Answers to our most commonly asked questions

Click 'Submit Your Music' in the top right corner of the page and follow the steps to submit your application.

The standard AWAL deal is a simple digital distribution license with a 30 day rolling term which means that you can terminate your agreement with us at any time on 30 days’ notice. We take a 15% share of revenue that we collect for you. There are no additional fees for distribution and no upfront or annual fees for uploading or storing your release with AWAL.

If funding or an AWAL Recordings partnership is offered we will work out a deal customized to your unique trajectory and needs. This usually involves a few more percentage points and a recoupable balance from the project’s earnings, but you control the budget and are free to make your next move after the campaign.

It’s a simple and straightforward process to switch to AWAL from another distributor. Once you’ve uploaded your content to us we will check it over for you and get it delivered to all the digital services. You should then ask your former digital distributor to take your releases down. You don’t need to change UPCs or ISRCs and if you have a sizeable catalog we can help you with tools to bulk upload your catalog into our system. Your streaming and listener numbers on streaming platforms will remain intact.

The AWAL service is just as relevant to record labels as it is to artists and we already have a great many record label clients. When you upload a new release to the AWAL Portal you can set the label name for the release, and this label identity will be displayed on many digital stores and services. If your company operates a number of labels then you can choose which label to associate with each release when you upload it.

The agreement continues until terminated by either you or us. If you terminate your agreement then we will remove your catalog from our service within 30 days and take it down from our digital partners’ stores and services. Alternatively you can simply remove certain territories or releases from our service, without terminating your whole agreement.

AWAL Recordings provides world class label services for a select roster of established and developing artists. Created as an alternative to the traditional record label, AWAL Recordings maximizes client opportunities and revenue from global digital retail, traditional physical retail, audio and video streaming, synch licensing, D2C and social media services. AWAL offers select members and labels access to AWAL Recordings label services which may include any or all of the following: funding, digital marketing, label management, press and radio promotion, synch licensing, physical distribution and local marketing plans in international territories.

Your music is submitted via the AWAL Workstation using the product builder. You will receive login details via email once we’ve processed your application and you have been accepted as an AWAL member.

We have fast turnarounds with all the major music services. However, in order to make the most of the promotional opportunities for your release, we ask that your music and metadata be uploaded to the AWAL Workstation at least 4 – 6 weeks in advance of a release or pre-order date. This includes audio assets and cover artwork assets, both to the correct specifications, as well as full metadata. If market drivers require a faster turnaround time that can be requested but can’t be guaranteed.

As part of the AWAL service we pitch for store promotions, editorial coverage, high profile placement and playlists, and exclusive campaigns across the major worldwide DSPs. In order to do this our team needs details of your marketing and promotion plans. If we believe we can help push your song(s) to the right people, we will. To be considered for features we also need adequate lead time – preferably at least 6 weeks prior to your scheduled release.

AWAL supplies more than 100 digital partners in nearly 200 territories as part of our standard service, including all of the leading platforms.

Beatport reserves the right to pick the music they make available for sale, and to help them identify which releases they would like to offer they require that each new label applies for inclusion on Beatport via their distributor. An application form is available to begin this process once you’ve been accepted to AWAL.

AWAL is a YouTube Certified company and we can help you get the most from your video strategy. AWAL will protect your rights on YouTube and collect any royalties you are due for the use of your music in user-generated content (UGC) on YouTube. We will also deliver your music to the YouTube Music subscription service ensuring that you are paid for streams of your video and music content on the service.

AWAL accounts to you around the 15th day of each month. We issue statements and corresponding payments 45 days after the end of the calendar month in which we receive revenues from digital services for your music.

You can see your revenue on the monthly statement we add to your AWAL workstation. All of these statements can be customized and downloaded as CSV files as you need them.

You can also see streaming data feeds on the AWALGo App and in the Insights tool on the AWAL Workstation. You can find more support information in the AWAL Help Centre to guide you through these options.

You should prepare the audio as WAV files. We accept up to 24bit / 96kHz. We only accept uncompressed audio files, so no MP3s.

UPC stands for Universal Product Code, it’s essentially a barcode that identifies your release. We assign these automatically (at no charge) if you don’t have your own.

ISRC stands for International Standard Recording Code. It’s a unique identifier for a recording (different versions such as a Radio Edit and a Live version would have different codes). Again, we assign these automatically (at no charge) once your release has been submitted if the field is left empty.

Yes, you must obtain written permission from the rightsholder of the track you’re sampling in order to ‘clear’ the sample. Without this, you are infringing their copyright, which is not permissible. If your music contains samples, you must provide proof of the relevant license via email before submitting.

Firstly, it is important that you have obtained the rights to distribute your cover version from the original songwriters’. You will be responsible for any mechanical payments and other publishing payments owed to the original songwriters’. Many digital retailers and services take responsibility for paying songwriters’ mechanicals and other publishing payments to the collection societies and publishers who represent the songwriters but some do not. There are also variations by territory and by type of service. We will advise you on your accounting statements if the songwriters’ mechanicals or any other publishing payments have been paid by the digital retailer or service. If they have not been, then the songwriters’ mechanicals and any other applicable publishing payments are your responsibility and you are obliged to pay the songwriter or their publisher. Please check your statements.