It depends on the distributor. When you stop paying, your releases might come down, stay up with a commission taken from what they earn, stay up while you can't withdraw, or stay up with nothing changed at all. Every distributor sets its own rule, and most write it down in their help center.
Here are the four patterns, with examples from distributors' own pages, and what MOOSYC does.
The four patterns
- Taken down. Your releases come off the stores once the plan ends, sometimes after a grace period. Some distributors sell an add-on that keeps a release up.
- Kept live, with a commission. Your music stays up, but from then on the distributor keeps a share of what it earns.
- Kept live, but you can't withdraw. Your music stays up, at least for now, but taking your money out needs an active plan.
- Kept live, nothing changes. Your music stays up, you keep 100% of your royalties, and you can still withdraw.
What six distributors say
| Distributor | What its own help pages say | Source |
|---|---|---|
| DistroKid | If you don't renew, your music is removed from services. The optional Leave a Legacy extra keeps a release up after you cancel. It costs $29 per single or $49 per album, paid once, and each release needs its own. | Renewal, Album extras |
| TuneCore | After a missed renewal, TuneCore sends reminders for 35 days, and you can't upload new releases meanwhile. After 42 days, the account is downgraded and releases are taken down from all stores. If you cancel the renewal yourself, there's no grace period, and music is removed the day the plan expires. | Renewing your Unlimited Plan |
| Amuse | After you cancel, your music stays online, but a 25% royalty commission applies to all releases. Splits carry a 15% fee, YouTube monetization is removed, and you can't upload new releases. | If you cancel |
| RouteNote | The Free plan pays you 85% of the net revenue RouteNote receives. A Premium release keeps 100% of streaming and download revenue, for a fee per release and then $9.99 a year. Cancel a Premium renewal and that release moves to the Free plan. | How much RouteNote costs |
| Ditto | Releases are "at risk of removal", though not taken down automatically. You need an active subscription to withdraw royalties. Release Protection keeps releases in stores, free on Pro and Label plans and available per release on Starter. | Stop paying, Withdrawals, Release Protection |
| CD Baby | No subscription to stop. You pay once per release, and CD Baby keeps 9% of download and streaming revenue. There's no annual fee and no cost to leave an account open. | Cost, Closing an account |
All of these pages were checked on October 1, 2026. Terms change, so read your own distributor's current page before you decide anything.
What MOOSYC does
Your music stays live. We don't take catalogs down over billing.
If your MOOSYC subscription ends:
- Everything you've released stays on every platform
- It keeps earning, and MOOSYC still takes 0% commission
- You can still withdraw, from $10, by PayPal or bank transfer
- You can still see your balance and the reports you already have
- Putting out new releases waits until you renew
There's no add-on to buy per release to keep it up. The plan is $50 a year on the web ($49.99 in the iPhone and Android apps) for unlimited releases, and renewing switches uploading back on straight away.
The full detail is in What Happens If My Subscription Expires?
If you're switching distributors
When your current distributor takes music down at the end of a plan, the order you do things in matters:
- Bring your catalog to MOOSYC. Smart Transfer finds your releases and keeps their UPCs and ISRCs, so in almost every case streams, playlists and stats carry over.
- Keep your old plan paid until the MOOSYC versions are confirmed live.
- Then take the releases down at your old distributor.
Done in that order, your music doesn't have to go dark in between. How to Move Your Music to MOOSYC Without Losing Streams walks through it, and there are step-by-step guides for leaving DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby and Amuse.
Four questions to ask any distributor
- What happens to my releases if I stop paying, and how soon?
- Does the commission change once I've stopped?
- Can I still withdraw what I've already earned?
- Is there an add-on that keeps releases up, and is it charged per release?
Related
Release your music with MOOSYC — unlimited releases, $50 a year, keep 100% of your royalties.
Need more help?
A real person on our team reads every message. We're usually quickest on Instagram.
- @moosyc
- support@moosyc.com