CD Baby is hosting its seventh annual DIY Musician Conference, the independent music ecosystem’s most accessible, educational, and motivational gathering geared toward independent musicians. From August 26-28, the conference returns to an in-person experience at the Hilton Austin in Texas, offering musicians the first chance since 2020 to come together, learn, and connect with some of the tastemakers and industry reps who will jumpstart the next phase of their careers.

Attendees can expect an array of sessions by industry leaders and their fellow artists, with topics hitting the key moments in independent musicians’ lives. Hands-on sessions will cover everything from livestream strategies, connecting to fans on social platforms, launching a release, marketing music, and more. Over three days, attendees will also get a chance to work one-on-one with expert mentors, to play with their fellow artists, and to hear great music. Folks who cannot attend in person won’t miss out, as CD Baby will include a virtual option as well.

CD Baby and its DIY Musician Conference hopes attendees discover what success means to them in a new era for music. “One of our goals is for musicians to walk away with plans of action and the fire to get it done,” explains Kevin Breuner, CD Baby’s SVP of Artist Engagement and Education.

CD Baby is dedicated to making the DIY Musician Conference a gateway to everything artists need to succeed, including new sources of income and new deals to serve artist needs. Guided by artists for artists, speakers reflect the makeup of actual DIY music communities. “We challenged ourselves here to find the right people to connect with the diverse array of attendees,” notes Breuner. 

Past conference keynotes and speakers have included Questlove, DMC (Run DMC), Mary Gauthier, Jack Conte (Patreon), Alejandro Escovedo, Bob Boilen (NPR), and music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas. 2022’s programming will be announced later this spring.

According to Canadian indie-soul recording artist, Ahi, “The DIY Musician Conference changed my life," Ahi, who has attended the conference previously, went on to be nominated for a Juno Award and has performed on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts. "It exceeded my expectations. I'm in the clouds.”

About CD Baby
Home to over 1 million artists and 9 million tracks, CD Baby has paid out over $1 billion in artist royalties since its founding in 1998. CD Baby, a Downtown Music Holdings company, empowers emerging, niche, and amateur musicians with everything they need to successfully distribute, publish, promote, and monetize their music around the globe. Our expert guidance simplifies and streamlines the complexities of global music distribution through tools, partnerships, education, and 20+ years of community-building and advocacy. Our complete artist-services platform connects independent artists with new audiences and revenue streams so they can enjoy creative autonomy and thrive on their own terms. Founded and run by artists for artists, CD Baby exists to make success in the music business accessible to all.

CD Baby has long been committed to providing substantial, in-depth resources for independent musicians who want to do it themselves. Now, the company is doubling down on artist empowerment with its new Artist Engagement and Education team. The team of experienced musician mentors will be led by long-time podcast host and trusted voice Kevin Breuner. As part of this initiative, Breuner has been named SVP of Artist Engagement and Education.

“We want to be a resourceful guide through an increasingly fractured and complicated landscape,” explains Breuner. “By investing in and uniting everything from our blogs, podcast, conference, and community, we hope to empower musicians with practical know-how and, hopefully, inspire them to pursue their musical ambitions and achieve success on their terms.

CD Baby’s approach to education has always stood out among distributors and independent artist services companies. Their approach goes far beyond content marketing or veiled advertising to provide DIY artists with a substantial and ever-growing range of resources designed to help them thrive as independent musicians. Some are so well regarded by music educators, they are used in college classrooms to teach about the music industry.

“Kevin has used the DIY Musician podcast and blog, as well as our annual conference, to demystify distribution, monetization, and promotion and help make success in this atomized music economy—however an artist may define it—accessible to all artists, regardless of whether they use our services or not,” notes CD Baby President Joel Andrew. “Because we’re all artists ourselves, we see our mission as sharing what we know as broadly as possible. Now we’ll be able to bring even more energy to empowering and uplifting the diverse international community that CD Baby serves.”

The Artist Engagement and Education team will focus on emerging artists entering the market at a time when the music business is the most complex it's ever been. “It's a really exciting time, but it's also a time where artists are expected to run their careers like a startup,” says Breuner. “Gone are the days of an A&R person from a label showing up to a venue to see an ‘unknown’ artist with no audience to potentially sign them. We want to provide the guidance that makes artists feel empowered to create their own breakthrough moments.”

