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The Industry Route

The admin and services the industry lays out for releasing music. What each one costs, what it does, and what it doesn't.

This page covers the business side of releasing music.Two steps pay you whatever you do: APRA AMCOS for your songs and PPCA for your recordings. Both are free. The rest is optional. For finding an audience, see Community.

Getting Paid 3

APRA AMCOS

CostFree to join.
DoesCollects your songwriter royalties: live, radio, TV, streaming. File a Performance Report after each gig and you get a couple of dollars a song, paid quarterly. Claims close a year after the show.
Doesn'tBusking and other gigs in public places stopped counting on 1 July 2026. Nothing arrives for four to six months.
MoveJoin, register every song, report every gig. This is the one step that pays you for playing live, whatever else you do.
Linkapraamcos.com.au

PPCA

CostFree.
DoesCollects for the recording itself when it is played in public or on radio. Register as the artist, and as the label too if you own your masters.
Doesn'tPays once a year, in December. Nothing is held for artists who haven't registered by 31 August.
MoveRegister once you have recordings out.
Linkppca.com.au

ISRC codes

CostFree from every distributor below. ARIA also issues them directly by email.
DoesA code for each recording, so plays can be matched to you.
Doesn'tNothing on its own.
MoveLet the distributor make them. Add them to your APRA registrations later.
Linkaria.com.au

Getting It Out 3

Bandcamp

Cost15% of digital sales, dropping to 10% after US$5,000. 10% of physical. Plus 4–6% card fees.
DoesYou sell direct and you get the buyer's email. Fans can pay more than you ask.
Doesn'tNot in Spotify or Apple Music.
MoveThe one platform where the audience stays yours.
Linkget.bandcamp.help

DIY distributors

CostDitto $19 a year. DistroKid $24.99. Amuse $23.99. TuneCore Australia $34.99. CD Baby $9.99 a single, once, then 9% of streaming.
DoesPuts your music on Spotify, Apple Music and the rest, with ISRC codes included.
Doesn'tDistribution is delivery. Nobody hears it unless you bring them. Most annual plans take your music down if you stop paying.
MoveAPRA's own warning: be careful of any distributor that asks you to waive performance or communication rights.
Linkapraamcos.com.au

Australian distributors

CostVaries.
DoesAPRA AMCOS names MGM (Sydney), G.Y.R.O., Musible, Xelon Digital and Community Music. MGM takes open submissions (see Labels).
Doesn'tSelective; not all take everyone.
MoveOnly Australian-owned distribution counts for the AIR independent charts.
Linkapraamcos.com.au

Streaming 3

Spotify: pitching to editors

CostFree.
DoesPitch one unreleased song to Spotify's playlist editors through Spotify for Artists. Delivering seven days before release also puts it on your followers' Release Radar.
Doesn'tNo guarantee, or feedback either way.
MoveDeliver at least seven days ahead, pitch the one song.
Linksupport.spotify.com

Spotify: the 1,000-stream floor

Cost
DoesA track earns no recording royalty at all until it reaches 1,000 streams in twelve months, plus an unpublished number of listeners.
Doesn'tYour songwriter royalties through APRA are not affected.
MoveKnow it before you count on streaming income.
Linksupport.spotify.com

Paid playlists and Discovery Mode

CostDiscovery Mode: 30% of the recording royalties from those streams.
DoesDiscovery Mode trades a cut of your royalties for more algorithmic placement. You need 25,000 monthly listeners to use it.
Doesn'tSpotify says services that guarantee streams or playlist spots for money break its rules, and it can withhold royalties or remove the music.
MoveDon't pay anyone who promises placement.
Linksupport.spotify.com

Radio and Industry Bodies 2

Radio

CostFree.
DoesAmrap makes your WAV available to community stations, but a direct email to a presenter is what gets you played. triple j Unearthed is free for Australian artists without a major label deal; you keep copyright.
Doesn'tNeither pitches for you.
MoveSee the Radio page for every station.
LinkRadio page

