Yesterday the distributor unveiled its new “intelligent mastering tool” Mixea, which it will be offering alongside its existing distribution and artist services. Mixea is free to try with a single track, but will then cost $99 a year for unlimited access. DistroKid CEO Philip Kaplan was keen to talk down the likely impact on professional mastering engineers. “Nothing will ever replace the artistry and expertise of a real, human mastering engineer,” he said. “But for artists who are short on time or resources, Mixea is a powerful tool to help make their music sound great in a hurry.” In 2021, when DistroKid was valued at $1.3bn in its latest funding round the company claimed to account for more than a third of new tracks uploaded to streaming services, with more than two million artists on its books. So, a big opportunity for Mixea, but how many of those artists will pay $99 for it remains to be seen. Would you? Via Musically