About CD Baby
Home to over 1 million artists and 9 million tracks, CD Baby has paid out over $1 billion in artist royalties since its founding in 1998. CD Baby empowers emerging, niche, and amateur musicians with everything they need to successfully distribute, publish, promote, and monetize their music around the globe. Our expert guidance simplifies and streamlines the complexities of global music distribution through tools, partnerships, education, and 20+ years of community-building and advocacy. Our complete artist-services platform connects independent artists with new audiences and revenue streams so they can enjoy creative autonomy and thrive on their own terms. Founded and run by artists for artists, CD Baby exists to make success in the music business accessible to all.

Independent artist services company’s royalty administration offering now helps more than 230,000 songwriters collect on millions of works.

CD Baby is announcing that it now serves more than 2 million songs worldwide through its publishing administration service, CD Baby Pro Publishing. With royalty collections powered by its sister service Songtrust, which like CD Baby is part of Downtown Music Holdings, CD Baby is able to handle publishing administration for hundreds of thousands of songwriters and composers, using a network of partners that covers 98% of the global music business. Many of these works are also part of its 1.5mm-track sync catalog, scoring regular ad, TV, and film placements for independent artists. 

“We are striving to be the best caretakers and advocates for our fellow artists’ music, from distributing to music outlets as quickly as possible so fans can hear it, to finding new revenue opportunities and collecting royalties in dozens of countries,” explains CD Baby President Joel Andrew. “Independent artists are savvier than ever about the advantages of protecting and monetizing their original compositions. And we’ve responded by expanding our services with the help of partners like Songtrust and music organizations around the world.” CD Baby will be further expanding its international reach and relationships over the course of this year. 

The scale and reach of CD Baby Pro is matched by its impact on songwriters’ and musicians’ lives, one that’s growing rapidly. (CD Baby Pro Publishing payments grew by 60% in Q4 2021). Many independent artists are surprised and inspired by the long-term potential of their music to open doors and earn regular revenue. “I had a song picked up by the Netflix show Outer Banks. I was completely caught off guard because it was unexpected,” recounts East Coast-based outlaw country singer and songwriter Mickey Lamantia. “Enrolling in CD Baby Pro Publishing and Sync Licensing was the reason it happened.”

“After I performed my song ‘I Knew This Would Happen’ on American Idol in 2020, I thought the first CD Baby payment I received was all I would generate. As reports kept coming in, I was surprised at how well the song has done over time and how much I received in publishing revenue. Even a year later, I'm grateful that the song continues to do well,” says Ryan Harmon, the Arkansas singer-songwriter whose career took a leap forward thanks to the popular TV show. “Earning money from my music has allowed me to make that jump into doing what I love for a living. It's given me the confidence to recognize that there's a market for what I do, despite any pressure I might face to fit in.”

“Songtrust's partnership with CD Baby to provide global publishing administration via our direct collections network of more than sixty collection partners has been incredibly impactful. As the number of writers and songs they represent has grown dramatically over the years, so too has the value of those works. The songwriters represented by CD Baby Pro have a significant impact on the ever-changing music publishing market,” said Songtrust President Molly Neuman.

Downtown Music Holdings’ CD Baby is announcing that it has paid out more than $1billion to its artists since the company’s 1998 founding. To achieve this, the company has empowered more than a million artists worldwide to distribute 10 million+ tracks to listeners. 

“For us, it’s not just about how much the top earners make, but also about what the payout means to all of the unique artists we work with who are charting their own course, based on their creative vision and their personal versions of success,” says CD Baby President Joel Andrew. “Our mission has always been to work as hard as possible to serve musicians dedicated to doing their own thing, their way. Our success is a reflection of their success.” 

The $1-billion figure is more than a number to the artist services company; it’s a sign of the strength of the community of independent musicians and creators who have coalesced around CD Baby. Independent musicians like the ones CD Baby serves have grabbed an increasingly large market share of the music business. The independent music sector grew to more than 43% of the total global market by ownership in 2020 according to an October 2021 report from MIDiA. 

CD Baby has been a key player in this trend, as the first and one of the few remaining independent music distributors. Run largely by artists for artists, it has spent over two decades empowering independent musicians through industry-leading service, self-promotion tools, expert guidance, and strong partnerships with the world’s biggest music and social platforms. It has also devoted itself to in-depth education for independent artists, launching a wildly popular blog, the first podcast dedicated to DIY musician issues, and the first conference for independent musicians. 

