FAQ

Distribution

Money & Royalties

Promotions

Rights

Technical

Distribution

Octiive is the ultimate music distribution platform, connecting artists

How DOES this Monthly/ Annual Subcription work exactly?

Our tiered distribution packages offer flexible payment options based on the size of your artist roster and scale of project release schedule.
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Any of our subscription plans include Unlimited Uploads. In addition, you'll enjoy 100% of Net Royalties, Free UPC & ISRC Codes and never ANY Per Store or Per Region Fees.

By selecting a monthly payment plan, you agree to a minimum 3 month commitment of service. Failure to complete 3 months of billing cycle by default or early termination will result in an decrease of 50% net royalty collection for a full year (12 months) from the commitment starting date. There's no cancellation fees with a three month minimum commitment.

Do I really get unlimited uploads for one annual fee?

Yep! Choose from one of our three Unlimited Packages based on how many artists you plan to distribute for, select either monthly or annual pricing, and upload as much as you create!

Plus, don’t forget about these additional benefits:
No Per Store Fees.
No Per Project Fees.
Free UPC and ISRC Codes.
Customized Mastering.
Press Releases.
Artist Promotions.

How will I be charged for my renewal?

Once you’ve started your subscription, our system will automatically renew monthly or annually (depending on your plan) from the day you started your plan. You’ll receive a string of email notifications close to your renewal date in case you need to update your bank or credit card account.

If I do not pay my subscription, what will happen to my music?

By selecting a monthly payment plan, you agree to a minimum 3 month commitment of service. Failure to complete 3 months of billing cycle by default or early termination will result in a decrease of 50% net royalty collection for a full year (12 months) from the commitment starting date.

Can I sign-up for your additional services only or do I need to purchase a distribution subscription plan?

You do not need to distribute through Octiive to take advantage of our additional services. We want to offer our services to the entire music community while providing the most amount of flexibility.

Can I opt-out of certain retailer distribution?

Opting out of retailers is easy with Octiive. Simply email info@octiive.com following your upload with “Retailer Opt-Out” in the subject line. Please include your project title, artist name and the retailers you wish to opt-out of. We will confirm that we received your request and remove the retailers you’ve requested.

Please Note: You must notify us immediately following the upload process to opt-out.

Where can people buy my music?

We provide the largest digital music network in the world! Your music will be available on 600+ online sites in over 140 countries around the world including iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, Deezer, Beatport, and tons more!

How much does each track sell for online?

Music retailers typically sell each track for $0.99 and albums of 11 or more songs for $9.99. Whether the project is older or brand new, we have some flexibility in selecting a final price with the artists.

What type of audio files should I upload?

We can accept WAV or MP3 files. The preferred file format for ensuring the highest quality of sound is a 16 bit, 44.1 khz WAV file, which is currently the worldwide standard for CD quality audio. We perform quality control before files are sent off to retailers.

When and how do I get paid?

The great news is that Octiive now provides monthly royalty reports for all artists and label partners! Most distributors reach only a small handful of retailers, in very few regions, while Octiive gets your music onto hundreds of retailers in 140+ countries.

We send payments either via physical check (U.S. Only) or PayPal. Please note that there is a $20 administration fee for payments made via check. There are no admin fees for payments made to your PayPal account. Payments are made by the 15th day of the following month after you claim your royalties. Unclaimed royalties will simply carry over to the next month.

What expenses does Octiive deduct before paying me?

If you’re an annual member of the Octiive community, then you keep 100% of your sales activity OR if you prefer to pay as you go (one project at a time), you keep 92% of your royalties (without any annual fees). Of course, you ALWAYS keep 100% of your rights.

Will my music automatically be on all of your partner sites worldwide?

Mostly yes, but there are exceptions. Genre specific sites will only post music in their respective genre. For example, BeatPort is a site that specializes in Electronic Music would not post Classical or Heavy Metal music on its site. And there are a few retailers, such as Pandora, that do make the final decision regarding which projects they make available. However, rest assured that your music will be available on all major, non genre-specific sites (such as iTunes, Amazon, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, Juno Download, Spotify, etc.).

Does Octiive own my publishing rights, songwriting credits, or master recordings?

No. All Octiive artists maintain 100% of their rights, songwriting credits and/or master recordings.

Can I distribute public domain material?

There has been a lot of legal ambiguity surrounding public domain content. Therefore, many retailers and distribution partners have decided to no longer accept ‘Public Domain’ content and in fact, may remove any public domain material that has previously been distributed. It is always our intention here at Octiive to stay on the side of independent musicians. In order to ensure we’re protecting the Octiive community, we will no longer accept Public Domain content.

How long until my music is available online for purchase?

