RouteNote Review 2025: Pricing, Features & Everything You Need to Know

Top Reason to Choose RouteNote

Free distribution

RouteNote, outside of SoundOn, might be the only music distribution company with a revenue share model where artists aren’t required to pay an upfront fee per release or an annual fee for unlimited. As noted, there’s also SoundOn but the difference between the two, among other things is the KYC requirement.  SoundOn requires all users to upload a photo of their State ID and input their ID number to use its service while RouteNote does not. If KYC is a major deterrent for you but you like the idea of no-fee commitments, then RouteNote might be worth a try.

Top Features 

Unlimited Distribution 

Large Inventory of Stores

No Upfront Fee 

The Rundown 

Model: 

Unlimited Distribution with a Revenue share 

Unlimited Distribution for a flat annual fee 

Price: 

Free: $0.00 - Keep 85%
Premium: $9.99 per Single | $20 per EP | $30 per Album | $45 per Extended Album + $10 Annually

Transaction Fees: 

PayPal: 2.9% Uncapped | ACH: Free

Stores: 

Unlimited inventory 

Distribution to New Stores: 

Undisclosed so we don't know if RouteNote automatically sends your releases to newly added stores. 

Artists: 

Includes Unlimited Artists so there are no caps on the number of artists.  

Split Pay: 

Include - No fee. 

Keeps Music Live: 

Yes, your music stays live if you cancel or can no longer afford to pay. If you have a Premium plan they'll drop you to the free plan and take 15% of your revenue. 

Exclusivity:

No exclusivity clauses in the terms so you're free to do what you want with your releases. 

Customer Support:

Average at best. 

Content ID:

Free: Yes - Keep 85% | Premium: Yes - Keep 100%

UPC Codes:

Included + You can bring your own

Check the Comparison Charts for the most updated and expansive information 

Final Assessment 

RouteNote, it's free, and that's the best thing about it. There isn't anything that separates RouteNote from every other distributor beyond the fact that it's free. At the same time, there isn't anything that separates RouteNote from every other digital distributor. They get you into just as many stores as the distributors with the largest inventory of stores and collect, and disburse payments just as they do. In some sense, it's better because you can avoid transaction fees by choosing Direct Deposit which not all distributors allow you to do. It lacks the features you'd find with Tunecore and Distrokid, the community you'd find with Venice, and the tools you'd find with Landr but maybe you're not looking for all of that. Those platforms charge annual fees, extra fees for extra services, and - excluding Landr - will remove your music if you cancel or can no longer afford to pay. I see the appeal. 

The other side of the argument is Spotify has adopted the Artist-Centric model pushed by record companies like UMG. That model demonetizes all tracks that fail to reach a threshold of various stream accounts of which we only know the ones set by Spotify and Deezer. Spotify set its threshold at 1,000 streams per 12 months per track, and Deezer has set its threshold at 1,000 streams per month in total with a bonus system that freezes out most artists. Many other platforms are imposing thresholds without stating what they are. This means is the type of clientele RouteNote attracts is unlikely to drive any revenue for the company because its artists won't meet the various monetization thresholds. Unfortunately, this puts RouteNote on track for a major shake-up. Despite it being free, it simply isn't a secure place to choose as a home for your music.