all good either way.
@@PeteJohnsMusic right on buddy thank u so much! Looks like I need Business account for Bandcamp so Business it is lol. Thank u again
So, I haven’t filled in the TAX page yet so I can get paid. We haven’t registered our group as a LLC, S/C Corp. etc...
Any thoughts on this Yaallzz? Thanks.
I manage all the clerical/ Social Media Marketing for the group.
So? Should I just register as a Sole Proprietor? Or Partner ?
Hey there. Depends how you are managing your finances. Most people will just register as an individual.
@@PeteJohnsMusic i registered as an individual. this tax form page is impossible to pass. Now it says I must fill the W-8ECI form. Because I'm not a US resident. I haven't found any file online to download the official form for free can you help??? This form is a bit confusing too. Given that my country has no postal code. some info required i do not have so i'm worried
HUGE QUESTION!!
So what if I'm under 18? I know I'd have to use the information of one of my parents but how does all of it fit in? For example for the full legal name do I enter mine or my parents? Or after I click Individual, what do I enter in the Business name?
Good question? And not one that I’m super familiar with sorry, as I’ve never worked with any artists under 18. You might need to check in with DistroKid.
Also wondering this. I’m 13. Made 6 cents and I want to collect.
Thanks for this very useful video again. I watched my DistroKid account and the more recent period I can see in the Bank section is January 2022. I released an album in may witch as lot more views and I can’t see the results. Other than FAQ, it’s not easy to get in touch with DistroKid. Do you have an idea? Thank you so much!
Hey there. Yup, 3 months is the usual lag between plays and then being reported to and paid by DistroKid. studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Hello thx for the info, so for example im from Mexico, if i want to withdraw my money using paypal, i would tax 21usd for doing it?
Hey there. The fees are pretty standard but the tax situation is different in every location depending on the treaties in place with the US and your country.
So we're all putting our ssn out there? I wanna get paid but I'm a little skeptical about giving them my ssn.
For any company paying you income you’ll generally need to provide your tax information for tax purposes.
Does Distrokid provide the artwork for your songs or you have to make your own?
You need to make and upload your own, but it’s super simple (and pretty fun) with a tool like Canva.com. ruclips.net/video/vqSgYffj50A/видео.html
@@PeteJohnsMusic Thanks for your reply. I asked the question, because I distribute my music from TuneCore. TuneCore generates the artwork for me. But lately I discovered that TuneCore charges annual fees for each release. I am an avid songwriter and I have literally 100+ tunes ready to go nuclear. I am one of those songwriting machines that should be built for unlimited uploads rather than getting charged per release. Now it’s more clear that Distrokid is a perfect alternative for me rather than TuneCore or cdbaby.
Got it. Yeah, you would need to do some album art for each song, or at least album, but yes - for $20 per year to released unlimited is indeed a pretty good deal.
Do you actually have to go and "withdraw"....??? That would be terrible... Because I have used cd baby for a decade and I never have to do anything.... I have it set up to send me payment as soon as it hits $10... It sends me automatically to my PayPal.... And they pay out every Monday.... So I don't get why distrokid doesn't pay out weekly
Not really a big deal. I actually like having control over when I withdraw. Being outside the US is makes sense for me to withdraw less often to avoid the PayPal fees.
@@PeteJohnsMusic so basically your saying that they do not have a option to set it up to pay automatically? Am I correct? That would be a bummer from my perspective, not a deal breaker, but a hassle
Do u got to promote your music to get paid or does distrokit handle everything once u sign up ?
DistroKid are just a basic distributor. You’ll need to do your own marketing and promotion.
Hey Pete, Donald here and I'm in South Africa and so in South Africa there's an association called SAMRO SOUTHERN AFRICAN MUSIC RIGHTS ORGANISATION
SAMRO’s primary role is to administer Performing Rights on behalf of our members. We do so by licensing music users (such as television and radio broadcasters, live music venues, retailers, restaurants, promoters and shopping centres), through the collection of licence fees which are then distributed as royalties.
We protect the rights of composers and authors (music creators) both locally and internationally.
Sorry for that long text but I got that from their website. What I want to know is that how does DISTROKID compare to SAMRO? I know you might not know much about SAMRO but if you can share some light regarding this issue.
Hi there Donald. Thanks for your message.
So, put simply, most countries have similar performing rights organisations. The goal of these organisations is to collect revenue and pass on to artists when sofa ate played on the radio, TV and live venues. Usually, you pay a yearly fee and then the PRO pays you royalties based on how popular your songs are, as clearly they can’t monitor every radio station, TV station and live venue.
DistroKid and other distributors on the other hand help you get paid royalties for the actual streams and purchases of your music online, such as through Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon etc. A rights organisation won’t actually release or distribute your music, and don’t cover buying or streaming royalties.
