DistroKid Leave a Legacy is a one-off add-on that keeps a release on streaming services after your DistroKid subscription lapses or you cancel. Without it, DistroKid’s own terms say your music comes down when your membership ends. Before you pay for it, see what a distributor without that problem would cost you in the music distribution calculator.
What happens if you stop paying
DistroKid’s help centre and its distribution agreement are clear on this:
- Your music may be removed from the services if the yearly payment fails. DistroKid says it gives “ample notice” first.
- If you don’t renew, it is removed. The agreement says that when the term ends, DistroKid tells the stores to take your recordings down.
- You can still log in, and you still get any earnings already owed to you.
- Fix it and it comes back. If music came down over a failed payment, DistroKid says it’s restored automatically once you update your card and the overdue charge goes through.
The agreement also says that if your card expires or is cancelled, DistroKid can choose to renew you anyway and take the fee out of money it owes you.
What Leave a Legacy costs
DistroKid lists it at $29 per single and $49 per album of two or more tracks. It’s a one-off fee, not yearly (checked on DistroKid’s help centre, 29 October 2026). Plan prices are on our DistroKid pricing page.
What it covers, and what it doesn’t
It covers one release. Each single or album needs its own Leave a Legacy if you want it to stay up after you cancel. Ten singles means ten fees: $290.
It doesn’t replace your subscription while you’re still releasing. You keep paying the yearly fee as long as your account is active.
It isn’t available for DistroVid uploads (DistroKid’s music video service).
It doesn’t protect you from everything. DistroKid’s agreement still lets it pull recordings over a copyright claim or suspected breach, and lets it change or end the service. Leave a Legacy stops removals for non-payment, nothing more.
Is it worth it
It makes sense for releases you want up for good and don’t want to keep paying for: an old band’s album, a project you’ve finished, a record you’re proud of but won’t add to.
For a catalogue that keeps growing, do the sums. Count what Leave a Legacy would cost across all your releases, then compare it with a distributor that doesn’t take music down when you stop paying. Our DistroKid alternatives guide lists them.
You can add it when you upload, or later from the release’s page on DistroKid.
Next step
Price your whole catalogue over a few years before you pay for ten of these, and if you decide to leave, read how to switch distributors without losing your play counts. More are in our music distribution guides.
Where these figures come from
- DistroKid Help Center: What are album extras? (price checked 29 Oct 2026)
- DistroKid Help Center: The Leave a Legacy album extra (checked 29 Oct 2026)
- DistroKid Help Center: What happens if I stop paying the annual fee? (checked 29 Oct 2026)
- DistroKid Help Center: If I don’t renew, will my music stay live? (checked 29 Oct 2026)
- DistroKid distribution agreement, sections 4, 7 and 10 (checked 29 Oct 2026)
