United Masters Review: Digital Distribution 

So is it safe to use it and move to another distribution service

I doubt that..they are just distribution..from what i understand this is the best route to take if you want to own your music ..if you just want a big advance then a record label is what u want...they also have a select feature..you pay like 60 buck per year and you keep 100 percent of your royalties..i find it funny he doesn't even mention that

@@thephoeni6 he did a comparison video where he mentioned it comparing it to Ditto and DistroKid

Damn

No problem 👍

Sike

They suck like denied songs lot

They suck like denied songs lot

They are fool's gold.

What is UA??

Ruthless Rich if you’re songs got denied then you either dont have the rights to your music or your format is incorrect

TV Savalas how do you get pay for your streams on United master

TV Savalas ?

Averich Daedae You have to get streams that would equal to $50 or more.

Tree God yes the day I pass threshold of 50$ I’m tryna see when I get paid I drop my album sep 6 I’m tryna see when I get paid they email me and everything

Averich Daedae Do you have your PayPal linked with UnitedMasters?

Yeah, I just found out about it. Sad.

Pay Us No Mind it actually still is free , if you want 100% royalties then it’s 5 dollars but for 90/10 it’s still free

It's still free

What are u talking about? Its still free

do you have any better distributors in mind!?!

Thank you!! you understand the business. It's not up t your DISTRIBUTOR to Market your Music They literally Distribute your music to the dsp's

I agree and disagree. I agree that it only applies to the song you submitted. I disagree with the "you're fine" part. This is where all these sad stories about artists come in. All the bad deals that were made based on expectations of future success. Everybody thinks there's a next deal coming, another hit, etc. Most of the time, there isn't. We can go down the line of one-hit wonders. That's exactly why they'd make such a grab at the song and not the artist. Both suck. At the end of the day, if you reach the point where it's even an issue, you're probably going to be better off than you are now. It just handicaps your ability to go where you want to go. The "Good faith" clause is open to interpretation and I don't like ambiguity in contacts. Like, what do they mean by negotiating in "Good faith"? They could claim any rejection of their offer as bad faith negotiating and jam up any other deal. It's just corny because they're not funding the creation of the work, they're not marketing or promoting the work. It's like a store you buy lottery tickets from demanding a percentage of your winnings.

For sure. When I say "fine", I mean able to take the other opportunity. They're not funding the creation or marketing of the work, but they're also not taking a typical label % for those services. 10% is probably pretty high for what you're getting though, I agree. I hadn't gotten to the good faith part, but that's pretty standard language in any contract though agreed it's ambiguous.

I think it's a bit naive to really believe those artists blew from using United Masters. No artists blows up because of the distributor they use. Distributors don't market or promote your music, they just get it into stores. Giving up your freedom and flexibility in exchange for that doesn't make much sense. It's not like they're the only distributor, there are tons of other options. Got to know your worth bro. It's not about holding on to 100% of everything, it's about getting value.

With all due respect I am a fan of your channel I hear that unitedmasters do offer certain artists that are performing well help with promotion NLE Choppa was on The breakfast club for for interview in a freestyle early on and if your artist that uses original music and not a lot of cursing in your music the NBA and AT& T are very good things I know that doesn't fit everybody but some of us do have original music no cursing at least on a few songs or can make a song fitting that criteria from scratch it's a great opportunity I can name 4 artist 3 black one Mexican all completely independent no-record-deal and had great success on United Masters

@@TheIzziShow But bro, there are artists with great success on CD Baby. There are acts with great success on Tunecore, Onerpm, etc. Tunecore, CD Baby, Onerpm, and Ditto ALL have branches that handle promotion for artists experiencing success now. I mean, Lil Nas X used Amuse, he's way bigger than any of those guys you mentioned. They get your song played at some lightly attended NBA charity event that does nothing for you. For that, you're locked into a Right of First Refusal agreement, a Covenant not to sue where you've forgiven any of their current and future partners for violating your copyrights in the past, present, or future, and having their fee jump from 10% - 20%. If after seeing that it's done nothing for you, you decide to terminate, you're still locked into the agreement for 6 months after termination. So, you go elsewhere and do well where a label wants to sign you, you can't sign. YOU HAVE TO NEGOTIATE WITH UNITED MASTERS, you're only free to leave if they don't want you. It's easy not to care fam, I care. I don't want to see you or any artists be jammed up and miss opportunities. You can do what you want, I just say don't sell yourself short.

