CD Baby

«Don’t Break Out The Champagne Just Yet»…those ‘sales’ may be re-​collected from you months (or years) down the line.
Once upon a time Derek Sivers started CD Baby. It was a well-​respected distribution service for Independent artists that helped «level the playing field.»
Several years have passed since Sivers left the company, and CD Baby retains its name under new ownership. Since then, any «great new addition» that they hype means only one thing: higher costs for CD Baby artists.
In 2013, they were so proud to announce «CD Baby Pro» — to collect mechanical royalties worldwide. Wait… weren’t they already supposed to be doing that?!
Well, after doing a little math, I realized I’d have to collect 3x the royalties I’d been averaging, simply to break even with the additional cost (yes, there’s an additional co$t for artists if they want CD Baby Pro). As CD Baby already charges to sign up an album, and takes a hefty cut of all royalties, I opted not to spend more money on CD Baby Pro.
Perhaps not surprisingly, after «CD Baby Pro» kicked in, my royalties plummeted to a third of what I was averaging. The message seems pretty clear: Sign Up and pay for CD Baby Pro or Your Royalties Will Drop Drastically.“
Over the past quarter (Spring 2015) I’ve watched the pennies accumulate for the dozen albums I have available on CD baby. (Just a note: In 2003 I was collecting $ 300-​$ 500 a quarter from IUMA and
when I had only ONE album available!!! — what happened to Artist Royalty Rates?!). I was getting close to collecting my next hard-​earned payment when I noticed something unusual on my Accounting page: A number in parentheses with three Alliance payments in parentheses below. It appeared that i had sold Three albums, but the payment amount seemed off.
After contacting CD Baby, I was horrified to learn what happened.
CD Baby offers «Physical Distribution» in stores through a company called Alliance. Alliance pays you (actually a LOAN) for the CDs it takes, and CD Baby send you their familiar, cloying email about: «Congratulations your title has sold! Break out the champagne!»
Unfortunately, this is TOTALLY misleading! WARNING TO CD BABY ARTISTS: Alliance sales ARE NOT sales! Even though they are listed as «Sales,» Alliance can come back YEARS later (as they did to me) and say: «Sorry, we’re returning your CDs — you owe US!!» — and YOU, The Artist will have to pay them back for your album (s). yes, that’s what happens. And CD Baby automatically removes this amount from your hard-​earned artist royalties. And I was under the impression that Alliance had purchased the albums, and as the owners they could sell them, or do whatever they wanted with them. I was shocked to learn of this ‘conditional sales’ and wrote back to CD Baby, letting them know I had not been aware of this policy, and did NOT want any of my titles on Alliance. After a couple of days, i received a response from CD Baby that not only those three, but EIGHT albums were being returned. Bottom line: I have to pay back Alliance/​CD baby about $ 80 for CDs that were listed as «Sales» from the past few years, AND have to pay shipping to have them returned. The cost is about what I earn in three years from CD Baby royalties. DO NOT OPT-​In for Alliance distribution. They will come back to collect on «Sales» that are not sales — it just means the CDs are in the Warehouse and will be charged back to you without warning when you least expect it. Although this policy may be hidden in small print somewhere on CD Baby’s Terms & Conditions, I was not aware, and neither were any CD artists I know.
My opinion: CD sales in general have almost completely dried up (despite CD Baby’s insistence to the contrary). Therefore, CD Baby has been forced to take drastic and questionable steps to make up for losses: perhaps a way to cut Artists’ Royalties, perhaps collect a small percentage for «sales» to Alliance warehouse, then another small percentage when the Artist is forced to buy his album back fro Alliance (?).
I am sickened and saddened that artists can no longer trust CD Baby.

Awkward and clumsy site to use. Especially after my experience setting up my music site with Bandzoogle, with it’s perfectly functioning site, and excellent customer service in the form of every present online chat help. It took all day to struggle through CDBaby’s site, and then ERROR messages when checking out, with only an option of returning to the home page. Three more attempts, with good cards, same result. Called, (because no online help), but got a ‘closed for the day’ message. Emailed, got a ‘we’ll respond within 2 days’ message. This aggregator may be getting most of the business now, but there’s a reason they are getting 2 and 3 star reviews out there. Remember Blackberry? CDBaby sucks, and deserves to be overtaken by the competition. I hope Bandzoogle gets into the aggregator business.

Not happy at all with my purchase. I called ahead to make sure the cd I was ordering would get to my destination on time for a loved ones b day. The guy told me as long as I ordered within 2 hrs and paid more for shipping, it would. I did all that and they still took their time getting my cd out and it delayed the shipment 3 days. I will never use cd baby again!

This company does not pay you. I have been with them for many years. They have lost my CDs and did not pay. I know I have had many purchases but I have never been paid.

If you are an artist I recommend you find another source to get your music out there. They do nothing for your music. I had Cd’s that sold and they never paid me. They asked me for more CD’s but did not pay me for the ones they sold. When I questioned them they said they lost them. I have never made 1 cent for any of my digital downloads. ??? I have had many digital downloads but not a penny has come to me from them.

