Releasing your music on streaming platforms and digital stores like Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and Google Play is one of the best ways for independent artists to get their music out to the world. But it’s not always easy to know where to start or how much it will cost.
When uploading your music to Spotify, you don’t have to worry about paying any upfront fees. That’s because the streaming service doesn’t charge you a penny for releasing your music on their platform. However, there are some other costs associated with getting your song onto Spotify that you should be aware of.
The first cost is that of getting your track “mastered”. This process involves having a professional sound engineer take your track and make it sound as good as possible for release on digital platforms. It usually costs between $50-150 per track depending on the length and complexity of the song.
The next cost is that of getting your music onto Spotify itself. In order to do this you will need to use a digital distribution service such as CD Baby or Tunecore which will submit your track to Spotify for you. These services typically charge an annual fee ($29-$49) plus an additional cost per release (usually around $9-$12).
Finally, once your song is released on Spotify you will also have to pay royalties each time someone streams it. These royalties are calculated based on how many times the song is streamed in relation to other songs released on the platform at that time. The exact percentage varies but generally speaking artists can expect around 50-70% of their total revenue from streaming services like Spotify.
In conclusion, releasing a single song on Spotify can range anywhere from $50-$150 depending on mastering costs and then an additional fee for using a digital distributor (plus royalties of course). All in all, getting your songs onto streaming platforms can be quite expensive but it’s worth it if you want to get them out there and heard by a wider audience.
Conclusion: How Much Does It Cost To Upload A Song To Spotify? It depends largely upon mastering costs plus the use of a digital distributor and royalties paid once the song is released. Generally speaking, artists can expect release fees in the range of $50 – $150 plus additional fees from digital distributors and royalties from each stream.