White-Label Music Distribution for Labels

White-label music distribution lets a label or artist-service business give its artists a distribution workspace under its own name, while another company runs the delivery infrastructure behind it. The artist signs in to your brand, uploads music, and follows each release. You review submissions, set the commercial rules and answer questions. The stores still receive the music from a distributor, and that part is not yours to run.

This guide explains what white-label distribution is, who needs it and who does not, what WBBT’s early-access workspace covers, which responsibilities stay with you, and how to prepare a proposal. WBBT White-Label is invite-only early access, so scope, price and launch timing are always agreed with sales. Nothing here is a fixed offer.

What white-label distribution means

A normal distribution account is branded by the distributor. A white-label setup has three layers, and it helps to keep them apart.

• The front end your artists see. Your platform name, logo, colours, welcome text, help pages and support contact.
• The rules you control. Who may join, which tools they can use, who approves a release before it leaves your team, and what commission applies to each artist.
• The infrastructure behind it. The release review, delivery to stores, identifiers and royalty reporting that WBBT provides.

White-label changes the first two layers and leaves the third with the provider. That is why a white-label workspace can look like your own product from the artist’s side while the stores, the review process and the reporting cycle still follow the rules of the distributor that actually delivers the music.

Who it suits, and who should choose something else

White-label is a business tool. It adds responsibilities, so it only pays off when you have a real roster or client base to serve.

• Independent record labels whose artists send in music themselves and need one consistent place to do it, with the label approving each release.
• Artist-service businesses such as management companies, collectives or creator communities that want their own brand in front of artists they already support.
• Growing music operations where a standard account no longer matches how releases are collected, approved and explained to artists.

It is usually the wrong tool in four cases. A single artist releasing their own music needs an artist plan, not a workspace. A small label whose team uploads everything centrally can start with a Label plan. A label that already has a distribution deal and only wants management software should look at Label Software, which does not include WBBT distribution. A software team that wants to build its own interface should read about the distribution API instead. For a side-by-side view of those routes, label, white-label or API: which do you need is a good companion.

What WBBT’s white-label workspace covers

The early-access scope described on the White-Label page is built around ten areas. Your final feature set is confirmed in writing, so treat this list as a map of what to ask about.

Area	What it covers
Branding	Platform name, logo and colours, landing and login text, support email. Domain needs are discussed during onboarding.
Portal content	Welcome message, dashboard announcement, help links and a support FAQ, plus appearance settings such as typography and login layout.
Search presence	Page title, description, social-sharing image and indexing preference, with site-verification fields. These help present your brand and do not guarantee search rankings.
Artist onboarding	Invitations, open registration or application-based signup, with owner and manager roles for day-to-day work.
Release review	Your team reviews submissions before they enter WBBT’s distribution review. Artist requests to edit a live release or take it down also pass through your workflow, with activity records.
Feature controls	You choose which tools your artists can use, within the agreed scope.
Artist plans	Where enabled, you can create and publish your own artist plans and assign them to members. Paid plans need the supported payment-account setup.
Commission	A default commission and individual overrides for specific users.
Analytics and earnings	Catalogue and activity analytics, with earnings views controlled by the capabilities you have enabled.
Artist support	Support tickets from your workspace: read, reply, close and escalate to WBBT when needed.

Some artist-plan features, such as bot detection, are not part of the white-label offer unless sales confirms them in writing. Ask for a feature list rather than assuming that everything from a standard artist plan carries over.

How a release moves through a white-label workspace

1. The artist prepares a release in your branded workspace with audio, artwork, credits and the declarations the release form asks for.
2. Your team reviews it. You check credits, artist roles, artwork and rights questions at this stage. Your approval does not replace WBBT’s review or the stores’ checks.
3. WBBT reviews the release. It is checked as part of the normal distribution review. If something needs fixing, the reason comes back through the workflow.
4. The release is delivered. Stores process it on their own schedules. Delivered does not mean live, and your approval does not guarantee that every store publishes at the same moment.
5. Edits and takedowns follow the same path. An artist asks, your team approves or declines, and approved requests continue to WBBT.

Because every step has an owner, the main design decision is who answers when a release is returned. Agree that with your team before launch, not after the first rejection.

What stays with you

A branded workspace is easy to mistake for a hands-off service. It is not. Plan for these responsibilities.

• Artist agreements. Your business explains its terms to artists, collects permissions and keeps ownership information accurate. The workspace is not a substitute for a contract between you and your artists.
• Rights checks. You are the first reviewer. Cover versions, samples, AI-assisted tracks and collaborations all need documents before they reach WBBT. Our guide to distributing AI music shows the sort of evidence to ask for.
• Commission and payments. Keep the commission you set consistent with what each artist agreed. Royalties follow monthly reporting cycles after store reports are processed, and daily or weekly views describe already reported earnings rather than live money.
• Support. Artists will come to you first. Agree who answers, how fast you aim to reply, and what you escalate to WBBT. Priority support is described without a fixed response time.
• Honest branding. A white-label workspace presents your brand. Do not describe it to artists as something it is not, such as your own distribution licence with the stores. Legal and data-protection documents still name the providers involved where required.
• Record keeping. Contracts, split agreements, identifiers and the date each rights document was signed are business records even when the software stores a copy.

