When Will I Receive My Music Royalties?

At Distrify, royalty statements are processed on a monthly basis.

If your releases, rights documentation and promotional activity are in order, royalty reporting follows the standard payment cycle of the digital music industry. Your first royalty statement may take between 2 and 6 months from the date your music is delivered and made available on digital platforms.

This initial delay is normal. Streaming platforms and digital services need time to collect usage data, validate activity, calculate royalties and send reports to distributors. Distrify can only credit and pay royalties after the relevant platform reports and funds have been received and processed.

When Everything Is in Order

If you release music you own or are properly authorised to distribute, use accurate metadata and promote your music through legitimate channels, your account should follow the normal royalty cycle.

Once your first reports have been received and processed, royalties are settled monthly according to the reporting schedules of each digital service provider.

To help ensure smooth payments, make sure that:

You own the master rights to the recordings you upload, or have written permission from the owner to distribute them.
You hold valid commercial licences for all beats, samples, loops, vocals, sound effects and other third-party material used in your music.
Your producer agreements, split sheets and collaborator permissions are complete and available if requested.
Your composer, producer and artist metadata is accurate.
Your catalogue transfer has been completed correctly if you are moving releases from another distributor.
Your promotion is organic and does not involve bots, guaranteed streams, artificial playlists, click farms, incentivised listening or other prohibited traffic-generation methods.

A first statement taking several months does not necessarily mean there is a problem with your account. It usually reflects the time it takes for platforms to report and validate royalties.

Manual Reviews and Payments

Distrify does not rely exclusively on automated checks. To protect artists, rightsholders, our distribution partners and the integrity of the platform, selected accounts, releases and royalty activity may be reviewed manually by our Quality Control and catalogue-review team.

A manual review may be triggered by signals from a DSP, third-party rights claims, unusual release activity, catalogue-transfer inconsistencies, unexpected streaming patterns or missing rights documentation.

When a review is necessary, the affected royalties may be temporarily held until the situation has been clarified. This does not mean that an artist has done anything wrong: a review is a preventive process intended to verify rights, traffic quality and catalogue integrity before funds are released.

If the review confirms that the activity and rights are legitimate, eligible royalties will be released in the next applicable payment cycle.

Reasons Payments May Be Delayed

The following situations may delay the first payment, temporarily place funds under review or require additional documentation.

Previous Takedowns or Rights Claims

A release may be reviewed if it was previously removed, claimed or restricted by another distributor, platform or rightsholder.

This can include music that has received:

Copyright claims or infringement notices.
Takedown requests.
Ownership disputes.
Delivery rejections.
Duplicate-content flags.
Previous artificial-streaming flags.

Platforms and rightsholders use systems that can identify recordings and compare audio fingerprints. Re-uploading a previously removed track through a new distributor, changing a title, modifying artwork or slightly altering the audio does not necessarily resolve the underlying rights issue.

If a recording was removed in the past, we may request evidence that the previous claim has been resolved before releasing the catalogue or paying related royalties.

Catalogue Transfers and ISRCs

If you are moving a release from another distributor to Distrify, the transfer must be completed correctly.

For an unchanged recording, you should normally use the original ISRC and keep the key release data consistent, including the audio, artist name, title and other relevant metadata. This helps platforms recognise the delivery as a legitimate catalogue migration rather than a conflicting duplicate upload.

The recommended process is:

Collect the existing ISRCs, UPCs, original release details and metadata from your previous distributor.
Deliver the release through Distrify using the correct ISRCs for the existing recordings.
Wait for the release to go live and verify that it is correctly matched to the intended artist profile and catalogue.
Request the takedown from the former distributor only after the new delivery is active and verified.

If an existing ISRC is delivered incorrectly, if a release is uploaded simultaneously through multiple sources without a coordinated transfer, or if a track has previously appeared under another artist profile, the release may be reviewed as a possible duplicate, ownership conflict or unauthorised delivery.

These issues can delay your first royalty payment while the catalogue is verified.

Copyright and Rights Documentation

You may be asked to provide rights documentation if a track includes third-party material or receives a copyright claim.

Beats downloaded from the internet without a valid commercial licence.
“Type beats” used beyond the scope, territory, platform, duration or stream limit permitted by the licence.
Beats with unclear ownership or licences that do not permit distribution and monetisation.
Samples taken from another recording without clearance.
Unlicensed loops, vocals, sound effects or instrumental elements.
Interpolations, melodies, lyrics or compositions taken from another song without permission.
Cover songs delivered without the relevant licences or permissions.
Music uploaded without the permission of a producer, collaborator, label, artist or master owner.
Unauthorised remixes, sped-up versions, slowed versions, mashups or edits.
Recordings, leaks or unreleased material belonging to another artist or label.
Disputes between collaborators over ownership, credits, splits or distribution rights.

