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Distrosub
2025 · Founding Software Engineer
An artist-first music streaming platform where fans back the artists and songs they love with micro-subscriptions — built across web, iOS, and Android.
Overview
Distrosub is a direct-to-artist music streaming platform. Instead of fractions-of-a-cent royalties, fans subscribe straight to the artists — or individual songs — they love, from as little as 10¢ a month, and artists keep 80% of every subscription. As founding engineer I built it across a Next.js web app and a React Native iOS/Android app on a shared PostgreSQL backend, with Stripe payments, running on AWS.
Problem
Traditional streaming pays artists tiny, opaque per-stream royalties routed through several middle layers. Independent musicians can have real fans and still earn almost nothing, with no direct line to the people who support them.
What I built
- A wallet-based micro-subscription system — fans top up a balance and subscribe to artists or individual songs from as little as 10¢ a month
- Direct artist payouts through Stripe, sending 80% of each subscription straight to the artist
- An artist and label dashboard for uploading music, tracking earnings, and viewing analytics
- A React Native app shipped to the App Store and Google Play, sharing one backend with the web app
Stack
Next.js on the web, React Native for the iOS and Android apps, a shared PostgreSQL backend, Stripe for payments, all on AWS.
Outcome
A live artist-first streaming product across web, iOS, and Android — turning plays into direct, transparent income for independent artists.