How to protect your DistroKid account while you are alive
There is no way to name a beneficiary or successor on a DistroKid account. DistroKid allows no transfer of the account while the holder is alive.
DistroKid decides requests about a DistroKid account after a death case by case, so nothing in its terms promises a survivor anything; what the account holder sets up in advance is what holds. There is no way to name a beneficiary or successor on a DistroKid account. DistroKid allows no transfer of the account while the holder is alive.
How to protect your DistroKid accounts
Naming who acts after a death
What DistroKid LLC's terms say about sharing and transfers6
- Pooling with family
DistroKid has no family-sharing feature and no multi-user delegate access to an account.1
- Transferring the account or registration
A DistroKid account is tied to one email address and has no account-transfer mechanism.1
Releases cannot be moved between DistroKid accounts. A Split routing 100 percent of a track's earnings to a successor account leaves metadata, stats, playlist placements and ISRCs unchanged on the original upload.3
- Transfers to another member
Splits, managed at distrokid.com/teams, route royalties automatically to collaborators, producers or other named recipients by set percentages; each song or album can have its own Splits team, and collaborators see only their own percentage.2
The inviter can pay $10/year so a Split recipient without a DistroKid account can collect and withdraw; otherwise the recipient needs their own subscription, with a 50% first-year discount.2
- Expiry and activity requirements
Leave a Legacy keeps a release on streaming services after a lapsed membership payment or a cancelled subscription. It is added to each release individually and is not available for DistroVid uploads.4
- Fees
Leave a Legacy costs $29.00 per single and $49.00 per album of two or more tracks, as a nonrecurring fee.5
- Exporting and backing up data
The DistroKid Vault automatically backs up every upload: original master recordings, album artwork, and data including DistroKid ISRCs and UPCs.6
Should you save your passwords for your family?
Some people store account passwords so a family member can sign in later. The practice has three practical limits:
- Two-factor authentication often blocks it. Most accounts require a second factor — a code sent to a phone, an authenticator app, a passkey, or a physical key. A saved password alone frequently does not grant access, and the recovery codes that would are easy to lose or let go stale.
- It usually conflicts with the platform's terms. Most operators prohibit account sharing and signing in as another person, including after a death. Stored credentials are not the operator's recognized access path, and using them can violate the terms of service.
- Operators provide other paths. Where an operator offers a designation tool — Apple's Legacy Contact, Google's Inactive Account Manager, a beneficiary designation — that mechanism grants access the operator recognizes. A password manager's own emergency-access or legacy feature passes credentials through a controlled process. Digital assets named in a will or trust give a fiduciary authority under each state's Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA).
Sources
Data sourced from DistroKid LLC primary sources (20 pages reviewed). How we research.
Is this your situation?
Get a complete guide for your specific circumstances.
New Baby or Adoption
Your family is growing. Your protection should too. Guardian nominations, trusts for minors, beneficiary updates, and the documents new parents need in place.
Learn more
Marriage
What married couples need in place: one joint trust or two, wills, beneficiary updates, and the spousal rights your state grants you automatically.
Learn more
New Home
How to put your house in a revocable trust: the deed you record, what it does to your mortgage and property taxes, and when a TOD deed is simpler.
Learn more
Retirement
Retirement changes your financial picture. Healthcare directives, beneficiary reviews, long-term care planning, and protecting what you've built.
Learn moreForms for Planning Your Estate
Free forms for planning your estate: a will, living trust, pour-over will, both powers of attorney, living will, and TOD deed.
Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
Last Will and Testament
Name your heirs, guardians, and final wishes. Free for every state.
Codicil to a Will
Add, revoke or replace provisions of your will and republish the rest, signed as your state requires for a will.
Tools for Planning Your Estate
Free tools for planning your estate: what a will or trust costs, whether you need a trust or TOD deed, and how documents are signed.
How Much Does a Revocable Living Trust Cost?
Compare revocable living trust costs across providers including online services and attorneys.
How Does SimplyTrust Compare to LegalZoom, Trust & Will, and Other Services?
Compare what it costs to make a trust official across SimplyTrust, LegalZoom, Trust & Will, Rocket Lawyer, and Quicken WillMaker.
Do I Need a Revocable Trust?
Find out if a revocable trust makes sense based on your state, estate value, and family situation.
Trust or Will: Which Costs Less?
Compare the cost of probate vs a trust for your state and estate value.
How Much Is the Federal Gift Tax?
Whether a gift owes federal gift tax, how much of the annual exclusion and lifetime exemption it uses, and whether Form 709 is due.
What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?
Compare costs across estate planning providers including online services and attorneys.