Do I need to have the same email upload my music on all platform?

strongholdstrugglez jones good until you won’t seen your royalties cause amuse won’t sent it to PayPal

Wow thanks i will use a bank account

strongholdstrugglez jones you can’t it’s only PayPal with them and then after your Money sent to PayPal then you go from there but amuse have horrible relationship with PayPal

@@R.J.S hold up you should be able to used a bank account im old dint know abiyt paypal

Do I need to have the same email upload my music on all platform?

Stop from fullt orimiting and making miney off the song if yoh can make your own beat or a person that do

Yes!!!!

Update

Hello all based upon the results in this video i didnt pursue this company it way to many red flags for me .... You're sacrificing more than 80%, forgiveness clause, And you cant work with additional labels if want to which means you dont own the rights to your songs because basically your signing to a label...A streaming service platform shouldn't have this much control over your material unless they are investing money to help push the records...It's a no for me

@@jmusiic_ Right !!!! This is a Revised 360 deal they will have they hand in everything because your locked into there terms with no way to defend yourself

@@snappthismanagementgroup8990 this software is really good. Nascar aloe uses it. He is a underground artist making it to the top

YT Money I don’t think so. But very easy to sign up yourself (I use Songtrust, but honestly if you track your releases and keep your records of your ISRCs and ISWC from your PRO, you can sign with SoundExchange yourself and keep your paper.)

No, they don't do publishing administration.

SoundExchange doesn’t collect Mechanical or Public Performance royalties. They just collect for Digital performance for internet radio. You have to join Songtrust or another Publishing Admin to collect mechanicals and a PRO for your Publishing.

@@Payusnomind Oh Ok !! Good Looking Out , I'll Just Stay With Tunecore For Now 🤞🏽

if you are signed to Tunecore for public adminitrsation that is cool. Make sure you are linked up with a content id service company to keep track on youtube. Audiam is free but will take a percentage of your revenue, but will provide you with a content id. Vydia also provide this offer and can also track your music through social media such as fb, instagram and youtube. But these are optional as you click what you want when you are in your dashboard. They provide space for upload, so the more storage you need for upload the more you pay annually. You can upload both video and audio music and have them track these down all across the internet. Plus they offer now distribution as well to streaming platforms. Not sure how reliable this is because I haven't yet use this service from them. Hope this helps. Also I suggest you keep track of your own ISRC

CD Baby overcharges for Publishing administration. They use a company called Songtrust. Songtrust charges a one time fee of $100 & takes 15% of the publisher's share of your earnings to register your ENTIRE catalog. CD Baby Pro - their publishing arm, charges you $40 per album or $20 per single. It makes way more sense to just join Songtrust directly $10/off punm-alt.lnk.to/3q1BM5ID The Spotify & Apple Music stuff, the other companies help with that too, I just never mention it because it's not important. Anybody can sign up for Spotify for Artists or Apple Music for Artists, you don't need your distributor to do that.

