Lay vs recordJet: a fee per release or a share of your royalties
The short answer
recordJet prices each release, and you choose between two deals: Basic costs 19 euro once for a single and pays you 90 percent of the revenue, Premium costs 9 euro a year for a single and pays 100 percent. Lay Free charges nothing per release and keeps about 30 percent. Against Basic, Lay leaves you more until a single has earned about 95 euro; against Premium, until it earns about 30 euro a year.
Beyond the price, recordJet lets you withdraw your balance at any time and in any amount, and its fees and its contract are in euro and under German law. Lay pays monthly through PayPal from a $20 balance and credits your share in US dollars. Every Lay account starts with an application a person reads, and a release that earns nothing has cost you nothing.
The two offers, row by row
Every recordJet cell comes from recordJet’s own pricing page, FAQ or terms, read on 10 November 2026. Where recordJet documents nothing, the row is missing rather than guessed.
| What the row compares | Lay | recordJet |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay | $0 on Free, after we read your application. Pro is coming soon with no published price; Partner is agreed with you directly and has no public price. | Per release, in two deals. Basic: 19 euro for a single, 29 for an EP, 39 for an album, charged once. Premium: 9 euro a year for a single, 19 for an EP, 29 for an album. The terms quote all prices net of VAT. First Class is an individual deal without a public price.123 |
| Your share of the royalties | On Free you keep about 70 percent of your royalties and Lay keeps about 30. On Partner the share is agreed with you individually. | 90 percent of the revenue on Basic and 100 percent on Premium.2 |
| Stores and platforms | Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, TikTok, Instagram, Deezer, Tidal and the other major stores. We publish no store count. | You choose the partner stores and the release timing yourself; the pages we read publish no store count.1 |
| When the money reaches you | Your share is credited in US dollars to your Lay Credit Account once the stores pay us. PayPal payouts run monthly from a $20 balance. | Your share is credited to your customer account, as a rule on the 1st of the month after recordJet has been paid. You can withdraw the balance at any time, in full or in part; withdrawal fees such as PayPal fees are yours.3 |
| If you cancel or stop paying | Cancel in your dashboard or by email and we have the stores take your releases down. You are still paid for what they earned before. | The agreement runs for an indefinite period and is non-exclusive. You end it at any time by deactivating your releases; the takedown from all stores may take about 14 days. On Premium the yearly fee is debited from your recordJet balance, and a change to Basic is possible.312 |
| Support | One inbox, support@laydistribution.com. Free typically hears back within 48 to 72 hours, Partner within 24. No guaranteed response time. | recordJet describes its support team as quick and personally reachable through all channels; it publishes no response time.1 |
| What the price includes | The stores, the delivery, the royalty collection and the monthly payout are the plan. Recordings, songs and artwork stay yours. | Statistics for your releases in the account and free changes to a release, such as a new audio file or an added feature. Promotion, digital advertising, consulting, creative services, merch and records can be booked on top.12 |
What the two prices mean in money
recordJet’s fee is per release, once or yearly, so each deal has its own crossing point against a share. Both are solved for a single.
Basic against Lay Free
Basic costs 19 euro once and keeps 10 percent; Lay keeps about 30 percent and no fee. The difference in share is 20 points, so the two meet when a single has earned 95 euro in total: 70 percent of 95 is 66.50, and 90 percent of 95 minus 19 is also 66.50. For an album at 39 euro the line is 195 euro.
Premium against Lay Free
Premium costs 9 euro a year and keeps nothing. It meets Lay Free at 30 euro a year for that single: 70 percent of 30 is 21, and 30 minus 9 is 21. For an album at 29 euro a year the line is about 97 euro a year.
What that means
Below those figures Lay leaves you more, and a release that earns nothing has cost nothing. Above them recordJet leaves you more, and its lead grows with every euro the release earns.
Our arithmetic, not a recordJet statement. It compares one release and ignores currency conversion (recordJet charges in euro, Lay credits your share in US dollars), taxes and payment fees. recordJet’s terms quote its prices net of VAT, which moves each line up for anyone who pays the tax.
Where recordJet is the better answer
- 90 or 100 percent of the revenue, which beats a 70/30 split once a release earns more than the lines above.
- A choice per release: pay once on Basic or yearly on Premium, and switch from Premium to Basic.
- Withdraw your balance at any time and in any amount, instead of a monthly run.
- Prices in euro, a German-language service and German law for the contract.
- Promotion, advertising, consulting and merch services you can book on top.
Where Lay is the better answer
- Nothing to pay per release: a release that earns little costs nothing at all.
- No yearly fee that is debited from your balance.
- A person reads your application and sets the account up by hand.
- One support inbox with typical answer times we publish: 48 to 72 hours on Free, 24 on Partner.
- A German company in Karlsruhe as your contract partner; recordJet’s terms name recordJet AG in Lucerne.
Questions artists ask about recordJet
What does recordJet cost?
In the Basic deal 19 euro for a single, 29 for an EP and 39 for an album, charged once, with 90 percent of the revenue for you. In the Premium deal 9, 19 and 29 euro a year, with 100 percent. recordJet’s terms quote these prices net of VAT.
Is Lay cheaper than recordJet?
For a small release, yes. Lay Free leaves you more until a single has earned about 95 euro in total against Basic, or about 30 euro a year against Premium. Above those figures recordJet leaves you more.
Does recordJet take a percentage of my royalties?
On Basic it keeps 10 percent, because you receive 90 percent of the revenue. On Premium you receive 100 percent and pay the yearly fee instead.
How do I leave recordJet?
recordJet’s terms let you end the agreement at any time by deactivating your releases in the portal, and say the takedown from all stores may take about 14 days. On Lay you cancel in your dashboard or by email, and we have the stores take your releases down.
Is recordJet a German company?
Its terms name recordJet AG in Lucerne, Switzerland, as the contract partner, place the agreement under German law with Berlin as the place of jurisdiction, and make the German version authoritative. Lay Distribution UG is based in Karlsruhe, and our German terms prevail as well.
Sources
Every recordJet statement above comes from one of these pages, read on the date shown. Where recordJet documents nothing, the table has no row rather than a guess.
Keep reading
Ready to start? Apply for a Lay account and we will read it ourselves. The plans and prices are on the home page.