CD Baby’s relationship with Downtown began in 2014 with the launch of CD Baby Pro, a songwriter royalty collection solution for CD Baby clients utilizing Downtown’s Songtrust platform. Downtown acquired CD Baby in 2019 and has invested significantly in enabling the company to drive innovation in the technology, tools and resources that help level the playing field for artists at all levels. 

“As business partners since 2014, we appreciated the depth of CD Baby’s organization and its incredibly loyal client base, two key drivers of our acquisition,” said Downtown CEO, Andrew Bergman. “Unique in the industry, they have long understood that not all creators are the same, each having their own story, ambition and art to share. With CD Baby now leveraging resources across Downtown’s platform, including technology, royalty collection, global licensing operations and capital, we are able to drive equity and innovation to all creators at an accelerated pace.” 

Downtown, which has a global team of 600 employees in over 20 cities, is the world’s leading music services provider. Today, millions of artists, songwriters and enterprise clients from over 145 countries, including many of the largest music, entertainment and gaming companies, manage over 23 million music assets on its platforms. 

While they have access to top tier rates, for many CD Baby artists, the money they earn means more than mere income; it gives them direct encouragement and a tangible sense of validation for their artistic endeavors. “Earning money has helped me in the sense that I can replace equipment when things go faulty,” says East Coast-based soulful pop/R&B artist Lee Wilson. “But beyond the practical, the money has helped me focus more on music and has enabled me to go down to part-time in my day job, instead of full-time. Hopefully one day, I’ll be able to transition full-time into music alone.” 

“It feels very good to have substantive rewards for my work, as part of a positive feedback loop. It gets hard to be creative in a hermit-like vacuum—especially during a pandemic, when live performance is not an option,” explains ambient/electronic artist Robert Rich, who’s been working with CD Baby since 2004. “Seeing some income is a reminder that people do actually listen and care about the music.” 

It can also encourage an artist to keep pursuing their creative vision. As UK trance vocalist and songwriter Natalie Holmes puts it, “Earning money from what I do has helped me to improve my own confidence, which in turn spurs me on to get better with everything I create.” 

About CD Baby 
CD Baby, a Downtown Music Holdings company, is a comprehensive artist-services platform that makes it easy for independent musicians to distribute, promote, and monetize their music so they can thrive outside the major-label system. Built on the belief that every artist should be able to pursue their vision without compromise and have an equal opportunity to be heard, CD Baby’s distribution services, self-promotion tools, and educational initiatives are designed to increase artist autonomy and empower independent artists to build their audiences without corporate assistance. Home to over 1 million artists and more than 10 million tracks, CD Baby has paid out over $1 billion in royalties to artists since its founding in 1998.

Artist services providers CD Baby® and Soundrop®, both owned by Downtown Music Holdings (Downtown), have teamed up with UK-based Rotor Video to offer artists a better, easier, and cooler tool to make Spotify’s Canvas videos, the engagement-boosting 8-second loops that artists can add to their tracks. Based on Rotor’s popular products, the enhanced, sleeker tool (available November 9, 2021) will let CD Baby and Soundrop artists quickly and inexpensively make these videos, turning them into truly eye-catching visual companions to their music.

Artists can upload their own video or choose from a million clips, then add visual filters, effects, and looping styles. This specialized video creator will let artists preview their creation exactly as it will appear on Spotify, even how it will look on different devices and smartphones. Rotor plans to expand to other short video formats soon, as more and more streaming services offer video with tracks. CD Baby and Soundrop artists are the first to gain access to this tool. 
 
“Our artists put their hearts and souls into their art, and we want to build partnerships with innovators who care about quality, who understand that even a seconds-long video matters when it comes to expressing an artist’s vision,” notes Joel Andrew, CD Baby and Soundrop President and lifelong musician. “This partnership with Rotor will help us help musicians do more of what they love.”

“Our companies share similar roots and we really admire CD Baby and Soundrop’s artist community. They are completely dedicated to their art,” says Diarmuid Moloney, CEO of Rotor. “Musicians have faced mounting pressure to create more and more vid content, but the majority of musicians and even major labels don't have the tools or the means to keep up. The old method is too expensive, costing hundreds of dollars for a Canvas video on average. These new tools are matched to the pace and quality fans expect. They give time back to musicians to let them make more music.”

For $9 or less, artists can transform their tracks into impressive videos ready for upload to Spotify in a matter of minutes. This new tool is the latest to join CD Baby and Soundrop’s artist-driven solutions for simplifying marketing and promotion, tailored for independent music makers at all career phases.

