nostr:npub1qruzzk4l49ht50202u0kgtdyhtvknqqwpvdtu2m4csd2hww5x7hshr8lu4 Yes, generally independent artists go through a digital distributor--a necessary middle man--that takes either an up-front fee, or a percentage of streaming sales (sometimes both!). Major labels handle their own distribution b/c they have royalty collection agreements/deals with each streaming platform.
I use CDbaby, but there are other digital distributors like DistroKid or TuneCore.