Distrokid is a distribution platform for independent artists.
It was founded by Philip Kaplan in 2013, and has grown to become one of the most significant platforms in the DIY distribution space.
Distrokid serves more than 250,000 artists to upload their tracks to services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
Artists who have used Distokid for distribution down the years include stars such as 21 Savage, Ludacris, Will Smith, and Tom Waits.
In addition to distribution, Distrokid offers a menu of services that also includes monetization, metadata customization, storage, and promotion.
Distrokid: Investment rounds
On October 17, 2018, Spotify announced that it had acquired a minority stake in Distrokid.
As a result of the transaction, Spotify said that Distrokid’s platform would enable those artists uploading to Spotify direct to also distribute their music to other services.
However, by July 2019, Spotify had announced that it was retreating from direct distribution, and dropping the feature from its platform.
Little over a week before Spotify announced the acquisition of a stake in Distrokid, Silversmith Capital Partners announced it had made a “significant investment” in the distribution platform.
In that announcement, made on October 9, 2018, Philip Kaplan, DistroKid Founder and CEO, said: “Adding capital and expertise will help support our rapid growth, as well as planned expansion into new areas.
“As I’ve come to know the Silversmith team, it has struck me how much they value a founder’s vision. I’m excited to partner with Silversmith as we embark on the next phase of growth.”Music Business Worldwide