Hope this makes sense and helps you out. Might be a good topic for a video actually.
@@PeteJohnsMusic yes it does, thanks a lot and yes maybe you should make a video on this topic
if i upload something on distrokid and i still must make the tax informations...do i get the hole money?
Hey there. DistoKid will pay you the full amount of your royalties. It is up to you to declare the income you make and ensure you are paying the appropriate income taxes relevant for your country.
Hi, I can’t really fill the module for tax etc. Because I’m not 18, I know I shouldn’t do this, but I can guess i can sign on behalf of the beneficial owner, (there’s an option for that) who is over 18, but the real question is, while filling the detail what I should write, like for example the address should be mine or his, and the Foreign tax number is it mine or his? And the date of birth (because i’m underage)? Can you explain please? If that’s useful I live in Italy. Thanks
Hey Enrico. I’m unsure exactly how this works in other countries I’m afraid so can’t really advise you on this. Because you need to use PayPal to withdraw money I suggest you would need to make sure everything matches. Can you have a parent or guardian complete it with their details?
Hi Pete, i want to ask you something about Distrokid. It says"PayPal's fee of 2% or $20 USD (whichever is less)" if i want to withdraw my royalties. Is 2% the number of percentage of paypal charge or it is 2% and the maximum is 20$ ? Thanks Pete :)
oh i got it from this video : paypal will charge my withdraw for 2% and the maximum is 21$ ??
Hey there my friend. Yes, from memory you (like me) are outside the US so we are charged 2% on all withdrawals to PayPal up to a maximum of $20.
So $100 would be a $2 fee. $200 would be $4. $2,000 would be $20, but then there wouldn’t be no more fees after than for anything over $2,000.
@@PeteJohnsMusic Thank you Pete!
Very welcome my friend.
How precisely do you make money from RUclips via Distrokid? Any idea? I’m not talking about RUclips Money but just having your music on RUclips. Do you get paid per stream?
Hey there. I’m assuming that the actual RUclips music plays are combined with the “Google Play” streams and paid together, as Google have basically replaced Google Play Music with RUclips Music.
But I’m actually really not sure sorry! It may well be nothing?
Pete Johns I’ll let you know if I find out
Nice. Thank you. I don’t make enough from my music streaming to really notice. 😄
Pete Johns would you say there’s one store over the others to focus on? Like Spotify vs Deezer vs Google Play, etc
By the way, what’s the difference between PayPal and the distrokid own payment system, Tipalti?
I’m outside of the US so have only used PayPal sorry.
@@PeteJohnsMusic that answers my question. 🤗 I’m in Canada too so I’ll have to work with it. Thanks Pete.
Hello there; I'm making music only as a hobby and use Distrokid just to get my music out there
so is it okay if I just don't provide that tax info and not withdraw that (probably very little) money my music generates? What happens to that money in that case?
Thanks in advance
Hey there. I discussed this on today’s Q&A - ruclips.net/video/rB4Pi687GCE/видео.html
Dear Pete
It has been almost a week (6th day) since I uploaded my first single through Distrokid on various streaming platforms like Spotify and iTunes.What am I supposed to do if my song doesn't release by tomorrow ?
Hey there. What emails have you received from DistroKid? Have they confirmed it has been submitted to stores? You should start getting emails confirming releases for each store like I show in this video - ruclips.net/video/-4jd4rG8YaA/видео.html
@@PeteJohnsMusic Till now I have got only one mail saying my lyrics has been successfully submitted and when I login into distrokid it is saying "Your song is in the midst of being transferred to the stores" and I am able to see only a yellow dot
@@PeteJohnsMusic I am actually based in India and my song is actually not an English song (based on a regional language)... So is there any chance of them rejecting my song having that as a reason ?
Hey there. Did you select the correct language when you released it? I have only released songs in English so not sure about other languages I'm afriad.
@@PeteJohnsMusic I selected only English since there was no other option available...and I thought selecting English will be a good idea
Hey Pete - can you advise what the foreign (presume this is for the UK) tax id is - not sure if this is the UTR no?
I’m here in Australia and we have a “Tax File Number (TFN)”. It’s whatever you use to file a tax return or your tax department issue to you.
Hi Pete ! I'm from turkey, the payment options include '' Wire Transfer '' can I get paid in this way ? (swift)
Hey there. Unfortunately I’ve only tried PayPal, so haven’t tried any other payment methods.
@@PeteJohnsMusic how does it feel to scam people out of their money? Ups,sorry,I mean to help other scam them,so you can get your cut by a third party ? You are bottom of the bottom of human kind
@@nikolaivasilev7371 distro kid does actually help monetize your music. I don't know what you're on.
