*Disclaimer: this is not an affiliate post in any shape or form. I’m not getting a dime from CD Baby for writing this. If they do read it, though, I’d appreciate some dollars sent my way.*
When a company stops selling the product they named themselves after, something is quite wrong. CD Baby did just that a few months ago.
The news, while huge, disappeared from the radar pretty fast. There were a few articles about it, but I don’t remember big agitated discussion in any of my music communities. How weird. This very medium made music affordable to anyone. Which, interestingly enough, is what made the music industry so successful. Yet, it has been disappearing a while now, yes. I know all too well that CDs are not trendy anymore. Vinyl sells better these days, which is saying something. To people who think it is a sign of the industry doing well – slow your horses. That doesn’t mean we’re selling boatloads of vinyls. It only means CDs sells are that low.
As a quick sidenote, let’s stress the fact that vinyl is a lot more demanding. Making it is a long, complex process that represents a major investment for any artist. It has its own set of physical rules, and requires a different mastering version. Indeed, there are additional costs to make a record sound good on this medium. Which is ironic, since most people buying it these days won’t even listen to it once.
But I digress.
CD Baby is a pioneer in the independent music distribution game. They started operations in ‘98, and have done a lot of good for indie artists. If today you’re able to upload your finished songs to Spotify and Apple Music for next to nothing, it is thanks to them. Yet, I’m sure many Gen Z artists wouldn’t even know the company’s name, or think it was a remnant of a distant past.
CD Baby is the first company that negotiated deals with iTunes. You would submit your music to them, and for a small fee, they’d get it to Apple’s music store. You would also send them a bunch of CDs. They would sell them on their website and in partners’ music stores across the US of A.
It was a huge deal back then. Bear in mind that streaming didn’t exist at that time. No Youtube, no Soundcloud. Napster quickly started to kill the revenue of the majors and their artists. But indies were finally able to distribute their music as if they were signed! It was a revolution.
As a long-time CD Baby user myself, I was saddened by the news. I still use their distribution services, though. Indeed, as the music industry changed, they adapted and made new deals. Today they distribute your music to all the major streaming platforms. They are also partnered with tons of others you wouldn’t even know. And sometimes, there’s a market there. One you’ve never even suspected (looking at you, China)…
Is it the end of an era, then? No more J-Man and Channy? Well, perhaps. When the biggest indie CD retailer stops selling the very product, it could never be great news.
Does it mean the end of the CD? No, of course not. CDs are still huge. It’s what you sell at concerts. They have actually never been more important for that very reason. CDs are the only way any indie artist can break even on tour nowadays. Most venues will still take a cut from these sales, but that’s another issue.
What disappeared is the need to sell compact discs online via your distributor. For better or for worse, we are not in the nineties anymore. It’s never been easier to sell your merch on your own website, removing the need for a middleman. I guess that’s why CD Baby stopped. The costs of running all that storage space became too big since artists sell their CDs in their own shops. It’s all about cutting costs. Especially in this economy…
CD Baby did a lot for independent music. But today, getting rid of their storage area is a smart decision, as CDs are not worth the trouble anymore. I hope it will be enough to keep them in business.
If you are an indie artist, whether you used their services or not, you owe them. Big time. Just like you owe Taylor Swift for fighting for her masters. These big battles are not fought by us small fish, but we sure do benefit from the outcomes. And for that, we should all be grateful.
Please keep making CDs, kids. Keep buying CDs. Keep supporting independent artists by putting cold hard cash straight into their pockets. This is literally what puts petrol in the tank.
But then again, what do I know…
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