“When artists get in touch with us looking for help or advice, marketing and promotional support is often what they’re looking for,” explains Alex Trevino, Strategic & Partner Manager at CD Baby. “We always let artists’ needs and requests guide what tech and tools we develop and offer, and that’s what led us to this new enhanced tool from Rotor.”
 
About CD Baby
 
CD Baby is one of the largest distributors and rights administrators of independent music on the planet, home to almost 750,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks, getting independent music to more than 150 digital services and platforms around the globe and allowing artists to monetize their presence on YouTube. Artists using the CD Baby platform have earned more than $730 million since its founding. Its Publishing Administration service allows over 200,000 songwriters/artists to collect all of their publishing royalties. CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry.
 
About Rotor
Rotor is an audio/visual technology company that enables video content creation at scale for artists, labels, rights holders and services companies. Using proprietary software and an exclusive video content library, they make it fast, easy and affordable to regularly create videos for every song released. The Rotor team is made up of musicians, engineers and video directors who’ve built video tech for Google and YouTube; created music videos for Primal Scream, DeadMau5 and Underworld; and who’ve managed major record labels.
 

Seasoned independent music advocate Sakhele Mzalazala will support artists across Southern Africa as CD Baby builds out its operations on the continent  

CD Baby is expanding its international artist services team to Africa, bringing on seasoned music business manager and independent music advocate Sakhele Mzalazala. Reporting to VP of International Development Heli Del Moral, Mzalazala is CD Baby’s first hire in Africa where he will be responsible for growing CD Baby in South Africa and other markets across Southern Africa, including Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, and Namibia. Based in Johannesburg, Mzalazala will spearhead strategic partnerships both locally and internationally, building networks with young and established artists in the process, as well as developing and implementing a number of programs to increase visibility and adoption of CD Baby services, and establish strategic industry relationships in the region. 

“African artists have impacted music around the world, and we’re thrilled to find the right representative to help them understand how CD Baby can support their careers and creativity,” says VP of International Development, Hel Del Moral. “This step is part of our overall vision to bring the best artist services and rights administration to independent creators worldwide.” 

Mzalazala has more than 20 years of music industry experience, including roles with Yourself Management, Xhentsa, and Koloni, working directly with artists Mahlatse Vokal and Lisa Good, and overseeing the publishing team at the prominent South African label Mathaland/Ghetto Ruff, where he worked with Zola 7, Dj Cleo, Pitch Black AFRO, and Morafe. With his own roots in the music industry as a an artist before transitioning to the business side, Mzalazala has a strong track record of supporting independent artists’ work, including a double platinum-release from Zonke Dikana’s Ina Ethe, the late Sfiso Ncwane’s multiple award-winning Gospel album Bayede Baba. He has also worked with Sizwe Zako, Tshepo Tshola, Lawrence Matshiza, and many more, experiences he has distilled into a guide book for independent musicians.

“Working for an international organization like CD Baby has been a dream of mine and I am very excited to have been given such a big opportunity, which in turn comes with bigger responsibilities,” Mzalazala says. “I look forward to impacting positively on the careers of independent artists and labels, where they will have full control and ownership of the works.I have always strived to do what is best for my artists and clients and CD Baby is just that and more. I am excited and cannot wait.”

Southern Africa has long been a musical powerhouse, with artists like Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo shaping international music for decades. New generations of artists have continued to make an impact, including independent cross-cultural groups like Cape Town’s Freshlyground, who racked up billions of YouTube views worldwide. South African independent house DJ and singer-songwriter Black Coffee helped turn the world on to African techno and club music, winning Breakthrough DJ of the Year at the DJ Awards in Ibiza in 2015. Hip hop artists from the region like DJ Nasty C have gained international audiences and exposure. At the same time, other culturally important voices remain strong, including Gospel performers like Benjamin Dube and young torchbearers for traditional genres like Zulu maskandi such as Khuzani Mpungose. Though international music continues to dominate the market (80% of market share in South Africa), the independent sector is growing as the entire music market expands by 5-9% a year, according to data reported by Music Ally. 

“Independent artists' biggest challenges in our region are the lack of information or knowledge, lack of income from their works, and the long-term agreements they sign,” explains Mzalazala. “But artists are becoming independent by owning their masters and getting access to most digital platforms. There is a lot of reason for optimism now.”  

