Music Distributor API

Payouts, royalties & policy

For labels, artists, and teams using Gard Music Distributor API: below is how store revenue, upstream reporting, API billing, and payouts relate — structured as bullets. Adapt the downloadable template when you expose distribution to your own customers.

Policy at a glance

Royalties

Revenue that DSPs owe on your releases reaches you via Gard acting as upstream API tooling; Gard does not retain a royalty share.
Amounts in distributor reports show on your Gard-linked dashboard for analytics and withdrawals.
Minimum balances, holds, and payout / tax flows stay as configured in distributor settings—you withdraw only once thresholds pass.

API usage (credits)

Moderation, catalog lookups, automation, etc. consume API credits separately.
Credit usage pays for Gard’s gateway, infra, automation, ops — not a DSP royalty haircut.
Credits ≠ a percentage cut of streams; royalties and dashboard balances follow upstream reporting cadence independently.

What to configure end-to-end

Bind withdrawal rails (banks / profiles) wherever the distributor prompts you.
Read Royalty Reporting / analytics dashboards for posted periods.
When balances unlock, initiate withdraw requests aligned with thresholds.
If you embed Gard in your SaaS, say clearly: royalties pass to rightsholders upstream; Gard bills your tenant separately for metering/credits consumed by Gard API integrations.

When statements & balances populate

Quarterly earnings close near month +2, i.e., stores / distributor reporting settles about two calendar months after the quarter.
Example: earnings January–March 2026 typically show late May through early June, often near 1 June, once reconciliation finishes.
Publishing dates may shift by a few days year to year; the dashboard date is authoritative.

Stores plus upstream distributor precedence

Delivery, policing, royalties, withholdings, disputes, and chargebacks follow each store and distributor Gard connects to.
Gard surfaces data from DSP / distributor ingestion; Gard does not replace your agreements with stores or your aggregator.

Audience & partner obligations

Applies to everyone who operates production Gard API keys for Music Distributor.
Partners who resell or white-label Gard still handle their artists directly; Gard does not take a royalty cut from distributor-reported balances and bills API usage (credits) transparently.

Support

Numbers look odd? Compare Royalty Reporting timelines and currencies first.
Still stuck? Email [email protected] (or your Gard contact) with account ID and affected release URLs or IDs.

Operational summary—not legal/commercial advice replacing distributor & DSP contractual packs. Revised **April 2026**.

Starter policy wording for customers

Neutral baseline you may paste/edit for musicians using your storefront atop Gard’s Music Distribution stack. Customize [bracketed placeholders], trims, bans (AI-generated uploads, minors, politically sensitive uploads, regional catalog limits, etc.).

[Your service name] — customer-facing policy (music distribution)

GENERAL
- [Brand] lets you upload and distribute recordings and artwork to partner digital services we support.
- By using the product after onboarding, you agree to these rules together with any other contract that applies to your account.

ACCOUNT SECURITY
- Protect passwords/API tokens and everyone who accesses your roster.
- Report suspected unauthorized login immediately via [support contact].

YOUR CONTENT AND RIGHTS
- You confirm that you cleared rights for masters, artwork, songwriting credits, remixes, samples, and collaborators so distribution respects third-party rights.
- Releases must match [Brand] technical specs (loudness, artwork size/format, parental advisories, language tags, genre mapping).

MODERATION
- Releases may pass through moderation; status stays visible inside the dashboard.
- If something fails review, expect a brief reason plus next steps email or in-product alerts.
- Fixes can restart the moderation queue.

MONEY SEPARATES FROM AUTOMATION
- Streaming income posts after DSP reporting cycles settle (typically delayed after earning months/quarters).
- Charges for gateway APIs/automation credits are billed separately and do **not** replace upstream royalty payouts.

STORE & DISTRIBUTOR RULES STILL APPLY
- Each DSP keeps its own storefront rules—availability, withholdings, policing, payouts, territorial embargoes, fraud holds.

ENFORCEMENT
- After notice when practical, repeated violations allow [Brand] to remove listings or revoke access.

SUPPORT AND UPDATES
- Questions: [support email or ticketing URL].
- We may revise this text in-product or via email; continued use after notice means you accept the update.

— End —

Editorial draft — have your counsel or policy owner finalize before publishing. Match whatever you promised in aggregator agreements.