| CD Baby DIY Musician Podcast |
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| CD Baby's $5 SPECIALS gallery - want to be in it? |
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If you have too many boxes of CDs in your garage, or you care more about getting your CDs into people's hands than how much $-per-CD you make, check out this new CD Baby idea:
I'm going to make a special section of cdbaby.com called "$5 SPECIALS" - a gallery of CDs on sale for only $5.
The wonderful catch is that customers must buy a MINIMUM OF 3 DIFFERENT "$5 SPECIAL" CDs in order to get the discount! (In other words: "3 for $15" or actually "buy 3 or more for $5 each".) It will put it into their shopping cart at full price, but tell them if they add two other CDs from the "$5 SPECIALS" area, that all of those special CDs in their cart will drop to $5.
This will encourage customers to browse around, choosing at least three different "$5 Special" albums before leaving. There will be no limit. I'm sure many customers will buy 20 CDs for $100! (Again: the sale will be for getting at least three *different* CDs, not three of the same CD.)
THIS IS TOTALLY OPTIONAL, so if you want your CD to be in there, you have to:
#1 - log in your CD Baby account at https://members.cdbaby.com
#2 - click EDIT ALBUM INFO next to the CD
#3 - edit the "OPTIONAL" section at the bottom of the list.
#4 - choose "YES" from the menu at the bottom that asks if you want to be in the "$5 SPECIAL SALE" area.
#5 - once you click the [those are my options] button at the bottom, you're in.
For CDs sold in the $5 Special, you get $3, we get $2.
No variations or special favors allowed. Not $6. Not $4. Just $5. Everyone in it gets the same deal.
NOTE: you can come back at any time to remove it from the sale, or switch it as often as you'd like. (Example: you could do an every-Tuesday sale, by putting it in every Monday night, and taking it out every Tuesday night.)
The ONLY difference between this and a normal sale:
* - You get $3 we get $2.
* - The $5 special will override any other quantity-discounts you are doing
* - CDs sold for $5 will not pay the $1-per-CD referral fee to our linking partners-affiliate program. (But that doesn't affect musicians anyway. That's only for external companies like garageband.com, iuma.com, and zines/portals.)
Everything else is the same if you do this, FOR EXAMPLE:
* - it will not affect your normal CD Baby page
* - it will not affect your normal selling price
* - $5 CDs sold will count towards our top-seller charts and sales reporting.
* - everything else not mentioned
Sign up now, if interested. I'll be launching it on the website in March, and emailing customers about it, so you'll probably want to sign up in advance if you want to be there at the start.
Now be careful, don't just change your selling price. Make sure to follow those #1, 2, 3, 4, 5 directions, above.
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Derek,
I think this is a genius idea. Imagine if everyone on cdbaby went for it...music revolution.
I am going to work out if this is possible for me - since I now have to ship my stuff from Europe. But I'm certainly interested!
Thanks,
Peter.
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Derek, like all your ideas, this is brilliant. I'm in!
KW
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Derek and all Crew,
What a great community we have going on here. Keep all the ideas like this coming. Im going to post it on my website right now and send out a mass mailing to all our fans. Fourth Dimension reggae band... out of South Florida
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Derek,
This is a great idea...this should give customers an incentive to buy artists that perhaps they wouldn't normally buy plus a chance for those artists to gain new fans...count me in.
Cheers,
Kate
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It's a great idea to offer sales--but could you please offer
a sale @ $10 instead of $5/CD? As a small indie, I can
produce CDs only in small quantities. With my 1995 CD
costing $7 to manufacture and my 2003CD costing $4,
(that's production only--not additional costs of doing
business such as advertising and promotion), I am not
willing/cannot afford to take the considerable loss that
would be incurred on a $5 sale where I would get only $3.
It's hard to be caught in the "catch 22" of selling
especially when the quality of my music and the audio
technology on my CDs are tops.
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Then this is not for you. This is a cut-out bin - a program designed to get rid of CDs that we (or you) have way too many of.
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Together we can eliminate the record companies...All realityhiphop.com releases will be included!
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I'm going to put one cd on but not the other.
i do OK on sales as is, and one of my cds is a fancy digipak and cost me $3.30 each to duplicate! (if i had it to do over i would not spend thatmuch on packaging!)
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Greeting's My CDBaby Family, Yo! Derek! Nothing beat's a failuer, but a try. Let's go for it,the sky's the limit in '2004! Sincerely Ivan M.Irving. {Bass Player} for "Ivanhoe & Friends" "JAH BLESS!"
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Hey Derek,
This is President Bell with Holdin' Our Own Records. I think this is a great idea for the person who would like to boost soundscan numbers rather than so much making money off the album. In entertainment, the numbers on soundscan really is what counts and that is what makes you more powerful when negotiating deal with people.
President Bell
www.HooRecords.com
www.cdbaby.com/emissaries
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Sounds like a great idea!
