Switching Distributors: A Catalog and Royalty History Checklist
By Qlero Team
Plan a distributor change with separate checks for streaming continuity, archived statements and late royalty reports. Keep the handover traceable without assuming guarantees.
Switching distributors involves two separate handovers: the releases listeners find on streaming services, and the financial records your label needs to explain earnings. A matching stream count does not tell you whether old sales reports, artist statements or recoupment balances have been preserved.
This guide focuses on changing the distributor of an existing catalog. You may keep the same royalty accounting system throughout. The aim is to check the catalog transfer and retain a traceable record of reports from both distributors—not to assume that moving the audio moves the accounts.
Two handovers, two sets of checks
On the delivery side, identify which recordings and releases are moving, their existing identifiers, the artist profiles they belong to, and the services receiving them. On the accounting side, identify who will send each report, where earlier records will remain accessible, and how late earnings will be reconciled.
Assign an owner to each handover. Keep a shared transfer register with release identifiers, provider references, delivery and takedown requests, live checks, reporting periods and unresolved questions. This is a suggested control, not a guarantee that every service or distributor will process a transfer in the same way.
Check streaming continuity without promising it
Spotify describes track-linking as a way to retain play counts when music is re-uploaded. Its guidance calls for matching audio and metadata, including duration, title and artist name, and checking the play count in the desktop app afterwards.
Prepare the existing audio, artwork, release information and recording identifiers before the new delivery. Ask the receiving distributor how to supply these and how to handle any required corrections. Do not combine a straightforward distributor change with an unplanned re-recording or metadata overhaul.
For the same recording, retain the existing ISRC. IFPI's guidance distinguishes a recording identifier from the product identifiers used for releases. It also explains that a change of ownership does not itself require a new ISRC. An identifier is not evidence that you have permission to distribute the recording.
Confirm UPC handling separately. TuneCore's transfer instructions permit reuse for an identical album but require a different UPC when tracks are added, removed or reordered. This is provider-specific guidance, not a rule that every new UPC destroys a recording's stream history. Retain both old and new product references wherever they differ.
Agree the delivery and takedown sequence
There is no single timetable in the primary guidance reviewed on 27 September 2026. DistroKid's switching guide describes uploading first and requesting removal through the old distributor the next day. TuneCore describes requesting removal before re-delivery, or coordinating the two requests, and warns that either overlap or a gap can occur.
Agree the procedure with the providers handling your actual catalog, taking account of your distribution agreements. Record what should be checked before each action and who will resolve a mismatch. Do not treat a generic next-day instruction as a guaranteed migration window.
DistroKid expressly does not guarantee preservation of play counts or playlist placements. Check the new delivery on the intended artist profiles and relevant services, and raise discrepancies through the distributor. A successful check on Spotify does not establish the result everywhere else.
Preserve financial records before access changes
Request an export inventory before ending the old relationship. Ask which records can be downloaded, what filters or date ranges apply, how long access remains available, and how later reports and corrections will reach you. Keep copies you can open outside the provider's dashboard.
Include, where available and applicable:
- Original distributor statements and their detailed sales reports, with the covered dates, currencies and source references.
- Issued artist statements and the records used to reconcile them.
- Signed agreements, amendments, split instructions and the effective dates of changes, alongside any exported system configuration.
- Advances, outstanding balances, adjustments and payment records, with explanations of what each figure represents.
- Catalog exports connecting the distributor's release and track references to your own records.
Keep PDFs as well as structured data. A PDF can be valuable evidence of what was issued; it may not contain all the underlying sales rows or calculation settings. A CSV makes detailed comparison easier, but its format alone does not prove completeness or accuracy. Retain the original files and document any transformations.
Do not assume that a distributor cannot export detailed data. For example, DistroKid documents CSV earnings exports. Its generated report downloads are available for seven days, after which another report must be requested. That download window is not a statement that the underlying earnings history is deleted after seven days.
For the meanings of the figures you retain, see how to read a royalty statement.
Keep late reports separate from the catalog switch date
Removing a release does not necessarily end its reporting trail. DistroKid says earnings due for the time a deleted release was live continue to reach its Bank. Check the outgoing provider's own arrangements rather than assuming the same procedure applies everywhere.
Keep both providers in your reconciliation register while outstanding reports are expected. Distinguish the date of the sale or use, the date or period assigned by the provider, the date a report arrived, and the accounting period in which you included it. A report arriving after the transfer can still relate to the old distributor's delivery.
