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| CD Baby pays $429,023 to artists for THIS WEEK alone |
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Some of you may remember, when after 4 years in business, I proudly announced that we had paid over 1 million dollars to our artists. Now, just a few years later, I just sent $429,023 to our artists for THIS WEEK'S SALES, ALONE! I thought I was beyond being surprised by these numbers, but I'm blown away.
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That's great news Derek - congratulations on more milestones!!! And this at a time when the rest of the industry is complaining of declining CD sales due to downloading. But CDBaby has two huge advantages over the rest of the industry:
1) Us independent musicians are free to focus on creating awesomely wonderful music that is undiluted by the commercial requirements and "safe attitudes" of the mainstream...
2) We have Derek Sivers at the helm!
And a huge THANK YOU for all your work on behalf of us independent artists. CDBaby is the place to sell CD's - I cannot imagine life without it! I just had to ship another load of CD's to you because I sold out again :)
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Just wanted to say thanks to Derek and all the great folks at CDBaby for you hard work and service. I have sold a lot of CD's all around the world because of you! Thanks again for such an invaluable service!
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Dear Derek:
I have been writing songs seriously for 25 years. I have tried to submit songs to publishing and record companies with very limited success. Since I have become affiliated with CD Baby I have sold many thousands of my songs through your digital download program. You have truly opened music windows and music doors to the internet for many people who would not have a chance through traditional approaches. Thank you for helping me and so many others. You and all the folks at CD Baby have given us the opporunity for the world to hear our music.
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Derek,
Although my cd is 'Work In Progress", it is destined to come to CDBABY later this year.
I just wanted to convey that you have touched a LOT of Independent Musicians' life including their families by the work you do. The 'ripple effect' emotionaly and financially on everyone involved in independent music making is huge. I am certain other Independent Musicians here will agree with me. You have proved to the world of music industry moguls, majors, veterans and whoever, that ONE MAN CAN make a difference as per history. You have shown that our life should be an EXAMPLE to others not a WARNING. You are an EXAMPLE Derek..
Keep up the OUTSTANDING work you do...God Bless!
Musically
Shelva
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This is great news, maybe there will be even more customers
coming to search for the hidden treasures at the CDbaby.
Congratulations!
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That's excellent Derek - thanks and congratulations on achieving so much growth in so short a time!
I am continually glad that I went with CDBaby when I released my debut CD "Can These Bones Live?" last year, and I look forward to sending you my subsequent releases.
Enthusiastically,
Ted
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Wow! :)
I'm very happy for CDBABY to have such a success!
Also our CDs are starting selling some digital downloads. I hope this will grow in the next months!
Keep on Derek...
Joachim
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Hey Derek!
Congratulations on your success and, as a result, our success as well. I have been trying to encourage other musicians to jump aboard the CDBABY ship for a very long time. Finally, people are biting!
Your hard work has allowed us to enjoy tremendous promotional and musical success. The digital download opportunity has been a goldmine for all the musicians and all we had to do was sit back and watch Derek and company weave their magic.
You spoil us! Thanks Derek and Happy New Year to you and the staff at CDBaby.
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This is awesome for you and awesome for all of us!
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KICK ASS !
DC
swrecords.net
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Super News for you and all of us Derek - your enthusiasm for CD Baby is always welcome - just the kind of positive approach to life that we as artists love to be near! The Band of Brothers received our first payment from iTunes-Australia a few days ago - what a great lifting of our band's spirits! We have been working on our 2nd CD for six months - just this weekend wrapping up the recording - and we really needed that boost! It never would have happened without you!
The Band of Brothers salute you!!!
(And keep you in our prayers)
Michael Scott Smith
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Derek-you're my hero! Doing what you want/love, respected by your peers-not that you have many, and helping others reach their goals. Not much more could be asked for! When you look in the mirror, I bet you like what you see, even if you are a little scary looking, in an oddly maniacal way... :)
Keep up the incredible work, and fight the good fight for all of us, like you've been doing. Thank you.
David
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$429,023 !!! I got some of that !!! Well pleased
I've told so every musician I know about your site... Just get your music out there boys and girls - cdbaby do so much work for you so you can do what really matters - concentrate on your music
appreciation,
tommy
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Congratulations CD Baby!! I'm glad to have gotten some of that money too!! And since I'm working on my new CD now, I can't wait to sell that here as well... CD Baby is the bomb.
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As always Derek you and your staff at cdbaby are doing a fantatic job ,and I,am not far from from selling 1500 downloads also I,am always telling other musians to join cdbaby . As always for me cdbaby was the best move I,ve made .You make dreams happen for all of us musians at cdbaby. thank you always!,walter goulet
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Derek,
You are leading the way into some of the possibilities that the information age present for all of us. A lot of business leaders and academics are failing to grasp this fact. Kudos to you Derek, keep sharing the knowledge. You're an outstanding entrepreneur in an age that will be very favorable to creative progressive thinkers such as yourself :)
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Derek,
Congratulations, what a great way to enter 2006. Thanks for doing a great job.I've learned so much through you. CDBaby is a household name in my home.
