Frequently Asked Questions
Why deal with Oliphant instead rather than its competitors?
Oliphant is founded by an artist who struggled to find the resources he needed with the budget he had at the time. Oliphant, as opposed to its competitors, is the only service that provides a full suite of services included in its fee.
It is also the only provider to do so at no cost to the artist or label it distributes.
What types of music do you accept for distribution?
We will distribute any type of music. From pop ballads, to the most obscure experimental noise, anything goes.
How much money can I expect to make from your service?
It is hard to say since it depends on each artist’s notoriety, their online and live presence, the music they produce, their general popularity, etc.
As a precedent, we can say that some of our artists have been able to easily earn a monthly revenue that allows them to dedicate themselves full time to their music.
How quickly can I get my music out on platforms worldwide?
We recommend programming your music at least two weeks ahead of time. However, in a bind, you can program your releases 3 business days (North America) ahead of time.
If you are aiming to prepare your release with some marketing investments and other communications, we recommend a minimum of two months lead time prior to the release.
Artwork is usually expensive, how can you offer it for free?
Our visual artist roster considers all artwork and other production ancillary to your music as a loss leader. We take on the expense in order to ensure you can focus on releasing as much music as you can.
How many releases am I allowed to push?
Oliphant does not limit the amount of releases you push through your platform access. You can release music as often as you want and we will support you fully throughout each time.
How often can I request assistance from Oliphant for my releases?
As an artist or label under the care of Oliphant, you can request help as often as necessary. We do not limit our intervention as part of our mission.
How do I get started?
Click here to request your login. Within 24 to 48 hours of your request, you will receive your login and temporary password to start scheduling your releases.
You will also be contacted by your distribution manager to offer you an optional tour of the distribution platform and how to request services.
What technical platform do you use to push my music?
Oliphant has a partnership with Believe Digital for distribution. Believe has for mission to best serve local artists and labels at each stage of their development in the digital ecosystem, with fairness, expertise, respect and transparency.
How does Oliphant make its money?
Since Oliphant does not take a flat fee per year or for your releases, our fees are a small percentage of your royalties.
This percentage is used to pay for staff time and technology to provide you with artwork, mastering and support on demand.
If you do not make money, neither do we.
How will my royalties be managed?
Royalties are reported to you every quarter, and paid to you at your request at any time. When your royalties are substantial, we will encourage you to take quarterly payments, along with your reporting.
Some artists choose to leave their royalties with us and cash out once per year. It is a personal choice for each artist.
Outside of artwork and distribution, what other support do you provide?
Oliphant manages metadata entry in your artwork, photo editing, booklet creation when necessary, mastering, general streaming strategy elaboration, and gives you access to a knowledge library of guides and documentation related to the various streaming platforms and their features.
I make my own artwork, can I use that?
Yes. What Oliphant offers is to facilitate the releases of up and coming artists without the great upfront cost of artwork creation, mastering or else.
Bear in mind that like any artwork distributed worldwide, it may be subjected to the terms and conditions of each platform or territory it is being pushed to. Should there be an issue, your Oliphant distribution manager will work with you to resolve the matter while preserving your artistic vision.
Note that all artwork should ideally hold the relevant metadata to properly identify the artwork and its source. This is once again something your Oliphant distribution manager can work out for you.