Fresher and tastier than store bought CD’s.

Here is where you actually have a chance against the Majors. But that chance is only because they bring the cost down to the most affordable– most realistic amount of money needed to product and promote Music.
If the biggest star that ever used CDBaby is Macklmore then you should know that you will probably never be a Brittney Spears or Selena Gomez, you could be a Justine Beiber but really — does anyone want to be Justin Beiber — even Canada deported him and well let’s just say they were right. Kidding aside, if they are a major, then they would flaunt Grammy’s and stars ability to sell platinum and gold records. They are not a major and one has to know this going into the business.
If you want to produce World Music (which many A&R experts don’t even know what to classify the kind of music so they just leave it as World) and you know your limited audience and have only $ 10,000 to produce your music — then CDBaby is not only right for you but what were you waiting for???
On the other hand — if you are Kim Kardasian, Tela Tequila, or Paris Hilton and have a million or two to drop on publicity– go to one of the majors– they will gladly take your money even if you are not talented– that is why they use Autotune from Mac.
The best thing about CDBaby is that they are full of guides, how– tos, advise emails, promotions and the ilk. They have real artists that talk about real experiences with touring for example– and it is not touring in Batswana but in Coffee Houses across California for example — which is a major market and would really help struggling artists. Even Hoku nominated stars like we have in HI and that I have heard talk about their limited experiences could greatly benefit from many of those advice articles found easily at CDBaby. They answer all of the basic questions any musician would ever have and then more so — because they help out what it means to be a music manager, business manager and a talent manager.
Here is a real example– Christmas songs. They know niche markets, like Christmas songs, are a great way to make a single song that family and friends will love and can grow into a full album– also it does not take a ton of thinking and planning because some Christmas songs are public domain– you — the singer– does not have to pay Harry Fox agency fees, does not have to get a score, tons of musicians that don’t know the material, have trouble writing lyrics or anything other than having some talent and a decent performance of a popular Christmas Song. And they even have promotions and specials for the holidays to get you to record and upload the song or album just in time for the holidays. It is really appealing to new singers struggling to get the material out into the market place and CDBaby has found a motivating way to do it.
Catch– $ 99 to upload an album — which btw is really cheap — it is automated to upload to Amazon and ITunes. You hold all of the rights, you also incure costs of doing business — if your song sells on iTunes you have to realize that there is a cut taken away from the service agreements that you have made– but $.70 off of $.99 for example is still a great deal better than nothing. Without iTunes and Amazon MP3 many artists would have to front all of the expense and still have to ship it to a customer– now that work is nearly automated.
Now back to great customer service. I have worked with CDBaby and they have almost everything down to a science– they want 5 warehouse copies of your cd for distribution– ok agree or don’t agree it is your choice. Everything hopefully works smoothly– and usually it does. Until something does go wrong– then having a customer service agent from the good old US of A that is working as a customer service agent by day so that they can pay the bills for the night time jam sessions on the side is wonderful —- I can’t say this enough — having a person ready to help you that not only knows what to do about a problem but also understands why it is important to your musical career is vital.
There is no substitute for having someone who understands the music industry like someone also trying to get into the music industry and they help your artist along and suggest what they wish someone suggested to them when they were starting out– bottom line — it is musicians helping out artists helping muses better give the gift of music.
The music industry is one of those least understood but everyone has an opinion about — kinda like teachers– ohhh yeah I went to school like 30 years ago and I ‘disliked’ my teacher so all teachers are bad. ohh yeah I listen to music so it should be so easy to sing in the shower and then get to book Madison Square Garden even though I live in Kaunakakai Molokai. It really is a craft– and with finite crafts it takes raw talent, practice, more practice, another 10,000 hours of practice some perseverance, a little luck never hurt, and an opportunity.
CDBaby = Opportunity.

These guys are terrible over the phone. I waited 40 minutes to speak to a customer service rep who when I finally got a hold of, rushed me to get off the phone.
I’ve had other people I’ve talked to that were way more helpful, otherwise i’d give them a 1 star rating.

I’m very disappointed in my experience working with CD Baby. I released my CD through DiscMakers, and bought their Distribution Bundle, where they sent 5 CDs to CD Baby. When those ran out very quickly, CD Baby wanted me to send them a mere 4 CDs to replace them. Now, I ONLY went with CD Baby because I don’t want the hassle of constantly having to ship CDs, so this defeats the purpose entirely, and they also take $ 4 from every purchase, and my CD is an EP costing $ 9, so I make NO PROFIT.
WORST of all, and the biggest reason I’m rating them with 1 star, is that it is now May 2013, and I have YET to receive ANY PAYMENTS from CD Baby since setting up all of my payment information back in Novermber 2012 on DAY 1 of my album being available on their site. I have long since passed my «pay point.» They just haven’t sent anything.
When I called their customer service dept to figure out why they weren’t paying me, after waiting on hold for 10 minutes, I spoke to Sam, who offered no useful information whatsoever, and even claimed that they «had no payment info for me until recently» although I had it set up to receive a check and they have had my mailing address and full name the whole time.
Although payments are sent out on Mondays, and TODAY is Monday, Sam in customer service also indicated that there would be additional delays (beyond having to wait until NEXT Monday for my money) even with PayPal payments. When I pointed out that this was a mistake on their end, and asked him to send my money or to escalate my call to someone who could (now that I’ve waited 7 months to be paid), he told me there was nothing anyone could do.
No wonder CD Baby is so «successful» — they keep everyone’s money and have apathetic, useless customer service reps. NEVER AGAIN — from now on I’m going to use Bandcamp for digital and send out the CDs myself and get paid immediately.

