Comprehensive Record Union Review 2024: Pricing, Features & Everything You Need to Know
Top Reason to Choose Record Union
Customer support & Keeps your music in stores. Record Union has a live chat feature on its interface where you can communicate with support staff and speak to actual people. Your music doesn’t get removed if you discontinue payment, instead, they continue to collect your royalties and restrict payment until you reactivate your subscription.
Keeping Music in Stores
Record Union vs. Distrokid vs. CD Baby vs. Ditto vs. Too Lost Distribution
Record Union will keep your music in stores but claim 100% of the royalties until you reactivate your subscription which will also reactivate your percentage starting from the month after reactivation. This means you’d lose all royalties collected up to that point. Distrokid keeps you music in stores and allows you to buy out the royalties by paying $29 per single or $49 per album which also allows you to keep 100% of your royalties. CD Baby charges a one-time fee of $10 per release and keeps your music in stores by taking 9% of the royalties they collect longterm. Ditto keeps your music in stores but appears to operate the same as Record Union. Too Lost Distribution will keep your music in stores but take 15% of your royalties.
Top Features
Payouts
Record Union pays out directly to your bank account in a very long list of currencies allowing artists across the world to avoid hefty transaction fees. PayPal is an option as well, but why pay the fees if you don’t have to? The savings from transaction fees can make up from the losses in the areas we dive into below. Additionally, you’re not subject to a 30% tax withholding due to Record Union being based outside of the US which adds to your savings if your country doesn’t have a tax treaty with the US.
Things to Note
Stores
Record Union has a limited inventory of stores that pales in comparison to Tunecore, CD Baby, and even Distrokid. You’ll have to make concessions on discovery and exposure in exchange for their Customer support.
Pricing
You’re charged annual fees per release with Record Union. The rates are likely what allows them to provide a higher level of Customer support so it’s a trade-off and comes down to how much you value being able to get direct instant assistance. Additionally, they charge for UPC codes which is so outdated we don’t include them in the rundown of distributor details anymore. You must pay Record Union $10 per UPC. They also charge Content ID fees per release.
Caveat
Record Union is a non-US-based company that doesn’t pay in USD so US-based artists may be subjected to stiffer transaction fees and currency conversion fees. Additionally, customer support hours could be an issue due to time zones.
Details
Record Union
Price - Annual fee
Price per release
Price - Revenue split
Stores
Beatport
New Stores
Pre-orders
Digital Booklets
Dolby Atmos
Apple Music pays 10% for songs mixed in Spatial audio
Custom Label Name
Primary Artist
Content ID
Music Stays Live
What happens to your music if you cancel or dicontinue payment
Split Pay
Classical
Music Video
Customer Support
Transaction Fees
Charged by payment gateways like Paypal for processing
Payment Threshold
Minimum amount required to receive a payment
Tax-Treaty
Countries without a US tax-treaty are subject to 30% withholdings
KYC
Requires taking a photo of your ID + a Selfie (less likely)
Artificial Streaming Fee
What you're charged per accusation of streaming fraud
Payusnomind Rating
Details
An album under their Top Dog plan would cost you $20 annually. Releasing 3 albums would result in annaul payments of $60 annually.
Charged per release. Each new release is an additional annual fee
Album
Top Dog: $20
World Domination: $29 + $1.50 per track over 12
EP
Top Dog: $17
World Domination: $24
Starting at $20 per album
Pricing varies by release type & tier
Keep 85% | Pay $25 extra to keep 92.5%
Limited
Yes
Yes - Manual
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Unlimited Artists
$10: 1-3 Tracks
$13: 4-6 Tracks
$16: 12 Tracks
$20: over 12 Tracks
+Basic: 85% or 92%
Keep 85% - 92% + Fee per release charged by release type
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Email- General
No dedicated customer support rep
Standard transaction fees are 2.9% uncapped for PayPal or $1+ for ACH direct deposit into your bank account in the US and more for outside of the US. That's about $3 per $100 you withdraw.
Not specified
$5
No - Not Subject to 30% Tax
No
Yes