| CD Baby DIY Musician Podcast |
 Nov. 13,
2008
Ep.38 : Pandora Radio
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| Digital Music Storefronts compared visually |
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HEY DERICK LOOK AT THIS ARTICLE!!
THIS WEEK I RECEIVED MY PAYMENT FROM BOTH CD BABY
(GOOD AND ON TIME!) AND MECHANICALS, I NOTICED A BIG
DELAY & A DECREASE IN MY MECHANICALS CHECK.
I CALLED THEM UP AND THEY TOLD ME THAT MOST OF THE
DIGITAL STORES THEYRE EITHER LATE OR FAIL TO PAY THEM. IF
YOU GOT THE SAME PROBS MAYBE YOU SHOULD NT COMPLAIN
AT BMI OR ASCAP BUT MOST LIKELY COMPLAIN AT THE STORES
FOR NOT PAYING RTISTS AND PUBLISHERS UP!!!
BY THE WAY THE BIG MAJORS NOT PAYING FOR DOWNLOADS TO
THEIR ARTISTS, A LITTLE BIRDIE HAS TOLD ME ALSO THEY DONT
ACCOUNT FOR RECORD SALES. CCONTRACTS SIGNED BETWEEN
LABELS AND ARTISTS PREVIOUS TO DIGITAL DO NOT STATE
THAT THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO GET PAID FOR DOWNLOADS
SINCE ITS NOT STREAMING-BROADCASTING OR SELLING AND
INFERIOR PRODUCT (NOT STATED IN RECORDING CONTRACTS/
DEALS) WHICH DOESNT ACCOUNT AS A SINGLE RECORD OR AN
ALBUM...
AND NOW THE BIGGIES DONT WANNA PAY THE ARTISTS
ROYALTIES ON THE NET EITHER!!!
A SYSTEM THAT GENERATES BILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR AND
PAYS THEIR EXECS. SKYROCKETING WAGES AND INDULGE
THEMSELVES IN EUROPEAN VILLAS ARE NOT MAKING ENOUGH
FOR THE MUSIC OR THE CREATORS OF THE MUSIC THEMSELVES...
CHECK THIS ARTICLE
http://www.mcps.co.uk/redirect.asp?targetitem=4573&sid=834
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| by
on Tuesday October 25 2005 @ 04:02PM PDT [ reply | parent ] |
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Paul, Dude, what's up with all the screaming in caps?
Chill, will ya?
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I don't blame him for screaming in caps. I agree with him. The music companies should be held a little more accountable. They get paid well! We don't. We just take the crumbs they hand us. They wouldn't have anything to sell if we didn't supply them with music. I'm not famous by any means. I have only had a hundred and some songs digitally downloaded that are being used in some way or another but my totals are only $6.00 for all that listening. That wouldn't even pay for the time to write one song not to mention the recording time, the equipment, the instruments, the website and on and on. It's sad because if the rest of you are like me we have put our life and our heart into our music and get very little appreciation. They take us for granted. Maybe if we all could go on strike and just stop the music for awhile they might sit up and take notice as to what the foundation for their companies is based on. I don't do it for the money. I'd starve. Musicians as a rule cannot just focus on music even though they might like to, just because everyone has grown to expect us to work for free. We cannot even cover one percent expenses. Something really does need to be done about this.
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I am thinking it might be a good idea if a link to a site - say - cafepress - for example - where buyers of music downloads on cdbaby can go and print/order their own personalized/specially designed cd`s of the tracks they purchse. So that, instead of us saying "do not order", a link could be substituted to say press you cd here...or something. What do you think guys?
Cheers
Sky
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Let's face it digital downloads are making 7 million dollars per week in the US alone. Let's stop messing around!
We CDBABY artists need to know where our money and music is going and start getting choosy.
Billboard magazine just printed that American consumers are spending $7 Million dollars PER WEEK on digital
downloads. This is no joke and will soon eclipse even album sales in the united states.
We the artists on CDBABY need to start asking questions.
Why is our music being submitted to shady websites like Chondo, Bitmunk, Trade Bit, Net Music, Audio Lunchbox and
others? These shady websites have essentially NO copy protection and who's to say they are even trustworthy enough to
pay us? Not even the major labels are stupid enough to trust them so why is our music getting sent over there?
It's safe to say that if 50 Cent and Avril Lavigne's label don't even trust a website, then why would I want my
music on there. It's only going to get stolen and shared.