​@@Payusnomind Everything in which you said is totally correct, however. It's a lot easier for many artist (i feel) to do all of this straight through the CDBABY website while signing up your album / single vs. venturing to a different site to save $10? I did cdbaby pro last project and it pissed me off because the data wasn't entered correct. I did it only because I was out of the country and working didn't have the time. But because of that? I made sure to enter everything myself. But not every artist(s) will know or understand it. If that makes sense

@@maverickturner8699 Yeah that makes sense. I was going to add that it only makes sense if you just don't want to do the extra work. At the end of the day, it's a lot to be paying to avoid a little extra work. 10 singles would run you $200. 3 albums would run you $120. Then it would be an additional $20 - $40 per release. You're also only covered for songs that you release through CD Baby with CD Baby Pro. So Songtrust is $100, ONE TIME, and you can register whatever you want. When I signed up, I connected it to my Ascap account and it just automatically registered my entire Ascap catalog. The process of registering songs with them is really simple to, check it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-phE0zQvB2C4.html

@@Payusnomind Yeah see, then going direct makes the total sense there then. Now I hope someone reads this and gets inspired to do what we are saying. Because I do feel with the money in which you just pointed out can be used to start your own publishing company with any PRO company you would like and have it registered through your state.

Pay Us No Mind I’ve been watch ing your videos and been lookin at comments yu post also and you know a lot, so I I trust your opinion ...so out of all these you recommend using songtrust ?

how has it been with them so far?

Peace. It's for the songs you released so that wouldn't be a way out.

You could but it's surely against their terms of use. So, if you get caught, they'll strip away your revenue, remove the music, and probably ban you from the service. No need to even make that move though when RU-vid and Soundcloud are free.

Pay Us No Mind you’re absolutely right about SoundCloud and RU-vid... thank you for responding 🙏🏽

@@Jehovanisodivine No problem

Who?

@@suavepetro4064 Steve stokes

Can you still get signed by major label if you used United masters?

@@Strongholdstrugglez Steve 'Stoute'... you might be mixing his name up with with another famous manager Chris 'Stokes'

only if your using their licensed brands like AT&T.

I don't understand this. Can someone please explain

Kaycee Brown Official if you submit your music to their promotions offers like AT&T and NBA then you are stuck with them. but if not you are able to signed with a record label without doing the whole right of first refusal stuff

@@randomshit1845 What if I submitted but my music never got selected?

I just reread the ROFR. It says “with regard to submitted content” .. this is not uncommon. Let me explain. Let’s say you have an agent who is pushing songs for you to labels and companies like UM says they do. If one of those songs gets picked up for a Walmart commercial, your agent can’t just kill the deal with Walmart because you got signed to a label and want to use THAT SONG. For that reason, you have to notify him and give him time to make changes to whatever deal he got for you. This is similar to what a PRO requires if you decide to switch from BMI to ASCAP, for example. You can’t just switch on a random Wednesday when BMI is still collecting money for your music. You have to give notice for the administrative changes to be made. It’s important to note that this is talking about A SONG. Not an artist. Nothing in here says that an artist isn’t free to go. It’s the music that you’ve given them rights to that can’t just end without some prior notice.

Jungle J you can only upload to things you get paid off of if you have rights or a lease. It’s how it works 😂😂

@@iNSAN1TYCS ghe lol i know that i was commenting about that statement he showed with UM mentioning only uploading if you have exclusive rights to the beat

I mean u have to buy or own beats to upload a Song anywhere if you wanna earn money

Moweezy only if you wanna earn money. But if you find free for profit you can post them anywhere, non profit would only be soundcloud.

So Lil Nas X got signed because he's Lil Nas X and not because of Old Town Road. If the record company couldn't get Old Town Road they sign him anyway for the next hit right? Nah bro. Nothing he's made since comes anywhere close to the money that record produces. United Masters knows this, that's why the Right of First Refusal applies to the songs and not the artist. Most artists only have one hit for their career. Now, their terms are even worse because if you submit your music for an opportunity the agreement becomes exclusive. It's just a suspect company man with a terms of agreement that's laced with tons of weasel words.

@@Payusnomind the label will send a letter of direction to the PRO's to collect their cut of the royalty if they sigh a artist fam. They don't care who distribute the song because the artist still owns the Master recording and will probably buy it from the artist or work something out.

@@MarkRay84 What cut? You're misunderstanding brother. Right of First Refusal means you CAN'T sign any deal concerning that song. The record company has NO RIGHTS. The only way for the record company to get rights would be for United Masters to say they don't want the song and allow the artist to work out something with the record company. That's the whole point of the problem with the Right of First Refusal.