--Gavin
www.cdbaby.com/whaleblueeye
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yay my new album is finished which means I'm putting my
last 2 albums in the $5 bin. Please help me to get the old
boxes out of here to make room for the new ones! I love
cdbaby
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In a different thread I stated that we needed to find a way to get people to buy off CD Baby and quit thinking of only the "physical" stores, having said that...This may be how we can get people to switch thier buying practices, and garner alot of attention to CD Baby and it's Artists...and if it is, then we all will profit...count Gothic Blues in on this!
Long Live the Baby!!!
Dennis
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Great idea, my CD hasn't had any sales for a long time. I'd rather sell them at a lower price so at least people can hear the dang thing!!
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This is a fabulous idea. Thank you for doing good, honest
business. Derek, you are my new best friend!
Kisses,
flatulina
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dear mister cd-baby guy.
please sell all of my cd's. and then some.
later~
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I will buy your CD's man. I will buy them
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I really like these e-mails!
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D-rock,
nice call with the sale idea. I tell you, moving inventory can be a pain. this idea should fly. thanks for the offer.
Drew
Tasteless Willard
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Derek,
This is a great idea. I would love to be a part of this program, and I encourage all the other fellow artists to join us in this venture to reduce the excess inventory of CD's and turn them into some cash.
Thanks,
Hanif
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Fantastica idea! Include me too. On what date will you start this new offer?
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Great idea and thanks for all the support. We look
forward to taking part of this great sale.
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| by
on Wednesday February 18 2004 @ 07:09AM PST [ reply | parent ] |
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Concept/One Entertainment thats a very good idea
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| by
on Wednesday February 18 2004 @ 07:14AM PST [ reply | parent ] |
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Concept/One Entertainment thats a very good idea
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Sounds great. Sign me up.
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One other thing. I think a front page splash and a press release
would be a good idea so incoming browsers can find the product
easily.
Gary
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Derek:
I usually love CD Baby ideas...but really dissapointed at this one. Case in point...alot of people think it's a good idea to lowball other musicians to get a gig too. I think this cheapens all of our work. Independent musicians work too hard as it is to try to get respect and an honest dollar for their music. It's not about the money -- it's about the repect that our work is worth something! Making a $5 sale bid drags us all down just a little bit. Even if we choose not to participate. Doesn't anyone agree with me?
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Of course this idea is not for everyone - and wasn't meant to be.
We have MASSIVE overstock here. People who sold 4 CDs, then restocked us with 200. Now three years later we still have 198 of them on the shelf.
Our options were to either:
#1 - mail back 195 of those 198 CDs to the artist, to let them rot in their already-full garage
#2 - throw them away
#3 - ask if we can sell them at a "give away" price just to get the music in someone's hands
For decades, record stores have had a cut-out bin. It didn't drag everyone else down. It was a nice use of something unused, and some adventurous music-lovers love rummaging through those bins to find hidden gems.
Some people will want to do this. Most won't. It's there now for the some that do, but it doesn't hurt the rest. Just like the cut-out bin in the back of the store didn't hurt the rest of the catalog.
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Jennifer, I do agree with you 100 percent. Encouraging us to essentially lose money for the sake of "getting the music into people's hands"?
I do care about how much per CD I make, because that's what I'm doing for a living, and because I have a lot invested in my CDs. If I want to get music into people's hands, I can give it to them myself (I often do), make it available for free download (have in the past), or burn CDRs and roll them down the hill (not there yet), but I don't need CDBaby to do it for me.
A lot of browsing time is going to go to the $5 store, which is going to compel musicians to have at least one CD for 5 bucks just to get some exposure--essentially, it's encouraging us to 'buy advertising' in the $5 gallery using CDs instead of cash. Smells like CD Street or one of those old mp3.com fiascos. At least when you bought advertising to be featured on one of those sites, you didn't have to compromise your value as an artist. Here, we'd be "featured" as people who need to sell CDs for $5 because no one will get them for full-price. We cheapen ourselves for exposure, and CD Baby still makes $2 per CD--selling them by the bushel--and only has to click a few times to put the gallery together. Thanks, guys!
Yes I know, it's totally optional, etcetera, but if you want to be seen on an increasingly large site, it's not unreasonable to think that the optional aspect will soon become a necessity. Any of you remember bidding on those lame promo spots during the hayday of mp3.com? Had to do it, got immediate response, made no money, felt like a prostitute who didn't even get paid. Ugghhhh.
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| by g2
on Thursday February 19 2004 @ 11:19AM PST [ reply | parent ] |
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This is a great idea....it will be interesting to
see if bands move more product via this '$5
special'
Im not sure I understand how something like
this 'cheapens' the artist?? Ive seen many
CD's by very established artists in bargain
bins at various stores, from the mom n pops
to the big chains...does it cheapen them??
No...