Also, who's to say we are even getting paid for all our digital sales? Why can't CDBABY publish the reports from
Apple, Yahoo, Musicmatch and others? It's not like it's confidential info just post the reports!!!
I would like to know who, if anyone, has ever audited CDBABY and what documentation was provided for their digital
sales numbers?
I have already contacted Apple and MusicNet to begin the process of checking up on CDBABY and I encourage others to
do so as well.
We spend Thousands of hours in the studio and pour our lives into these recordings, we tour, we play shows, we
promote, pass out fliers, refer friends, some have even resorted to prostitution (just kidding).
these sales are for many (myself included) the only monetary reward we receive for our efforts, and I for one
demand FULL accountability.
When I log on to CDBABY to check my digital sales, all i see is a number and a long list of sales. CDBABY could be
robbing us blind and we would never know unless we investigate on our own.
I demand proof that BABY is not skimming. Bartenders, Club Owners, Door Men, Major Labels, Tour Managers, Radio DJ's, Large Corporations and
Yes EVEN WEBSITES all have been guilty of this on a daily basis. This is WAY too much trust to place in the hands of one small, independent un-regulated website. The opportunity for corruption is HUGE here, in fact even I would be tempted to take a few hundred sales here or there. Most artists are too insecure to even mention anything!
Where's the documentation!
We want our money
ALL Our money!!
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John -
You read a report that people are buying millions of dollars of music, and you are upset that you (and therefore we) are not making much of that. But blaming CD Baby's ACCOUNTING system for your lack of sales is just stupid.
If you want to hire a professional CPA or auditing firm to audit us, please do. Otherwise, your factless accusation that we are STEALING from our clients is the pure definition of libel and slander.
Your request to see EVERYONE'S sales reports is ridiculous. Each of our 50,000 clients have not given permission for John Browning from Nevada to look at their full sales history.
Hire a professional to audit us. You'll see why CD Baby has a great reputation for transparent accounting and weekly payments to over 100,000 artists for the last 7 years.
Even if I was a scumbag devoid of all morals, stealing from clients makes bad business sense: if we were to steal a single dollar from a single client, word would spread so fast that CD Baby would be shut down within a year.
As for asking why we distribute music to smaller outlets (that do not sell Avril Lavigne): we ARE a small outlet. That you came to CD Baby, chose us as your distributor after reading about how we work and who we distribute to, should be self-explanatory.
- Derek
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Who's "we" in "as we can see"?
And what do you feel is not answered?
Re-post of your MP3 file that you posted as a comment to 3 other stories on cdbaby.org does not make your point any clearer.
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Did someone force John in Nevada to submit his titles for digital distribution? Sounds like a gun was put to his head and he had no choice.
I suggest John creates his own download site and sell on his own... there are several sites that allow that- Soundclick for example now will allow you to sell digital downloads as singles or albums. Then again, he still has to trust thier accounting system.
I dont like all the download sites CDBaby is selling to either- but quite honestly- not too many people are downloading from most of them. Most go to ITunes and Emusic, and I have faith they are paying what they should pay, and I have total faith in CDbaby. No other company pays weekly, and I have made more from them than I ever made being signed to a "major label."
Bottom line- there is more music out there than in the history of humanity- and not all of it is going to sell.
CDBaby gets you on I-Tunes, Emusic, Rhapsody, Music Match... and thats more than i could have done on my own- so thank you Derek for all you have done!
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Yes you are going to get ripped off but as far as I can tell it's not
going to be by CDBaby and one of the hardest working and
visionary people in the music business. I've sold over 200,000
CDs in the last 9 years by myself with no record label, manager
or agent. The only person who I have felt possitively enough to
work with is CDBaby's founder Derek. I haven't met Derek but
sometimes you just have to go with your gut feeling about a
person and with the help of the internet, extensive research.
Good news travels fast and bad news travels like lightning.
You are going to get ripped off by your government, gas
company, real estate agent, car salesman.....etc.
It's time to stop looking a gift company in the mouth.
Wow that's a lot of cliches'
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Thanks Brian, I appreciate it.
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| by
on Thursday December 22 2005 @ 04:11PM PST [ reply | parent ] |
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IF YOU SOLD THESE SO MANY CD'S WHAY ARE YOU POSTING HERE?
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I absolutely believe in the integrity of CD Baby and as a music publisher, I am grateful for the digital distribution services they supply. How nice it is to have those checks deposited automatically in our bank account!
