DistroKid produces $1.3 billion valuation

Future. Music tools and distribution startup DistroKid has raised a new round of funding, making it the most valuable DIY music distributor in the game. Part of its success is ensuring that artists reap their rightful rewards by letting them retain full ownership of their work — a trend that has entered the limelight thanks to efforts from Kanye and Taylor Swift to own their own music, as well as the rise of NFTs. With social media democratizing access between artists and fans, platforms like DistroKid may one day replace old labels.

If you build it, they will listen
DistroKid is growing up.

• DistroKid raised an undisclosed amount from Insight Venture Partners, reaching a value of $1.3 billion.
• The music platform plans on using the funds to build new tools.

The recent investment makes DistroKid, which provides independent artists a distribution platform that connects to every streaming service and social platform, one of the most valuable DIY music distributors in the world.

DistroKid charges a subscription of $19.99/month to use its tools and services and doesn’t collect any additional fees, no matter how successful a song is… which is probably why over two million other artists are using the platform, uploading between 15K-25K songs a day.

Out of labels
DistroKid allows artists to retain 100% ownership of their work. This key feature has drawn big name artists like 21 Savage and Ludacris to the platform.

DistroKid is part of a larger trend of artists moving away from classic artist-label partnerships, which provide musicians with reach and a business infrastructure, but at a hefty price. In 2020, artists working without a label generated a record $1.2 billion in revenue. DistroKid represents the largest share of that market, distributing roughly 30-40% of all new music.