LABELGRID ENGINE · DISTRIBUTION API

Meet Engine: the Music Distribution API

A music distribution API is a REST interface for sending music to streaming platforms programmatically: building catalog metadata, uploading audio, submitting releases for delivery, and reading royalty data, all in code instead of by hand. LabelGrid exposes its full distribution engine through one, with public documentation and a sandbox.

Every endpoint is documented publicly. Read the full reference before you sign up, with no demo call, no sales gate and no form. Authenticate with a token, build against the sandbox that comes with every API plan, and ship a branded distribution product on infrastructure that already delivers to all major DSPs.

Read the API Docs See API Pricing

Engine API flow: a POST creates a release, delivery completes to all major DSPs, a webhook notifies your app

WHAT YOU CAN BUILD

Ship a distribution product on our engine

The API covers the whole lifecycle, so the product you build can be as small as a sync job or as large as a full distribution front end.

Branded distribution platform

Stand up a distribution service under your own brand and domain. Your users create labels and releases, upload tracks, submit for delivery, and see your name end to end. You own the brand, the pricing and the customer relationship. LabelGrid carries delivery to all major DSPs, royalty accounting and payouts, and the automated validation plus manual review that runs on every release.

Label-management SaaS integration

Add distribution to a product you already run. Call the release and track endpoints from inside your app so customers never leave it to get their music to DSPs.

Catalog migration pipelines

Bring an existing catalog in as a DDEX feed during onboarding, or script the import yourself: create releases and tracks in bulk and upload assets through the API, one time or on a schedule.

Royalty reporting apps

Pull statements, transaction detail and account balances into your own dashboards and payout logic. Combine them with streaming and engagement analytics for a complete picture.

ENDPOINT GROUPS

How the API is organized

Every endpoint lives under https://api.labelgrid.com/api/public and returns JSON. These are the groups you will work with.

Releases & tracks

Create releases and tracks, then read, update or delete them. Validate a release against DSP rules and submit it for distribution. Reference →

Files & assets

Upload and manage audio, cover artwork and license files on release and track file endpoints. Download assets back when you need them. Reference →

Labels, artists & contributors

Manage labels, artists, writers, and publishers, with image uploads for labels and artists. These are the entities your metadata credits. Reference →

Distribution & reviews

Track the distribution queue and read review issues and notes, and register webhooks so every delivery and review-status change is pushed to you the moment it happens. Your users see where a release stands without polling. Reference →

Analytics & accounting

Read streaming and engagement analytics, royalty statements and account balances to drive your own reporting and payouts. Streaming analytics lives under /api/public/analytics: summary, per-metric series and leaderboards, with placements and an availability endpoint that reports which stores carry which metric. Reference →

Webhooks & reference data

Register webhooks for review-status and delivery events, and list genres, languages, territories, contributor roles and outlets to populate metadata. Reference →

AI-NATIVE LAYER

The same API, driveable in natural language

Everything the REST API does, your AI assistant can do too. The official LabelGrid MCP server is a thin, typed wrapper over this API, so Claude, Cursor, or any Model Context Protocol client can create releases, validate metadata, pull analytics, and check delivery by request. Permissions are layered and fail-closed: reads are always available, safe draft writes are on by default and can be switched off or forced read-only, and your assistant submits deliveries and files takedowns once you turn those scopes on, a one-time opt-in with a typed acknowledgment, after which they run like any other call. Until you turn them on they stay off, so an exploratory session can never ship a release by accident. Every validation still runs on our servers.

Explore the MCP Server

STANDARDS & VALIDATION

Built on the standards DSPs expect

LabelGrid generates compliant DDEX ERN feeds in versions 3.8.2, 4.3.0, 4.3.1, and 4.3.2, with full NewReleaseMessage and PurgeReleaseMessage support. ISRC and UPC values are validated as part of the release flow, and the validate endpoint checks a release against DSP metadata-quality rules before you submit it. Fix what it flags and resubmit, then deliver. If you are moving an existing catalog, DDEX import brings it in during onboarding. See the DDEX import guide.

RATHER NOT BUILD THE UI?

Imprint Is the No-Code Version

Everything this API does, packaged as a ready-made white-label platform on your own domain: Imprint. Build with Engine, launch with Imprint, or mix the two.

Explore Imprint

PROTECT YOUR CATALOG

Addons That Keep Your Catalog Clean

Preflight QC

Every release already passes LabelGrid’s automated validation and manual review, included on every plan. Preflight QC adds automated pre-delivery checks on audio and artwork, metadata, AI declarations, and credits and rights work, an addon for API and white-label plans, scoped to your monthly release volume, with no per-release fee.

