Comparison
TuneCore vs UnitedMasters vs Amuse
The short answer: all three collect your master streaming royalties, and that is roughly where the similarity ends. TuneCore, UnitedMasters, Amuse differ on 7 of the 8 royalty streams a released song generates. The most consequential split is US mechanical royalties, where TuneCore paid add-on, UnitedMasters paid add-on, Amuse not published.
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 | UnitedMasters | Amuse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master streaming royalties | CollectsCore service. | CollectsCore service. | Collects100% on all paid tiers — except YouTube Content ID. ⚠ If your subscription lapses, a 25% commission applies to keep releases live. |
| US mechanical royaltiesthey differ | Paid add-onHandled by TuneCore's separate publishing administration product, not by distribution. | Paid add-onThrough its publishing offering rather than base distribution. | Not publishedThe MLC is named nowhere in Amuse's published material. Its international partner's rollout is described as covering the world OUTSIDE the US, so the US gap appears unaddressed — but Amuse has not said so, and this dataset does not infer it. |
| International mechanical royaltiesthey differ | Paid add-onPublishing administration product. | Paid add-onPublishing offering. | CollectsVia an announced partnership with the global digital collection society AMRA, covering 200+ territories. Commission rate and current live status are not published. |
| Performance royalties (songwriter)they differ | 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. Your PRO still pays your writer share. | Does notStated outright: Amuse pays the artist, NOT the writers. Join your PRO directly. |
| Neighbouring rights / SoundExchangethey differ | Does notTuneCore explicitly disclaims SoundExchange collection. Register yourself. | Does notTreated as a third-party matter — your SoundExchange registration is your own. | Not publishedSoundExchange and neighbouring rights appear nowhere in Amuse's published material. |
| YouTube Content IDthey differ | CollectsOffered as part of its YouTube monetisation service. | CollectsOffered. | PartlyIncluded at no cost on the two higher tiers; a 15% fee applies on the entry tier. The release must also be delivered to YouTube Music or nothing is collected. |
| YouTube publishingthey differ | Paid add-onVia the publishing administration product. | Not publishedNot separately documented. | Not publishedNot separated from the recording side anywhere in its documentation. |
| Sync licensingthey differ | Paid add-onRepresented through the publishing side rather than distribution. | CollectsSync placement is a core part of the UnitedMasters proposition. | Does notNot offered on self-serve plans. |
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 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 Amuse
Amuse collects your master streaming royalties from the DSPs. The table above shows where that stops.
- "100% royalties" carries an admitted carve-out: Content ID ad revenue is cut 15% on the entry tier.
- The pricing page says music stays live with no extra payments when you downgrade. The support documentation says a 25% commission applies once a subscription lapses. The music stays up; a quarter of the money does not.
- ⚠ Tier names in nearly every comparison article are STALE. The older tier names are no longer purchasable, and existing subscribers on them cannot add new artists.
- Content ID is unavailable for exactly the artist most likely to buy the entry tier: non-exclusive beats, samples, toplines, remixes, mashups, stock and AI-generated music are all ineligible.
The thing none of these three do for you
Whichever of TuneCore, UnitedMasters, Amuse 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.