LANDR or Symphonic: which distributor fits a small AI music catalogue?

Eight songs. Lyrics drafted with a generator and then edited by hand, audio made in a tool that sings, two covers made in an image app, one artist name. That is what a small AI catalogue usually looks like, and for that catalogue the choice between LANDR and Symphonic does not turn on the headline price. It turns on three things neither homepage leads with: what each company says about audio that was generated end to end, which platforms each will and will not send an AI track to, and what happens to your releases when you stop paying.

The short answer, as of the day this was written (both help centres were read on 23 September 2026, and both say their AI rules will keep changing): LANDR sells distribution by subscription, alone or bundled with its production tools, or pay per release; it accepts music made with the help of AI, limits how many AI tracks a subscriber can submit per month, and publishes a list of platforms it does not deliver AI tracks to. Symphonic runs a self-serve plan with a release allowance plus an approval-based partner route, and its AI stance hinges on a different question: whether the generator you used meets Symphonic's licensing and authorisation requirements. If every note of your audio came out of one generator, answer Symphonic's question first. If you already use mastering and plugins and want one bill for all of it, LANDR's bundle is the thing to weigh.

We are not affiliated with either company, and nothing below is a verdict on them. It is a map of where each one keeps its answers, and which answers matter when the catalogue is eight songs rather than eight hundred.

Why "small" changes the comparison

Most distributor comparisons are written for someone who releases constantly, so they obsess over per-release fees and upload limits. With eight songs a year, those limits mostly do not bite. What bites instead:

• Each song carries more weight. One track pulled from a store is an eighth of your catalogue, not a rounding error.
• The fixed cost is spread thin. An annual fee divided by eight songs is a real number per song, and whatever you pay has to be earned back by very few streams.
• Leaving is proportionally expensive. Moving eight songs means eight sets of metadata, and the stream counts that live on each store listing are tied to that release.

So the questions worth asking are about risk per song and about the exit, not about volume. If you have not yet decided whether a distributor that takes AI music is right for you at all, our overview of distributors and AI songs covers the six questions to put to any of them. If you are also weighing the three biggest names, DistroKid, TuneCore and CD Baby sit in their own comparison. This page is only about this one pair.

The part neither distributor touches

A distributor takes a finished master and metadata and delivers them. It does not write the song, and it cannot improve one. With eight songs, a weak lyric is not diluted by a big catalogue; it is a quarter of your album's second side.

That is the only part of the chain we sell. The lyrics generator at /generators takes a short brief (point of view, language, structure, hook type, vocal, emotion, audience age, and a theme of up to 300 characters) and returns a title and a full lyric with [Verse] and [Chorus] tags already in place. One generation uses 20 credits from a plan, which works out to $0.20 a lyric; there are no free credits, and the cheapest way in is the $5 monthly plan. It does not sing and never will: the audio is made in a separate tool you choose, run by a separate company. We do not distribute and we are not connected to LANDR, Symphonic or any other distributor.

Why bring it up in a distributor comparison? Because both of these companies ask about human contribution and rights, and the lyric is the easiest place for a human hand to be visible. Drafting with the generator and then rewriting lines yourself leaves you with a document trail of what you changed. More on that in the ledger below.

LANDR: a subscription with a studio attached

LANDR sells distribution as part of a broader platform. Its public pages describe mastering (online and as a plugin), a plugin library, samples, collaboration tools and courses alongside distribution to more than 150 platforms. You can buy distribution on its own or as part of the bigger subscription; plan names and what each includes are on its pricing page and change often enough that we will not repeat them here.

What the help centre says about money, at the time of writing:

• While you subscribe, LANDR says it passes recording royalties through without taking a percentage, that you keep your ownership rights, and that it does not take the composition rights to your songs.
• If you cancel, the help centre says your releases stay live but a commission on royalties then applies. Read the current percentage there before you sign, because for a small catalogue that you may not keep paying for, this clause is the exit cost.
• There is no free trial of distribution, which LANDR explains as an anti-spam measure. The same help article points to a pay-per-release option as the alternative to a subscription; with eight songs, price that out too, and check on the pricing page what it means for your royalties. A free account does let you build a release all the way to the final submission step. That is useful: you can fill in every field, including the AI questions, without paying, and see exactly what will be asked.

The bundle is the real decision. If you would pay for mastering or plugins anyway, the distribution part of the subscription may cost you little extra. If you only want delivery, you are paying for a studio you will not open.

