Comparison
DistroKid vs TuneCore vs CD Baby
The short answer: all three collect your master streaming royalties, and that is roughly where the similarity ends. DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby differ on 6 of the 8 royalty streams a released song generates. The most consequential split is US mechanical royalties, where DistroKid paid add-on, TuneCore paid add-on, CD Baby does not.
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 | DistroKid | TuneCore | CD Baby |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master streaming royalties | CollectsCore service. DistroKid states artists keep 100% of the master streaming royalties it collects. | CollectsCore service. | CollectsCore service. |
| US mechanical royaltiesthey differ | Paid add-onNot included in standard distribution. Covered only by the separate paid DistroKid Publishing product. | Paid add-onHandled by TuneCore's separate publishing administration product, not by distribution. | Does not⚠ CD Baby Pro Publishing was DISCONTINUED in August 2023. The current CDB Boost product does not replace it. |
| International mechanical royaltiesthey differ | Paid add-onSame — publishing product only. | Paid add-onPublishing administration product. | Does notNot collected since Pro Publishing ended. |
| Performance royalties (songwriter)they differ | PartlyThe publishing add-on collects the PUBLISHER share only. The writer share is paid by your PRO directly to you, so with no PRO affiliation nobody collects it at all. | PartlyPublisher share only, stated in plain text in TuneCore's own documentation. The writer share continues to be paid to you by your PRO. | Does notNot collected since Pro Publishing ended. Join a PRO directly. |
| Neighbouring rights / SoundExchangethey differ | Not publishedSoundExchange is not documented anywhere in DistroKid's published material. Treat your SoundExchange registration as your own job until they say otherwise. | Does notTuneCore explicitly disclaims SoundExchange collection. Register yourself. | 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. |
| YouTube Content ID | CollectsOffered, with a revenue share taken on the Content ID income. | CollectsOffered as part of its YouTube monetisation service. | CollectsOffered. |
| YouTube publishingthey differ | Not publishedNot separately documented from the recording side. | Paid add-onVia the publishing administration product. | Does notNot collected since Pro Publishing ended. |
| Sync licensingthey differ | Contradicts self⚠ DistroKid's own materials both describe collecting sync income AND state the service does not include sync licensing. Their copy contradicts itself; do not rely on either sentence. | Paid add-onRepresented through the publishing side rather than distribution. | Does notNot collected since Pro Publishing ended. |
What to know about DistroKid
DistroKid collects your master streaming royalties from the DSPs. The table above shows where that stops.
- "Keep 100%" describes the MASTER side only. The publishing side is a separate paid product, and Content ID income is shared.
- With no PRO affiliation, your songwriter performance share is collected by nobody — not by DistroKid, and not automatically by anyone else.
What to know about TuneCore
TuneCore collects your master streaming royalties from the DSPs. The table above shows where that stops.
- Distribution and publishing administration are two different purchases. Buying the first does not start the second.
- TuneCore is one of the clearer companies here: it states the publisher-share-only rule outright rather than leaving it implied.
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.
The thing none of these three do for you
Whichever of DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby 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.