1. Where and when do I see my sales figures and statistics?

You can always track your sales directly in your Hitmaker Distro account.

There are two different views available:

Sales Trends View

Here you can see all your download and streaming revenue updated daily. (For the streaming platforms, we can currently read the data from Spotify and AppleMusic, with a delay of two days).

The trends are called trends, because the numbers they deliver have not yet been billed to the individual music stores and therefore you have not yet been credited. The definitive billing may be slightly different from the sales trends due to currency fluctuations and corrections by the music stores.

Credit View

Here you can see all your download and streaming revenue, which has already been billed to each Music Store. Once a month, a credit note is created and credited directly to your account. Depending on the shop, it may take up to six months before a download from the sales trend view was billed to the music stores. This is because certain shops settle with their partners only twice a year.

2. How and when do I get my money?

Your earnings will be credited to your account on a monthly basis along with detailed billing. You can always transfer money from your account to your bank or PayPal account.

Usually the transfer takes 14-21 working days.

Amounts can only be paid out for a minimum amount of $30.

3. Do I have to register with a collection society?

No. You just have to be in possession of the copyright of the songs. This means that you have created the works yourself without using any lyrics, melodies or parts (samples) of any other work, unless you have the license for commercial use. As a member of any collecting society you have to register all your works independently with your collecting society.

4. What do I need to sell my songs?

You need a cover picture and the audio files and you need to have the right to sell the music in the territories and formats that you want to sell it.

The following formats are required:

- Songs as WAV file in 16bit 44.1kHz

- Cover as JPG file with at least 3000 x 3000 pixels

5. How long will it take for my music to appear in the stores?

Large services like Apple Music and Spotify usually only take a few days. For the smaller shops, it can take up to two or three weeks. This depends on the respective shops and their processes. However, we recommend supplying releases through Hitmaker Distro at least three to four weeks before your desired release date.

6. Is my release a Single, an EP or an Album?

Depending on the number of tracks, the shops differentiate between the release types "Single", "EP" and "Album". Unfortunately there is no uniform regulation for all shops, but for releases distributed via Hitmaker Distro we say:

1-2 songs = Single

2-7 songs = EP

7+ songs = Album

7. Which shops can I supply via Hitmaker Distro?

Hitmaker Distro supplies all of the largest stores on a global basis. These stores represent that vast majority of sales for most releases. These include:

• Apple Music

• Spotify

• iTunes

• Youtube Music

• Amazon

• Deezer

• TIDAL

The complete and updated shop list is directly visible in your account when you create a new release. More services are being added on a regular basis.

8. Can I make my release available for pre-order?

Yes. When you create a release in your account, you have the option to set the release date and the preorder date. You can also set up Instant Gratification tracks on some services. See the Tools section for more information.

9. Do I have to enter anything in the fields

The fields are optional and can be left free accordingly. In this case, "Hitmaker Distribution" is automatically specified as a label. So if you would like to enter your copyright, label or the (P) note, the fields are at your disposal. In the case of the (P) annotation, in most cases the label must also be mentioned.

10. How can I find out the status of the delivery of my release?

The status of the delivery is visible in your account. If you click on the respective release under "My Products", you will find under the menu item "Music Stores" a detailed overview of the releases of the release to the music stores you have selected.

Regardless of this you will receive a notification via e-mail after successful delivery to the shops.

When your release goes LIVE (that means ‘available in the shops’), you will receive another email, in which you get the links to all shops as well as your personal link site.

The link site summarizes the links for all shops, clearly arranged on a page with your individual URL. (Example: http://www.lnk.site/orange-ep )

11. Where can I find the store links to my release?

As soon as your release goes live, you will receive an email with links to all shops and your personal link site. The link site summarizes the links for all shops, clearly arranged on a page with your individual URL.(Example: http://www.lnk.site/orange-ep )

You can also find your link site including all store links in your account by selecting the respective release under "My Products" and then the menu item "Link Site »Click.

12. How do I register my release for the charts?

Sales will be reported by the Music Stores to the Chart companies in the countries where charts exist.

13. How much money do I receive per download / stream?

Hitmaker Distro pays out 85% of the net revenue paid back to us by all stores.

Important to know:  Music stores only pay a proportion of the selling price to the artist/partner. These payments vary depending upon the store but as a rough guide, for a song download with a selling price of 0.99 USD, a store may pay out approximately 0.70 USD to us as your distribution partner. We would then apply our 15% fee and you receive the balance. The value can fluctuate due to a number of variables including VAT rates (e.g. VAT in Germany is 19%, in Switzerland 8%), allowable deductions for credit card billing or  payments made to copyright agencies.

In summary, 85% of the net revenue does not mean 85% of the selling price, but 85% of what the music stores pay us.

Stream revenue can vary and depends on a number of factors, including in which country the song was streamed and the type of service (e.g. Ad funded or Subscription). As a rough guide the approximate payout per 1000 streams is $4.00 but again this can vary considerably depending upon the music service and the country in which the stream took place.

The exact details of your earnings can be found in your account.

14. How can I check if my sales figures are correct?

Just make a test order via iTunes or another music store. After only 1-2 days, the download will be displayed in your sales trends. Please take into account that occasional delays on the part of the Music Stores may occur during the transmission of the sales figures. Unfortunately, we can not influence this.

15. Where do I get ISRC, EAN and barcode for my release?

 With the release, you get all the codes for your release for free:

- ISRC Codes

- EAN Code

- Barcode

The codes are automatically generated after the release of your release. If you have questions about your codes, please contact us at [email protected]

If you need the EAN and ISRCs from your release in advance for mastering? No problem! Just follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Hitmaker Distro account and click on "+ NEW RELEASE"

2. Enter the basic information for your release

3. Fill in the tracklist including all track information and pay attention to the order of the songs. You can skip the WAV upload of the songs for the time being.

4. Send an email to [email protected] as soon as you have entered all available information about your release and request the label copy including your codes.

5. Complete the tracklist with the finished mastered songs

16. How can I promote my music / video?

Hitmaker Distro offers a variety of useful tools and services to promote your music or new video. All available services and tools can be found in your Hitmaker Distro account.

17. Credit / Billing / Invoices

At the beginning of the month, you will receive a monthly statement via email with one month delay. In other words, if you release a product sometime in January, you will receive billing for the month of January at the beginning of March.

The email with the billing gives you a first impression of the performance of your music in the said month. It shows you your top release (including earnings) as well as your top song (including earnings).

You can get a closer look at the statistics of your releases in your Hitmaker Distro account. There you can also download your billing in the form of an XLS file or as a PDF invoice.

In your account, you'll also find your trends, which give you up-to-date estimates of your sales and streams.

18. What should I do if I have technical problems or general questions?

You can submit your question above, or email our team at [email protected].