I don't speak English and i don't understand. Help me plz, can i paid to my visa card? Cause in my country PayPal doesn't work
Ps. Thanks
Hi there. You can pay via credit card but can’t get paid this way. There are other ways to get paid but only if you are in the USA I believe - studiolivetoday.com/yml
Hey I did withdraw money.. But first withdrawal didn't receive in my PayPal.. Bcz PayPal rejected it... I Mean how would withdraw it again..
That’s strange? Haven’t come across that before sorry. You might need to check in with DistroKid or PayPal.
Great video thanks. Actually distrokid what money pays out?for example does it include distributor money, does it include stream money? What else is included in the payment? Thank you
Hi there. So DistroKid will pay all your steaming and store purchase royalties from all the platforms they distribute to. They don’t handle things like public performance and radio play - you need to register with a PRO for that - ruclips.net/video/OPZ_RnENTWQ/видео.html
@@PeteJohnsMusic Hey Thank you for helping me on that. however there are some news questions that come out of this one.
1. Don’t i need to register also with Songtrust.com so i can collect the Publishing royalties as well? Because Distrokid only take care mainly the distribution royalties right?
2. In the Pro my country that i’m about to register asap they claim that they collect Royalties from streaming which seems they are straight up lying (We have very shady Pro’s here). So i am thinking of disabling that option (Streaming royalties) and having the control with Distrokid. So now that i release with distrokid everything is ok but when later i will co-release with an artist that belongs to a label (kinda famous) could i have any problem receiving streaming royalties just because i have disable the option “recieving streaming money” with my PRO? In other words can those streaming royalties come to me when i release only singe songs with a label while i am also independent with distrokid? do they somehow pass these on Distrokid or in this case (when releasing with a label) i pretty much can’t get the streaming money?
Thank you very much for your help. This legal stuff is so crazy complicated that blows my mind
Man I love your videos, thanks for the work you're doing by sharing your knowledge, you're cool!
I have this question. I've seen that some artists can upload videos on their RUclips official account. For example, promotional videos for their next release or tours or something. Probably they do it even manually. How can I do this? Does Distrokid let me log in to the accounts it generates for releasing?
Hi there. Look up “RUclips artist account”. Basically, you can have your music topic channel changed to an artist account and then get more control over it.
you will love losing 1/3 of your earnings as well,thanks to this scammer.Let me see,a company without a real adress,without any real info on them...and dozens of musicians losing 1/3 of their money without notice.And if you ask them,you will get a generic letter if you are from outside of USA.This guy is a piece of sh!t and a scammer.
@@PeteJohnsMusic thanks bro, gonna try as soon as they release my songs
@@nikolaivasilev7371 show evidence of your words, please
@@fsands69 you could have researched...which makes me guess you are either LAZY or literally a bot.
First,where is there physical address of business? 2nd Where is there any official record of business info and standing of their company? Why didn't you even check?
Just that alone makes them illegitimate business,but problem is finding them and suing them due to that as well.A HUGE problem.And worst part,these scammers that support them(and this is not the only company that does such nor just in that line of business),always say the same thing " We just recommended them and were not lawyers to know if they were legit +as well as did not get payed by them for it.We just had good experience with them and wanted to recommend them.We had no problems with them and had no idea of this scam" . The plus part is sometimes not there,but you get the picture.They are not responsible and can not be sued later either,due to feigning ignorance and their pays usually coming from a third party.
As for one of many that were scammed ruclips.net/video/UZ9P80XPIWY/видео.html
Next time do research a bit about what you are getting yourself into...and if you are one of the fake accounts these people use,well hope you get cancer for robbing people of like that
So what about the metadata?-- I understand that no matter how much info you have and "keywords" to help for search engines...Distrokid has indicated that all of it will be disreguarded once sent to the stores?
Hey Richie. It seems to depend on the store. I don’t think that many stores do much with meta data yet. Apple and Instagram now use lyrics which is good, but the other data doesn’t seem to be used. Not yet at least.
I use Amuse. Very easy and works great.
Yeah I’ve used Amuse and demonstrated it in a few videos. Not quite as easy to manage your music (eg. no remove option) and a few less options overall but still pretty solid.
@@PeteJohnsMusic They’ve added a Take Down Release option for each track you upload. I’m glad you think it’s solid. I really value your opinion. Your videos got me started and keep me going. Thanks a bunch.
Hey man, awesome video. But when I go to withdraw it says "Withdrawals are not available at this time, please try again later". What does this mean?
That’s odd? Might just be a temporary thing. You also need to ensure you’ve entered your tax info.
@@PeteJohnsMusic Yeah i just now did that, would it take time to register my info you think?
Hey sir can I ask? What if the music was auto generated by RUclips on Feb when will RUclips send the revenue report?