Mzalazala joins the 22-person CD Baby international team active in markets across Europe, North America, South America, East Asia, and South Asia.

The 21st annual Latin GRAMMY nominees exemplified diversity, from the virtuoso Flamenco guitarist in bustling Madrid to the school-teacher turned Peruvian folklorist 5,000 miles away.  Yet, fourteen of those hopeful musicians that evening shared one thing in common:  they are all musicians represented by CD Baby, the largest digital distributor and retailer of independent music in the world, dedicated to supporting independent artists at every stage of their career.  The fact that five of those artists now share another thing in common - a 2020 Latin GRAMMY - speaks to the success of those efforts.

“At CD Baby, we celebrate indie artists every day.  We celebrate their passion, their talent, and their thirst for opportunity,” explains Heli Del Moral, VP of International Development.  “Today, we congratulate CD Baby artists being recognized by their peers for their outstanding achievement.” CD Baby’s award-winning artists include:  Susana Baca’s A Capella as Best Folk Album, Antonio Rey’s Flamenco Sin Fronteras as Best Flamenco Album, Tina Kids’ Canta y Juega as Best Latin Children’s Album, Emilio Solla Tango Jazz Orchestra’s Puertos: Music From International Waters as Best Jazz Album, and Paulina Leisring and Domingo Pagliuca’s Eternal Gratitude as Best Classical Album.  

The recent achievements, however, have not come out of nowhere; over the last decade, CD Baby has pushed hard to support LATAM and Spanish-speaking artists, striving to pull Latin music from the corners of digital space (like YouTube and Pandora) to mainstream streaming services; streaming services are finally taking notice, adding tracks from CD Baby’s roster to cross-Latin playlists.  For example, one of the labels in this space, Deluxe Music Group, has quadrupled their streams since 2019, and the audience is responding.  Nielsen/Billboard data show that Latin music listening overall was up by 16% year over year in the first half of 2020.  

Yet, for CD Baby, it’s not just about selling music, but building careers.  “The Latin GRAMMYs are within reach for those making music from “el corazón” (the heart).  CD Baby is proud of our commitment to Latin artists around the world.  We have invested in creating a platform that educates and enables Latin artists to do much more than sell their music,” Del Moral explains.

There is perhaps no better example than GRAMMY winner Susana Baca.  As the first Peruvian woman to receive a GRAMMY, Baca is regarded as a central figure to the revival of Afro-Peruvian music.  Far from being a talented singer-songwriter, Baca has been called a poet, a historian, and an educator, founding the “Instituto Negrocontinuo” (Black Continuum Institute) to foster the preservation and creation of Afro-Peruvian culture, music, and dance.  Much like the culture that produced it, Afro-Peruvian music had previously been little recognized; yet, with the explosion of Baca’s international popularity, both the Afro-Peruvivan culture and its folk music traditions have gained widespread recognition and respect across the country.   

This dedication to elevating diverse independent voices and traditions is central to CD Baby’s mission; from the north of Mexico to the southern tip of Chile, local reps open doors for the next generation of Latin artists.  For international artists like the 2020 Latin GRAMMY winners the Emilio Solla Tango Jazz Orchestra (based in New York), Spanish and Portuguese speaking staff are on-the-ready.  As Heli Del Moral concluded, “Parabéns to this year’s CD Baby Latin GRAMMY winners.  The results of your efforts are inspiring to all Latin artists pursuing their dreams.” And thanks to CD Baby’s efforts, so many more Latin artists will have that opportunity, no matter their background, country, or community.

The leader in independent musician services fosters true creative freedom by collecting every penny due creators, worldwide
 
CD Baby’s music publishing service, CD Baby Pro Publishing, has collected more than $10MM on behalf of its songwriters and performing artists. Powered by sister company Songtrust, CD Baby Pro Publishing now manages 1.7MM songs. 
 
The millions of dollars in royalties is money music creators would otherwise struggle to collect in full on their own. The company’s global collections infrastructure supports an increasing number of artists and songwriters who strive for true independence and want to forge their own careers with complete creative control.
 
“It is extremely important to be collecting all income sources as an independent artist, especially if you write or compose your own music,” explains Jon Bahr, VP of Business Development & Licensing at CD Baby. “The time has come for all artists, no matter what their career stage, fanbase or geographic market, to get paid promptly and fairly for their work.”
 
