RouteNote vs CD Baby 2026: Which Distributor Costs Less Over Time?

Horia Stan is a music producer and sound engineer at The One Records in Bucharest, Romania, who has released music through several distribution platforms and advises independent artists on distribution decisions.

RouteNote is cheaper for releases that earn very little, because its Free plan costs nothing and takes 15%. CD Baby is cheaper for releases that earn a steady amount, because you pay $9.99 once per single and give up only 9% forever. RouteNote Premium beats both for a release that earns well every year, since it takes 0% for a $9.99 yearly renewal.

Both keep your music live if you stop paying. That makes this one of the fairest comparisons in distribution: no subscription trap on either side, just three different ways to pay.

Quick answer

• RouteNote Free: $0 upfront, you keep 85%. Cheapest for any release that earns under roughly $166 over its whole life.
• CD Baby: $9.99 per single or $14.99 per album, one time, you keep 91%. Cheapest for releases that earn a modest, steady amount.
• RouteNote Premium: $10 per single upfront, then $9.99 per year, you keep 100%. Cheapest for any release earning more than about $111 a year.
• Exit terms: CD Baby never removes music for non-payment because there is nothing to renew. RouteNote moves unpaid Premium releases to Free instead of taking them down.

Pricing side by side

Sources: RouteNote pricing, RouteNote Free vs Premium breakdown, CD Baby pricing, CD Baby cost breakdown.

A note on CD Baby's numbers. Its own site now lists $9.99 per single and $14.99 per album. Older comparisons, including earlier posts on this site, quote $9.95 and $29.95. Always check the official page on the day you upload, because distributor prices move.

RouteNote Premium also covers EPs (2 to 6 tracks) at $20 and extended albums (19+ tracks) at $45. CD Baby counts anything that is not a single as an album.

Royalties: 85%, 91% or 100%

These are three different deals, and the gaps matter more than they look.

RouteNote Free keeps 15% of streaming, download and social platform revenue. You pay nothing up front.

CD Baby keeps 9% of download and streaming revenue, for the life of the release. You also paid a one-time fee. CD Baby takes larger cuts on other income streams. At the time of writing its cost page lists 30% of social video monetization, 40% of sync placements, and 15% of what it collects through The MLC.

RouteNote Premium keeps 0%. You pay per release, every year.

To put real money on it: a single doing 20,000 Spotify streams a year earns roughly $60 to $100 at current rates (the full math is in how much Spotify pays per stream in 2026). On $80, RouteNote Free keeps $12, CD Baby keeps $7.20, and RouteNote Premium keeps nothing but costs $9.99 to renew.

The break-even math

This is the part that decides it.

RouteNote Free vs CD Baby. The difference in commission is 6 points (15% vs 9%). CD Baby charges $9.99 once to get that 6-point saving. The two are equal when a single earns $166.50 over its lifetime ($9.99 divided by 0.06). If a release will never earn that, RouteNote Free is cheaper. If it will, CD Baby is cheaper.

CD Baby vs RouteNote Premium. Both cost about $10 up front for a single. After that, CD Baby takes 9% and Premium charges $9.99 a year. They meet at about $111 a year in earnings ($9.99 divided by 0.09). Above that, Premium is cheaper every year. Below that, CD Baby is cheaper.

RouteNote Free vs RouteNote Premium. Premium is worth it for a single that earns more than about $67 a year. Below that, the 15% cut is smaller than the fee.

So the honest answer depends on one number: how much you expect each release to earn per year.

Three-year cost per single, by earnings

Here is one single over three years, with total cost including fees and commission. The earnings levels are examples, not promises.

How the columns are built:

• RouteNote Free: 15% of total earnings, no fees
• CD Baby: $9.99 one-time plus 9% of total earnings
• RouteNote Premium: $10 + $9.99 + $9.99 in fees, 0% commission

At $5 a month, the three options are within a few dollars of each other. Below that, RouteNote Free wins. Above it, the gap opens fast, and Premium pulls ahead.

The three-year catalog view

For an artist releasing 6 singles per year, fees only:

CD Baby's fees are flat because every single is paid once and never renewed. RouteNote Premium's fees grow every year because each release renews. Putting every release on Premium is the most expensive option in fees, and it only pays off if most of your releases earn above $111 a year.

The setup I would actually use on RouteNote is hybrid. Every release starts on Free. The ones that prove they earn get moved to Premium. RouteNote lets you switch eligible releases between tiers, so you are not locked into the choice you made on upload day.

Exit terms: both are artist-friendly

This is where RouteNote and CD Baby stand out from subscription distributors. I covered why this matters so much in Amuse vs DistroKid.

CD Baby: there is no renewal, so there is nothing to miss. A release you paid for once stays live. CD Baby keeps its 9% for as long as the release is distributed through it.