I’m not sure what you mean by “auto generated” sorry? Royalty earnings from platforms take around 3 months to be displayed in DistroKid. Check out this video for more info - ruclips.net/video/BNL9LQUm6JI/видео.html
@@PeteJohnsMusic I mean for RUclips content ID, when does RUclips send the revenue report to the publishing company?
I’m Canadian.. what do I do about the tax form stuff?
Hey there. Should be able to just follow the process when you go in to “bank”. It will guide you through which tax form and declaration you need for your country. I imagine Canada had a treaty with the US you to either not withhold tax or only withhold a small amount.
Hey, I asked for my money 11 or 12 days ago is what it’s normal if not is what I’m going to give it back and if so when? Thank you frero
It usually only takes 3-5 business days to hit my PayPal. Contact details are in my FAQ if you need to get in touch - ruclips.net/video/qUW6mD5EdQw/видео.html
Paypal is not work on my country is there any other payment options?
I don't believe there are any other payment methods outside of the US apart from PayPal?
Pete Johns Do you file i-9 or Tax with the Distrokid or did you have to input tax information or not
I produced a song for an artist, and he never added me to the email section for me to recieve my percentages of my royalties. Someone told me to email distrokid kid so they can send me an email for me to add myself but they haven’t responded to me. Whats my bext step.
You’ll need the actual artist to approve the Teams split on your song. I don’t think DistroKid can help you with this sorry.
If the song blows, sue the artist
Giday great channel. Can you upload the same track on diferant albums, o cant find the answer on the site
Hey there. You definitely could in the past as I’ve put the same songs that I released as single on EPs and albums. Stores are cracking down a little more in duplicates these days but I think that’s only if you try to for instance release the exact same song twice as a single. My DistroKid FAQ is here studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Hi pete john i wanna ask...if my music already in youtube that has been uploaded by distrokid and the music in my youtube have the adsense and people watch the adsense like 1k people watch the adsense in my music video..does it earn money? Because i check on my bank in distrokid all of it 0$ ..should i wait for 3months?
Hey there. This is a bit of a complex isssue. You do get royalties from RUclips Music playback via DistroKid just like any other streaming platform and it is reported with a 3 month lag like everywhere else. More info is here - studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Thanks for the another great video Pete! My 2nd single comes out in May!
Awesome! Make sure you drop me a link when it’s out. 👍
Can EU regional artists (basically outside the US) sign up for US based distributors as DistroKid as well? Are there any differences other than fees?
Yes, the main differences are the PayPal feed for withdrawals and the potential withholding tax from the IRS based on your country of residence.
@@PeteJohnsMusic Do you or anyone use PRS (copyright & licensing)? If so let me know if we have to copyright/license our ttacks for any distribution (like DistroKid, Tunecore, etc) we send our music to
Thanks for the video Pete, really helpful!
Just a question (as the help article doesn't seem to go into it), am I able to use my business paypal account to recieve payment, or do I need to create a personal paypal account for distro?
Cheers
Hey there my friend. I would imagine so? There is nothing that mentions that it needs to be a business account, and many folks using DistroKid are labels and producers so you would imagine many are using business accounts.
you are free to lose 1/3 of your earnings without notice...yes ! Check up how many people they scammed if you are not a bot
How to check balance on distrokid?
Use the “bank” option in the menu. Note that payment takes about 3 months to be reported from stores. studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Nice video, Sir! I just wanna ask, how do I claim my royalties in distrokid since i’m not from the US?
Just go in to the “bank” section and follow the prompts. More info here - studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Great help! Thank you so much
for non u.s citizen should write i U.S. taxpayer identification number (SSN or ITIN???
Hi there. Yes, you'll need to include your tax identification number. For us here in Australia this is called a "Tax File Number", so you'll need to add in your equivalent.
Hello! Thank you for your help! I had given them my SSN not too long ago and then then now they’re asking for my name info AGAIN! I’m nervous to give it to them again but has there been reports of identity theft and things like that by DistroKid?
Hey there. Nothing is 100% however DistorKid are a large and established company and seem to have good privacy controls. I provided my tax file number several months ago and have had no issues.
thats what im worrying about too theres no physical address or office to contact
they are large company that witholds their info and addresses,as well as steal as much as 1/3 of the earnings later on,especially from those that earned a bit more,then later to just say it is tax witholding with no factual coverage of how or why and with every single tax lawyer saying it is bullcrap..............Kick this guy in the balls if you ever see him
hey Pete for how much long can i leave money on distrokid? like lets say i make 50 dollars in 2019 and in 2020 another 40 , i chose not to withdraw them so in 2021 i withdraw them to paypal (considering that i pay my distrokid service every year ) or i withdraw only a certain amount of money , will they keep the money for as long as i choose so , thanks
Hey there. I don't think there are any time limits on how long your money can be left there on DistroKid.
