Leaving DistroKid: what happens if you stop paying

DistroKid keeps your releases in stores only while the subscription is paid. When it lapses, the catalog comes down, as DistroKid's published policy says. So leaving is a sequencing problem: export everything, put the new copies up and only then let go. Do it in the wrong order and you get grayed-out tracks, dead links and a gap in your catalog. Do it in the right order and you keep your streams, playlists and the codes that identify your recordings.

Does DistroKid remove your music if you stop paying?

Yes. When the annual fee lapses, DistroKid takes your releases down from the stores, unless you paid for Leave a Legacy on them. That's one of three separate things that happen, and it pays to keep them apart:

• Your releases come down. Per DistroKid's help center, releases "may be removed from the services you delivered them to" when the annual fee lapses. DistroKid says it gives notice before removing anything, and restores removed releases automatically if the past-due charge later succeeds. Releases with the Leave a Legacy extra stay up.
• Your account stays reachable. The same page says you can still sign in after payment stops.
• Earnings owed are still paid. That page says so too. Royalties trail in for months after the streams happen, so keep your sign-in and payout details current until the balance settles.

So a lapsed card makes a chaotic exit, because DistroKid picks the removal timing, not you. A planned exit, with the new copies live first and your own takedown requests after, is the one where nothing breaks.

What happened to DistroKid in 2026?

It was sold, not shut down. In July 2026 the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners agreed to buy a majority stake in DistroKid. Insight Partners keeps a significant minority share and Phil Bauer stays on as president (Music Week). The deal was set to close in the third quarter of 2026, and the price wasn't disclosed.

The sale itself didn't change how your releases are handled. If the news has you comparing distributors anyway, compare the terms that decide what leaving costs: what happens to your music when you stop paying, and whether your ISRCs move with you. The rest of this page covers both.

DistroKid Leave a Legacy: what it costs and when it's worth it

Leave a Legacy is DistroKid's per-release insurance against its own removal policy: pay once and that release stays in stores even after you cancel. As of July 2026 it's $29 per single and $49 per album of two or more tracks. DistroKid is explicit that it's per release, not per account.

Whether it's worth it depends on what you're doing:

• You're leaving distribution behind entirely. You're done releasing and want the music to stay up. Then Leave a Legacy on your best releases is a fair one-time cost: 10 singles is $290, and a couple of albums is under $100.
• You're moving to another distributor. Then Leave a Legacy solves the wrong problem. Redelivering through the new distributor with the same ISRCs keeps the music live and puts the catalog where you're going, with no per-release fee to DistroKid on the way out.
• Mixed catalog. Some artists move the releases that still earn and buy Leave a Legacy for the long tail. Run the numbers release by release.

If the fees are what's pushing you out, run the full numbers first: the true cost of DistroKid prices every add-on from DistroKid's own pages against the headline price of $24.99 a year.

What you keep and what stays behind

UPCs are the one code that doesn't travel well, and it rarely matters: a UPC identifies the packaged release, not the recording, and a new UPC on the redelivered version doesn't reset anything that counts. Record the old ones anyway. They're how you reference the original release in any later dispute.

The export checklist: do this while everything still works

• ISRCs for every track. On the DistroKid dashboard, open each release. The release page lists the ISRC against each track. Copy all of them into one sheet. This is the most important step on this page.
• UPCs for every release. They're shown next to "DK UPC" on the release page. You won't reuse them, but you'll want the record.
• Your masters. The original WAVs at delivered quality, plus final artwork files. A distributor dashboard is not a backup. If your only copy of a master is the one you uploaded, fix that before anything else.
• A metadata sheet. Exact titles, artist name spellings, featured credits, songwriter and producer credits, original release dates and the label name on each release. The redelivered versions must match, and memory is not a metadata source.
• Earnings statements. Download the full history. The account stays accessible after cancellation, but an export you hold beats a sign-in you hope still works.
• Split arrangements. Collaborator splits are DistroKid account settings, not release metadata, so they don't transfer. Note the percentages and recreate them at the new home.

How to switch from DistroKid: the deliver-first order

Streams and playlists follow ISRCs, so the new copy has to exist before the old one disappears.

1. Set up the destination first. Pick the new distributor and get your account working before touching anything at DistroKid. Our DistroKid alternatives guide compares the realistic options.
2. Redeliver the same recordings with the original ISRCs. Use the same audio, titles and credits, and the ISRCs from your export sheet. This is what makes the new copy the same recording in the stores' systems.
3. Wait until the new copies are live. Check them on your artist profile. The redelivered release should attach to the same Spotify artist page, not a duplicate profile. Move on when the status says live, not submitted.
4. Request the takedowns at DistroKid. Send an explicit takedown request, release by release. Don't let a lapsed subscription do the removing, because then DistroKid controls the timing. A short overlap where both copies are live is harmless. A gap where neither is live is what this sequence exists to prevent.
5. Then cancel. Once the old copies are down, cancel the subscription or let it lapse. Keep your sign-in: earnings owed continue to pay out after cancellation, and they'll trail in for months.

Our guide to switching distributors without losing streams covers this process store by store, including metadata matching, timing and what to do when a store mismatches the redelivery.

Moving to Audora

The sequence above is the same wherever you land. What changes once you are here:

• The move is one button. Bring in your released music, then press Move to Audora on a record you brought in and Audora runs the sequence for you: it delivers the same recordings with their ISRCs and original release date, and two weeks after the record is live with us it tells you to take the old copy down, then checks that it is gone. A move costs what a release costs.
• Your music does not come down when you stop paying. We take nothing from your royalties on any plan. If you cancel and we keep your music distributed, we recover only our distribution costs from what it earns. Everything above that is still paid to you.
• The ISRCs are yours from the start. Audora creates the codes for your new recordings and they're yours to keep, so the next switch (including away from us) needs no exit guide.
• One plan covers the release. That's cover art, bios and press copy, the campaign and the delivery. See how a release goes out.
• Delivery through The Orchard, the distribution network the major labels use, timed about three weeks ahead of the date, while the editorial window is still open.
• You see what it did. Plays, saves, the stores they came from and the playlists carrying the song are reported back to you in your numbers.
• Your masters stay yours, and so does everything made on Audora, from cover art to bios. Audora is the label on your releases, and it takes no ownership of your recordings.

Create your account and set up your first release. It takes two minutes. The catalog you just moved is the one we build your next release around. Working artists release this way: DragonForce vocalist Marc Hudson put out his solo cover of "Golden" through Audora. Read the case study, published with his permission.