RouteNote: if you do not renew a Premium release, RouteNote moves it to the Free tier automatically so it is not removed from sale (RouteNote FAQ). Free releases have no fees at all. Your music only comes down if you delete your account or request a takedown.

Neither one holds your catalog hostage. That alone puts both ahead of DistroKid and TuneCore on exit terms, as I showed in DistroKid vs TuneCore.

YouTube Content ID and social platforms

RouteNote includes Content ID with no upload fee. Free releases pay RouteNote 15% of that revenue, Premium releases keep 100% (RouteNote support). TikTok, Instagram and Facebook follow the same split.

CD Baby also handles YouTube and social video monetization, but takes a bigger cut, listed at 30% on its cost page at the time of writing.

If your music gets used a lot in short-form video, this difference matters. RouteNote's 15% (or 0% on Premium) is clearly better than 30%.

Extras beyond distribution

CD Baby has more industry plumbing. Its Boost add-on, listed at $39.99 at the time of writing, bundles sync licensing, SoundExchange registration and MLC mechanical collection. It also offers publishing administration as a separate service. For a songwriter who wants more of the royalty chain collected without dealing with several organizations, that is real value.

RouteNote is leaner. It distributes, pays, and runs Content ID and social monetization. It does not try to be a publishing administrator.

CD Baby claims delivery to 150+ stores and platforms. RouteNote covers all the major stores plus TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. For most artists, coverage is not the deciding factor between these two.

Speed

RouteNote says releases go live within 48 hours to 2 weeks after approval, and its moderation queue can add several working days in busy periods. CD Baby also reviews releases before delivery. With either one, I plan at least three to four weeks ahead of a release date, which gives time for a proper pre-save and pitching to Spotify editorial.

Which one I would recommend

Choose RouteNote Free if:

• This is your first release, or you are testing material
• You expect a release to earn under roughly $166 over its whole life
• You want zero upfront cost on every release

Choose CD Baby if:

• You release once or twice a year and want to pay once and forget it
• Your releases earn a modest, steady amount, around $5 to $9 a month each
• You want sync, SoundExchange and MLC collection handled in one place

Choose RouteNote Premium if:

• A release earns more than about $111 a year and keeps earning
• You want 100% of the revenue on your strongest tracks
• You are happy paying $9.99 a year per release to keep that 100%

The practical setup for most independent artists: put everything on RouteNote Free first. Move the releases that clearly earn to Premium. Consider CD Baby when you want a one-time payment and the extra publishing and sync collection that comes with it.

For the bigger picture across five distributors, read my honest comparison of CD Baby, DistroKid, TuneCore, Amuse and RouteNote. If you are also weighing DistroKid, I compared it head to head in RouteNote vs DistroKid. And if the track itself is not mixed yet, that comes before any of this. I handle that on mixing and mastering.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is RouteNote better than CD Baby?

RouteNote is better for releases that earn very little, because its Free plan costs nothing and takes 15%. CD Baby is better for releases that earn a modest, steady amount, because a one-time $9.99 fee and a 9% cut cost less than 15% once a single earns more than about $166 over its lifetime. RouteNote Premium beats both for releases earning more than about $111 a year.

How much does CD Baby take from royalties?

At the time of writing, CD Baby keeps 9% of download and streaming revenue, so you keep 91%. It takes larger cuts on other income: 30% of social video monetization, 40% of sync placements, and 15% of revenue it collects through The MLC, according to its own cost page.

How much does CD Baby cost in 2026?

CD Baby's official site lists $9.99 per single and $14.99 per album as one-time fees, with no annual renewal or subscription. Older comparisons quote $9.95 and $29.95, so check CD Baby's pricing page on the day you upload.

Does CD Baby or RouteNote remove music if you stop paying?

Neither does. CD Baby has no renewal fee, so a paid release stays live. RouteNote moves unpaid Premium releases to its Free tier automatically instead of removing them, and Free releases have no fees at all. Music only comes down if you request a takedown or close your account.

Is RouteNote free distribution worth it?

Yes, for first releases and for tracks that earn small amounts. RouteNote Free costs nothing and takes 15% of revenue, which is less than any one-time or yearly fee until a release earns real money. Once a single earns more than about $67 a year, moving it to RouteNote Premium is cheaper than staying on Free.

Can I move my music from CD Baby to RouteNote?

Yes, but it means taking the release down on CD Baby and uploading it again through RouteNote. Reuse the same ISRC codes so streaming platforms can match the new upload to the old one, otherwise play counts and playlist placements can reset. Many artists leave old releases where they are and use the new distributor only for new music.

Which is better for YouTube and TikTok income, RouteNote or CD Baby?

RouteNote. It keeps 15% of YouTube Content ID and social platform revenue on Free releases and 0% on Premium releases. CD Baby lists a 30% cut on social video monetization at the time of writing, so the same TikTok or YouTube income pays you more through RouteNote.