Great Video more understanding.👍🏾
hi pete thks for this video... I have a question, how can you change your PayPal account to another PayPal account on distrokid ?
and also does do you need to fill up a taxes form to get paid by PayPal ?
Hey there. Yes, you will need to submit a tax declaration to get paid using any method. And I haven’t actually notes how to change your PayPal account sorry. I believe it would just be in the same “bank” section.
Pete Johns .... even PayPal you need to create a tax form ?
Not for PayPal, but for a DistroKid. They are passing on revenue in the form of royalties so are obliged to report on this to the relevant tax organisations.
Pete Johns ok Thks
DO NOT do any business over them,since they will without notice start taking more money,as much as 1/3 of your earnings and you wont get ANY live contact with them,only generic mails they send to everyone ! DO NOT trust this scammer !
So do I have to fill out the form in order to track my payments?
You need to provide your tax information to view payment info and withdraw funds. studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Thank you so much!
You’re very welcome my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing. 👍
Do you report taxes on your streaming earnings and is there an fun app or something for this. Do you also set it up with APRA?
Hey Cam. I’ve just started using Xero which helps track income and expenses. Until now though it’s just been “fun” spreadsheets to track income and pay those lovely taxes. 😁
Hi, your video was really helpful! One thing I would like to clarify; what exactly is the difference between sales and royalties regarding music? My first impression is that 'sales' are the amount of albums purchased, while 'royalties' refer to the # of times a song(s) is/are played without individual payment. Though i thought you have to buy songs individually on Spotify....please clarify, thank you!
Hey there. So DistroKid and distributors deal on saws and streams. Sales are when someone buys your song or album and you get 70% of this revenue usually. Streams lay a small amount per stream which some call “royalties”, but it’s not completely accurate. Royalties are usually what is paid when your song is okayed on radio or live and is usually managed by BMI/ASCAP or a rights management group.
@@PeteJohnsMusic man i waithdraw my money from distrokid on eCheck but didn't receive them yet , my bank account in morocco
Hello Pete.. I’ve just found you and watched a some of your vids.. you seem to know what you’re talking about 😎 I’ve slowly got a set- up together.. GarageBand on iPad, Focusrite dock.. MAudio Axiom (which I cannot get to work)..
I know it’s a bit off this topic but, I am creating loads of stuff but am struggling with mixing and mastering.. please can you point me in the right direction to do this... tips for panning.. tips for getting the levels up, bass levels etc - I’m sure you’ve probably done a video on this... can it be done well on an iPad ?. Thanks mate
Hey there Christian. Thanks for watching and taking the time to reach out.
So yes, there’s a heap of videos here about mixing and mastering. What sort of music are you producing?
This is an older video but might be a good place to start - ruclips.net/video/8bnd3CfMFCU/видео.html
EQ is also a pretty important thing that can help clean up your tracks really nicely. I have a newer video here which also might be of interest - ruclips.net/video/ehMKUVO3qgM/видео.html
Compression is also a great tool to get familiar with - ruclips.net/video/aKlH1XerG1c/видео.html
@@PeteJohnsMusic Hey mate, thanks for getting back to me - hard to describe, elements of reggae, rock and prog - real bass and guitars - keyboards to add layers and texture with some lead - I can probably manage a half-decent attempt at a mix, it is knowing how to pan the instruments and the vocals... but it's getting all the signals boosted in the mastering that I'm a bit clueless about and getting the lows and highs balanced - I will check out the links, thanks
Nice one!
Let me know how you go and give me a shout if you need any more assistance.
it is hard for him not to know what he is talking about,since he is a part of the scam.....Look up how many people they scammed.
I dont have the withdraw button on my bank page on Distrokid. any body got an explanation
Hey there. No withdraw earnings at all? Have you received any commissions yet? It does take three months for them to show up usually. And you do need to provide tax information also these days.
@@PeteJohnsMusic Weird, around 20 min after watching your video the big blue button popped up. you probably did some voodoo magic to my browser
@@lauwanz nah,he is just part of the scam.Better keep your eye on how much money goes to them and how much to you....Since with first big pay off,you will get sudden notice(mostly if you are not from USA) that they had to withold 30-33% due to taxes,which is actually false and many musicians were scammed this way.DO NOT support Distrokid or this scammer ! CHECK out their scams and warn others !
Great video :3 There are some options like Paypal, check,..... but idk which one is the most beneficial option
Just regular PayPal seems to be the easiest option.
@@PeteJohnsMusic What a quick answer :3 I scared it will cost more extra fee cuz I'm from Asia :v tks you very much
Thanks but can you show teh paperwork that we need to do in order to get paid if you know, Or if you have information about what to do with the paperwork when we are outside of USA. even Distrokid Avoid that answer by telling me consult an accountant. unfortunately in my country accountants are not educated about those things
It’s actually quite straightforward if you just follow the prompts. You’ll just need your country and Tax ID number and then follow the prompts. studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Hi Pete. I'm not in US. They asked me weird tax questions before payment. How do you go past that one?