During the upload process, you are allowed to set an exact release date (as long as it’s at least 30 days out) and your music will be in all major online retailer sites on your exact release date. That said, we do offer an expedite service (with a fee of $29) and we rush your music off to all retailers with an “URGENT” notification to get your music up as soon as possible. Expedited projects begin appearing on retailer sites in as little as 24 hours but always within 10 to 12 days maximum.

What happens if I want to take my music down?

We rarely have artists stopping distribution or wanting to take their music down. However, if you request to have it removed, we will immediately remove it at no cost. We have hundreds of retailers world-wide so this may take some time. We ask for 60 days to complete the request although in most cases it does not take that long.

Where will my music be available online? Can I get a list of URLs to send to my fans?

We send your music to hundreds of online stores, mobile partners and streaming companies. However, some retailers are genre specific (only have jazz, blues, instrumental, etc). Retailers carry thousands of artists and therefore will not provide direct links for each individual release. However, they’ve made searching their websites pretty easy. You can do a quick search and find your custom store in a matter of minutes. You can do a quick search and find your project (as well as your links) in a matter of seconds.

My release is today. Why isn’t my music on iTunes or some of the other major online retail stores?

iTunes and our other online partners are usually very consistent in making sure projects are available on their release date. However, 24-48 hour delays can sometimes occur. If you don’t see your project after that point, please send us an email with your project and artist name to Info@octiive.com.

On retailers, why does it say Octiive as my record label instead of my own record company?

The majority of our retailers do not accept unsolicited material or material directly from artists. In order to get your label listed, Octiive provides a service called “Register Your Label” and can assist in registering your label with all retailer partners worldwide. Once you register, all of your future releases will have your record label name. To register your label for future projects, please go to www.Octiive.com and login to your dashboard. Then, select “Add New Project/Service” and click on “Register your Label."

I just got my royalty statement and it doesn’t appear to reflect sales from the last couple of months? Why is that?

Almost all retailers, except for a very select few, provide quarterly sales reports. This is quite standard in music distribution.

Here’s a basic breakdown:
-Royalty reports for January, February, March — Provided by April, May, June.

-Royalty reports for April, May, June — Provided by July, August, September.
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-Royalty reports for July, August, September — Provided by October, November, December.

-Royalty reports for October, November, December — Provided by January, February, March.

Please note, reports are generally received and forwarded onto artists/labels by the 15th of the month, following the end of the pay period.

Some of the words in my song titles are not capitalized. Why is that?

Retailers have very strict requirements for content delivery and grammar. For example, words such as “a, an, at, from, for, the” etc., cannot be capitalized unless they are the first or last word of the title. Retailers also require staying away from FULL CAPS ‘unless’ it is in the name of the artist. For example, “LMFAO”.

Some of the information listed for my release is not correct (song order, spelling, album title, featured artist name not listed, etc.) How do I get this corrected?

We provide every opportunity for our artists to edit their project prior to submitting it for global distribution. Once a project has been submitted, we simply cannot change its content.

I am the owner of a record label, and I would like to know if I can also register on my label to publish my artists (and possibly also monetize our YouTube channel and SoundCloud).

Yes, absolutely. We have a label registration service whereby we then go out and register your label name with all of our hundreds of partners worldwide. Then, all of your future releases will be listed on online retailer sites (such as iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, etc.) as being under your label name, not Octiive. We will then send you monthly reports (broken down by artists on your label) showing all downloads and streams along with date, retailer, and country where the download or stream took place. All sales are reported to SoundScan. We do monetize on YouTube and can on SoundCloud as well (though some artists opt out of those should they prefer to do that directly).

Do you guys distribute cover music?

You would simply create your account, follow the steps on the screen to select the services you’d like (such as label registration which is only $49), and proceed to checkout. We can distribute any content but need to ensure that you’re the proper rights holder and/or you have clearance to distribute the content (there are many cover song clearance sites online to assist with this if needed).

I am handling multiple artists and releases. Can I use your service as a label?

You can select the unlimited label package ($190 for up to 20 different artists and unlimited amount of music you can upload for those artists) and add a label registration service. Everything thereafter will always be under your label with all reports and royalties going to you to disburse based on your internal agreements with your own artists.

I’ve tried uploading my album for distribution a few times and it keeps declining. It’s saying that the album artwork doesn’t meet requirements, however, I followed the specs exactly. What do I do?

We assume you’re uploading a JPEG file that’s 3,000 x 3,000. This is the standard per all retail partners. If you are and are still running into an issue, email info@octiive.com.

We have recently contracted your services and we will upload the new songs with you, but we already have a verified profile on Spotify for artists. Will the new song appear there?

Yes, any and all of your projects should sync with your verified Spotify account.
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What are the advantages of Octiive compared to Tunecore, CDBaby, etc?

Huge – we get into more stores, and more regions while you pay a fraction of the price.

Tunecore charges around $50 ‘per’ album and, it’ll cost you just $19 with us. For more information on how we compare, visit this page.