Steps to evaluate and launch a white-label workspace

1. Write down your workflow. From an artist delivering a master to the release appearing in stores, name the person responsible at each stage: intake, rights checks, metadata review, corrections, reporting and artist support.
2. Check that you need white-label. If a Label plan, Label Software or an artist plan would do the job, start there. White-label is for a branded, multi-artist operation.
3. Write a one-page brief. Include your artist count, catalogue size, expected monthly releases, territories, required stores, branding needs, how artists will join, and what must work on day one versus later.
4. Ask for early access. Contact sales through the White-Label page or at [email protected] and say you want a white-label consultation. Do not send passwords or API keys.
5. Agree the written scope. Ask what is included, what is optional, how onboarding works, what support you get, how data export and account closure work, and what capacity applies. Activation follows acceptance of the offer, signing of the agreement and payment.
6. Configure the workspace. Set up branding, welcome and help content, search settings, roles, the commission defaults and any artist plans. Decide who is an owner and who is a manager.
7. Run a pilot. Move a small set of artists and releases through the whole flow, including a deliberate rejection and a correction. Fix the wording in your help pages before more people arrive.
8. Open it up in stages. Invite artists in groups, watch the review queue, and review the commission and support set-up after the first reporting cycle.

Which product fits which business

Option	Best for	Branding	Distribution
Artist plan	One artist or a small roster	WBBT	Included
Label plan	A label team that uploads for its own roster	WBBT, with your label name on releases	Included
Label Software	A label that already has a distribution deal and wants management tools	No WBBT brand, on a wbbt.net subdomain or your own domain	Not included
White-Label	A label or service business with artists who log in to its brand	Your brand, scope agreed with sales	Through WBBT, by agreement
Distributor API	A software team connecting its own application	Your own product	Through WBBT, by agreement

The pricing page shows the current detail for plans that have a public price. White-Label and the API are quoted individually, so no public rate card exists for them. If you only want help preparing your own releases, WBBT MCP lets ChatGPT or Claude create and check drafts in your own account. It is for personal use, not for serving artists, and it never submits a release.

Questions to ask any white-label provider

• Who is the distributor of record, and what do the artist-facing terms say about them?
• Can I export my artists, releases, identifiers and statements, and how?
• What happens to live releases and to my artists if I leave or the contract ends?
• Who is the contact for a rejected release, a wrong artist profile or a takedown?
• Which features are enabled, which are optional and which are not available?
• How are royalties reported, when, and what can I show artists?
• What limits apply to artists, releases, domains or storage?

A provider that answers these clearly in writing is easier to work with than one that answers only with a feature list.

Frequently asked questions

What is white-label music distribution?

It is a distribution workspace presented under your own business identity. Your artists sign in to your brand, submit releases to your team, and your team reviews them before they go to WBBT for distribution review. WBBT supplies the distribution infrastructure behind it.

Can my artists use my own domain and logo?

Platform name, logo, colours, landing and login text and support email are part of the branding workflow. Domain requirements are confirmed with sales during onboarding, because what is included depends on the scope you agree.

Will my artists never see WBBT?

The workspace they use carries your brand. Legal and data-protection documents still have to identify the service providers involved where the law or your agreement requires it, so do not promise your artists that no other company is involved. Ask sales how this works for your setup before you write your artist terms.

How much does it cost, and how long does it take to launch?

There is no fixed public price and no promised launch date. White-Label is invite-only early access. Sales sets scope and price in a written proposal based on your roster, catalogue, workflow and branding needs, and activation follows acceptance, signing and payment.

Is it the same as a Label plan?

No. A Label plan is a WBBT-branded account for managing unlimited artists and releases. White-label adds a branded workspace for your own artists, with their own sign-in, your approvals and your commission settings. Compare the plans to see where each begins.

Can I move my existing catalogue into a white-label workspace?

Catalogue moves are discussed with sales and support as a phased transfer. Document your recordings, ISRCs, UPCs, original release dates and artist profiles first, and keep the previous delivery live until the new one has been checked.

Next steps and further reading

Read the White-Label page for the current scope and ask for a sales consultation when your brief is ready. For plans with a public price, compare the Label plans. If you are still building the business, how to start a record label and releasing music under your own label name cover the groundwork. For the costs that matter across a roster, read label, white-label or API compared. The WBBT FAQ has a section on white-label and API questions. Features, access and commercial terms change in early access, so rely on the written proposal for your own setup.