Hey there. Yes, they’ve since added a new tax declaration fork to ensure they are compliant with US tax laws.
Just follow the instructions and it will automatically determine any tax withholding for your country based on the US tax laws.
@@PeteJohnsMusic I have the same problem
Bro I have the Same as I am from uk
@@PeteJohnsMusic pls Pete I need help
I have a question, is it safe to put my SSN into DistroKid? I'm new to this and I feel nervous to put it in there.
Hey there. DistroKid and any company that sends you revenue as income will need your tax information to comply with tax laws, so you need to provide it if you want to get paid. In my experience, DistroKid take privacy seriously and will protect your data.
@@PeteJohnsMusic Okay Thank you!
For me the money doesn’t automatically show up in PayPal and i get this email that says “Claim money” from PayPal with a button that says Claim Money.
When i press it, i get transfered to the PayPal login page, so i login, and then PayPal just completely forgets about the transaction and nothing happens.
That's odd? Reach out to DistroKid if you're having issues. studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Good day Pete. I withdrew some cash on distrokid but I didn’t cash out on PayPal and now paypal is telling me distrokid canceled the payment but when I try withdrawing it again on distrokid it shows as if I have already withdrew it instead of the amount showing in my earnings. Please help me if you read this 🙏🏾
Hey there. Have you contacted DistroKid to advise? I haven’t come across anything like this before so I suggest getting in touch with them to query it.
Thanks for the swift reply. I sent them an email and I’m yet to get their response.
Hopefully you can get things sorted with them soon. Let me know how you go.
Hello Pete, can I use distrokid from Africa?
Hi there. I believe so? They support users in a lot of countries so I’m assuming African countries are included. When you go to sign up you should be able to select your country to confirm this.
Hey there Pete,
Please could u help me because I am in England UK and there are asking about foreign tax identification number and idk that please could u help me
Hey there. I'll be covering this soon, but in short, you'll need to follow the prompts and complete the W8 form to get paid in a country outside the US. They didn't have this previously, but seem to have added it to become compliant with US tax laws.
dont be stupid and believe them.Dostrokid is stealing money...You can research their scam,as well as small favt they lack official business info and address
@@PeteJohnsMusic you still at it,you scumbag?
Do I have to have a eday account,how about your own bank account
Do I afto open a pay-pal account to get paid
Hi there. PayPal is definitely the most convenient way to get paid. There are other options of you are in the US, but PayPal is available worldwide and offers an easy way to get paid.
i’m only 16 and i’m trying to get my money out and see how much i made it says taxes and stuff and i’m really confused
It’s a revenue source so you need to declare it as income like any other money you receive. If you aren’t registered for tax you’ll need to do this (depending on your country) or get a parent or guardian to help.
@@PeteJohnsMusic thank you
I’m 16 and i upload my music to distrokid but i dont have any tax forms cause im only 16, what do i do?
You’ll need a parent or guardian to set up an account or to collect any royalties to comply with tax laws generally.
Hey man i was wondering if I get a W2 from distrokid or how does that work?
You provide your tax details and then you can see any payments and declare these when doing your taxes. It varies depending on your country and situation.
@@PeteJohnsMusic i have a friend that has this and she said she's never got anything about filing. She said its probably because she makes under 500.00 here in the united states
How do you fill out the w-9 information in the bank section
Hey there. Depends on your country. The latest version has an easy step by step guide that you can complete. You’ll need the tax identification number for your country.
Hey im new to DistroKid. just signed up. My friend just sent me a team earning invite link.
I received SSI (Social Security income) so i don't pay taxes. how do i go about signing up to get pay, if i don't pay taxes?
Thanks.
Hey there. You might need to check in with DistroKid on this - studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Because this is revenue and treated as income, tax is generally payable on anything you earn.
My question is that before and after I signed up for distrokid I have had visuals for my songs up on my RUclips
I was wondering how can I get the license for it so I can get payed for the visuals
because that is where I get the most views for my songs please can you help me with that my Artist name is KāyPēsos
Thank You for reading this,
Hey there. DistroKid only handle audio distribution unfortunately, so there are no videos delivered to stores or streaming platforms. I have heard some platforms are going to start allowing video similar to RUclips, so this may change in the future, however right now it is just audio.
