Freecords is a free music distribution platform. In the past 30 days, we reviewed 19,853 submissions, of which 5.2% were approved for distribution. Historically, our approval rate fluctuates between 3.5% and 8%.
High approval rates are common across much of the music distribution industry. Most distributors earn money when releases are delivered to DSPs, and revenue scales with volume. More approvals mean more income.
In that model, strict filtering reduces revenue. The predictable outcome is a permissive approval environment where AI-generated content, mass low-effort uploads, and metadata manipulation are pushed through to maximise volume.
The result is catalogue bloat, dilution of royalty pools at the DSP level, and rising enforcement pressure as platforms respond to abuse.
Freecords operates differently. Our revenue does not depend on approving more releases. This allows us to reject as many submissions as needed, without pressure to push them through.
Most rejections fall into clear compliance categories:
1. Copyright conflicts - unlicensed material, derivative works, unauthorised use
2. Spam or AI mass uploads - high volume, low-effort submissions designed to exploit distribution systems
3. Metadata manipulation - misleading titles, false artist associations, keyword stuffing
4. Duplicate or recycled content - reuploads of previously rejected or identical material
5. Technical non compliance - audio or cover art formatting that fails required standards
Every submission to Freecords passes automated compliance checks. A substantial portion are escalated for human review before a final decision is made. Our moderation capacity scales with platform growth to maintain enforcement standards.
We do not reject music based on genre, popularity, or subjective taste and we are not curating trends. We enforce against patterns that indicate manipulation, automation abuse, or attempts to game distribution and streaming systems.
Our low approval rate has nothing to do with exclusivity and everything to do with protection. For serious artists, strict moderation means lower exposure to copyright disputes, a cleaner distribution environment, no association with spam networks, and stronger standing with DSP partners.
Freecords stands for freedom in music distribution. Open access works only when abuse is constrained. Our standards exist to protect artists who are building something real.