LANDR on AI tracks, as its help centre reads today

LANDR's article on whether it accepts AI-generated tracks was updated on the day this page was written, which tells you how fast it moves. Its current shape:

1. Music made with the help of AI tools is accepted, with restrictions. A separate LANDR page on AI and distribution adds that the company reserves the right not to distribute, or to ban, music or artists that rely entirely on AI audio generation.
2. A monthly cap on AI-generated songs per subscriber (30 per calendar month at the time of writing), framed as a guard against streaming spam. For eight songs a year you will not hit it; for someone planning to bulk-upload, it is the first wall.
3. No AI-generated cover songs, citing copyright.
4. A list of platforms that LANDR says do not currently accept AI-generated music from it. At the time of writing that list includes YouTube Content ID, Meta's platforms and TikTok, among others. For many AI projects that is the audience, so check this list before anything else.
5. Disclosure at upload is required, no documents are needed at upload, and LANDR may ask for proof of rights if a track is flagged. It also says it uses detection technology.

Point 4 is the one that decides the fit for a lot of readers. If your plan is short-form video, a distributor that will not send your AI track to TikTok or into Content ID is a distributor for the stores only. That may be fine. Just know it before you pay.

Symphonic: a starter plan with a ceiling, and a door marked Partner

Symphonic describes two routes on its homepage. A Starter plan for new artists and producers, self-serve and, at the time of writing, billed yearly, and a Partner plan for established artists, labels and managers, with a custom commission and approval required. The homepage also separates royalties from the big stores from royalties on YouTube and social platforms, where the share differs. Figures move; read the plan page on the day you decide.

Two details matter for a small catalogue:

• Symphonic's help centre explains that the Starter plan deliberately has a release allowance instead of unlimited releases, and says this is about keeping deliveries compliant with platform spam rules. With eight songs, check the allowance against your plan for the year, including singles you may later collect into an EP.
• The Partner route is an application, not a checkout button. It is aimed at people with a track record. A first AI catalogue will usually start on Starter.

Beyond delivery, Symphonic lists pitching to platforms' editorial teams, split payments between collaborators, publishing administration, sync licensing and its own AI mastering. At the time of writing, Symphonic's Starter FAQ says it does not pitch Starter releases to platforms (paid marketing services can be applied for separately). For the rest, check its plan page, not us.

Symphonic on AI: which model made this?

Here the two companies really diverge. Symphonic's stance on generative AI, updated the day before this page was written, says generative AI content may be accepted when several conditions hold, and one of them is unusual: the AI tools or models used must meet Symphonic's own licensing and authorisation requirements. Its list of what it does not allow includes content made with models or services that fail those requirements.

In practice, the upload form asks whether generative AI was used in the audio and the artwork, and the disclosure article says you may be asked which tools, models or companies were involved. Symphonic also says it supplements your answers with detection and fingerprinting.

So for Symphonic, the question is not only "did you use AI" but "whose AI". Symphonic itself admits that judging whether a model was properly licensed is not straightforward, because licensing deals are not always public. The practical consequence for you: before uploading, find out whether the generator that made your audio is one Symphonic currently accepts. Its help desk is the place to ask, and the answer may change as licensing deals between generators and rights holders change.

Symphonic also keeps a reference guide to the generative AI stances of the platforms it delivers to. It is worth reading even if you never use Symphonic, because it shows the point both companies make in their own words: a release accepted by the distributor may still be refused, labelled, demonetised or left out of recommendations by a particular store.

Side by side: the questions, not the prices

Read every cell on the day you decide. Both companies say the rules will change, and both of the AI articles quoted here were updated in the week this page was written.

Your ledger before you upload

For a small catalogue, keep one plain text file that answers every question either form might ask, per track. It is a short job, and it saves you from answering a disclosure question from memory six months later.

