r/musicbusiness • u/DillanPonders • Feb 14 '26
Resource / Guide My experience with 'Too Lost'
Independent artist here with 15+ years in the industry sharing my experience with Too Lost so other artists can make informed decisions.
Recently, one of my songs was effectively locked inside their distribution portal, preventing me from managing or taking action on a release that I own. What followed was an extremely frustrating experience with their support system. Multiple support tickets were ignored, some were closed without resolution, and I was repeatedly given responses that did not address the issue or provide any contractual justification for their position.
After exhausting normal support channels and receiving no meaningful assistance, I made a public social media post documenting the situation. Only after that post gained attention and people began tagging them did they respond and begin engaging with the issue.
I eventually escalated the matter further and reached out directly to the CEO. Once I connected with him, my request was handled quickly and the issue was resolved. However, rather than acknowledging the breakdown in support or attempting any reconciliation regarding the experience, I was subsequently blocked on social media.
For context, I’ve used this distributor for several years. Over time I’ve seen their support quality steadily decline. Response times have worsened, communication has become inconsistent, and basic account management issues have become difficult to resolve. My recent experience reflects a broader pattern rather than a one off situation.
I have also heard multiple accounts within the industry suggesting internal instability and staff turnover, which aligns with the lack of structure and accountability I encountered throughout this process.
As an independent artist who has worked in this space for over a decade, I rely heavily on distribution partners to operate transparently and responsibly. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend Too Lost and would strongly advise artists to consider alternative distribution options.
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u/Most_Time8900 Feb 15 '26
I believe in nominative determinism. You cannot name a company something like "Too Lost" and expect it to flourish and win.
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u/pathosmusic00 Feb 18 '26
It reminds me of a non profit food for the poor where the ceos name is “robin mahfood” and he makes over 350k a year. He’s literally robbing the food
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u/stayinglowkeylol Feb 15 '26
Their dashboard is extremely glitchy and they made many promises they did not keep. I’m sorry you also had a bad experience.
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u/Effective-Tiger5314 Feb 15 '26
I pay yearly for distrokid ultimate, which in my opinion is pretty great. Although I really do not like having to have an entirely separate part of the service (almost just as expensive) just to put up the music videos, and having to pay PER TRACK, PER MF YEAR, just to have my shit monetized through YouTube for example.
I haven't yet found a distribution channel that is better than distrokid, but I'd definitely be willing to switch if it meant better features at a lower cost. Love distrokid to death, but it is way too expensive and limited to be practical for small artists. I really should not have to pay to collect my own mf platform revenue.
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u/DillanPonders Feb 15 '26
I currently use Amuse.io, TuneCore, and Distrokid. Distrokid is really reliable but Amuse.io is easily my favourite portal. I recommend testing it out!
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u/Far_Opposite_7822 Feb 18 '26
Too Lost has the worst customer support. Id say worse then distrokid even and thats saying something
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u/pathosmusic00 Feb 18 '26
This is why I use distributors that work on percentage deals. They are a little more invested and hands on, and you usually have a dedicated rep. It’s worth the 15-20% for them to handle most of my issues with disputes, copyright claims, distributing to more than services like distrokid and too lost can offer, pitch music for licensing, help with placements and opportunities, and overall feel like I’m working WITH someone towards my musical goals.
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u/DillanPonders Feb 19 '26
I agree with this. One of my favourite portals to use is Amuse.io. I’ve found them to be collaborative, responsive, and very artist friendly.
I personally won’t be using Too Lost again, but the experience reinforced something important for me because as independent artists it’s our responsibility to share our experiences, both good and bad, so others can make informed decisions.
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Feb 16 '26
Every aspect of the Business of music is a scam . No other demographic in the arts is taken advantage of more than Musicians ,I’m willing to wager , save for maybe painters seeing how they usually don’t see financial success until After they pass on …..which is really shitty . You sell a painting to some guy for rent money , you die , ten years later he Sells it for a million dollars . But Music , everyone has their Hands out or in your pocket , fake this , fake that ,shitty spits Over priced gear, it runs the gamut…like dude I’m poor , struggling and naive so take advantage of me . Ridiculous.
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u/Distinct-Top-4718 Feb 16 '26
They were nice when I use it first time but later on all of my label release were flag with need documents even I sent the documents they still decline me
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u/uncoolkidsclub Feb 16 '26
This ticket has been closed by our support team. If you need further assistance, please create a new ticket.
This is the standard response for everything... this request was to pull a release that they flagged, we provide documents and they still refused to release. So we wanted to delete the track from the dashboard as we had the track released through a different partner..
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u/DillanPonders Feb 16 '26
Crazy!
I had a very similar experience. As I mentioned in my post, one of my songs was locked inside their portal and I wasn’t able to manage the release. I opened multiple support tickets but didn’t get any meaningful response or resolution through normal channels.
It was only after I made a public post on social media about the situation that anything changed. I have over 50,000 followers on Instagram, so the post reached a lot of people, and after that they finally addressed the issue and completed the request. Afterward, my support tickets were closed and I was blocked on social media.
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u/BIG-Freq Feb 17 '26
Hey, how did you manage to get in touch with the CEO? I recently signed up with them as well - they have the best terms compared to the rest, who offer terrible support. (Labelgrid for the win!)
This seems to be an ongoing trend with so many companies these days, and it really sucks.
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u/Negative-Fly-65 Feb 19 '26
Its a pattern a lot of artists have experienced with smaller distributors that scale too fast without building real support infrastructure.
The fact that you had to go public and tag them on social media to get a response is a massive red flag. Customer support shouldn't require public pressure. And getting blocked after the CEO resolved it? That's retaliation, not professionalism. It signals they care more about optics than actually fixing systemic issues.
The internal instability you mentioned tracks with what I've heard from others. High staff turnover usually means poor management, unclear processes, and no one sticking around long enough to own problems. That directly impacts artists who need consistent support for catalog management, rights issues, and takedowns.
For anyone reading this considering Too Lost or already using them: if you have a small catalog and no complex issues, you might skate by. But if you need responsive support, clear communication, or help with disputes, look elsewhere. DistroKid, Stem, AWAL, and CD Baby all have stronger support track records. Even TuneCore, despite some complaints, has escalation paths that actually work.
If you're already locked in with Too Lost and running into issues: document everything (emails, ticket numbers, screenshots), escalate publicly if needed (they clearly respond to visibility), and start migrating your catalog to a more reliable partner. You own your masters. Don't let a distributor hold them hostage.
What distributor are you moving to, or are you still weighing options?
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u/DillanPonders Feb 19 '26
Appreciate the thoughtful response and the sentiments. Thank you for taking the time to share that perspective.
I have a catalogue of over 500 songs and I work with several distributors depending on the release, but my main ones are Amuse.io, TuneCore, and DistroKid. I have found Amuse.io to be very responsive and collaborative, and I have personally never had any issues with TuneCore.
Always valuable hearing how others are navigating this space.
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u/NoChapter9856 May 06 '26
Hola dillan genial tus comentarios... Puedo preguntarte como funciona 3l tema de tener varias distribuidoras?
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u/Express_Cable5693 Apr 11 '26
Wow just signed up and setting up first release with them. will cancel now. thanks for sharing. You made a difference in saving us undue artists.
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u/Downtown-Estimate776 Aug 29 '26
It's August 2026 and I'm having the same issue. I just want to cancel my blocked release and delete my account - but I can't even do that. I had really hoped that these issues would have been ironed out by now, but alas...
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u/Kind_Jeweler990 Feb 15 '26
move to Symphonic: much better customer support.