Frequently asked questions
Who runs LANDR, and who runs LabelGrid?
LANDR Audio Inc. is based in Montreal: their privacy policy gives the address as “1001 Blvd Robert-Bourassa suite 2100 Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3B 4L4”. Their about page says “Since launching in 2014 we’ve helped millions of musicians all around the world” and describes the company as “the creative platform for musicians: AI-powered music mastering, distribution, plugins, collaboration, promotion and sample packs”. Their homepage H1 is “Your end-to-end music production suite”, and distribution is one section of five on it, after mastering. LabelGrid has been going since 2017, is based in Denver, Colorado, and every customer contracts with Label Grid LLC.
What does LANDR cost, and is LabelGrid cheaper?
For one artist releasing their own music, LabelGrid is not cheaper and we are not going to pretend otherwise. LANDR publish one starting figure for distribution, on their digital-distribution page, quoted in full in the table above. Their homepage prices the LANDR Studio bundle from “Starting at USD $8.25/month”, which is the production bundle rather than a distribution plan. Those are starting figures rather than plan prices. On our side every distribution plan and every API tier is priced on the pricing page, including the Custom Distribution and Custom API starting prices, and nothing on that ladder starts as low as their entry figure. What the ladder buys is several labels in one account, per-artist statements and an API.
Does LANDR charge a fee on YouTube Content ID?
Yes, and for a subscriber it is the same rate we charge. Their Terms of Service say they “will deduct 20% (for Premium subscribers) or 30% (for non-Premium users) from Net Income paid to us attributable to videos that exploit your Recordings that were detected using these methods”. LabelGrid takes 20% of the Content ID and UGC royalties paid to it through its own deals, with 80% to the artist, so the rate is the same on both sides — 20% — though the base is not: theirs is Net Income after refunds, taxes and fees, ours is the royalties paid to us. Access is level too: their page states “YouTube Content ID comes included with all LANDR Distribution and Studio plans” and Content ID registration is available on all LabelGrid distribution plans. Their Content ID page states no rate, and the deduction appears in the Terms of Service, which is where the number lives. Both sides gate it on ownership: they require “exclusive ownership rights of all elements in your tracks” and music that is not fully AI-generated, and our own gate needs original content fully owned or controlled, which leaves out uncleared samples, unlicensed covers and type beats.
What is the percentage a percentage of, and when does the money arrive?
Both sides pay out of what the stores actually send. LANDR’s Terms: “We will transfer to you one hundred percent (100%) of the Net Income we receive from Digital Stores, minus our commission of royalties when applicable”, where Net Income is what they receive attributable to your recordings “less any refunds, taxes, tariffs, fees, royalties (other than Covered Mechanical Royalties), third parties fees or other charges”, currency conversion and payment processing among them. On timing, their Terms say they will use their best efforts to post Net Income within fifteen business days of receipt, and warn that the stores themselves take 45 to 90 days. The bank-side charge works the same way on both platforms: their Terms say “You will be responsible for any bank fees (including currency conversion fees) or other charges related to such withdrawals”, and LabelGrid charges no fee of its own to issue a payout. Our Terms state accounting fees in a range between 0 and 20% of net payable revenue paid to us by the DSPs, depending on the plan, and the per-plan rate is published.
Does LabelGrid do mastering, samples or plugins?
No, none of them, and this is the clearest reason to buy LANDR instead. Their Studio bundle carries unlimited AI mastering, “Up to 2400 royalty-free samples per year from a library of 3M+”, “a stem separator, an AI mastering plugin, 2 DAWs and much more”, remote collaboration tools, and “over 200 in-depth courses taught by industry professionals”. Mastering is also sold on its own: “No, you do not need a subscription to use LANDR Mastering. It costs $10 to master a single track with LANDR.” LabelGrid sells distribution, royalty accounting, a white-label portal and an API. If the record still has to be made, that is work LANDR support and we do not.
Does either platform detect artificial streaming?
Both do, and LANDR include it where we sell it separately. Their page describes StreamScan: “StreamScan aggregates monthly data reports from DSPs and flags affected releases. Artists can review their dashboard for flagged activity, understand its severity, and follow clear guidance to resolve issues.” It closes with “StreamScan is included with every LANDR Distribution plan.” The mechanism underneath is common property, since their page says it “uses the same verified reports provided to all distributors”. LabelGrid’s equivalent is Stream Radar, an optional add-on for API partners priced on request, so a self-serve LANDR customer gets flagging at no separate charge where a LabelGrid customer buys it with an API plan.
Who handles cover song licensing?
They do it for you; we point you at the people who sell it. Their cover-song page states “LANDR charges a fee of $15 USD for cover song licensing. This allows us to pay out the original songwriters and pay for the license. The license never needs to be renewed”, and their distribution FAQ adds that it covers “all platforms in our network, with certain regional exceptions.” A customer who already holds a licence pays them no additional fee, and their Terms name the exceptions, committing them to the licence and the mechanicals “excluding Mexico, Brazil, Pakistan and India”. LabelGrid works differently: mark a track as a cover and say you have no licence yet, and a link to Easy Song Licensing appears inside the product, with Songfile named as an alternative. You buy the licence and you hold it. Theirs is the more convenient arrangement of the two, and we are not going to claim otherwise.
Does LANDR sell promotion services, and what is Fair Trade AI?
Two revenue lines we have no equivalent of. LANDR Network is a for-hire marketplace: their page says “The cost each campaign will vary. Once you’ve outlined each service your campaign needs, you will receive a quote that both parties must agree to before work starts. Individual music promotion services range from $50-$500 depending on the service provider in question.” LANDR run the marketplace, the professionals on it set their own prices, and their page is careful to say that album-review placements are not guaranteed. The Fair Trade AI Program is an opt-in for distribution users who contribute recordings for AI training: “you must own 100% of the rights to your recordings and waive any moral rights”. In return they receive a pro-rata share of 25% of the net revenue generated from the AI products and services that use their recordings, sized by how many qualifying recordings they contribute against everything in the dataset. On our side the promo layer is tools rather than a marketplace: every release gets a smart link, a Spotify pre-save and a hosted landing page the customer runs themselves.
What happens to your catalogue if you stop paying?
Their answer is friendlier than ours and it is worth stating first. Their digital-distribution page says “Your music stays live for as long as you want, even if you cancel your subscription.” What a customer pays for that is in their Terms: someone who stops subscribing keeps their releases live and pays, each month, the greater of a “fifteen per cent (15%) commission on Net Income” or “a fixed monthly fee of four dollars (USD $4)”, taken from their LANDR balance, capped at it so it never goes negative, and stopping when they resubscribe. LabelGrid is blunter: if a subscription lapses or expires for more than 60 days without renewal, we may remove or withdraw the content and may suspend the account, on any plan. On moving in rather than out, their page says “Paste your release URL. We migrate it for free with play counts and playlist placements intact.”
What does LabelGrid offer that a production subscription does not?
Three products on one backend, and a route past the price list. Self-serve distribution is the first: several labels in one account, royalty accounting with per-artist statements and automated splits from Basic up, and release review on every distribution plan unless the account distributes only through its own direct deals. Imprint is the second, a white-label portal carrying your brand on your own domain, with a workspace per customer, scoped at onboarding. Engine is the third: public API documentation with no login, three standard tiers plus Custom API from a published starting price, DDEX ERN 3.8.2, 4.3.0, 4.3.1 and 4.3.2 delivered to the stores, a sandbox once the plan is active, and MIT-licensed tooling on the same public API. Past the published ceilings a custom deal covers caps, platform fees and bulk label pricing; the figures are agreed under NDA.