Questions buyers ask
Who runs Record Union, and who runs LabelGrid?
Record Union’s Terms and Conditions name the contracting party as “DFP Group AB, a company based in Sweden with the registered address c/o Livingroom Coworking, Bondegatan 30, 116 33 Stockholm, Sweden, with Swedish organisation number 556752-9598”. Their about page says they started out back in 2008 with a vision. They also publish artist-wellbeing work: a 2019 study of their own users in which “73 percent of the respondents said that they had suffered from symptoms of mental illness”, followed by a $30,000 donation shared between three selected ideas. LabelGrid has been going since 2017 and is based in Denver, Colorado.
How does Record Union’s pricing model work?
It is a subscription per release, renewed yearly. Their pricing FAQ: “a subscription is required for each release you distribute. Each subscription automatically renews each year.” They price two packages, Top Dog and World Domination, which differ by how many music services the release is delivered to, with World Domination reaching every service they offer and Top Dog a reduced set. Price then follows the track count of the release. LabelGrid works the other way round: you buy a plan for the account, with a track allowance and a label allowance, and your releases sit inside it.
What does one release cost on Record Union?
On their pricing page, World Domination reads “1-2 tracks $19/yr”, “3-5 tracks $24/yr”, “6-12 tracks $29/yr” and “13-99 tracks +$1.50/tr/yr”. Top Dog, the reduced-platform package, is $14, $17 and $20 a year across the same track bands with the same per-track addition. Their own worked example: “for World Domination (our biggest package of music services), the base price is $29.00 for an Album with 12 tracks. So a 13-track release with this package would cost $30.50”, and their help centre calls that figure the yearly renewal cost rather than a one-off. They also charge a one-time fee of $10.00 for a UPC if you need one. LabelGrid’s help centre states that ISRC and UPC codes come at no extra cost and are yours to keep even if you switch distributors later, and nothing on a LabelGrid plan is billed per release.
How much of the money does the artist keep?
Record Union’s Terms: “Record Union shall pay you a royalty rate of 85 % up to 92,5 % of the Gross Receipts, as calculated below.” On their side the rate is a purchase decision, since the same section opens “For any and all Recordings under this Agreement, you may choose what royalty rate you want to pay” and applies per recording. Gross Receipts is their own defined base: “the total sum, excluding VAT, received by Record Union per Recording sold”. On LabelGrid you keep 85% on Solo and Basic and 90% on Pro as the plan rate rather than as something you pay extra for, and their top rate of 92.5% is above our Pro rate. On Custom Distribution and the API tiers you keep 95% of standard-DSP royalties earned through LabelGrid’s deals and 100% of what you earn on your own direct deals or your own Merlin membership, which is a different product sold to a different buyer.
Is Record Union’s distribution licence exclusive?
Their Terms grant an “Exclusive right to make E-music Files and the non exclusive right to make Clips, embodying the Recordings available on the Internet”, along with the right to sublicense those rights to their retail partners. The same section states that the grant “does not constitute a transfer of ownership” and that it runs during the Term and throughout the Territory, and their pricing page states: “Copyright ownership and control of your distribution and publishing will always remain 100% yours.” Both of those are their own published sentences, and an owner can grant an exclusive licence while remaining the owner. LabelGrid’s distribution licence is global and non-exclusive: you may distribute the same recordings elsewhere at the same time, and no exclusivity survives termination.
What happens to your release if you stop paying?
On Record Union the release stays online and stops earning. Their Terms: “If you do not pay the Renewal fee, Record Union may put your Recordings in Sleep Mode. Sleep Mode means that your release will still be available on Music Stores but you will not earn any royalties until you pay the Renewal fee.” Their help centre adds the timing and a removal right: the royalty rate drops to 0% at the end of that month, and “Record Union may also decide to remove the release from applicable services.” It also states that renewing restores royalties from the start of the following month, and that “It isn’t possible to claim royalties for periods where you weren’t paying your subscriptions.” On LabelGrid a subscription lapsed or unpaid for more than sixty days can end with the content removed and the account suspended or terminated, on any plan. Takedown sits on both menus, and ours is the blunter default.
How and when does either one pay you?
Record Union’s Terms credit royalties to your account “around 45 days after we have received payment from Record Union Retail Partners”, after which you request a withdrawal and they pay it out within five days. Their payout floor is published and low: “For PayPal the general minimum royalty payout amount is $1 and the maximum is $10,000”, with $5 the bank minimum for most countries and higher minimums listed for some. LabelGrid’s minimum payout is USD 20, with a smaller balance carried forward to a later payment cycle. LabelGrid’s own calendar is monthly, with the statement generated from the 21st, payment initiated between the 3rd and the 14th of the following month and funds arriving 3-7 business days after that. On fees the picture reverses: LabelGrid charges no payout fee of its own on any plan, though the bank transfer fee for each payout is deducted at cost. Their Terms reserve deduction of bank and currency costs too, and their clause reaches the costs of collecting and processing as well as paying out.
Does either one register YouTube Content ID?
Both do. Their help centre: “You’ll see the option to add YouTube Content ID on the first page of the upload flow. Simply tick the box and we’ll do the rest for you”, and they collect the video revenue into your balance. Their eligibility rules require full ownership of recording and publishing rights, fully original sounds, no beats or loops from sample libraries, no unauthorised samples, and “No Public Domain or Covers: The release should not include public domain recordings, cover songs, remixes, or mashups.” LabelGrid offers Content ID registration on all distribution plans behind the same gate: original content you fully own or control, with uncleared samples, unlicensed covers and type beats excluded. On LabelGrid you keep 80% of the Content ID and UGC revenue its own deals earn, with a 20% fee. Their captured pages state no rate, so there is no rate comparison to draw here.
Does Record Union have a referral programme?
Yes. Their A&R page states: “As an A&R, you can earn up to 7.5% of the royalties earned by the artists you sign up. Your percentage goes up as you reach higher recruitment levels”, and adds “The best part: Your A&R comission does not affect the artists’ royalties! We pay you separately.” Their homepage says an A&R can also give an artist a free year of distribution. Take that qualifier at face value: on their account the commission is paid by Record Union rather than taken out of the recruited artist’s share. If recruiting other artists is part of how you plan to grow, that is a published programme on their side.
What does LabelGrid cover that a per-release subscription does not?
Three products on one backend. Self-serve distribution for labels and artists is priced per account, with a track allowance and a label allowance. Engine is the REST API, with public documentation, published tier pricing, DDEX ERN 3.8.2, 4.3.0, 4.3.1 and 4.3.2 for delivery to stores, catalogue import over DDEX on the API plans and on Custom Distribution, and a sandbox once the plan is active. Imprint is the white-label portal, where each end customer sits in its own workspace on your brand and your domain, with pricing scoped at onboarding. Around all three: royalty accounting and payouts, manual release review before delivery unless the account distributes only through its own direct deals, and an open-source MCP server on npm. LabelGrid does not offer advances or catalogue funding.