CATALOGUE LEDGER: Night Ferry (8 tracks)

n  track            lyric source                 audio          art        targets
1  Harbour Lights   generator draft, verse 2 rewritten  [tool], paid   drawn      stores
2  Low Tide         generator draft, chorus kept   [tool], paid   AI image   stores, TikTok?
3  Salt             written by hand                [tool], paid   AI image   stores
4  Paper Moon       generator draft, bridge cut    [tool], paid   AI image   stores
...

per track, answer before upload:
  audio fully generated?            yes / partly (what was human?)
  which generator made the audio?   name + plan, screenshot of plan page
  is that generator accepted?       LANDR: fully-AI clause read on [date]
                                    Symphonic: model accepted? asked on [date]
  platforms that refuse AI tracks?  checked against the current list on [date]
  cover of an existing song?        no
  lyric overlap checked?            first lines searched on [date]

Two lines deserve a word. "Which generator made the audio" is the question Symphonic's form may ask directly, so have the answer ready. "Lyric overlap checked" matters because our generator serves every user from the same model: similar briefs can bring back similar lines, and our disclaimer says the output is non-exclusive. Search your opening lines before you release; a lyric that matches someone else's published song is a problem no distributor will fix for you.

The targets column is where LANDR's list does its work. If track 2 was meant for TikTok, that is the line where you find out whether your distributor will send it there.

If you live outside the markets these services are built for

Both companies are foreign subscription services that pay out through their own methods. Whether you can pay the subscription from your country, and how royalties reach you, depends on your country and your bank, and it can change with sanctions and payment rules. Check the payment and payout pages before you build eight releases in a dashboard you then cannot pay for. Symphonic's Starter FAQ, at the time of writing, also lists territories where Starter is not available at all; Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are on it.

What leaving costs, before you sign

With a small catalogue, you are more likely to pause than a working artist is. So read the exit before the entrance:

• LANDR: the help centre describes releases staying live after cancellation, with a commission on royalties. Note the current percentage.
• Symphonic: at the time of writing, its help article on the Starter subscription says that when a paid year ends without renewal, the account is deactivated and your releases are taken down from the platforms, although royalties already flowing are still collected. For a catalogue you may pause, that is the biggest difference between the two. Read the Partner agreement separately if you ever get there.
• Either: moving a release to another distributor means taking it down and re-uploading. Ask whether you keep the ISRC codes (our piece on ISRC codes for AI songs explains why that matters) and whether playlists and stream counts survive the move.

None of this is legal or financial advice. Distributor terms, royalty rules and AI policies differ by country and change often; for anything that turns on your rights or your money, read the current terms and, if the stakes are real, ask a lawyer where you live.

Questions people ask before choosing

Will either one take a song made entirely with AI? Neither gives a flat yes. LANDR reserves the right to refuse music that relies entirely on AI audio generation. Symphonic may accept it if the generator used meets its licensing requirements and the other conditions hold. Ask both, in writing, with the name of your generator.

Do I have to say the lyrics were drafted with a generator? Both forms ask about AI use; read the exact wording on the day. Answer accurately. Both companies say they also run detection. Symphonic lists knowingly false AI disclosures among the things it does not permit, and LANDR makes the disclosure a required step of the upload.

Which one gets my track onto TikTok? At the time of writing, LANDR's list of platforms that do not accept AI music from it names TikTok, while the restriction list in Symphonic's AI disclosure article does not. Both lists change, so check them, and Symphonic's per-platform guide, on the day you upload.

Is it worth paying for either with eight songs? Only if the songs can earn it back or you value the tools. Making money with AI music is blunt about which routes actually pay, and free distribution covers what free options cost you later.

Can I release on Spotify without either? At the time of writing Spotify does not offer independent artists a general way to upload directly, so a distributor sits in between. How to release music on Spotify walks through the sequence.

The order that saves money

Songs first, distributor second, and pay no distributor until the songs are worth releasing.

1. Write the eight lyrics. Run briefs at /generators on a plan, where each one uses 20 credits (about $0.20), keep the drafts that have a real hook, rewrite the lines that are close but generic, and note in the ledger what you changed.
2. Make the audio in the generator you have chosen, on a plan whose terms allow release.
3. Build one release in a free LANDR account up to the submission step, and ask Symphonic whether your generator is accepted. Compare the answers, not the banners.
4. Only then pay one of them.

On our side the numbers are small and plain. The $5 monthly plan gives you the style catalogue, the prompt generator and 500 credits every month, which is 25 lyrics. The $19 lifetime plan keeps the catalogue and prompt generator open for good and comes with 1 500 credits once, which is 75 lyrics: enough to draft all eight songs of this catalogue several times over, and to throw away the weak ones before any distributor sees them. Open the generator on the $5 plan and write the first eight; if they are worth releasing and you want the catalogue for good, the $19 lifetime plan comes with 75 lyrics, once.