However, there is no way CD Baby can be responsible for the actions of third parties, legally or ethically.
I look forward to the day when Host Baby can provide downloads directly from our own websites. Broadjam is now offering this service to musicians who host with them, but I am inclined to wait until Host Baby offers these services, as I like doing business with CD Baby.
The digital distribution reports on CD Baby are very nice to work with, as they allow you to sort by the different columns. I copy the reports into Excel, where I subsequently calculate royalties due by song title. The only thing I would like to see is streaming income separated from download income. I deal with Sony Music, where the digital licenses do not include streaming. Streaming is a separate license; that's why I don't like these two different income sources commingled on the same report, as I have to separate them at my end for accounting purposes.
I'd like to say thanks to CD Baby for offering a tremendous avenue for independent artists and songwriters to get their music listened to out there!
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So do you need or have separate licenses for streaming and do I need them if I have cover songs on my CD digitally released with CD Baby. I haven't found anything posted by Derek about that??
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Nevermind.
From what I've been reading, I gather I don't need to worry about digital music services like Yahoo or Rhapsody streaming my cover songs because THEY will be licensed to do that streaming since they are the ones doing it. If however, I wanted to stream those cover songs from my own web site then I would need to be authorized or licensed to provide such streams.
Similarly, from what I've been reading, I don't need to be concerned about CD Baby distributing our cover songs to non-USA companys for selling downloads in other countries because those services pay the mechanical royalties for the downloads they sell - therefore I don't need to report these sales or pay royalties on them, I would only report and pay royalties on downloads sold by USA based companies.
Can someone confirm this please?
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Look, I'm fine with trusting baby.
but here's the point.
WHY CANT WE CHOOSE WHAT SERVICES WE WANT OUR MUSIC SUBMITTED TOO!!!
I trust iTunes and a few others BUT THAT"S ALL
Those other services are a SCAM NO QUESTION!
I DON"T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH THOSE OTHER SHADY WEBSITES.
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>> WHY CANT WE CHOOSE WHAT SERVICES WE WANT OUR MUSIC SUBMITTED TO?
Because our system doesn't work like that, that's all.
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theirs no such thing as a "Gift Company"
ps is cdbaby publicly traded?
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>> is cdbaby publicly traded?
no. (not privately traded, either)
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I have become disillusioned as well with the digital download situation. I find it pretty weird that, during the Holiday season when you would expect the downloads to increase, my digital downloads have decreased and have been almost non-existent.
And MP3Tunes.Com shows that I have been receiving downloads all year and I have yet to be paid by them.
I am not blaming CDBABY.COM - I am blaming these crappy digital sites - the ones with little or no integrity. What's to stop them by saying "Oh, the Timmins Youth Singers had 500 downloads this week, let's send 50 over to CD BABY".
Personally, I would like all my digital downloads eliminated from every site except MSN and ITUNES - and I even worry about these sites.
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>> And MP3Tunes.Com shows that I have been receiving downloads all year and I have yet to be paid by them.
This is discussed some other places on the site, but please know that the charts on mp3tunes.com are not charts of SALES, but only charts of HITS - meaning how many people LOOKED at the page, including you.
Mp3tunes.com has been paying everyone very regularly every month.
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Thanks for answering my question re MP3Tunes.Com. Then why would some songs have higher ratings than others? If they are listening to certian songs on a CD, then we should be paid for these songs, correct?
Also, what about the other questions I asked in my original post, Derek? I really don't want to be associated with all these questionable digital sites and I can't understand why this is part of the CDBaby digital policy.
Can I remove my songs from certain sites?
Thanks so much
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>> why would some songs have higher ratings than others?
If more people (including you) viewed that page - even if they didn't buy anything.
>> If they are listening to certain songs on a CD, then we should be paid for these songs, correct?
If they purchase, yes, but not if they just listen to the 30-second preview and don't purchase.
>> I really don't want to be associated with all these questionable digital sites
They aren't questionable. We turn away twice as many companies as we sign. If it's at all fishy, we walk. We only work with ones that seem to have a real legitimate service, and they have to agree to our contract that gives very good protection for our artists.
Rosanne (and J Bigga) - you need to understand something:
Distribution means wide distribution. Go back to the physical CD/record model : when you sign a distribution deal, your record is sent to record shops all around the world. Not just shopping malls, but mom & pop stores in Alabama, Croatia, Korea, Argentina, etc.