A recording and the underlying musical composition can involve separate rights. For example, using an existing sound recording as a sample can require permission for both the master recording and the underlying composition.[spotify][spotify]

The fact that a beat, vocal, sample or song is publicly available online does not mean that it is free to use commercially. Keep copies of all licences, invoices, producer agreements, permissions, split sheets and correspondence related to your music.

Archive Accounts and Unauthorised Uploads

Distrify does not permit the upload of leaked, stolen, impersonated or otherwise unauthorised content.

This includes uploading music by another artist under a different artist name, creating “archive” accounts to monetise unauthorised releases, distributing leaks, or submitting unofficial remixes and edits without the rights required for digital distribution.

Such content may be removed immediately or restricted while investigated. Royalties linked to disputed or unauthorised material may be withheld, reversed, redirected to the rightful claimant or otherwise handled according to the relevant DSP policies, rights-holder claims and Distrify’s Terms of Service.

Repeated, serious or intentionally deceptive violations may result in account restrictions, catalogue removal or termination of distribution services.

Artificial Streaming

Artificial streaming is any activity that does not reflect genuine listener intent. It includes activity designed to manipulate stream counts, royalties, charts, recommendation systems or audience metrics.

Examples may include:

Buying streams, listeners, followers, saves or playlist placements.
Using bots, scripts, automated accounts or streaming farms.
Paying for “guaranteed streams” or “guaranteed playlist placement.”
Using promotion services that promise a fixed number of plays.
Organising repeated or incentivised listening intended to inflate numbers.
Directing traffic through suspicious networks, devices or automated systems.
Working with promoters whose methods cannot be verified as legitimate.

Spotify states that artificial streams do not generate royalties, do not count toward public stream numbers or charts, and do not positively influence recommendation algorithms. It also notes that artificial activity can be removed before appearing in Spotify for Artists, or later corrected in public and private metrics.[artists.spotify]

How Streaming Fraud Is Reviewed

Platforms do not publicly disclose all of their fraud-detection systems. However, industry research shows that anti-fraud processes analyse behavioural patterns and activity that differs from normal human listening.

Potential signals can include:

Sudden and unexplained increases in streams.
Repeated streams that do not resemble ordinary listener behaviour.
Unusually long or continuous listening sessions.
Abnormal repeat rates, skips or completion patterns.
High volumes of activity concentrated in unusual locations, devices, accounts or networks.
Traffic that is inconsistent with the artist’s audience, campaign activity or engagement.
Stream spikes that have little corresponding growth in genuine audience signals, such as followers, saves, profile visits or social engagement.

If a DSP identifies artificial streaming, the relevant streams may not be paid. Spotify also states that it can apply platform measures to labels and distributors when flagrant artificial streaming is detected.[artists.spotify][artists.spotify]

What Happens During a Review

If your account, release or royalty activity enters a manual review, we may contact you to request further information.

Depending on the case, we may ask for:

Beat licences and producer agreements.
Sample-clearance permissions.
Proof of ownership of the master recording.
Split sheets and collaborator agreements.
Cover-song licensing documentation.
Invoices and details of promotional campaigns.
Information about agencies, playlists, marketing providers or social-media campaigns used.
Previous distributor correspondence.
Evidence that a historical takedown or copyright claim has been resolved.

During the review, we (or the platforms) may temporarily hold the affected royalties and, where necessary, related funds connected to the risk being assessed. The duration of a review depends on the complexity of the case, the documentation provided and any pending decision from the relevant platform or rightsholder.

Review Outcomes

After reviewing the available information, one of the following outcomes may apply:

No issue found: The activity and documentation are verified, and eligible royalties are released in the next available payment cycle.
Further information required: The review remains open until sufficient documentation or clarification is provided.
Platform or rights-holder dispute: Funds remain on hold until the relevant DSP, claimant or rights owner resolves the matter.
Artificial streaming confirmed: The affected streams may be excluded from royalty calculations, and associated funds may not be payable.
Copyright infringement confirmed: The affected release may be removed, royalties may be withheld or redirected where applicable, and further action may be taken under Distrify’s Terms of Service.
Repeated or serious violations: Distrify may suspend deliveries, remove content, restrict the account or terminate distribution services.

How to Avoid Delays

The best way to receive royalties without unnecessary delays is to keep your catalogue clean, transparent and properly documented.

Release only music you own or are fully authorised to distribute.
Keep written evidence for every beat, sample, vocal, producer agreement and collaboration.
Use the correct ISRCs and transfer process when moving catalogue from another distributor.
Do not use the same master and ISRC in different artists.
Do not submit music that has been removed for unresolved copyright reasons.
Do not upload leaked, stolen, impersonated or unofficial content.
Do not buy streams, followers, saves or guaranteed playlist placements.
Research every promoter and campaign provider before paying for a service.
Contact Distrify before delivery if you are unsure about a beat licence, sample, cover, catalogue transfer or previous takedown.

Build your audience honestly. Do not attempt to manipulate platforms or bypass copyright rules. Honest releases, valid rights and genuine fan growth are the most reliable route to sustainable royalties and a healthy long-term artist catalogue.