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It just goes to show you that there is an audience out there who doesn't just want to hear the usual commercial music on radio, and CDBaby was instrumental in letting people know that this other music exists. Oh, and the addition of itemized sales to the digital sales report is fantastic!
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I choose CDBABY to release the John Williams Concerto that I just produced. The exposure has been fantastic.
This place is great!!!
Congrats CDBABY!
David Blumberg (former #1 Artist Roster Mp3.com)
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Derek...
Congrats on the achievement. Qizaar Records have turned down a few major deals primarily because of you, your vision and the fact that they just can't top what CD Baby offer us and our artists. Independent for Life.
Grayco: James Wille Gray
Coming Soon!!!
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Derek - that is so cool!
You have created the Gold Standard here and anyone who
doubts that needs to have their head checked. Thanks 4 all
u do!!!!
Jeff Van Devender
JavaMusiK
http://www.JavaMusiK.com
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Derek/CDbaby,
I've been with CDbaby dating back to my previous band Herbert. The vibrant new, independent music distributed by CDbaby is what sets you apart.
You've come a long way CDbaby....Congrats.
The sales of our discs through CDbaby helped fund our new Automatic Animal release. Money needed just at the right time for another DIY/CDbaby band.
-Brent
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Just wondering...how much was paid for last year? What sort of
growth are we talking? 100x? 1000x?
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Well, my only concern is i've had over 200 + "hits" on my cd baby site so far...and have sold nothing. How are these artists selling so well? Please help me with any tips or pointers to steer me in the right direction.
usualsuspeks.com CEO
-Aktion
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Hey Derek,
You have done an awesome job with this service. It is really cool being able to distribute material to all the major digital retailers through your service.
-whytenoize
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That's incredible.
Back in the mp3.com days, I remember everyone talking about how the Internet was going to level the playing field. Then..it didn't really seem to happen. P2P (Napster, Morpheus, etc.) had everyone terrified.
Then, something called the iPOD came out. Then the iTunes Music Store. Everyone doubts that iTunes will be able to sell music. Steve Jobs proves everyone wrong. Steve invites Derek to a meeting. The rest is music history.
Steve Jobs and Derek Sivers will have a major role in music history when looking hundreds of years back. Steve and Derek are as significant to the 21st century recording industry as vinyl was to the late 1800s and the beginning of the recording industry.
How much of this $429,023 was digital sales?
I'm blown away. I feel very lucky to watch this new era of middle-class musicians. The days of being either a starving artist or multi-million dollar artist are coming to an end. This is better for everyone.
Thank you Derek! Words are not enough...
Monty
http://www.dimensionzero.com
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Thanks for all the support and hard work that goes into running
this site. My cd has only been on sale for a few months, but I've
received a lot of great feedback and I look forward to getting my
digital download reports from the places you've sent my songs!
Anne
http://www.annemillermusic.com
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/annemiller
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Kudos, D, kudos!!!!
You're a blessing to us all, man. And
remember, you reap what you sow...
obviously, someone's been putting it down on
the sowin end ;-) Stay grindin, baby!
tommy daan
of
project kalaab
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Hiya,
Just wondering if you can deliver my music to itunes. I know
everyone must want it delivered there. is there a certain criteria you
have to meet to get to itunes.
cheers
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explanation is easy
cd baby has over 115,000 artists
most digital stores update only up to 100 artists a day.
that mean it will take cd baby up to 10 years to update theiur catalogue.
Cd baby must start filtering and selecting artists instead of taking any crap that gets into the office like the others distributors do.
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NO, let the market do the filtering. If your music isn't selling, let it be because no one likes it--NOT because people are denied the opportunity to listen to it. We have enough filters with radio and record companies.
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hey monino! does your name rhyme with MORONo?
it is 3 years even with YOUR estimation of 100 artists a day on digital stores. WHO gave you that number of 100 artists/day anyway?
CD baby motto is treating everyone EQUAL. that had worked so far. and will work in the future too. digital stores just have to get their technology updated to this century so they can handle volumes of music
david
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then explain why apple they only upgrade this amount a day?
and how com many thousands of artists from cd baby including me Scott and many thoudsands after 2 years are not on the digital stores yet?
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Monino, if you read again, the second reply I got from CDBaby,
they said there's a "glitch in the system". I just would like to hear
or see a proper explanation of what this glitch is, and when it is
going to be fixed. The glitch is at CDBaby, apparently, and not at
the DD Companies. My CD has been sent to iTunes, but hasn't
shown up there as of yet. I understand that CDBaby has no
control over how long it takes once they have sent the CD to a
DD Company. My question is why haven't they sent my CD to
more companies. The original promise when I signed up was
that they'd send it to ALL the DD companies they list within a 2
week period. After 3 months, I am only sent to 3 companies. I
am glad iTunes was one of them, but why has the process not
been completed as promised?
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Well, Derek? I'd really like to hear what's going on from you.
