Rap Ledger
Nobody tells you what the paperwork actually costs.
Split sheets, distributor fees, publishing, release timing: the unglamorous half of putting music out. Written by someone who releases his own records rather than someone selling a course about it.
Open the split sheet calculator What distribution really costsFree tools
The things you end up doing in a Notes app at 2am. These run entirely in your browser, so nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored.
Split sheet calculator
Add everyone in the room, split the writing and the master, see instantly if it adds to 100%. Prints to a signable document.
LiveDistributor cost calculator
Enter what you release and what you earn. It ranks DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby and UnitedMasters by what they actually cost you, including the cuts they don't advertise.
Release timeline builder
Pick a drop date, get the working-backwards schedule: distribution deadline, playlist pitch window, art, pre-save.
The numbers
Dated, sourced, and corrected on the page when they change.
What music distribution actually costs in 2026
Four distributors, the real annual cost at 1, 4 and 12 releases a year, plus the social-media royalty cut that doesn't appear on the pricing page.
ProcessThe first-release checklist
Everything that has to exist before you hit distribute, in the order it has to exist. Includes the four things that are painful to fix afterwards.
Why this desk exists
There is an enormous amount of hip hop media covering who is beefing with whom, and almost none covering the fact that your distributor quietly takes 20% of your TikTok money. The creative side of independent rap is over-served, while the administrative side, the part that decides whether you keep your money, is barely covered at all.
Rap Ledger is the second one. Every number here is dated and sourced. When something changes, the page changes and says so. Opinions live over in Cold Takes, because this desk stays boring on purpose.