Moving from one distributor to another... Will this affect Spotify play count/playlists?

[3six]

Hi all. I have some pretty popular tracks on Spotify (millions of plays) which were uploaded using Distrokid. However, I'm having some issues with them at the moment and want to return back to CDBaby. I read that metadata such as ISRC, UPC, track titles/durations are important for keeping things synced and that you can re-upload a track from one distributor if there is an error in the file. However, I'm less confident about doing this when moving between two completely different distributors, especially for releases that generate me a lot of money each month in royalties.

Can someone please advise me on the best way to approach this? Would it be better to upload the same release with the same ISRCs/UPC's etc.. on my new Distributor first and then delete the existing release on my old distributor afterwards? Or is it better to remove the old release first and then re-upload it onto the new one?

Again, I am on some pretty big Spotify-curated editorial playlists and it's essential I do this right!

Many thanks

[Bethany_Dawn]

Hi @3six ! 

Sounds like you've probably visited the Spotify For Artists page regarding corrections to your music. 🙂
Since Spotify doesn't have control over the corrections themselves, I think in this scenario it would be good to reach out to CDBaby's help center and see if they have a suggestion. They may have some best practice advice when artists switch distributors as it's likely they've handled conversions before. I couldn't find anything on their pages myself, but as you mentioned, this is something you don't want wrong if you're going that direction.

I hope this was somewhat helpful. Best of luck with everything and have an amazing day! 🙂

[AnyGaming · Accepted solution]

Hi,

the method Spotify recommends its distributors to use in these cases is as follows:

1. Upload the album(s) with the exact same metadata and sound files on the new distributor.

2. Wait for about 5 days after the new upload went online. During this time there shouldn't be a song and album overlap as the system will recognize the album(s) being duplicate and only show them on your artist page once.

3. Check that track linking succeeded. This is actually quite simple. Just go onto your artist page in the Spotify client and check if the album(s) are there twice. If they are it didn't work. Please contact your new distributor at this point so they can get in touch with Spotify.

4. If it did succeed you can now take down the album(s) at your old distributor. As soon as the takedown is processed by Spotify your migration is complete.

This should ensure all stats, links and playlists stay intact. If you are in these important playlists it may also be worth reaching out to your new distributor. They will be happy to assist you with this.

[ashkmusic]

Do the tracks still have to be uploaded at the same time or can they be removed first, then uploaded after with streams carried over?