Prepare the master
Export the final mix as an uncompressed WAV file — the standard is 24-bit / 48kHz. Listen to the file all the way through, from beginning to end, on headphones and on a phone speaker. Check the start and the end for clicks, and don't leave extra silence at either end.
Cover art that passes review
Your cover art travels with the release to every store. The spec is 3000×3000 pixels, RGB. Keep text minimal and readable at thumbnail size, and avoid platform logos, account handles, prices and links — stores reject cover art that carries them.
Metadata and codes
Metadata is how the world finds you: an artist name spelled the same way on every release, the real title with no decoration, and the correct language and genre tags. The codes — ISRC for the recording and UPC for the release — are assigned during preparation; you don't need to buy them anywhere.
Choose the release date
Give yourself room. A date several weeks out leaves space for review, delivery and pitching before day one. Line the date up with anything you control — a video, a show, a run of posts — so the release lands with support behind it rather than alone.
Request your invite
Mazufa works by invitation only. Completed applications enter a human review queue as capacity allows. Submitting does not create an account; those accepted may receive a dedicated preparation invite.
After acceptance
After preparation, your release is packaged to spec and delivered to every platform, and its data is pitched to the appropriate editorial and algorithmic surfaces. From there, watch your dashboard: streams, saves and playlist adds, per platform and per country.
The fingerprint code every recording carries — it tracks streams and earnings worldwide.
Your release barcode — one per single, EP or album.
Digital service provider — Spotify, Apple Music, Anghami and every store on earth.
The problem nobody talks about
You open your distributor's dashboard one day and notice that your earnings from the Turkish, Indonesian or Brazilian market have suddenly dropped without any change in stream counts. What happened? The reason is often simple but costly: the distributor decided to change the default currency it uses to calculate earnings for a particular market, without notifying you in advance.
Streaming services pay for each market in its local currency or in a specific regional currency, and the distributor then converts these amounts into the currency shown in your reports. Any change in this chain means the exchange rate and conversion rates will change too, and you are the one who bears the difference.
How earnings travel from the service to your pocket
Understanding the path helps you pinpoint where the money disappears:
- The service (Spotify, Apple Music…) Collects subscriptions and remits earnings to the distributor in the market's currency or in US dollars, according to its own agreement.
- The distributor Receives the amount and converts it, at an exchange rate of its choosing, into the default currency in its system.
- The artist Receives the final amount after bank transfer fees and exchange differences are deducted.
When a distributor changes the default currency for a market, the exchange rate applied at the second step changes, and conversion fees that did not exist before may be added on top.
The real impact on your earnings: three common situations
- A drop in real value: If your earnings are calculated in dollars and the distributor used the euro or the pound sterling as an intermediate currency for a given market, fluctuations in the exchange rate between these currencies directly affect what you receive.
- Loss of transparency: Reports show amounts in a currency different from the one you are used to, which makes it harder to compare monthly performance and to tell whether earnings actually rose or fell.
- Delayed payment: In some cases the extra conversion steps take longer, which delays the arrival of what you are owed.
What you should do now: practical steps
- Review your earnings reports month by month: Compare the amounts for each market separately, not just the total. If the figure for a particular market drops with no clear reason, that is an early signal.
- Read your distributor's notices carefully: Many artists ignore administrative messages from their distributor, and those messages sometimes contain substantive changes.
- Ask explicitly about the currency policy: Send a direct question to your distributor's support: “Which currency do you convert each market's earnings in? And what exchange rate do you apply?” And document the answer.
- Keep your own records: In a simple file, record earnings for each market monthly in raw figures before conversion, if your distributor lets you, so you can spot any deviation quickly.
- Check your distributor's policy on changes: Some contracts require advance notice of any change to currency terms and some require nothing at all. Know your rights before you need them.
Why Mazufa takes a different approach
At Mazufa we work on a revenue-share model presented after the application is reviewed, and we believe that full transparency in the details of earnings is a basic right for every artist. Our goal is for you to know exactly where every cent came from and how it was calculated, with no surprises at the end of the month.
Bottom line: don't wait for the surprise
A change to a distributor's default currency may look like a marginal technical decision, but its impact on your earnings can be tangible and can run for months before you notice it. The answer is not to doubt everything, but to build a simple habit: track your earnings market by market and currency by currency, and ask your distributor about any change as soon as you spot it. The artist who understands how their earnings are calculated is the artist who protects their professional future.