Your Songs Stay Online Forever — Even If You Stop Paying

One of the quietest fears in independent music is this: if I stop paying my distributor, does my music disappear?

The short answer depends on which one you’re on. And for most, the long answer is uncomfortable.

What happens when you cancel — by distributor

DistroKid. If you don’t renew your annual fee, your music gets taken down from the platforms. The only way to keep it online is buying their “Leave a Legacy” product (~$29 per song, one-time, for up to 5 tracks — pricing shifts over time, check their site). No free option.

TuneCore. Similar model: distribution stops when you don’t renew, and your songs eventually leave the DSPs. They have a “Rest in Peace” plan to keep the catalog live for a single fee, but it’s a separate paid product.

CD Baby. This one is different because their model is one-time payment per release. Your songs stay live with no renewals — but you pay a 9% permanent commission on every stream your music generates, forever.

Mh Musik. Your songs stay online automatically on every platform — no extra fee, no “legacy” plan, no timer, no need to ask. If you stop paying your membership for any reason (a financial crunch, a career shift, a sabbatical year), your catalog stays alive by default and keeps earning royalties. You only reach out if you ever decide the opposite: that you want your music taken down from the platforms.

Why this matters more than you think

A music catalog isn’t a Netflix subscription. It’s an asset that gains value over time:

• A track can take years to blow up (a sync, a TikTok, an editorial playlist add).
• Your accumulated streams build history inside Spotify’s algorithm — losing them and re-uploading the song wipes that history.
• Many of the most profitable royalties (publishing, sync, radio) arrive months or years after the release.

If a rough year forces you to cancel your distributor, losing your catalog means losing all the infrastructure you already built.

No trick, no surprise fee

It’s a company decision: we’d rather your music keep playing even if you’re not an active customer. That’s why the default is “stays online” — and you don’t need to ask for it. There’s no automatic takedown and no 30-day “reactivate or delete” window.

The only thing you need to keep alive is the artist account so we can still deposit your royalties whenever you want to withdraw. And if you ever decide you’d rather pull your music from the platforms, then yes, you message us and we take it down.

How it works in practice

1. You distribute your music with Mh Musik like any other service.
2. If at some point you stop paying your plan, nothing happens — your catalog stays alive automatically.
3. When you want to release new music, you reactivate whenever you can.
4. (Optional) If you ever prefer to pull your music from the platforms, you message us and we take it down.

No surprise fee, no countdown, no friction to keep what you already released alive.

Getting started

Want to build a catalog that doesn’t depend on next year’s financial situation? Create your account and pick a VIP plan. Distribution kicks off within 24 hours.