For each file, record its provider, reference, coverage and whether it has already been included in a statement run. Investigate overlaps, replacements and corrections before counting them. Two reports containing the same recording are not automatically duplicates; equally, importing the same earnings twice does not create additional revenue. A preserved stream count is not a substitute for the provider's financial report or proof of a bank payment.
A later audit question: an illustrative scenario
Suppose an artist's representative asks about three years of royalties eighteen months after a distributor change. These are chosen scenario dates, not an assertion about anyone's audit entitlement or deadline.
The label kept its issued PDFs, but not the detailed pre-transfer sales reports or the applicable split configuration. A PDF may answer what was stated for a period while leaving questions about how a deduction or allocation was calculated. The label must look for the supporting records in its own archive or request them from the former provider; their availability must be checked, not assumed.
The practical lesson is to test the archive before closing access. Pick a historical statement and see whether someone else can trace its relevant figures to the source report and agreement. For a broader evidence checklist, see preparing for a royalty audit. Obtain qualified advice for uncertain contractual audit or record-retention requirements.
What to verify if Qlero remains your accounting system
Changing the distributor need not mean replacing your royalty ledger. It does mean checking the incoming file layout and identifiers before using the new reports.
Qlero's sales-file setup guide documents template mapping and review of processed sales lines. Template and Sales Files access are required for the corresponding actions; creating custom templates is available on Pro and Enterprise. Use a representative file and reconcile its rows and totals before reporting it. This documents sales ingestion, not a promise to reproduce every outgoing provider's historical statements or calculations automatically.
If provider identifiers change, Qlero aliases can support sales matching; External ID is only a reference and does not perform that matching. Editing aliases requires Repertoire write access. Confirm that the codes represent the same recording or release before linking them.
Target Period is a file label, not automatic inclusion in an accounting period. Preserve the provider's row dates and select the appropriate files as period inputs. Do not use the catalog transfer date as a substitute for checking which earnings are being reported.
If you are also changing accounting systems, scope that as a separate migration. Qlero's migration page currently directs questions to support; it does not document a complete automatic historical migration. The opening-balance guide requires the opening balance to be the first transaction on one record, not entered again on its account or payee. Importing historical earnings and carrying a balance that already includes them also requires a reconciliation plan to avoid duplication.
Corrections need care. Re-import replaces a file's processed data and is blocked if a linked period is Published or Closed. Revalidation can repair invalid rows without rewriting those statements. Neither action recalculates statements by itself. Manual advances and adjustments affect balances, not money movement. Confirm the supported workflow for your specific history before committing to it.
Distributor-switch checklist
- Confirm the releases, territories and rights covered by the transfer, with provider instructions and agreement questions resolved.
- Preserve audio, metadata, recording identifiers and old/new product references; agree delivery and takedown responsibilities.
- Download and test the financial archive before access changes, keeping issued statements, underlying reports and agreement evidence.
- Check the new delivery on the intended profiles and services; record unresolved continuity issues rather than assuming success.
- Reconcile reports from both providers, including late earnings and corrections, without duplicate reporting or unsupported balance resets.
- Confirm who owns remaining queries and where the historical records can be retrieved after the handover.
Frequently asked questions
Will switching distributors reset my stream counts?
Not necessarily. Spotify supports track-linking when the audio and metadata match, but a distributor change is not a universal guarantee of preserved counts or playlists. Follow the relevant provider instructions and verify the outcome.
Can a release have a new UPC while its recordings retain their ISRCs?
Recording and product identifiers serve different purposes. Confirm the receiving provider's requirements and retain the mapping between old and new release references. Do not infer a guaranteed play-count result from the identifiers alone.
Does a remaster automatically keep its history?
No. IFPI says an ordinary remaster can generally retain the ISRC when it remains fundamentally the same recording; significant new creative input can justify a new code. That identifier decision is separate from a streaming service's track-linking decision. Do not change the audio during a transfer without checking both.
What if we already switched without exporting the history?
Contact the former provider and inventory the records still available internally. Request the missing reports, document gaps and confirm continued access. Do not invent retention periods or reconstruct missing values without supporting evidence.
Verify the handover, not just the upload
A distributor switch is not complete for finance merely because the new release is live. Keep the source records, confirm how remaining reports will arrive, and check that each statement can still be explained across the change.
If you want to assess the accounting side with Qlero, book a demo with sample reports from both providers and a recent statement. Use the session to establish what can be mapped, what must remain in the archive and what needs a separate migration plan.