You can't get too hung up on approving each and every store owner in every corner of the world. You have to trust that your distributor wants to sell your music as much as you do, and the distributor would not distribute ANY music to an outlet that wasn't paying.
(Why would they/we bother? It's HARD WORK to deliver the CD Baby catalog of 700,000 songs to a partner company! It costs us a lot to do it. We only do it if we feel it's worth it.)
If a big company wasn't paying, they'd have a million dollars of legal actions against them from every major label.
If a small company wasn't paying, we'd yank our catalog and put them out of business, since for many of the small companies, the CD Baby catalog is the largest chunk of their entire catalog.
If you're going to put your music into the world filled with paranoia that everyone everywhere is ripping you off, just remove it from all distribution please, and never let it out of your recording studio, where the big bad world might hear it.
- Derek
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If you're going to put your music into the world filled with paranoia that everyone everywhere is ripping you off, just remove it from all distribution please, and never let it out of your recording studio, where the big bad world might hear it.
Okay Derek - I know it sounds like paranoia, but it is a legitimate concern. The digital download opportunity is a good one; however, it can be manipulated and I have no doubt that this is going on at some level.
But, please understand that I do not have issues with you or CD Baby. I just would have liked to have some say in where our music was going to be distributed. Not every artist distributes to every digital outlet. It seems like a desperate course of action.
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Derek: One final question. When a person purchases a track from a digital site, who keeps track of the actual download? Is it tracked initially through the digital site and then passed on to CD Baby or are the downloads all managed by the CD Baby team. If it is the latter, then I have no problems, but it appears it is the former.
I know I am asking questions, but it's not as if I am the only one. These are legitimate concerns.
Thanks
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>> who keeps track of the actual download?
Same as regular (physical) distribution:
The store handles their own sales, then reports back to us once a month, with a detailed sales report and payment.
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First I would like to say I am proud to be associated with CD Baby. I trust that Derek Is wise enough to be thinking of a time when CD Baby can renew contracts with the download companies at a standardized price for CD Baby artists. One would expect that Derek would first have to gather and evaluate the effect of several business quarters of CD Baby artist downloads on the download companies. Most likely these data would show very significant revenue boosts to each company. That would definitely justify Derek adjusting our revenues in our favor. I have full trust in Derek and CD Baby, and am confident that this is really only a matter of time.......
In the mean time, in preparation for all the bazillions of new Ipod users, I'm going to work to put together another CD and get it up on CD Baby. This is an investment in the future.
James Owen
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>> adjusting our revenues in our favor
We already have. We got both iTunes and MSN Music to raise their payout from 65 (before) to 70 (now) cents per download.
We twisted the arm of Musicnet and got them to raise their stream-payment 500%!! (From .2 cents to 1 cent per listen.)
This is what we do. We are always trying to get our clients as much income as possible. That's our job.
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There's nothing wrong with questioning companies & people especially when it comes to money - but I have all the confidence in the world in Derek & CD Baby.
Derek has a huge responsibility that's for sure - but he has no need to "fudge" on any numbers if you've read on the internet what the anticipated sales figures for 2006 for CDBaby are anticipated to be. Simply amazing. And Derek is doing it right. He does things FOR the artist, not just for him.
Derek COULD make millions more if he accepted advertising, if his company went public, if he took more than the incredible 9% cut, etc. But he doesn't. I only wish I had this idea first. ("...Did I tell you I had this idea first? Only they already had it.")
My ONLY complaint about CDBaby is I wish he had a warehouse/store in Central Texas where I could be part of the CDBaby team.
The world of legal digital downloading is still somewhat new (for indie & major companies/artists) and there is information on here (cdbaby.net? or cdbaby.org?) that answers questions about the digital world and it explains that there are a "sea of lawyers" waiting to pounce on anyone whose accounting is not 100% legit. It's not worth it to fudge the numbers - the consequences are too great. There's way too much to lose.
It's SO damn cool to check my CDBaby account to find that there have been a handfull of streams, that there have been complete albums downloaded via iTunes Japan, that's we've sold yet another CD in England or Wisconsin or Pennsylvania or where ever...
And I'm not worried at all if anyone is "stealing" our music - someone once opened my eyes and said to me something like, "...Stealing your music?! Ohmygod! What are they actually doing with this stolen music? Listening to it? Heaven forbid!"
