Routenote Review: The Best Free Music Distribution Service?

In order to be a successful musician, you need exposure of international magnitude. What makes a song a banger is actually its audience. The wider the audience is, the higher the chances that your song is going to be a great one and will find itself at the top of the world’s best charts. Your music distributor plays a vital role in your song’s success, which is why it is imperative that you choose a good one.

Over the years, Routenote has positioned itself as one platform that assists budding musicians rise above their horizons. In this Routenote review, we shall go in depth on some of the platform’s most resourceful features.

What is Routenote?

Routenote is considered to be one of the largest music distributors. It does an excellent job in providing a “simple, professional & totally free” way to win over the world with your music.

The platform has a huge distribution network and it covers 90% of the digital music market. So, if you imagine your music being listened to all over the world, you should definitely consider setting an account on Routenote. Achieve what you thought is unachievable. Also, did we mention that it is one of the largest music distributors in Asia?

My Story

So why choose Routenote over other music distributors? I’ll tell you why I chose it. Exactly 3 years ago, I was supposed to release an independent album which would have been extremely expensive. Instead, I did thorough research on the music distributors and I stumbled upon Routenote.

I instantly got in a better mood. Remarkably, I signed up with no upfront costs. This was an essential part for me as I was really thin on money. Once I started selling my music and began making money out of it, they kept 15% of my revenue. But I had the possibility to pay a fixed fee and keep 100% of my revenue. I chose that with no regrets. Nowadays, I manage to get a great living doing what I love. And what’s more beautiful than that?

What are the Key Features of Routenote?

Now, what does Routenote include and what are the key features it can offer any bands, DJs singers, or producers out there?

1. Different Types Of Accounts

Well, as a start, you have an option to choose a free account or a premium account. The difference between both is that with the free account you don’t pay anything in advance, but Routenote gets a 15% commission from your sales and with the premium one, you pay but receive the full payment from each sell – no commission is taken by Routenote. There isn’t a big difference between any of these two plans and you can choose the free one and still get many benefits.

2. Wide Exposure

Perhaps the main feature that Routenote offers is that it fulfils all your needs for the distribution of songs because it partners with over 200 online stores. Here, all the mainstream platforms are included such as iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and others. Another interesting option that this channel provides is the distribution to China – as being an emerging market with huge potential. However, the decision is yours – if for some reason you are not interested in distributing your music to this market, you don’t have to. You are entitled to the right of choosing your market of distribution.

3. Flexibility In Pricing And Release Dates

With Routenote, you can choose your own release date and set the pricing. There are two options given – you determine the release date and in 3 – 4 weeks your music will be distributed to all stores. On the other hand, if you leave the release date blank, this channel can release your music in a short period of 24 – 48 hours and distribute it to most popular stores. Again, this is for you to decide, and if you plan your strategy ahead, this shouldn’t cause any issues for you. Also, Routenote doesn’t give any limitations to the price you put for your music.

4. Ensures Security Of Your Work

This music distributor adds a feature that is closely related to YouTube as one of the most popular music platforms. The negative side of YouTube is that people can earn money publishing music or content that is not owned by them. YouTube Content-ID is trying to eliminate using an advanced audio technology based on fingerprints that identify the real owner of the content. If you own a video or music on YouTube, you can then monetize it. Routenote offers YouTube Content ID without any additional costs and helps you monetize your music.

5. More Chances Of Monetizing Your Music

Talking about music monetization, if you sign up with Routenote, you can get another chance to earn from your music. Routenote is connected with SoundCloud which is a major platform for music monetization. The way that it works is as follows: you get paid from the advertisements that are attached to the music you own on the platform. Another feature that you can get is an unlimited account on SoundCloud where you have no restrictions on how many songs you are going to upload. In that way, you have the opportunity to earn more.

6. You Get To Create Your Own Web Store

If you would like to create your own web store, you can use Routenote. Its service called Routenote Direct gives you the opportunity to make a custom web store and there you can sell your music directly to your customers and fans. Your own web store means that you have the control to create the look and feel of the store, set the prices you want for your music and determine the release date that suits you the most. Routenote Direct will also give you a personalized URL for the store and you can use it whenever and wherever you want, for example, send it to your fans directly or publish it on your website.

7. Ease Of Usage

Routenote is very easy to use. Indeed, this is the first music distributor that has its own forum page where its users can discuss any questions and answers that they have. Not only that, you will learn more about the features of Routenote here, but you can also discuss any questions related to the music industry in general. There is also a FAQ section where you can learn more about the distributor and its features. If some of your questions are not covered here, you have a customer support team as well, that you can contact and find the solution to your problem.

