Lay vs RouteNote: two free plans, two different shares
The short answer
Both services distribute without a fee, so the share decides: RouteNote Free pays you 85 percent of the net revenue it receives, Lay Free about 70 percent. On the share alone RouteNote Free leaves you more at every royalty figure, and there is no crossing point to calculate. RouteNote also sells Premium per release, from $10 for a single in the first year and $9.99 for each following year, which pays 100 percent of streaming and download revenue.
The differences that remain sit outside the percentage. RouteNote pays out automatically once your earnings reach $50; Lay pays from a $20 balance, so a small release reaches its payout sooner. Every Lay account starts with an application a person reads, where RouteNote opens a free signup. And if a Premium year is not renewed, RouteNote moves the release to Free instead of taking it down.
The two offers, row by row
Every RouteNote cell comes from RouteNote’s own support hub or website, read on 10 November 2026. Where RouteNote documents nothing, the row is missing rather than guessed.
| What the row compares | Lay | RouteNote |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Free costs $0 with no upfront costs. Premium is charged per release: $10 for a single, $20 for an EP of 2 to 6 tracks, $30 for an album of 7 to 18 tracks, $45 for an extended album, then $9.99 per release for each following year. A third option, All Access, is priced on request.1 |
| How you open an account | Every account starts with an application. Self-registration is closed and a person sets the account up by hand. | You sign up for free and choose Free or Premium for each release; a release can move between the two whenever you like.31 |
| 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. | On Free you keep 85 percent of the net revenue RouteNote receives. On Premium you keep 100 percent of streaming and download revenue.12 |
| Content ID and user videos | Not part of the plans we publish today. Ask us before you count on it. | RouteNote states it does not charge to submit your music to YouTube’s Content ID, Facebook recognition or SoundCloud monetisation.21 |
| Stores and platforms | Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, TikTok, Instagram, Deezer, Tidal and the other major stores. We publish no store count. | No restriction on store selection in either model, and no charge to add stores. The pages we read name Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music and publish no store count.23 |
| 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. | Paid automatically between the 15th and the 20th of each month once your earnings reach the $50 minimum threshold, by PayPal, bank transfer or bank transfer via Payoneer.4 |
| 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. | RouteNote does not charge to keep music online. If a Premium year is not renewed, the release is not taken down: it moves to Free distribution and can be upgraded again later.31 |
| What the price includes | The stores, the delivery, the royalty collection and the monthly payout are the plan. Recordings, songs and artwork stay yours. | The same services on Free and Premium apart from the share; Premium adds 90 days of analytics in RouteNote Trends and a fan location map.2 |
What the two prices mean in money
Two free plans compare by their share and by the balance that triggers a payout. Premium adds a fee, so it has a crossing point against both.
Free against Free
Neither side charges a fee. Of $100 of royalties RouteNote Free leaves you $85 and Lay Free about $70. The 15 points stay the same at every figure, so Lay is never the cheaper of the two free plans.
The payout line
RouteNote pays once your earnings reach $50, Lay from a $20 balance. A release that has earned $40 leaves about $28 with Lay, which is above its $20 line, and $34 with RouteNote, which is still below its $50 threshold.
Premium against Lay Free
A Premium single costs $10 in the first year and keeps nothing of the streaming and download revenue. It meets Lay Free at about $33 for that single in that year: 70 percent of 33.33 is 23.33, and 33.33 minus 10 is also 23.33. Against RouteNote’s own Free plan, Premium pays off above about $67 a year for the single.
Our arithmetic, not a RouteNote statement. It counts one single in one currency and ignores taxes, payment fees and currency conversion. RouteNote’s 85 percent applies to the net revenue it receives, Lay’s share to what the stores pay us; your own numbers move every line here.
Where RouteNote is the better answer
- 85 percent on a free plan, 15 points more than Lay Free at every royalty figure.
- No application: signup is free and open.
- Premium from $10 a release when you would rather pay a fee and keep 100 percent of streaming and download revenue.
- A release that is not renewed on Premium stays online on Free.
- Bank transfer and Payoneer next to PayPal, and no charge to submit to Content ID.
Where Lay is the better answer
- A payout from a $20 balance instead of a $50 threshold, which matters while a release is small.
- 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 Partner plan for labels and artist teams, agreed with you directly.
- A German company in Karlsruhe, with the German terms prevailing.
Questions artists ask about RouteNote
Is RouteNote really free?
Yes. RouteNote states that its Free plan costs $0 with no upfront costs, hidden charges or extras, and that it entitles you to 85 percent of the net revenue it receives from your music.
Is Lay cheaper than RouteNote?
No. Both free plans charge nothing, and RouteNote Free pays 85 percent where Lay Free pays about 70. Lay is the different offer in other rows: a payout from $20 instead of $50, an application a person reads, and a German contract partner.
What does RouteNote Premium cost?
$10 for a single, $20 for an EP of 2 to 6 tracks, $30 for an album of 7 to 18 tracks and $45 for an extended album, then $9.99 per release for each following year. Premium pays 100 percent of streaming and download revenue.
What happens if I stop paying for RouteNote Premium?
The release stays online. RouteNote states that it does not take the music down when a Premium year is not paid; it moves the release to Free distribution, where you keep 85 percent, and you can upgrade again at any time.
When does RouteNote pay out?
Automatically between the 15th and the 20th of each month, provided your earnings have reached the $50 minimum threshold. Lay pays out monthly through PayPal from a $20 balance.
Sources
Every RouteNote statement above comes from one of these pages, read on the date shown. Where RouteNote 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.