Lay vs TuneCore: no commission, but a yearly bill
Lay’s numbers come from the plans and payouts on this site. TuneCore’s were checked on at the pages listed underSources.
The short answer
TuneCore sells yearly plans, from $24.99 for Rising Artist to $54.99 for Professional, and takes no commission on your music revenue: the stores’ money reaches you in full, paid monthly. Lay Free has no yearly fee and keeps about 30 percent of your royalties. The two meet at about $83 a year of royalties, where Lay’s 70 percent and TuneCore’s $24.99 plan leave you with the same amount.
TuneCore’s 0 percent has one written exception: music used on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube earns money with a 20 percent fee on every plan. YouTube Content ID, by contrast, is included from the cheapest plan up. Lay’s published plans promise neither Content ID nor a social-media fee, because our plans do not include those lines at all today.
The two offers, row by row
Every TuneCore cell comes from TuneCore’s own pricing page or home page, read on 25 October 2026. What TuneCore does not document is missing here rather than guessed.
| What the row compares | Lay | TuneCore |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Rising Artist $24.99, Breakout Artist $44.99, Professional $54.99, each per year. Releasing one release at a time costs $24.99 a year for a single and $44.99 for an album, then $56.49 in following years.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. | Self-signup on the pricing page, plan chosen up front. No application and no review.1 |
| 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. | No commission on your music revenue, and payments are processed monthly. You keep 100 percent ownership and control of the recordings.21 |
| Content ID and user videos | Not part of the plans we publish today. Ask us before you count on it. | Money from TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube is paid with a 20 percent fee. YouTube Content ID itself is listed as included on every plan.1 |
| Stores and platforms | Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, TikTok, Instagram, Deezer, Tidal and the other major stores. We publish no store count. | 150+ digital stores, with unlimited releases on every plan and the option to use your own ISRC codes.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. | Monthly, with no commission taken from the music revenue before it is paid.2 |
| Support | One inbox, support@laydistribution.com. Free typically hears back within 48 to 72 hours, Partner within 24. No guaranteed response time. | Email support with a published response time per plan: 3 business days on Rising Artist, 2 on Breakout Artist, 1 on Professional.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. | Advanced trends and analytics, release scheduling, artist revenue splits, Spotify and Apple artist verification; a custom label name and multiple artists only on Professional.1 |
What the two prices mean in money
The same crossing point as with any yearly plan: a fixed fee against a percentage, solved for the royalty figure.
The fee
TuneCore’s cheapest yearly plan is $24.99.
The share
Lay Free keeps about 70 percent, so Lay keeps about 30 percent of what your music earns and TuneCore keeps 0 percent of it.
Where they meet
At $83 a year of royalties both leave you about $58: 70 percent of 83 is 58, and 83 minus 24.99 is also about 58. Below $83 Lay leaves you more; above it TuneCore does, and its lead widens with every euro of royalties.
Our arithmetic, not a TuneCore statement. It counts one artist on one plan and ignores taxes, payment fees and currency conversion. Your own numbers move the crossing point.
Where TuneCore is the better answer
- No commission on music revenue, and a payout every month.
- YouTube Content ID included from the cheapest plan, where others charge for it.
- A published support response time for each plan, down to one business day on Professional.
- A per-release route for artists who release rarely, plus a publishing administration service TuneCore offers alongside distribution.
- 150+ stores, unlimited releases, your own ISRC codes.
Where Lay is the better answer
- No yearly fee, so a release that earns nothing costs nothing.
- A person reads your application and sets the account up by hand.
- One support inbox with typical answers in 48 to 72 hours on Free, no plan tier needed.
- Leave any time; no renewal date and no downgrade request.
- A German company in Karlsruhe, with the German terms prevailing.
Questions artists ask about TuneCore
Does TuneCore take a percentage of my royalties?
No. TuneCore states that payments are processed monthly with no commission on your music revenue. The 20 percent it does take applies to money your music earns on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Is Lay cheaper than TuneCore?
Below about $83 a year of royalties, yes: Lay takes 30 percent of a small number instead of a $24.99 fee. Above that TuneCore is cheaper, and the gap grows with the royalties.
Does TuneCore include Content ID?
YouTube Content ID is listed as included on every TuneCore plan, from Rising Artist up. Our Free plan does not include Content ID, and we say so rather than imply it.
What does a TuneCore plan cost for one album?
The pay-as-you-go album plan is $44.99 a year and $56.49 in each following year, and a single is $24.99 a year. Both include all 150+ stores.
Is my music still online if I stop paying TuneCore?
TuneCore does not document that on the pages we could read on 25 October 2026, so this page does not claim it either way. Ask TuneCore before you rely on it, exactly as you should ask us about Content ID.
Sources
Every TuneCore statement above comes from one of these pages, read on the date shown. Where TuneCore documents nothing, the table has no row rather than a guess.
Keep reading
- Switching distributors: how to move your catalog to Lay
- The Lay Free plan explained: $0, 70 percent yours
Ready to start? Apply for a Lay account and we will read it ourselves. Theplans and prices are on the home page.