Explore Preflight QC →

Stream Radar

Artificial-streaming early warning across your catalog. Monitors your whole catalog continuously and flags the tracks and releases showing patterns consistent with artificial streaming, so you can act before fees or takedowns arrive.

Explore Stream Radar →

API PLANS

Pricing for every stage

Full API access, a sandbox and a first response within 2 business days on every tier. Track and label-portal figures are included allowances rather than the end of the road: label packs add portals on any tier (+5 for $28 on Starter, +10 for $90 on Growth, +25 for $170 on Scale), moving up a tier raises both, and Custom API carries bespoke track limits with unlimited labels. All API plans are billed yearly except overages; you keep 95% of royalties earned through LabelGrid’s DSP deals and 100% on your own direct deals.

Starter API

$139/mo
Billed yearly except overages

Full API access and sandbox, 3,000 tracks and 5 label portals included, royalty processing up to $35k a month, first response within 2 business days.

Official MCP server — AI assistant access

Growth API

$389/mo
Billed yearly except overages

Everything in Starter, 10,000 tracks and 25 label portals included, royalty processing up to $115k a month, first response within 2 business days.

Official MCP server — AI assistant access

Scale API

$879/mo
Billed yearly except overages

Everything in Growth, 25,000 tracks and 100 label portals included, royalty processing up to $350k a month, a dedicated technical account manager with a 2-business-day SLA.

Official MCP server — AI assistant access

See Full API Pricing

COMMON QUESTIONS

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of API is it?

It is a REST API that speaks JSON over HTTPS. Every endpoint lives under https://api.labelgrid.com/api/public. You authenticate with an API token sent as a bearer token in the Authorization header, so curl, your existing HTTP client, or the standard library in any language works on the first call, with nothing to install.

Can I white-label the platform?

Yes, two ways. Build your own interface on the API, or launch Imprint, our ready-made white-label portal, on your own domain with no code: your domain, your logo, your exact colors and fonts, your own plans and prices, and customer billing on your own Stripe account. Both run on the same delivery and accounting, and the same DSP connections, so your artists and labels see your brand from sign-up to payout and never see LabelGrid. Imprint is onboarding resellers now through a waiting list, with hands-on setup help for every new portal. See the white-label and API page for detail.

What does the API cost?

API access requires an API plan: Starter API ($139/mo), Growth API ($389/mo), Scale API ($879/mo), or Custom API ($2,149+/mo), billed yearly. Every one of those figures is published: Starter includes 3,000 tracks, 5 label portals and royalty processing up to $35k a month; Growth 10,000 tracks, 25 portals and up to $115k; Scale 25,000 tracks, 100 portals and up to $350k with a dedicated technical account manager; Custom API is scoped with bespoke track limits and unlimited labels. Every tier carries a first response within 2 business days, and label packs add portals on any tier. All API plans include 95% royalty retention on LabelGrid's DSP deals and 100% on your own direct deals. See the pricing page for details.

Which DSPs can I deliver to?

LabelGrid delivers to all major digital service providers, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Tidal, YouTube Music, TikTok, and Instagram. As a Spotify Preferred distributor and a Merlin member, LabelGrid offers priority delivery and editorial pitching tools. The same network is available through the API.

What happens when my catalog outgrows an API plan?

You move up a tier. Starter includes 3,000 tracks and 5 label portals, Growth 10,000 tracks and 25 portals, Scale 25,000 tracks and 100 portals, and Custom API is scoped with bespoke track limits and unlimited labels. Label portals also expand in place on any tier with a label pack: +5 for $28 on Starter, +10 for $90 on Growth, +25 for $170 on Scale. Monthly royalty processing follows the tier too, up to $35k on Starter, $115k on Growth and $350k on Scale, and Custom API is agreed with you.

What support do API plans include?

Every API tier includes email support with a first response within 2 business days. Scale API adds a named technical account manager on the same 2-business-day SLA, and Custom API is supported on terms agreed with you.

Can I see the API before I pay for a plan?

Yes. The full endpoint reference is public at api.labelgrid.com/docs/api: every path and method, with no login, no demo call and no form. API pricing is published too, so you can size a plan from the same reading. The sandbox comes with an API plan and needs an account with API features enabled.

Start Building on Engine

Read the docs. Build in the sandbox. See published pricing.

Read the API Docs Talk to Us See API Pricing

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