@@PeteJohnsMusicok, but I mean this let me give you a example... I have a song out called Bestie its has over 1k almost 2k but it's the visuals not the audio so I was wondering how can I get payed for that as well because my audio dont get much views as my visuals i have seen some videos that has like the license thing on the button so I am assuming there getting paid for that
@@KayPopOut you have to have RUclips monetization to get payed for your RUclips videos. It takes 1,000+ subscribers and 4,000+ hours of watch time in the last year(which you will easily have by 300-400 subscribers) also 2k views on a video is nothing. even if monetized that many views would only generate about 2 dollars. You don't make any decent money on RUclips until you have 25,000+ subscribers which would make you about 400-500 bucks a month and would probably take 4-5 years of channel work to achieve. I have been building my channel for 14 months and I'm only at about 200 subscribers. I have had only one video go semi viral at 35k views and have made nothing from it because I'm not monetized yet. You gotta get subscribers that's the name of the game dude.
@@Jolly-Green-Steve thanks for the info but question do you know how can I get payed on SoundCloud?
Great video, thanks
You’re very welcome my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing. 👍
Should I release music on Distrokid if I already posted music on RUclips?
Yeah
Yes it is fine i use to sound cloud
Yup. DistroKid is pretty darn cool. studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Nice video bro! I'm based in Australia as well. Just wondering, if you upload a track and have shares with other artists, would they have to put their tax information in as well? Or would it be better to have the individual track uploader handle all that tax crap and then send the profits to each artist individually?
Hey there. Yes, the tax is paid/withheld based on the amount paid to each individual, so any splitting would need all people to have accounts and set up tax info I believe. Might be easier to have one person manage this. Keep in mind I’m not a tax expert so always good to get advice fork an accountant on this stuff if you start generating significant revenue.
Thanks very informative!
Awesome! Glad to hear it.🙏
Thanks for sharing!👍🏻
You’re very welcome my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing. 👍
When you want to upload a cover song(a song which is already sung by another musician) using distrokid there's an amount of 12 dollars you need to pay.so my question is when I decide to delete my cover song will the 12 dollars be refunded or not? Please help I really want to know
Hey there. You pay $12 per year. If you choose to delete the song within that year, it is not refunded. It’s a yearly payment as long as your song is in stores.
Thanks for replying buh i mean if I uploaded the song like today morning and get charged 12 dollars and then I realise it a wrong song so I delete it in the afternoon.will is get refund or my 12 dollars will be gone regardless of deleting my song from all stores
I read, that you need to fill in a complicated tax form before getting paid. When you live outside the US, I don't understand most of their questions. Its a problem for me. Why don't they just deduct a flat rate on everysale and simplify it for everyone.
Hi there. It is a little more complicated than previously, but not a major problem. It’s to ensure that DistroKid comply with US tax laws. As long as you know your tax ID you just need to provide your country and everything is sorted for you. More info at studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
FYI: I have seen videos made by musicians from certain countries saying that distrokid has started to withhold a large percentage of the money made by musicians saying that it is about withholding tax. They didn’t do so before and do this only with certain countries, Brazil being one. Do you know about this? It might be legit, but those musicians think otherwise. Just thought you should know.
Yes, I’ve been following this one and actually have included tax in a “top 10 questions” video I’m working on.
The tax withholding is 100% legitimate and correct. The controversy seems to be that that weren’t doing this previously but must have been advised that because they are collecting and paying royalties which are categorised as income, they need to withhold tax under US tax law. I’m assuming they probably had to back pay the withholding themselves or potentially were fined for not doing this previously.
More transparency about this would have been good, rather than just changing without notice.
When do tidal pay
Hey there. Pretty much all platforms work on about a 3 month delay bu the time they report to the distributor and you get paid.
Oh ok thanks
You're welcome.
So I should expect tidal payments in around 3 months
Hello how can I do to receive my payment from Africa?
PayPal is really the only viable payment method for DistroKid.
@@PeteJohnsMusic and yet in Africa more precisely in Congo Brazzaville it does not work.
Hey i am from Turkey and we don't have PayPal here. How can i get paid ?
There are other payments options, like direct deposit but you likely need a US bank account. I use TransferWise which is a handy service that provides a US bank account.
Pete Johns Is it possible to just put in your credit card details and then get money sent to your credit card just like that?
I want to receive my payments by paypal. how can I do that?
Hey there my friend. Once you have made enough revenue, just go to your bank section, select PayPal, fill in the details and then withdraw your earnings.
@@PeteJohnsMusic but no paypal section
I have a question
Sure thing! What can I try to help with?
Pete Johns when it says ”2 artist” like what does that mean, like can 2 artists can post their own music? Cus i bought the 2 artist one and me and my friend wants to upload music too, ir does he need to buy one for him self too?
Thank you sir!!!
You’re very welcome my friend. I hope you get value from the other videos here on the channel and consider subscribing. 👍
How do you advertise your music?
Hey there my friend. I don’t tend to advertise and promote my music a lot, however my best tip is to get involved in groups online like Facebook, Reddit and other found and build relationships with people who are creating music or interested in your type of music.