8. Comes With Efficient Analytics Features

One important feature of Routenote is the analytics dashboard. Having a program that can do the analysis, reports and all the statistics for you is always a big help. Whenever you are selling music or anything else, you need to monitor and analyze the process. Using this feature, you can have a detailed breakdown of your earnings, how many music tracks you’ve sold and how many people were interested in your music. Not only that, through this feature, you can also track the statistics of your YouTube videos. There are three different tables there – music downloads as well as music streams and YouTube Views where you have the summary of everything.

How Does Routenote Work?

From reading the key features of this distributor, you probably learned what this platform offers. In reality, Routenote is a solution for distribution of music that any singer, band, rapper, or producer can sign up to and earn from it as well. So, what each contributor can do is upload their work, release it to any market they prefer and then sell it. Routenote can be used for multiple artists as well, but you need to have in mind that you will be able to log in with only one email address and password in order to check your sales.

Once you upload the music to Routenote, you are the only person who has the rights to that product – the platform has only the right to distribute the music, but it doesn’t own it. Using Routenote, you can distribute your music to Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, Google play and you can either limit yourself to only one or two platforms or market yourself anywhere possible.

If you have decided to sign up with Routenote, as with most platforms, there is a period of approval of your account. So, once you submit all your information, you should receive an email that informs you that your account is currently under revision. However, if you complete the form correctly and your music and songs quality are acceptable, then your account should be approved very quickly, maybe within a few hours.

As mentioned above, there is a period of distribution of the song after you release it. You can either plan this and set it for 2 weeks since your upload or leave it blank and Routenote will release it within 48 hours. Sometimes, it’s better to set a date when the song will go live because, in that way, you can inform your audience about it and make it an official promotion.

Once you upload your music and set the release date, your fans can go to any of the platforms where you released it and purchase it from there. If you choose multiple platforms to distribute your songs to, your audience will have a bigger choice. Some people are already signed up on Spotify, for example, and they would always prefer to buy there. So, if you don’t distribute your song there, not everyone will be able to get it. Those people that buy from Spotify might be hesitant to go on a different platform to purchase.

The Routenote has a UPC which is very similar to an ISRC. If an ISRC is a virtually embedded code, UPC is a physical barcode that is used for a whole collection of songs or albums. These UPCs will allow you to share your music on your website and your fans once they click on it, they will be able to purchase it from any of the platforms where the song is released.

What To Expect From It

Now that multiple platforms have your song and your fans have it available, it’s time to earn money. Everyone who is interested in purchasing your song is able to use PayPal or Credit card to get it and once they do, you get income in your account as well. However, if you are signed up on the free plan on Routenote, you will get only 85% of the sell, the rest 15% goes for the commission that Routenote gets.

If you choose the platinum plan, you will receive the total amount of money that you are selling your song for. So, again, the choice is yours. You can also monetize your music through the other platforms mentioned above in this review – SoundCloud or YouTube Content-ID. Anything that you earn here, you can then withdraw to your own bank account.

Pros

Well, let’s see now what the benefits of Routenote are.

• Routenote helps singers, rappers, DJs, producers, bands and all other musicians to monetize their music through different platforms.
• All contributors can enjoy their royalties, keep the music copyrights and get branding.
• You have the opportunity to sign up for free and get most of your sales for you.
• Routenote offers you to choose your release date and choose on which platform you would like to distribute your music.
• The well-designed platform gives you a statistics dashboard, where you can keep track of your sales and most streamed songs.
• It is connected with YouTube, so you can easily earn from your content there as well.
• It is easy to use and there is a FAQ page on their website.

Cons

As any product, Routenote has some downsides as well. Here are a few:

• Their support team is not very productive, there are some negative reviews that they are slow to respond to issues. Overall, bad communication.
• The uploading of the music is rather slow when you have signed up on the free plan.
• You have to wait until you pass the threshold of $50 earned so you can withdraw your money.

Verdict

If we take a look at the pros and cons and all the features that Routenote offers, we can conclude that there are more advantages to using this platform, than not to use it.

From this Routenote review, we have seen how easy it is to use the platform, and how much it helps you distribute your music to different markets. Even if you are not sure about it, you can always try the free plan and see how it goes. If you are not happy with it, you haven’t actually lost anything, so the risk is not that big.