January 2012; 12 years ago (2012-01) (as Fandalism)
May 28, 2013; 11 years ago (2013-05-28) (as DistroKid)
Current status
Active
DistroKid, formerly titled Fandalism,[3] is an American independent digital music distribution service, founded in 2012 by American entrepreneur Philip J. Kaplan. DistroKid principally offers musicians and other rights-holders the opportunity to distribute and sell or stream their music through online retailers such as Spotify, Pandora, iTunes/Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Roblox, Tidal, Deezer, iHeartRadio, and more. Originally known as Fandalism, it was originally a social media website for musicians before going into its current name while also becoming a music distributor over a year later in mid-2013.
History
Orginally a side-feature of Kaplan's social media music platform, Fandalism was first developed in early 2012 and renamed to DistroKid a year later in mid 2013, while the original Fandalism service was split out into its own company in 2015.[3][4][5]
In July 2015, a DistroKid release by musical act Jack & Jack went to number one worldwide on the iTunes charts.[6][7] This was particularly notable because DistroKid does not take a commission or royalties, making this the first time a number-one charting artist was able to keep 100% of their earnings.[3]
In May 2016, DistroKid launched a feature called "Teams" that makes it possible for royalties to be automatically sent to collaborators and shareholders.[8][9] In 2018, DistroKid reached an agreement with Spotify to support cross-platform uploads for Spotify artists who upload directly or have direct licensing deals with the company.[10][11][12]
In 2021, the company launched an initiative allowing record labels to mine its data in search of new artists. It receives a finder's fee from record labels each time a label signs a new artist by way of the platform. The first label to take part in the initiative was Republic Records.[13]
On July 1, 2020, Brazilian YouTuber and musician Dan Vasc called out DistroKid for allegedly stealing the 100% royalty he was promised by DistroKid, as he had only received a reduced percent of the royalty based on the US tax withholding (where DistroKid is based). Vasc uploaded two videos on YouTube highlighting the situation, along with an update.[14]
In summer of 2022, DistroKid launched DistroVid to let both members and non-members upload music videos with a subscription.[15]
On June 7, 2023, DistroKid faced a lawsuit for an alleged mishandling of a copyright takedown that led to their music being taken down without notice as a result of a fallout between Raquella George and Damien Wilson after release of the "Scary Movie" EP as initially agreed in 2020.[16][17] And as a result since January 2021, Wilson was notified by the distributor that the EP was removed from all of the streaming platforms.
In September 2023, it was announced DistroKid has acquired the music distribution and website hosting platform, Bandzoogle.[18]