This online music store sells directly to consumers from the independent artist. You can find virtually any type of indie music no matter what the genre. I was introduced to this website from Unilocal friend, Dave G., when I asked him how I could purchase his latest Jazz album, «Random Occurrences.»
Service from the company is friendly, prompt and efficient and prices are very reasonable. The emails they send you from this company once you have placed an order are hilarious. I was at work cracking up reading one that said that the employees at the company polished the CD I purchased and were all individually walking it down to the post office in Oregon to be send to me or something like that. You can buy full albums or MP3 through CD Baby and preview many tracks before you buy them. As an artist, you can have your music set up for sale in 48 hours on Amazon, Facebook, Spotify or iTunes through the website. They have some cool sales on the website like their $ 5 sales where if you purchase three or more CD’s from their sale bin, they are 5 bucks each. A very cool website and fun to explore all the different music they have available here.

I have been selling my CDs through CDBaby since 2001. CDBaby has been my base for selling CDs and more importantly for digital distribution to iTunes and other digital music sellers. Having a relationship with CDBaby has been an integral part of having my songs played all over the world and receiving tidy royalty checks each quarter. I highly recommend CDBaby! Ric Seaberg

Inspired by Darren W’s review, I have to weigh in on CD Baby, which I also love. Read his review for a long and passionate account of what CD Baby has to offer. They also offer jazz and other genres. I love the emails they send as your order is being processed. They’re quirky and funny. Typical Portland. I feel much more virtuous buying from CD Baby than Amazon and try to buy from them when I can, although Amazon give 8% of the purchase price to KCSM-​FM. Have to spread my patronage around though, and CD Baby is the feel good alternative.

When I read a review of Zero Down’s Good Times At The Gates of Hell album and struck out elsewhere (and that includes
), CD Baby was my lifeline.
Christ, they even had extended song clips of each song from the album. Once the Southern Rock-​meets-​New Wave Of British Heavy Metal strains of «Firebird ’76» smacked my ears, I was sold on that there sonic gold in the hills.
Then I caught a taste of Dianno-​era Maiden-​worshippers Midnight Idols.
Then I found out that American Dog had a new CD out. And so on and so on.
That was a few years ago, and every so often, I still peruse CD Baby’s diverse and deep selection of heavy metal releases, just to see if I can find a band I didn’t previously know about. All genres and eras of metal and music in general are represented, and get this: you can even search by mood.
I clicked on «Mood: Angry» and found out that Hammer Witch’s Legacy of Pain had been reissued. I thought that was lost forever. After clicking around based on recommendations (‘If you like [name a band]’) some more this evening, I’ve discovered such bands as Shield of Wings, Against The Plague, Blotted Science, Crosswind, Day Six, Lyraka, 7 Horns 7 Eyes, Sorrowseed, Orpheus, and Shotgun Opera to merely shave a slice off the top of the iceberg.
Once again kiddies, indy doesn’t necessarily equate with singer/​songwriter coffeeshop stuff.
They sell Brocas Helm! Talk about a long-​forgotten outfit.
Right now I’m sampling tracks from a female-​fronted epic power metal band called Seven Kingdoms.
Meliah Rage has a new record out? Damn. I’m supposed to be up on this stuff. I’ve never heard of half of the groups they have on here, and I’m liking all of them!
Want to have a bit of fun? Click on «explore music» and type in any word in the «style» field, just to see what comes up. Feeling bratty, I threw in the f-​bomb and got some interesting results.
Did you know there was an indy Easy Listening scene? I didn’t either. The same holds true with Children’s Pop.
«Yeah man, The Wiggles aren’t cool anymore. They like, sold out and went mainstream and stuff. All these poseur toddlers were at their last gig. Buddy Castle puts them to shame now.»
For those who aren’t luddites (proud luddite here) and don’t need to physically own their music, (I do. I know. I’m old.) many artists have full-​length albums, EP’s, or even just a song or two available for complete download.
People of Portland, be proud such a large, online distributor of independent music is centered in your town, one that exists for musichounds who refuse to have mediocre tunes, beats, and riffs spoonfed to them by terrestrial radio.
Artists get six times as much money by selling through CD Baby than they do through labels and are paid weekly, so CD Baby is generously supportive of fresh, under-​the-​radar music, and in doing so is fostering musical creativity and freedom.
Besides, I also dig the cute emails they send you when your CD is in transit. These people love music, they have people working for them who love the same music you do, they want you to love the music you buy from them, and they want to make sure you get it in a timely manner… so you can love it.
I’ll be placing another order. It’s been too long.