I don't get it either, but there are distributors out there that make the process fairly cheap and painless.
I used CDBaby[0] since I had only one album and don't expect the 9% revenue cut they take to amount to more than the one-time $30 fee.
If you're more prodigious and commercially ambitious, Distrokid[1] charges $20/year and takes no revenue cut at all. (It was even endorsed by the founder of CDBaby on this very site[2]!)
I used CDBaby[0] since I had only one album and don't expect the 9% revenue cut they take to amount to more than the one-time $30 fee.
If you're more prodigious and commercially ambitious, Distrokid[1] charges $20/year and takes no revenue cut at all. (It was even endorsed by the founder of CDBaby on this very site[2]!)
[0] https://cdbaby.com/ [1] https://distrokid.com/ [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6519175