Which Indie and D.I.Y. distributors have Spotify Preferred status?

Syntax Creative was recently named a Preferred music distributor to Spotify. CD Baby, DistroKid, Symphonic, The Orchard, and Secretly are also Spotify Preferred distributors, but some major names in digital distribution have yet to make the cut.

Franklin, TN based Syntax Creative distributes 150 record labels, many in the Christian music sector.

Who made the cut?

TuneCore, Amuse, Landr, ONErpm, and indie label distributors Redeye and INgrooves, are among the companies that are not labeled as Preferred by Spotify.

Providers with Preferred Spotify status also include Believe, FUGA, Repost by SoundCloud, and Record Union.

Hypebot has been tracking Spotify Preferred status since 2018. Spotify lists all approved distribution providers and their status here.

What is Spotify Preferred status?

“Preferred providers meet our highest standards for providing quality metadata and protecting against infringement,” according to Jennifer Masset, Spotify Global Head of Indies.

Spotify made its Preferred provider program public in 2018 and told Hypebot:

“We value all of our content providers and the artists who work with them. In working with our content providers, we’ve defined criteria to be a preferred provider.

That criteria, which we share with our content providers, includes providing high quality metadata, preventing infringing content, and providing their artists with easy access to Spotify for Artists (so that artists and their teams can benefit from its insights and tools). We highlight content providers that meet those standards, because doing so improves the quality of the Spotify service for users, and ensures a seamless experience for their artists.”

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.