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DEREK, GREAT!!! AND YOU'LL DO EVEN BETTER AS TIME GOES ON. IT'S IN THE STARS. I SEE IT IN MY CRYSTAL BALL. A LITTLE VOICE TOLD ME TO POST MY MUSIC ON CDBABY AND THAT ONE DAY I WOULD ENJOY THE PRIVILEGE AND EXTREME HONOUR OF SHAKING YOUR HAND AND KISSING YOU ON YOUR BEAUTIFUL/GLORIOUS FOREHEAD . SIGNED WITH LOVE AND AFFECTION, ADDAM BONG& BONG CREATURE
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Derek - congratulations. We are all so blessed that you created CDBaby and made it possible for practically all musicians to have an extremely nice way to sell indie music.
May God bless you and yours always - and may He give CDBaby great success in '06 and beyond.
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Yowza...and the dude's in France now..gotta love it
here's our surprise for Derek(he hasn't even seen this one yet)..
Music with a Message Membership Community
January 2006
The recent excitement around the rapid growth of online music downloads was punctuated by a strong exclamation mark, based on the analysis of US Holiday music downloads. According to a reputable marketing research firm, nearly 20 million songs were downloaded in the week just prior to the US Christmas holiday. And MOST IMPORTANTLY, almost 20% of those download sales, were from gift cards. HarmonyNet Media Group, a CA based, HI operated Marketing Architecture and Business Development firm, is pleased to announce an innovative program to raise money for good causes.
Music With a Message Membership Communities
Based on a personal story heard by our CEO, Patrick Michaels, during a trip in the 80’s in the Midwest, from the outgoing CEO of MCI (Mr. McGowan) and his son, we’re introducing our campaign to deliver supportive musical expressions, through a combination of high touch and high tech packaging. The Music with a Message Membership Community program, will make the music that encourages support for your favorite charity, non-profit, or good community cause, as a gift item for your friends, relatives, neighbors, and associates.
As in all the In Business 4 Good campaigns, a full 25% of the retail sale will be dedicated and allocated to a specific charity, non-profit, or community effort. The musicians will be nominated by a community of activists, advocates, and supporters, to align the musical message with the campaign theme. All musicians will be paid royalties for the use of their music, in amounts ranging from 12 to 20 % of retail sales.
For additional information on this, connect with our CEO, Patrick Michaels, through one of these electronic methods.
Inbusiness4good@yahoo.com
Yahoo Instant Messaging (messenger.yahooo.com) ID lean bicycler
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Not sure if I'm ready yet, buy how do you get your songs onto iTunes?
Thanks for the information
Marissa
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This is amazing! although i have not recieved a chuck of those dollars yet my sells are steadily increasing and i havent even had a chance to promote my sit lately
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Derek has answered some of these questions in the past, so I'll re-post some of his answers here...
In regards to how much was sold "last year"
Pretty much, for all the years CDBaby has been running, sales double each year, at any given point.
Every once in awhile, Derek posts a graph from his accountant, and it's just a simple straight line for the most part, with 12/2005 being 2 X 12/2004 which is 2 X 12/2003 ...
Actually, the occasional "blip" in the graph are specific artists / albums that Derek can point to and say: "O.A.R. first CD, Melissa Ferrick's second CD", etc.
As far as the time to send data out to the umpteen digital stores:
First, you have to understand that we're talking about a zillion man-hours to re-encode your music in their specific proprietary format.
iTunes wants AAC, others want MP3, others want wmv, etc. If you've ever ripped and encoded an entire CD, you know how long that takes.
Multiply that by ~40 different formats, and then by ~100 artists sending in CDs PER DAY, and that's how many man-hours CDBaby has to spend to make it happen.
There's no magic wand they can wave to convert all this stuff overnight.
Then, of course, they have to deliver that encoded data to the 40 companies...
Essentially, they encoded 1,000 artists onto one big monster hard drive that costs $1,000, and they ship that drive off to Apple.
Then they wait for Apple to ship it back, so they can fill it up with the OTHER format and ship it off to the OTHER vendor.
Repeat 40 X.
When Vendor X (e.g. Apple) doesn't send the drive back for a month instead of the 3-day turn-around promised, what happens?
Now, obviously, one answer is to just run out and buy more hard drives.
But CDBaby can only do that so many times, and there comes a point when drives coming back in and drives going out and so forth is made a big administrative issue -- More drives == more admin.
If your stuff has only been sent to 3 vendors so far, have some patience. It's going to go to the other vendors, as fast as it possibly can.
I'll lay odds that the slowest part of all of this is not actually AT CDBaby, but is at the other end -- the 40 digigital distributors not getting the data off the drives and into their system quickly, and then not getting the drives back to CDBaby to fill up again.
I'll certainly guarantee that nobody else would get your stuff up into all these digital download sources as quickly as CDBaby.
PS
monino: I'm pretty sure Apple can do more than 100 a day. Maybe if you average Apple in with a LOT of other smaller players, you can get an average of 100 day... But wherever you got this 100 a day number from, you really need to post it, if at all possible... Thanks!
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Thanks for some sort of explanation. It now seems that
yesterday my CD was sent to 5 more companies.
As for how often iTunes adds songs, as best as I can see they
are doing it once a week. At least the "just added" link shows
days approximately 7 days apart, then varying lengths of CD
added.
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