What Happens If You Stop Paying DistroKid?

Short answer: with DistroKid, your releases can come down when your subscription lapses, unless you paid extra for Leave a Legacy on each release.

What Leave a Legacy is

It is an add-on that stops a release from being removed because of lapsed payments and keeps it up after you cancel. It costs $29 per single and $49 per album of two or more tracks, paid once per release. RouteNote has a good breakdown.

It is bought release by release, so the bill grows with your catalog. Protecting 20 singles would cost $580.

DistroKid prices

• Musician: $24.99 a year, one artist, unlimited uploads
• Musician Plus: $44.99 a year, two artists, custom release dates
• Ultimate: $89.99 a year, 1 to 100 artists

From DistroKid's pricing page, checked 3 November 2026.

Octiive prices

Plans are built around how many artist names you release under. Every plan has unlimited uploads, and you pick your release date on every plan.

• Essential: $29 a year (about $2.42 a month) or $5 a month. One artist name.
• Pro: $69 a year or $8 a month. Two to four artist names, for a band, side project or alias.
• Executive: $190 a year. Five to 20 artist names, for labels and managers, label registration included.

To be straight with you: DistroKid's entry price is about $4 lower than ours. The difference is what is included and what happens if you stop paying. For the full comparison, see Octiive vs DistroKid.

How Octiive handles it

We never take down your music because you stopped paying. Want to cancel your plan? No problem. Your music stays up with us, and you keep your stats and data.

FAQ

Will you ever take my music down if I stop paying?
Never. Cancel anytime and your music stays up with us.

What happens to my royalties if I stop subscribing?
Your music stays up and you move to per-release terms: you keep 92% and we keep 8% to keep administering your project.

Which plan do I need?
Count your artist names. One is Essential, two to four is Pro, five to 20 is Executive.

Can I move from DistroKid before I cancel?
Yes. Use the same ISRC and UPC, get your Octiive release live, then take the old one down. Our switch guide shows how.

How long does a move take?
We recommend 30 days so you can pitch playlists and editorial. Need it sooner? Choose expedited release and you can be live within 48 hours.

More on pricing: Octiive pricing.