How to choose a music distributor in India: rupee fees, JioSaavn and Gaana reach, and how the money gets home

If you live in India and want your music on JioSaavn, Gaana, Spotify and YouTube Music, you need a distributor. Our general guide, how to choose a distributor in 2026, compares DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby and Ditto in dollars. This one narrows the question to what an Indian independent artist actually feels: the price in rupees, whether the Indian services are covered, and how the money gets back to you.

Everything here comes from the distributors' own pages or dated reporting, as we read them on 27 Oct 2026. Prices change and promotions come and go, so check the page on the day you pay. We don't take money for placement in this guide, and nothing below is a ranking. This is not financial advice.

What you pay, and in which currency

TuneCore is the one big name that prices in rupees. Its Indian pricing page lists three yearly plans: Rising Artist at ₹1599, Breakout Artist at ₹2799 and Professional at ₹4499. It also sells pay-as-you-go releases: a Single at ₹1599 and an Album at ₹2799. The page says GST is added to the cart, and it lists a 20% fee on earnings from TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

DistroKid and Ditto bill in dollars. DistroKid's pricing page lists Musician at $24.99 a year, Musician Plus at $44.99 and Ultimate at $89.99, and says all plans "Keep 100% of earnings". We found no rupee option on the page. Ditto's pricing page lists Starter at $19 a year, Pro at $59 and Labels at $109, with 100% of streaming income on every plan and a 15% commission on publishing and sync royalties on the higher plans.

Free tiers exist. RouteNote, for example, markets a free plan alongside a paid one. We could not load its full pricing terms when we checked, so we have left its numbers out rather than guess.

Reaching JioSaavn and Gaana

JioSaavn does not take uploads from individual artists. You reach it through a distributor that delivers there, as InterSpace's explainer puts it. InterSpace is itself a distributor, so read that as a well-informed industry source, not a neutral one.

How to check coverage for a given distributor:

• TuneCore: Music Business Worldwide reported in July 2020 that TuneCore India artists could deliver to JioSaavn, and in October 2020 that TuneCore had added Gaana. Those reports are years old. Its current pricing page talks about "150+ Digital Stores" but doesn't name either service, so check the store list inside the dashboard before you pay.
• RouteNote: its help centre calls JioSaavn one of its partner stores, which you pick at the store selection step.
• DistroKid and Ditto: neither pricing page names JioSaavn or Gaana. That doesn't mean they don't deliver there. It means you should confirm it in their store list before you sign up.

How the money gets home

This is where the choice matters most for an Indian artist, and where the public pages say least.

• When TuneCore launched in India, it said Indian artists could collect revenue in their local currency, according to Music Business Worldwide's report. Its current pricing page doesn't set out withdrawal methods, schedules or minimums.
• DistroKid and Ditto price in dollars and don't state INR withdrawal terms on their pricing pages. Assume your earnings are held in dollars and converted when they reach your bank. What that costs depends on the withdrawal method and your bank, which no pricing page shows.
• According to InterSpace, JioSaavn pays distributors in dollars, so even rupee streams take a currency round trip before they reach you.

What we think

For an Indian artist on a small budget, the sticker price is the wrong place to start. The gap between ₹1599 and $19 is small. What adds up is the leakage after that: GST on the fee, a cut on social and video income, and conversion and transfer charges on every withdrawal. Most pricing pages show the first number and hide the rest.

Our rule of thumb: if most of your listeners are in India and your yearly streaming income is modest, pay in rupees, check that JioSaavn and Gaana are both in the store list, and learn the withdrawal fee before you upload anything. If most of your audience is abroad, a dollar plan is fine, but treat the withdrawal fee as part of the price. Whichever you pick, ask support three things before you pay: is JioSaavn delivered direct, can I withdraw to an Indian bank account in rupees, and what does one withdrawal cost? A distributor that can't answer clearly has told you something.

Then read the contract. Our clause-by-clause guide to reading a distribution agreement covers term, takedowns and payouts. For tax on the fee and on your earnings, see GST and income tax for Indian musicians. A distributor collects only the recording side. Your song earns separately through IPRS, which we explain in IPRS and PPL India explained.