CD Baby and Songtrust have pushed hard to create the conditions allowing independent and self-managed artists and songwriters to collect all publishing revenues earned by their work, something remarkably difficult for a music creator in the past. Songtrust’s publishing administration goes beyond simply collecting royalties and paying them out to creators, but also analyzes global pay source statements to ensure that all money is being properly collected and paid out to the rights holder. Songtrust’s catalog database can efficiently  ingest tens of thousands of new songs a month, and collects royalties from its pay source network that spans more than 215 countries and territories; the largest open-access royalty collection network in the industry. 
 
“When CD Baby Publishing launched a few years ago, we were the first music distributor to bring Publishing Administration directly into the distribution process,” Bahr notes. “Publishing is complicated, fractured, granular and global. As our hundreds of thousands of songwriters from dozens of countries know, CD Baby Publishing allows them to focus on their music and career growth while we proactively collect what they’re owed.”
 
One of these artists, Peachy!, released an RIAA and NMPA gold single (“Falling for U,” the track that launched buzzworthy vocalist mxmtoon) while still in high school. Prolific and creative, Peachy! benefited from CD Baby Publishing’s business expertise. “Before I started collecting publishing income with CD Baby, I didn’t really understand what publishing was,” he explains. “With their services, I not only began collecting more than I expected, but with ease. Every project I’ve released with CD Baby has collected publishing income.”
 
CD Baby’s expertise will guarantee the continuity of artist and songwriter revenues as the US prepares for a major transformation of its music licensing and royalty distribution regulations with the implementation of the MLC. “In 2021, with the launch of the MLC in the United States, CD Baby Publishing’s songs will already be registered and earning,” says Bahr, “as we continue educating the tens of thousands of unpublished songwriters on the value of collecting every penny of song royalties.”

CD Baby’s marketing and promotional platform Show.co has found that its new interactive ads get 4x the engagement compared to static ads. This new offering in the Ad Builder tool lets you create an ad automatically from Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, or YouTube links, making it easy for a busy artist to jump in and get the word out about their latest release or weekly livestream. These ads reach real music fans targeted based on genre interests. They display on music sites like Billboard, Pitchfork, Paste, and Rolling Stone.

Artists can simply head to show.co, choose Interactive Ads, add a link, choose their genre and basic audience characteristics, and figure out where they want fans to go. The ad is ready to unleash on music-centered sites, including popular media outlets and blogs. Bonus: each stream or view based on the ad’s link contributes to an artist’s income. 

“Ads can get really complicated, so we worked hard to make it as simple and straightforward as possible to create and launch an ad campaign,” says CD Baby’s SVP of Marketing, Kevin Breuner. “We wanted to provide just what artists need, putting their music in front of music fans at the very place and time they’re online searching for new artists to check out.”

For artists, the problem isn’t just how to create an ad or set up a campaign. It’s evaluating what garners the right kind of attention, finding potential fans where they are most likely to listen. Though artists have long relied on social platforms and apps for advertising, these places are not necessarily ideal for music-specific campaigns. 

“Most people look at an ad’s performance and see the clicks, and think the one with more clicks wins,” Breuner explains. “But that’s not accurate. For example, some people clicked but never bothered to go to your page, which happens on mobile a lot. You can look instead at the data for a streaming song like the ones used in our interactive ads and the key metrics are the bounce rate and watch time. If someone sees your video in passing in their feed, social platforms will count that as a view, even if it’s only lasting one second.”

Interactive ads lead to longer watch times and more genuine click throughs to an artists’ page. “We tested this feature extensively and found real differences in performance,” notes Breuner. “In the ads we've been running, the watch time percentage is huge compared to what a more expensive ad on a big social media platform would get,” one of the other main options for musicians looking to advertise to fans. The overall result: around 4x the engagement compared to similarly placed static ads at far lower cost than a social campaign.

This may sound like a minor deal, but for independent artists struggling to reach potential fans with their recordings, every cost saving and quality connection with a music lover can make a difference. “Promotion tools that make life easier for artists feel very important at a time when artists need to rely on recordings to keep afloat,” Breuner says

Appeared in LinkedIn

In a recent piece I contributed to Billboard, I had the opportunity to talk about why we need to think differently about globalization. It’s a conversation we have been having at CD Baby and AVL for years, one that culminated this year in a rolling set of announcements about our expansion into new markets. 

I feel like I covered the principles guiding this big global year pretty well in the Billboard piece, but I also think the nitty gritty of translating these principles into concrete business decisions is interesting. So in true DIY fashion, I’m going to share some lessons we learned here in more detail.

