Comparison
CD Baby vs UnitedMasters vs Ditto Music
The short answer: all three collect master streaming royalties and YouTube Content ID revenue, and that is roughly where the similarity ends. CD Baby, UnitedMasters, Ditto Music differ on 6 of the 8 royalty streams a released song generates. The most consequential split is US mechanical royalties, where CD Baby does not, UnitedMasters paid add-on, Ditto Music paid add-on.
Every cell below was read from that company's own published documentation on 2026-08-13. Where a company has not published an answer, this page says not published rather than guessing. Nothing here is affiliate-linked and no company paid to appear.
Side by side
What each one collects
Rows where the three companies disagree are marked. Those are the rows worth reading; the rest are industry-standard and would look the same whoever you signed with.
| Royalty stream | CD Baby | UnitedMasters | Ditto Music |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master streaming royalties | CollectsCore service. | CollectsCore service. | CollectsCore service. |
| US mechanical royaltiesthey differ | Does not⚠ CD Baby Pro Publishing was DISCONTINUED in August 2023. The current CDB Boost product does not replace it. | Paid add-onThrough its publishing offering rather than base distribution. | Paid add-onThrough the separate publishing product. Whether that includes direct MLC registration is not documented. |
| International mechanical royaltiesthey differ | Does notNot collected since Pro Publishing ended. | Paid add-onPublishing offering. | Paid add-onPublishing product; the specific societies are not named in its published material. |
| Performance royalties (songwriter)they differ | Does notNot collected since Pro Publishing ended. Join a PRO directly. | PartlyPublisher share only. Your PRO still pays your writer share. | PartlyPublisher share only, stated plainly in Ditto's own documentation. |
| Neighbouring rights / SoundExchangethey differ | PartlyThe only company in this group that collects any SoundExchange money, and it collects the 50% RIGHTS-OWNER share only. The 45% featured-artist share still requires your own SoundExchange registration. | Does notTreated as a third-party matter, your SoundExchange registration is your own. | Does notExplicitly disclaimed. Register with SoundExchange yourself. |
| YouTube Content ID | CollectsOffered. | CollectsOffered. | CollectsOffered; the commission rate is not clearly published. |
| YouTube publishingthey differ | Does notNot collected since Pro Publishing ended. | Not publishedNot separately documented. | Paid add-onPublishing product. |
| Sync licensingthey differ | Does notNot collected since Pro Publishing ended. | CollectsSync placement is a core part of the UnitedMasters proposition. | Paid add-onPublishing product. |
What to know about CD Baby
CD Baby collects your master streaming royalties from the DSPs. The table above shows where that stops.
- ★ The single most out-of-date belief in music distribution: CD Baby Pro Publishing ENDED in August 2023, and a large share of blogs, videos and comparison articles still describe CD Baby as a full publishing administrator. If you signed up expecting publishing collection after that date, you do not have it.
- Its partial SoundExchange collection is genuinely unusual and genuinely partial. Collecting the rights-owner share is not the same as collecting your artist share.
What to know about UnitedMasters
UnitedMasters collects your master streaming royalties from the DSPs. The table above shows where that stops.
- "Keep 100%" again describes the master side. Publishing and UGC are where the share is taken.
What to know about Ditto Music
Ditto Music collects your master streaming royalties from the DSPs. The table above shows where that stops.
- ⚠ Ditto publishes TWO DIFFERENT commission rates on two different official pages (15% in one place, 10%/20% in another). When a company contradicts itself on price, get the rate in writing before signing.
Only on this page
Where one of these three breaks from the other two
Computed from the verdicts above. A stream where two companies agree and the third does not is the only place a three-way comparison tells you something a two-way one cannot, because it separates an industry norm from a company decision.
- US mechanical royalties: CD Baby does not where UnitedMasters and Ditto Music both paid add-on. That is the one thing the other two cover and this one does not.
- international mechanical royalties: CD Baby does not where UnitedMasters and Ditto Music both paid add-on. That is the one thing the other two cover and this one does not.
- songwriter performance royalties: CD Baby does not where UnitedMasters and Ditto Music both partly. That is the one thing the other two cover and this one does not.
- neighbouring rights via SoundExchange: CD Baby partly where UnitedMasters and Ditto Music both does not. The difference is a paid tier rather than a flat refusal, so it is a price question rather than a coverage question.
And where all three agree, 2 of the 8 streams, treat the answer as an industry norm rather than a feature. master streaming royalties, YouTube Content ID revenue. Choosing between these three cannot change any of it, so it should not be part of the decision.
The thing none of these three do for you
Whichever of CD Baby, UnitedMasters, Ditto Music you choose, the 45% featured-artist share of neighbouring rights is legally unreachable by any distributor. SoundExchange pays it directly to the performer, and no label, distributor or aggregator is permitted to claim it on your behalf. If you have never registered with SoundExchange yourself, that money is accruing to nobody.
The same is true in a softer way of US mechanical royalties: they flow through the blanket licence to The MLC, which is free to join and takes no commission, and a distributor deal does not register you there.