Sure, it's great to be paid for your work...but
we're in a business where doing gigs(or
giving CDs away) for little or no pay, can
greatly benefit you in the future from the
exposure you get and having the 'right' people
see/hear you. It's happend to me...and it will
keep happening, as long as you keep yourself
out there.
Something like that....!!!
www.straylight.ws
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Totally agree with Jennifer!! CDBaby should NOT do this idea - this is the only service that I've found that doesn't rip off the artist - I have a hard enough time staying motivated - LOVE the music but HATE the business. We hardly ever get the chance to be rewarded for our work and by "selling out" and lowering our sales to $3 a sell on our CDs after CDBaby takes their cut is a JOKE!! Here goes another good deal for all of us -the arts don't stand a chance that's why everyone's perfectly content on listening to "programmed" music and not the real deal!
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This is a good idea...even though we need to
be careful about the low ball concept, in the
retail world there is a very well known concept
of putting out a "loss leader." to take a hit on
one product in order to create, keep or
enhance a customer base is common
practice. Supermarkets do it constantly, and it
works! Count me in for only one of my CD's
(maybe I'll rotate my titles). We could all use
more cutomers!
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I think I lean toward Jennifer's thoughts. We have a tough time making a buck as it is...and
"giving away" cd's (which is what it really is)
isn't going to make a hill of beans difference.
I think we need more ways to get people to visit our web sites where we can make simple offers on our own. Just a thought.
r.b. stone, fayetteville n.c.
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Now im proud to say my cd sells for the same price as Sgt Pepper and Zepplin 4
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In that it costs at least $3 to just replicate a CD and mail it to CD Baby, selling a CD for a $3 share to the artist means selling the CD for free. Though CD Baby will earn $2 on each CD sold under such an approach…thereby assisting them with their expenses…the artists will, in effect, be giving away their music sold in this manner. Not only will artists not recoup the costs of recording the music, it is questionable that such a sales method will assist them in future sales at a profit.
Were I the potential customers…I would, with rare exceptions, merely purchase CDs that were three for fifteen dollars. The long range, ultimate effect of this program, I do believe, will be to reduce the overall sales of CDs at prices that would generate some profits for the artists. This is true even though the artists may withdraw and return to this sales method at will.
If artists are going to continue to give away their music, they can accomplish this by donating them to the Girl Scouts to be given away with boxes of cookies sold. Such a CD/Cookies approach will guarantee that their music will be heard by at least those who support worthwhile charitable causes.
IN CONCLUSION:
It is suggested that the present form of this sales program be limited to one (1) week on a semiannual basis. This would encourage potential customers to purchase CDs through CD Baby while not discouraging their purchase of CDs at prices posted by the artists. If CD Baby chooses not to follow this modified approach, it is suggested that they annually post the total dollar amount breakdown of sales for 2002 & 2003 as well as 2004 and thereafter. By such postings, the artists will have a better way of gauging the effectiveness of the program.
We all want CD Baby to succeed, but there has to be an incentive for customers to purchase CDs at prices that will generate some profits for the artists. Otherwise, we are participating in vanity sales.
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Gene, If you're paying $3.00 to duplicate and mail a single CD, then you proabaly need to take a different approach to your manufacturing process. Instead of short runs of CDs, do one big order. Instead of sending a single CD, send a case via media mail. It's cheaper that way thus putting more jingles in your jeans.
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Great idea.!!
I'm in
Thanks!!
Dag
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Derek,You are a genious in the music industry.Hope those record labels are not coping your ideas.The labels should go to your University in knowing how to treat indepedent artists.
But we The Franco Brothers,are very happy that we have you on our side.
Our main objectives is to sell our cds and not let them rust in our garage.The more we sell,the more we get recognized in the world.
The key in beign successful in the music is to sell and sell and of course never forget your fans and who got you there.That's why we will always promote cdbaby,every where we go.
Without you Derek and the cdbaby staff,where with The Franco Brothers be.
Thank You cdbaby for your family oriented and warmth support from all your award winning staff
Tu amigos siempre,THE FRANCO BROTHERS OF NICARAGUA,who lives in the beautiful city of San Francisco,Ca.
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Yes, yes, yes, yes, and YES!
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Yes, thank you for notifying me. Yes, we have to sell the CDs all of them. I want to GO FOR IT !!!
It's me, It's me Tracy
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Yes I think it is a very good Idea , Count me in , thanks
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Derek, Staff and Other Folks-
CDBaby are champions of the independent artist, and this cyber-cutout bin is a great idea. I don't have to tell any of my fellow musicians how difficult this biz is. I would rather tell labels I am shopping that I have sold 5,000 CDs quickly than that I was able to pay my rent once over the last several months with CD sales at the site.
I do appreciate the comments of those concerned. They made me think, but the numbers happen to be just as important to this member of the community as profit. That is my own, though different from theirs, business objective. The math equals breaking even when you manufacture for $3 and sell for $3 and that's pretty cheap publicity!
Thanks again. Rachel Owen
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Cd Baby!! I love this place! Another great program!
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