Comparison
TuneCore vs Ditto Music vs Symphonic Distribution
The short answer: all three collect your master streaming royalties, and that is roughly where the similarity ends. TuneCore, Ditto Music, Symphonic Distribution differ on 6 of the 8 royalty streams a released song generates. The most consequential split is US mechanical royalties, where TuneCore paid add-on, Ditto Music paid add-on, Symphonic Distribution partly.
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 | TuneCore | Ditto Music | Symphonic Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master streaming royalties | CollectsCore service. | CollectsCore service. | CollectsCore service. |
| US mechanical royaltiesthey differ | Paid add-onHandled by TuneCore's separate publishing administration product, not by distribution. | Paid add-onThrough the separate publishing product. Whether that includes direct MLC registration is not documented. | PartlyOnly if you separately take publishing administration, which is delivered THROUGH SONGTRUST. Not included in plain distribution. |
| International mechanical royaltiesthey differ | Paid add-onPublishing administration product. | Paid add-onPublishing product; the specific societies are not named in its published material. | PartlySame Songtrust-powered add-on. |
| Performance royalties (songwriter) | PartlyPublisher share only, stated in plain text in TuneCore's own documentation. The writer share continues to be paid to you by your PRO. | PartlyPublisher share only, stated plainly in Ditto's own documentation. | PartlyVia the same opt-in add-on, not via distribution. |
| Neighbouring rights / SoundExchangethey differ | Does notTuneCore explicitly disclaims SoundExchange collection. Register yourself. | Does notExplicitly disclaimed. Register with SoundExchange yourself. | PartlyOpt-in enrolment, and it can collect the recording OWNER share only. Symphonic states outright that SoundExchange does not allow any third party to claim the featured-artist portion. |
| YouTube Content IDthey differ | CollectsOffered as part of its YouTube monetisation service. | CollectsOffered; the commission rate is not clearly published. | PartlyOpt-in, requires Symphonic distribution, reviewed by their team and can be rejected. Symphonic typically retains around 30% of Content ID revenue. |
| YouTube publishingthey differ | Paid add-onVia the publishing administration product. | Paid add-onPublishing product. | Not publishedFalls under the publishing add-on and is not itemised. |
| Sync licensingthey differ | Paid add-onRepresented through the publishing side rather than distribution. | Paid add-onPublishing product. | PartlyOffered via a separate brand as an approval-gated add-on at separate rates. |
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 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.
What to know about Symphonic Distribution
Symphonic Distribution collects your master streaming royalties from the DSPs. The table above shows where that stops. Pricing: Starter tier $29.99/year. Add-ons separately priced and approval-gated.
- "Earn 100% of royalties" applies ONLY to DSP distribution. Content ID takes around 30% and every rights add-on is separately priced.
- ★ Symphonic's publishing administration IS SONGTRUST white-labelled. Signing up for both pays twice for one pipe.
- Even with Symphonic enrolled on SoundExchange, the 45% featured-artist share is legally unreachable by them. You must open your own account.
The thing none of these three do for you
Whichever of TuneCore, Ditto Music, Symphonic Distribution 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.