A new style of label
yeah, this is not us!
Tuning up
You've just put your first song out. Part of you is checking your stats every ten minutes, quietly hoping this is the one. We get it. We've been there, refreshing the app at 2am. So here's the reality, told kindly: what a first song usually earns, what it takes to grow, and what actually moves the needle. And through all of it, every cent is yours.
None of these hopes are silly. They're the reason any of us press release. Here's what usually happens, and what helps.
Most first songs reach friends, family and a few strangers. Viral moments happen, but they're rare and almost never planned.
What helpsTen short videos of you and the song beat one big push. Consistency finds people.
Spotify pays nothing until a song reaches 1,000 streams in a year. A first song might make a few dollars.
What helpsJoin APRA AMCOS (free) if you wrote it, and sell something real: a download, a shirt, a ticket.
Editors get thousands of pitches a day. Pitching guarantees your followers' Release Radar, not a playlist.
What helpsPitch at least 7 days out (we walk you through it) and build the followers who'll hear it.
It can be, for some. It usually takes years and many songs, not one.
What helpsTreat song one as the start. Every release teaches you something and adds to the pile people discover you through.
And the hope that always comes true: someone you love hears it and says "wait, this is you?" That bit's guaranteed. Read Ben on that.
Pick the one that sounds most like you. Streaming figures use published rates and estimates, converted at A$1.4434 per US$1 (RBA, 1 October 2026). Real payouts vary by country, subscription type and month, so treat these as honest ballparks, not promises.
Streaming pays per play, and not much per play. Here's roughly how many plays one song needs to earn A$100 from a single platform.
| Platform | Rough pay per play | Plays for about A$100 | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | US$0.003 to 0.0052 | 14,000 to 23,000 | A track earns nothing until it has 1,000 streams in the last 12 months1 |
| Apple Music | about US$0.013 | about 6,900 | Apple's 2020 average on individual plans; varies by plan and country |
| YouTube, TikTok, Instagram | Varies a lot | Not per play | Short-video platforms pay per video or per use, not per view4 |
For scale: Spotify says the artist ranked 100,000th on its platform earned over US$7,300 from Spotify recordings in 2025, and it paid out over US$11 billion in total.5
Most new artists only hear about streaming. There are three other pots, and two of them you have to sign up for yourself. Nobody does it automatically.
Spotify, Apple Music and the rest pay for plays of your recording. We collect it from the stores and pay you 100% every month.
We set this up. You just give us your bank details.
If you wrote the song, you're owed money when it's streamed, played in public, on radio, and performed live, including at your own gigs. APRA AMCOS collects it. Free to join, paid quarterly.6
Join yourself. Lodge your gig set lists.
When your recording is played on radio, TV or in video, PPCA pays the recording owner and registered featured artists. Self-released artists register as licensors. Register by 31 August to be counted that year; paid each December.7
Register yourself. We'll walk you through it.
Downloads and physical sales on Bandcamp, merch, tickets. Bandcamp keeps 15% of digital sales (10% once you pass US$5,000) and 10% of physical, plus payment fees of about 4 to 6%.8
Often the biggest pot for local artists.
Where the money goes, elsewhere
THEMWe charge a flat fee for the work and never take a share of your royalties or rights.
THEMNo cut. No lock-in.
THEM"The Label takes no share of the Artist's royalties or income from the Recordings. Recording royalties are paid by the distribution Partner directly to the Artist through its royalty splits feature, at 100% to the Artist or as set out in the Artist's signed split sheet."Artist Services Agreement, clauses 4.1 and 4.2
"The Label never receives, holds or pays the Artist's royalties. If any royalty is paid to the Label by mistake, the Label will tell the Artist within 5 business days and pay it on in full."Artist Services Agreement, clause 4.3
You can read the whole agreement before you sign up: plain English beside every clause, in your portal. Your songwriter (APRA AMCOS) and radio (PPCA) money is yours to collect directly; we never sit in the middle of it. You also keep your Spotify for Artists and distributor statements, so you can always check the numbers yourself. If our distribution partner keeps a share of YouTube Content ID income, we show it before you choose it.
Fees for the work, in Australian dollars, quoted before you pay. No royalty cut, no yearly lock-in, no surprise invoices.
| What | What you get | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Lights Off | Your song out to Spotify, Apple Music, TikTok and 150+ stores, under the label name. Free with any merch purchase. | A$19 |
| First release | More help getting your first one right. See what's included | A$59 |
| Volume Up | Everything in Lights Off, plus 3 label posts and A$10, A$30 or A$60 of ads, with receipts | A$49 / A$69 / A$99 |
| Blackout | Everything in Lights Off, plus cover art, a Canvas loop, A$40 of ads and about 10 curators | A$149 |
| Standard delivery | In stores within 3 business days of your confirmation email | Included |
| Express delivery | Within 24 hours of your confirmation email. Miss it, and you get the A$15 back. | A$15 |
| Your royalties | Collected by us, paid 100% to you monthly | A$0 taken |
Full list on services and prices. Distribution extras (like YouTube Content ID) are the partner's cost plus 10%, shown in AUD before you buy. Not yet registered for GST, so no GST is added.
Every single heard in full by a real person, with feedback, for A$19. No distributor we checked does that, at any price. Some cost less, and some are free. Here's the lot, so you can choose.
| Service | To release one single | How it's charged | A real person listens? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackout Room Records | A$19 | Per single | Yes. Heard in full, with honest feedback |
| RouteNote Free | A$0 | Free; RouteNote keeps 15% of earnings | No |
| SoundOn (TikTok) | A$0 | Free; 10% of non-TikTok earnings after year one | No |
| CD Baby | US$9.99 (about A$14) | Once per single; CD Baby keeps 9% | No |
| Ditto Music | US$19 a year (about A$27) | Yearly, unlimited releases | No |
| UnitedMasters | US$19.99 a year (about A$28) | Yearly | No |
| Amuse | US$23.99 a year (about A$34) | Yearly | No |
| LANDR | US$24 a year (about A$34) | Yearly | No |
| TuneCore | $34.99 a year (AU site) | Yearly | No |
| DistroKid | US$24.99 a year (about A$36) | Yearly, unlimited releases | No |
Prices from each provider's public pricing page, checked 27 October 2026. US dollars converted at the RBA rate of US$0.7031 per A$1 (26 October 2026); where a page shows only "$" we've assumed US dollars, except TuneCore's Australian page. Yearly plans cover more than one release, so they can cost less per song if you release often. Prices change: check the provider before you choose. We re-check this table every quarter.
General information, not financial or legal advice. Rates change; we review this page every quarter. Last checked 24 October 2026.
