Symphonic Distribution Review 2024

We’re on a mission to discover the best music distribution platform available to musicians.

Today we’re going to discuss Symphonic Distribution – Giving you all the details you need to know when selecting the right distribution service for your music.

What Is Symphonic Distribution?

We reviewed Symphonic in 2020 and it’s had a massive overhaul in the way they operate. Previously, it was only available on an approval process, and subscription costs alongside their commissions we’re a little all over the place. It’s great to see them take note of the changing environment of the music industry and implement a lot of changes throughout the last few years.

Do You Have To Pay To Use Symphonic Distribution?

If you only wish to use their distribution services, it is completely free, with them taking around 15% from your royalties.

UPDATE – It’s only free if you apply to become a partner. They’ve opened up their core distribution to everyone at $19.99 per year!

Now we’ve got that cleared up, this is what they offer within their $19.99 subscription:

• Speed of delivery to ISPs (1-2), this is extremely impressive!
• Customer service response time is 1 day (max).
• Split-Pay feature so you can pay collaborators automatically.
• You can schedule your release dates. This is something LANDR only offer in their most expensive distribution place, so again, lovely to see!
• Music Publishing is offered with a one-off $100 fee.

This all looks amazing! However, there’s one major downfall…

They take 30% commission from YouTube Content ID! For a lot of Artists this won’t be a huge issue. However, if you’re an established artist, or label, then it’s a major reason why we wouldn’t recommend Symphonic. 30% is extremely high compared to other companies we’ve reviewed.

Symphonic Distribution stores:

This is where Symphonic Distribution shines, because not only do they cover all of the major stores, they have another 100+ stores and counting within their reach. On top of this (very important) they use their own technology to reach these stores, which means you’re getting a complete, true statement of royalty earnings with no hidden services taking a percentage during the process.

Although they take 30% commission from YouTube Content ID, knowing that they have their own technology when distributing is a big thumbs up from us.

You may not know this, and we’ve discussed it within our main distribution guide; many distributors that give you 100% Royalties, use third-party services. So you’re actually getting 100% of what they receive, and it’s something that’s not discussed enough.

For example, their site will say ‘Keep 100% of Royalties’ but they’re third-party takes 0-30%, so you’re actually only receiving 70%-100% dependant on who they’re using.

Does Symphonic Distribution Promote Your Music?

They do, and they don’t – It depends how you look at it, and if you view Symphonic distribution as a distribution company or a full blown music marketing company, with the inclusion of music distribution.

I say this because alternative services that offer promotional tools will have it included within the cost, or offer, of the distribution service itself. With Symphonic, there’s a fee for pretty much everything they do.

This is not wrong, or bad, but it’s unusual to see. It also makes it difficult to give musicians a true representation of everything they offer. Lets try to cover everything…

Diagnostic & Analysis: In-depth analysis of of your audience, going over location, age, gender and interests. Alongside this, they include hashtag, and optimisation recommendations. Price? $250. UPDATED – Price: $400

Detailed Marketing Strategy: They will assist you, and/or your team on how to best optimise content and create engagement through advertisements. With this, they do help with the creation of content but they do not promote the content for you. All advertisement will require your own budget, unless you pay them extra to cover this. Price? $3000 (single/EP) for 3 months | $5000 (album) for 6 months. 

Digital Advertising: Full execution of release/brand campaigns, giving them the freedom to advertise your music using their own techniques. Price? $1000.

Release Cover Art: $195

Electronic Press Kit: $195

Brand Logo: $395

Spotify Promotion: Approval process required, and prices vary dependant on your budget.

Video Distribution:

Not only can Symphonic distribute your release to stores such as iTunes, Spotify and others, they can also distribute your music videos. For $95 you can get your music videos on TIDAL, Apple Music and Vevo, Latido Music, Xumo, Xite, Noisep*rn, Viewlift, and Mood!

What We Like About Symphonic Distribution:

Distribution alone, they cover a lot of stores alongside great analytics and an easy to use platform. It’s a popular service for many labels. Everyone I’ve spoken to, who has used Symphonic Distribution extensively, speak highly of the service, and the customer support they have received.

What We Don’t Like?

In all honesty, at $19.99 for everything they offer is exceptional. However, personally, 30% of YouTube/SoundCloud royalties a big no-no for myself. If this isn’t something that concerns you, then they’ve you’ve got an amazing distribution option with a low yearly subscription fee.

Customer Support?

I’ve reached out a few times over the years, and only ever got one response, which took 7-14 days. However, people that use the service and have distributed music through the platform seem to be happy with the service and customer care provided.

Now they offer a yearly plan, I’m sure customer service will have been improved dramatically in all areas, both distribution and marketing.

Final Thoughts On Symphonic Distribution:

As a whole, their service is powerful, but to get the most out of it, you’ll have to pay fees for extended services, or become a partner. Even if you’re a partner, it’s not uncommon for most distribution companies to still not offer any marketing benefits without additional charges.

As a distributor, they cover a lot of stores and are considered reputable amongst established artists and labels. The only thing that takes away form us recommending it though, is the high commissions on YouTube Content ID and SoundCloud monetisation. 30% is way too much.

It should be noted that you can use a different distributor and also use Symphonic Distribution for their extended features.

► Full comparison of all distribution companies 🔥

You can reach out to me anytime on Instagram – Just send me a message if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to help!