Distribution moves your recordings from your device to every streaming platform where listeners can find them. Digital service providers (DSPs) do not accept direct uploads from artists — distribution is required.
1.2.1 Why distribution is required
Spotify's own artist support documentation states it directly: Spotify does not accept direct-from-artist uploads. Distributors handle delivery and pay streaming royalties on the DSP's behalf. This is true across every major platform, not a Madverse-specific requirement.
1.2.2 The basic chain
- You upload audio, artwork, and metadata to Madverse.
- Madverse validates the release against DSP quality and formatting rules (QC).
- Madverse delivers the release to the stores you selected.
- Listeners stream on those platforms. DSPs pay Madverse as the distributor.
- Madverse credits your share to your wallet (Statements lag about 4 months). You cash out to your bank when you meet the minimum.
1.2.3 The two royalty types
Spotify's artist support documentation describes two distinct royalty types generated by every stream: **recording royalties** (paid to the rightsholder of the sound recording, via the distributor) and **publishing royalties** (paid to the songwriter or composition owner, via publishers and collecting societies, by territory). Madverse's distribution service handles recording royalties. Publishing is a separate service, outside the scope of this handbook section.
1.2.4 What distribution does not do
Distribution makes your music technically available. It does not guarantee playlist placement, promotional reach, or streams. Spotify's own royalty documentation is explicit that per-stream payment does not exist — royalties are calculated from net revenue divided by streamshare (see 1.4), not a fixed rate.
Source: MadDesk article 1.2 (1-2)