DistroKid Pulls Tracks Amid Universal Music Group Copyright Dispute

Last week, Nashville singer‑songwriter Josh Sahunta got a puzzling message from a friend asking why his album *Mellowdram*a had vanished from Spotify. The 2022 release was one of his most‑streamed works and a key source of royalties. Sahunta had not removed it himself and had no idea what was happening.

He checked his DistroKid account and saw that much of the album was grayed out on Spotify, and soon it disappeared from Apple Music, YouTube and other services. No explanation appeared until he contacted DistroKid support.

They informed him that *Mellowdrama*—which he wrote and recorded himself—had been flagged for copyright infringement. They did not specify which recordings allegedly violated rights nor name the claimant, but DistroKid issued a copyright strike, freezing his royalties and threatening future releases.

Sahunta fired off a series of emails seeking resolution. After receiving no reply, he posted his experience on Instagram last Tuesday, and the comments and DMs filled with similar stories from other indie musicians.

Independent artists, Sahunta told *Rolling Stone*, “are unfortunately the most powerless group in the music industry. Ironically, they make up the bulk of what’s streamed, yet they’re easily exploited by companies that claim to champion independents… They’re preying on the very people who pay for their services and keep those businesses afloat.”

DistroKid later acknowledged the issue in a statement shared with *Rolling Stone*: “A very small number of recordings distributed through DistroKid have been removed in response to claims made by [Universal Music Group],” said Amanda Ferri, Vice President of Artist Services. (The exact number of legitimate artists affected remains unclear.)

In September, Universal Music Group sued DistroKid, alleging deceptive practices and “blatant” copyright infringement. While marketing itself as a “leading music distributor for artist‑backed releases,” the suit claims DistroKid flooded platforms with AI‑generated “slop” that siphons revenue and listeners from genuine artists and rightsholders.

Universal Music Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ferri continued, “We strongly dispute the allegations underlying UMG’s lawsuit and regret the disruption to affected artists. We are working to minimize that disruption while protecting artists’ ability to release their music.” (That statement was first shared with *The Verge*, which reported on the takedowns the previous week.)

Among the accusations, UMG said DistroKid lets users upload unauthorized remixes, sped‑up versions, or straight instrumental copies with new vocals layered over copyrighted songs. It also claimed DistroKid permits protected album art to be attached to infringing tracks, potentially confusing listeners and leading them to play the wrong song.

The lawsuit further noted that DistroKid’s willingness to host such low‑quality uploads has benefited the company, noting its distribution rate has surged in the AI era, citing the recent $2 billion sale of a majority stake to private‑equity firm CVC Capital Partners.

Like many firms facing massive copyright claims, DistroKid appears to have removed some of the allegedly infringing content it may have helped place on streaming services—while still denying UMG’s underlying claims, as noted in its statement. How so much original music, such as Sahunta’s, got caught up in this sweep remains unclear.

Joel Gouveia, an artist manager who covered the takedowns on his Substack last week, believes DistroKid likely employed an algorithm or AI‑based tool to flag potentially infringing songs.

But, as Gouveia told *Rolling Stone*, these AI detection tools are still relatively new and imperfect. “Instead of taking the precautionary step—using humans to verify whether the music is genuinely human‑made—they opted for a quick risk‑mitigation approach and issued mass takedowns,” he said. “I expect they’ll fix it and hopefully these artists won’t be left completely out of luck, but it’s unfortunate to see.”

(DistroKid declined to elaborate on the tools used for the takedowns or the steps it is taking to correct erroneous notices.)

As of Monday, October 12, much of Sahunta’s *Mellowdrama* remains grayed out on Spotify and is completely unavailable on Apple Music and YouTube. The silver lining is that, after sharing his story on Instagram, other distributors have approached him with offers. Still, he worries the same issue could arise elsewhere.

“I think the real lesson for me is that, as an independent artist lacking a label’s infrastructure to prevent or advocate against such problems, when something like this happens I’m essentially powerless,” Sahunta said. “I can’t really defend myself.”

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