So it’s basically useless leasing?

You can't ... You can do it on the website

It take 8 days

yep

merihiris i still cant see it

AngelLuvsvids2015 🤦🏽‍♂️😂😂😭

I use them too, I’m waiting on a payment it’s been like 2 months u know how long they take

Right I was thinking the same shit

Kream the rest came up as boys most likely

Kream bots*

Keyondre Stewart I highly doubt that. I’m not big enough for that yet.

Kream well maybe it’s something else

Kream how did you get that much?

That clause in their terms of use doesn't appear to be about the song. It wouldn't make sense if it did. They wouldn't need a right of first refusal for that, they already have a right to the song. When you distribute, you agree to give them the right to distribute and profit from the song. All they would need is a clause that says it can't be removed unless both parties mutually agree to terminate.

@@Payusnomind I used them to distribute my single but am thinking of going elsewhere for my album. The single is on my album. Will that cause issues?

Octiive, Amuse for sure

Don Classico exactly

Is there anyway I can contact you to speak more on this?

How do I find people to talk to abt this

Contact me

@@suavepetro4064 Start with Songtradr

@@suavepetro4064 Start with Songtradr

Yeah you can but I think Ditto would be a better choice if you like the model of $20 for unlimited. Distrokid doesn't really give you everything you need for $20, it's a bit of an illusion there.

Distrokid is definitely the place to go for distribution, unlimited uploads with a 100% of your earnings coming to you.

I use Distrokid and i pay $30 a year to drop whenever i want to as much as i want to. I caught it on a deal i think? But i pay that upfront and they handle the rest as far as submitting to platforms.

Just A black picture u gotta wait it drops on Apple first

Just A black picture how’d you find your song,today is the day it was supposed to drop and I don’t see it my song on anything

If u a select artist u get a 100% of you royalties

Spica Parkings same question i got cuz if that’s the case with nba?! Fuck the nba ghe lol i just wanna drop music on UnitedMasters

@@jungleplug3429 did your question get answered, i would like to know the same thing!?!

Six Flow I Don’t even care about getting paid from them I only put songs on United masters that I really just want to put. I don’t look for nothing back because I still use tunecore

Mike Brown thx they do pay

Six Flow -Topic yea they definitely do. It just takes a couple months for it to pop up

Mike Brown thanx I was wondering the same thing

Not so much get what you deserve as it is them getting a piece of whatever you get. They effectively don't want you to be able to just leave. It would be ok if they did more like actually providing promotional support, but they don't. They provide promotional opportunities which is basically like contests. A bunch of artists submit and only a few win. To be locked into a situation with a company when all they do is digital distribution is insane.

@@Payusnomind exactly I deff have doubts about the game but we've all had the same doubts from day one including with major labels and they slave deals and now we got a whole new battlefield of the same type of shit itll never change without a organized mass overthrow of the political systems in place when it comes to distribution like spotify for example being one of the biggest literally given us nothin on the penny and suggesting to the artist that if we want more money it's simple make more music which in turn makes them more money so it's a major challenge and disproportionately unbalanced so it's a challenge to say the least.

A.Mellow Music yes you can

I think that only applies to any music submissions to NBA, AT&T, etc

Look up Type F Beats on RU-vid

The TikTok thing is weird because people can use your music there without anybody adding it. Having it added just makes it easier. Most importantly though, TikTok doesn’t pay royalties. Distrokid might be faster but they give you significantly less. I like Ditto, Horus, & Repost By SoundCloud more than I like Distrokid.

Pay Us No Mind what do you think about cdbaby?

Tino Cruze They’re great. I assumed if you were switching to Distrokid your concern was cost. If cost isn’t the issue, there’s a different discussion to be had.

