Can you pass on your TuneCore royalties when you die?
TuneCore royalties can pass to the estate after a death. While alive, the account holder can use transferring the account.
Protecting TuneCore royalties while the account is active
No beneficiary designation, lifetime transfer options for royalties, and 6-step plan.
How to protect your TuneCore royalties while you are alive →Someone died. Handling TuneCore royalties after a death
Royalties can be transferred to the estate, 6-step process, and 4 required documents.
What happens to TuneCore royalties when someone dies →TuneCore is a music distribution and publishing administration service used by independent artists to release recordings to streaming and download stores, such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, and to collect the royalties those plays generate.
TuneCore's terms allow TuneCore royalties to transfer to the estate after the account holder dies. While the account holder is alive, TuneCore allows transferring the account.
What happens to TuneCore at death
Naming who acts after a death
- Designation
TuneCore has no beneficiary designation, so who should inherit the catalogue and the royalties is set out in the holder's estate documents, not in the TuneCore account.3
Sources3
- 1.Can I move a release from one TuneCore account to another?
- 2.How do I close my account?
- 3.Terms and Conditions, last revised and effective as of July 31, 2026
TuneCore publishes no process specific to a deceased person's account; a written request goes in through TuneCore's support ticket system. There is no way to name a beneficiary or successor on a TuneCore account.
Sources
Data sourced from TuneCore, Inc. primary sources (10 pages reviewed). How we research.
TuneCore customer support
TuneCore Artist Support
Hours
Website
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