Bring Your Music to the World with RouteNote

posted May 5, 2021, 9:45 PM by Elizabeth Lau (2021)

Making music is pretty fun and Andrew’s article about Soundtrap can probably walk you through the basics of creating your own music. But once you have it, what should you do with it? Enter RouteNote, which is a simple platform for distributing your music. I’ve had personal experience with the system after trying out many different music distribution platforms (such as TuneCore or CD Baby) and I can say that RouteNote was by far the simplest (and cheapest!) way to distribute your music to all the big streaming platforms, such as Apple Music or Spotify.

Using RouteNote is simple: make an account, upload your music, fill out all the necessary details and then wait for your music to be verified by their team of administrators. Along the way, you’ll choose your cover art, where you want the music to go and your distribution plan. But what is a distribution plan? A distribution plan is the deal that you choose to strike with your distribution company on how much money you will make from your music. At RouteNote there are two distribution plans to choose from, either pay your royalty fees (which is what you owe your distribution company for helping you distribute your music) up front or pay 15% as you go (or if you even make any money). If you’re a small, burgeoning artist, the second option allows you to distribute your music at no cost as long as you’re not making any money.

Other than the distribution costs, RouteNote is entirely free. They also have stellar customer service with fast and clear responses and they make it very clear what information you need to upload your own music. They also have advertising services that are built into the platform if you need them, which makes RouteNote a contained place to kickstart your music career from. They really push the idea that RouteNote can help you through all the steps, whether it be distributing to huge platforms such as Spotify or making sure that your content is monetised and copyright protected on YouTube or Soundcloud. Their list of partners is more than extensive, covering more than 90% of the music streaming market today.

When I was initially thinking about releasing my own music to Spotify, the process seemed overwhelming, with different companies pitching their expensive distribution plans all to me at once. But RouteNote came in and proved that you can have quality music distribution without sacrificing your own wallet, especially if you’re a smaller artist or don’t really care about making money. Yes, their website is not the most professional but their services truly do work. Music is a gift to be shared to everyone and with RouteNote by your side, your gift can finally be shared to every corner of the world.