Pay Us No Mind it’s not an issue but i also want it to be reasonable

Mahiru Senarathne I think it’s like 2 weeks which is the average, you won’t find faster anywhere else

Louie Jacobs distrokid does distribute just in 2days to all stores

Mahiru Senarathne yes, but it isn’t a guarantee that they’ll be placed in all stores - that takes anywhere from 2-3 weeks. Moderation is insanely important when making a release so it has to take time.

Mahiru Senarathne honestly I need to switch to distrokid tho. Routenote is pure shit

Louie Jacobs i’m using route right now. how long have your times been?

I can't speak for the service because I've never used them. As far as the offer goes, I think it's better than Onerpm. Here's why, Onerpm doesn't have a clear pathway to you getting any of the extra services they offer. United Masters just lets you apply and they have a lot of nice tools. My issue with them is some of the stuff in their terms of agreement but that might not bother you or other artists.

Yea I jus released my single alone it’s on instagram stories 🔥

Rico100 how long did it take bro?

Snarls - as soon as it’s dropped about 2hrs

Rico100 how long were your moderation times? mine is taking a while

Snarls - What do you mean moderation ?

Nope. None of the digital distributors will help you clear samples. You're own your own there.

Never heard of it bro. I tend to review distributors when the noise gets loud enough and there's enough demand from viewers. If somebody from there contacts me seeking a review, we could talk about it.

Distrokid

Same thing happened to me wtf

Did you make the release date as soon as possible? It takes at least ten days to get approved and then another couple days for Spotify, Apple Music, etc. to distribute it

A little advice, try submitting your music to United Masters a month before its release date.

Yes they make an artist profile if you choose to put a song on apple music, if you mean an account that can use apple music though I’m not sure

you have to go to apple music for artists (search that on google) then log in and select the song you dropped that’s on apple music then they confirm it’s you and you can create a profile pic

cuz fans rule at the end of the day

He didn't have a song that could be placed with the NBA and he still made it

80% is still more than what your favorite artist is getting right now the older generations they didn't have what we have imagine if Wu-Tang or NWA had United Masters

You're sacrificing more than 80%. You have to consider the terms. It's bigger than the percentage.

NLE choppa ass didnt meet none of them requirements lol his song had violence, hoes, hollow tips & somo shit up innit yet they still signed him. 🤦🏽‍♂️not makin sense. Until someone help me make that make sense? Ian fw UnitedMasters

Do you mean accepted by the stores?

Yes

They'll take 20% and that's not even the half of it bro. More problems than that.

Pay Us No Mind From my understanding they take 10% on top of the 10 already taken out that you can opt out off it you pay the yearly fee.

@@MarkRay84 There's no opt-out. Paying the annual fee doesn't apply to Submitted content. If you get chosen for an opportunity, you'll have to pay 20% of revenue earned by that record going forward. Keep in mind though, they consider "Submitted" content different from "Delivered" content. Delivered means they actually sent it to be considered. Submitted, just means they accepted your application. At the end of the day, they're using Submitted content as a stealth way to compile assets/songs.

Pay Us No Mind what’s the going rate for a company to place your material on a network (tv, film,etc)?

Ray R. Depends on the company

TheBreeShow subscribe back ?🙏🏾

No

Peace. All you have to do is just not submit your music to any of the promotions they run like the NBA thing. It only applies to songs submitted to for those types of offers.

So I can use them just don’t submit the track to nba?

almost all companies do...?

IkeN united master constantly show u celebrity promoting their brand most likely paid them to do it just for people to hop on the wave 🌊 there’s a catch to it that’s for sure and he’s a former record label owner don’t forget that (the mindset don’t change)

Official JR15 Apple Music artist app Spotify artist app

I can’t log into Spotify for artists because united masters has control over the account and I don’t have the password, they do

It's not a matter of another platform being "better" What it comes down to is what you're looking for in a distributor. It's circumstantial. My digital distribution guide provides an expansive review of the top distributors. With that, you can learn everything you'd need to know to make an informed decision. Check it: punm-alt.lnk.to/2UJKe02bYo

Pay Us No Mind What do you use ?

Yea I get placements from clout indie all the time