J H.
Unprofessional and clunky experience
I have been with Unchained for almost a year on the Pro tier, and in that time there have been a multitude of complications and frustrations. One particular grievance I had was when one of my songs was falsely copyright-claimed as having used a sample from another song, simply because the titles were the same. I received some pushback when I challenged the claim as illegitimate, so I presumed it was likely made by artificial intelligence as any human reviewer would instantly hear that the song contains no such sample and doesn't sound anything like the other track. My second frustration came when I decided to release a single around April last year. I was met with Unchained's inability to process the release in a reasonable amount of time. After long periods of silence from support, I was finally able to release the single in mid-June—many months past the initial upload. The final nail in the coffin was when I decided to cancel my subscription. Although that process has been straightforward and support has been more responsive as of late, the payout system using Borderless has a minimum withdrawal of $15, so I wasn't even able to collect the few royalties I had accumulated while with Unchained. In short, I don’t recommend Unchained, as they have been inconsistent and have failed to live up to professional standards of distribution. Edit to the claim that releases are only delayed if you have failed to provide all correct information. That is a lie. Last year I provided all the proper information for my release, and before the streaming services could even be involved, Unchained failed to process and distribute the release within the time frame they claimed it would take. Only after sending support numerous emails over a long period of time, would the release go live. And all the information was easily processed by the streaming services without a problem. And I was told that my release had no problems by unchained. Trying to claim that it wasn't because of the company's lack of unprofessionalism and blaming it on the consumer, especially when that claim is false is not a good business practice.
Response from unchainedmusic.ioMar 20, 2026
Hi there, thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We'd like to address a few points for clarity. Regarding the copyright flag on your release, we use industry-standard audio fingerprinting software, which is the same technology used across the distribution industry. When a release is flagged, it is then reviewed by a human member of our team. We do not use AI in our review process. A flag based on matching metadata or audio fingerprints doesn't mean we're claiming you sampled something; it means the system identified a match that requires verification, which is a responsibility we take seriously to protect our platform, our artists, and the DSPs we deliver to. This was made clear to you after the flag was raised. As for the timeline on your single, the only scenario in which a release would be delayed for that length of time is a failure to provide the requested documentation on your end. When a release is flagged, we're required to collect supporting documentation before we can proceed as this is a standard step to protect against copyright and fraud issues across the platform. Delays in providing that documentation directly impact the release timeline. On the $15 minimum payout threshold for major currencies, this is well below the minimums set by most distributors across the industry, and it is clearly outlined in our FAQ prior to signup. We understand these processes can be frustrating, but they exist to maintain the integrity of the platform for all artists. We wish you the best moving forward. Best, Unchained Music Support