What about your youtube subs is it a pay to get noticed kind of thing here on youtube?
Hey there. Yeah, I do share Music here, more as a by-product of my tutorials however. It can be possible, but tough, to promote just your music on a RUclips channel. You can pay to promote on other platforms like Facebook, but not so much on RUclips.
This video might give you some ideas - ruclips.net/video/76O8tQshUWg/видео.html
When I share my referral link does the person has to pay and then I get $5 or do they just sign up?
Hey there. When someone uses your link and signs up to a paid plan then you will get the $5 referral credit.
Pete Johns thanks man🤩
you will be quite thankful after few months when you lose 30 % of your money..Look up about Distrokid a bit more and see how many musicians were scammed.This guy deserves kick in the balls for being a scammer as well
nikolai Vasilev really?
@@jaketyler6622 look up their physical address of business...Look up ANY IRS info on the company :) Just for starters ! Trusting someone with lack of any official business record and all of that is not smart.NEVER work with such.
They are not the only company,but are growing fast and scammed quite a few.
As for one of many who were scammed ruclips.net/video/UZ9P80XPIWY/видео.html
The generic reply they sent to them not only counters what they wrote on the site,but also makes no legal sense...You can talk to any tax auditor or lawyer and he will tell you the same.
Worst part is that these scum bags that advertise him cant be sued....since they feign ignorance ,put disclaimer that they are not legally responsible nor have any formal knowledge in that area and just wanted to help others...since they had no problems at all.With them getting more fro ma third party,everything stays clean...Thou some miss that step and still get away.
It is not all that clever nor hard scheme to do,but gaining traction is.Most people that get small amount of money do not get robbed blindly,while minority does,thus they keep positive reputation and keep paying scumbags to advertise them to keep the traction going.And when they do get under serious investigation,they just close and reopen under a new name.
Just avoid such dodgy companies,that lack even basic info about them and official business records anywhere
Bri u gotta show us how to link an actual bank/card and not just paypal not everyone likes or can use paypal
I’m not sure DistroKid support anything but PayPal for payouts in most countries at the moment. studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
Hey Pete having issues with my distrokid Spotify for artist, it keeps linking me with my old Spotify account not the newly distrokid Spotify account, how will I correct that
Hey there. So, if there’s a Spotify Artist account in your exact artist name already, any new uploads will attach to this by default. Is there a reason you don’t want it to align? I believe you would need to use a different artist name if you want it to be separate.
@@PeteJohnsMusic it's a different name the old Spotify account is @HCIEN while the distrokid Spotify account is @HCIENMUSIC but when I try accessing the distrokid Spotify account it keeps linking me to @Hcien.. Been trying to access the @hcienmusic but its just not working
Hmmmm..... haven’t come across anything like that I’m afraid, so not really sure how to help. You might need to try asking DistroKid or Spotify directly.
@@PeteJohnsMusic how can I do that, is there a link for contacting them?
Yep. DistoKid have the ability to contact them on their web site. Spotify might be harder but I’m sure there is a way with a little Googling.
So it will arrived on my phone too right ?
Hi there. I'm not quite sure what you're asking, but yes, you can get paid and withdraw money using a mobile web browser.
Can you talk a bit on HOW TO WITHDRAW $ from REFERRAL PROGRAM
Hey there. It will just get paid automatically and you can withdraw just as you do your royalties.
@Pete - Some awesome stuff u got going :-) Tell me honestly, areDistrokid paying less? I got a message from a source stating - "Last month TC paid me 0.0018 and Distro paid me 0.0008 per stream." Can you share a screenshare of what ur getting from ur dashboard?
Hey there. DistroKid pay whatever the streaming services pay them. You can check my DistroKid FAQ here for more info - studiolivetoday.com/distrokid
i heard we need an LLC/ company is this true?
Nope. Can be paid as an individual. Just need to complete some tax forms. 👍
Pete Johns okay but I don’t see an option to file as an individual
Worked for me as an individual two days ago. It should ask your name and foreign tax ID (for those outside of Australia anyway).
but countries like zambia dont support paypal how can you get your money
They have just added some more payment options so might be time to explore again. Http://studiolivetoday.com/DistroKid
Or do i not have to deal with a w2 for uaing distrokid
If you want to be paid royalties these are subject to tax and requires a declaration.
Hey I'm from Turkey and I dont have SSN or İtin. How can I get paid?
Hi there. I used my Australian “tax file number” which worked for me, so I suggest whatever your tax identification number is in Turkey would also work?
@@PeteJohnsMusic so Can I use my t.f.n which is for Turkish Goverment?
@@furkanekici8871 Yes, that should work fine.
@@PeteJohnsMusic 😂 but there is a problem İ'm 16 so İ dont have