Everything appears to fall into place juuuuust fine.
all my lovin'
Bill Hunter
Common Ground - TexasRockBand.com
Common Ground : CD Baby Gallery Page
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All I know is my experience with Derek and CD Baby, and that it has been nothing but great! My sales have doubled since I signed up for digital distribution, and that's with only 1 title. I feel totally confident that I am being treated fairly and honestly and that my best interests are CD Baby's best interests.
I have 100% confidence in the integrity and heartfelt support of Derek and CD Baby.
In Gratitde.
Buddy Comfort
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Hey everyone,
I just spent a few weeks in the wilderness and come back to find the world = changed. DD is the future no question. I had lunch yesterday with our CD manufacturer (one of the largest in the world) who, whilst trying to get us to rush our deadlines, also is looking to jump ship.
The music world is changing at break-neck speed. Who knows where the chips will fall? I am glad that CDBaby is ahead of the curve.
We are about to release a CD with <26 mins of music. How does that sound?...(well Finedisc Records always *sound* shockingly good!), But my discussion yesterday was about the newer storage formats, DVD-A, Blue Ray etc and its impact on the classic 70 mins and pricing schemas etc blah blah.
Yes DD has made opportunities and created drawbacks - but you aint seen nothing yet babies when we are about to face *entire* catalogues on one single disc.
Derek, you seem to get excited defending your business from idiots. I for one really like your model and its responsiveness to the changing times. I will be sending you a CD <26 min soonest. And I will try to sell it for full price.
Warm Regards
David Stone
Finedisc Records
www.finedisc.com
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Hello all!
I hope EVERYONE understands that I do not have issues with CDBABY - EVER! It was more concern for the questionable digital download sites that did concern me.
However, I have enjoyed wonderful digital sales because of CD Baby and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity. I trust that Derek will keep a close eye on all the sites.
So, in the spirit of the season, I would like to wish all of your, most especially the staff at CD Baby a very Merry Christmas and the Happy Holiday Season.
Rosanne
http://www.timminsyouthsingers.com
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Just want to let you (DEREK) know we at Mean Gene Kelton,
genekelton.com, and Jambone Records would rather not
participate in any outside web/streaming/digital stuff -
WITHOUT DEREK and CDBaby... even if it means that, on first
look, we will lose some "revenue".
Trust me... I'd rather let Derek handle what he's been doing
beautifully for us for years, than for us to worry about venturing
into untested territory alone to try other distributors - only to be
ripped off (been there, done that).
Derek and his company have become the rock in our Rock 'n
Roll, and we turn to CDBaby for advice and direction.
Derek has figured out systems that allow us to make money
where we wouldn't have otherwise (credit card swiper, digital
downloads), and we've given him the burden of being the only
physical distribution outlet for our CDs on the net, after doing it
ourselves and getting burned out.
If you haven't figured it out, WE LOVE YOU CDBaby!!! Keep up the
good work, and great sense of humor... we'll keep doing our
part, you keep doing yours, and we'll all make some money doin'
what we love to do.
Gene & Joni Kelton
http://www.genekelton.com
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CDbaby is an online pioneer entity!!To judge it is worthy of ones own proof, that they them selves can do it and do it better; Or their opinions will not hold any weight in the court of reality. I will be signing up another and my new album through cdbaby to benefit my own niche marketable www.singleparentmusic.com website.
Many thanks to Derek and staff!
Happy holidays and beyond...
ChAnGeR
www.changerhiphopmusic.com
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| by e
on Tuesday January 10 2006 @ 06:48AM PST [ reply | parent ] |
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Quit your whinin', CDBABY is doing a great job giving the indies
some exposure and they know that not looking out for our best
interest would eventually result in another ex-dot.com... Keep
up the good work Derek & crew...
e
www.sleepingdogslie.com
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There are plenty of worries in life, but I will tell you, CD BAby isn't one of them for me. I've made some money so far and it looks like it is going to keep increasing. CDBaby has helped me greatly go into places where I would have never stood a chance. I don't know how to get everything distributed and what is the best deal, etc. That's why I count on Derek and I have faith in what he does. I don't think he would be this successful if he wasn't doing a good job like he is. Thanks Derek.. I'm glad you have CDBaby.
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| NOTE: If you need a reply you should email CD Baby directly instead of posting here. We don't often read old message board postings, and have no way of replying to them!
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