AIR: Australian Independent Record Labels Association

CostArtist membership free. Label membership $175.50 or $375 ex GST.
DoesAIR Awards eligibility and voting, workshops, member resources, the independent charts.
Doesn'tThere's no directory of publicists or their costs. AIR, Creative Australia and APRA publish none.
MoveJoin if you self-release.
Linkair.org.au

Physical 2

Vinyl

CostZenith, Melbourne: 100 × 12-inch from $2,714 + GST. Impress, Melbourne: about $2,200 ex GST, 100 minimum.
DoesThere is no vinyl plant in Sydney. Everything below is Melbourne or Brisbane.
Doesn'tLead times run 8 to 14 weeks; Impress currently says 18–22.
MoveOrder before you book the launch. Implant, Program, Replicat and Suitcase quote by calculator.
Linkzenithrecords.org

CDs

CostDVD Makers, Hornsby: printed disc in a case about $2.86 each, from 50.
Does48-hour turnaround in Sydney.
Doesn'tIf a CD or record has covers on it, you need an APRA AMCOS manufacture licence: about 6% of retail on those tracks, minimum 5c a unit. Digital releases don't.
MovePrice the licence into a covers release.
Linkdvdmakers.com.au

Merch 5

Screen-printed shirts

CostThe Print Room in Marrickville charges $40 a screen, then $15 a shirt for 11 to 20 one-colour tees or $12 for 31 to 50, plus GST.
DoesPro Garment Printers in Peakhurst quote about $14 to $18 a shirt for 50 one-colour AS Colour tees, blank included. Pistol Clothing in Arncliffe prints from 20 a design in five to seven business days.
Doesn'tScreen printing gets dear below about 20 shirts. For a small run, digital printing has no setup fee: Pro Garment Printers charge from $22 a shirt for 10.
MoveEach extra colour or a back print adds to the price of every shirt. A one-colour front is the cheapest run.
Linktheprintroom.sydney

Print them yourself

CostThe Print Room studio: a $110 induction, then $25 an hour, plus ink and screen exposure, all plus GST. A two-hour workshop is $110.
DoesYou print your own shirts, totes and posters with their screens and presses.
Doesn'tBlanks aren't included. AS Colour sells to anyone online and at its Newtown and Bondi Junction stores, with lower prices for 10 or more and 50 or more.
MoveThe Rizzeria in Marrickville prints posters and zines on a risograph: ten one-colour A3 posters are $50.
Linktheprintroom.sydney

Print on demand

CostNothing up front. Redbubble prints most products in Australia. You set a markup on its base price, and it takes a platform fee from your earnings that depends on your account tier.
DoesFans order online and the shirt is printed and posted to them. You hold no stock.
Doesn'tMargins are small. A 20% markup on a $20 shirt earns you $4. Bandcamp doesn't print merch, and lists Sound Merch in Melbourne to make and post stock for you.
MovePrintful also has no minimum or monthly fee, and prints some products in Australia.
Linkhelp.redbubble.com

Stickers, badges and totes

CostStickeroo: 50 die-cut stickers at 5 by 5cm for $47. Make Badges: 25mm badges at $1.15 each for 50, GST included, with no minimum.
DoesSimplyStick in Sydney prints tote bags from $9.95 each for 20, with no minimum.
Doesn'tBoth post from Victoria. Stickeroo makes an order in three to five days, and Make Badges sends within four business days.
MoveBadge-A-Minit NSW sells badge machines from $499 if you want to make your own.
Linkmakebadges.com.au

Selling at gigs

CostCard readers: Square takes 1.6% a sale with a $65 reader, Zeller 1.4% with a $99 terminal, and Tyro 1.3%.
DoesSquare's free plan and Zeller have no monthly fee.
Doesn'tSydney venues have no standard merch cut. Petersham Bowling Club takes nothing from merch.
MoveAsk the venue before the gig whether it takes a cut. Music Victoria's advice is that a venue taking a cut should supply a seller, a lit table, EFTPOS and a float.
Linkmusicvictoria.com.au

Prices are as each company publishes them; DistroKid and Amuse don't say which currency. APRA AMCOS publishes a free industry-advice hub; Creative Australia publishes no release guide.