First and foremost, you have to share the mic with those different from you (speaking from the perspective of an American CEO). This can’t simply be a blunt export strategy, with policies or products dictated from afar, reskinned for what you think new customers might want or brought into basic compliance with local law.

We’ve learned that globalization is really localization, and that localization needs to get deep. At the most basic is the interpersonal level, you have to learn to listen and take people seriously who come from a background different from yours. This is a bit of a platitude nowadays, but to actually do it requires conscious, humble effort to look at the structure of conversations and actively encourage, include, and lift up people with strong local or community knowledge. Diverse voices don’t magically appear, if you just sit back. There needs to be an active process in place to turn them up in the mix (to take the mic metaphor a step further).  

Part of this process means hiring. You should be hiring in new markets, even if it means hiring on contract at first. But you have to hire people who are there, not people who travel there but live outside the local culture and scene. No matter how awesome an entrepreneur or business person you are or how cosmopolitan your team, you simply can’t execute a impactful strategy in a dozen markets remotely. 

Hiring is one of those things that’s easy in theory and challenging in practice. It’s challenging to identify and retain people who are the right fit for your business in a market where you’re just getting off the ground. Given some of the strictures around hiring in some countries, it can be really difficult to hire in general. But it’s essential. As as a business leader, doing as much of it as you can in person it critical, even if, like me, you don't like getting on a plane and being away from home.

It’s also great for business, we’ve discovered, boosting our sales by several times in countries where we have on-the-ground representatives. This makes it more than worth the effort of hiring, and shows what empowered local reps and employees can do, if you give them the right tools and listen to them.

About these tools. There are deep localization strategies to pursue on the product side, as well. Language localization is simply not enough. There’s a cultural component that only local knowhow and vision can shine a light on. In CD Baby’s case, we needed to figure out how artists create music in a specific place and how they experienced our service. An artist in Colombia may experience our platform differently than an artist in Mexico, though they both speak Spanish as a first language. The experience artists are having, and our local representatives are sharing with them, has to be relevant.

We’ve found the easiest way to find out how people are experiencing our service is to talk to them directly, by opening up regional contact centers for key markets. We opened our first non-US contact center in the UK this year, and were able to recruit representatives that speak multiple regional languages, such as French and Italian. In 2020, we’ll be opening our first South American contact center in Colombia, offering support in Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.

There’s one other element we’ve found is important to localization. When you’re working in a market, you have to spend time there (again, speaking as an American CEO). Even with all the tech out there, you can’t build good working relationships remotely and you can’t learn all you need to know via video chat. Heli Del Moral, our incredible VP of International Development really proved this point at our recent summit for international reps in Mexico City. He and our colleagues in Mexico City put together an experience that could never have been conveyed via conference call. 

We got to meet two very different artists in person and hear how their careers have gone. One was a pop band refugee who had launched a solo career and was working extremely hard to put the pieces together. For example, he struck a deal with a fashion house to sponsor a very professionally produced video, trading product placement within the video in exchange for the video's cost of production. The other artist was a transgender Folk performer who channels a specific subgenre of regional Mexican music. They told an incredible story about how their career in art evolved along with their understanding of self. To really get what made these artists and their situations unique, you had to be there, interacting with them and other professionals in person. It was great to have 25 members of the extended AVL and Downtown teams there in person to engage and understand.

So, in short, immerse yourself and encourage your core team or lead people on certain projects to do the same. They need to know first hand what their colleagues are talking about. 

This sounds fun, but it can really suck in reality. It’s hard to leave home and family obligations for the time it takes to make this work. I myself clocked 200,000 or so air miles outside the US in the last two years and frankly, I’m not looking forward to getting on an airplane again as we start the new year. That said, I am eager to keep engaging with and listening to our representatives, artists, and partners around the world, and excited to watch our localization approach mature. The impacts to our business and personal growth continue to be outstanding.

CD Baby is announcing its 6th annual  DIY Musician Conference, to be held on August 28-30 in Austin, Texas. While the event is still 9 months away, CD Baby wants to reward early registration by offering a low price for 2020 tickets. Early-bird tickets for 2020 are now available for just $129.

The annual DIY Musician Conference welcomes more than 1500 musicians of all ages, career stages, and walks of life engaging in actionable presentations by people like them, people who have worked for years to get music heard and to build fanbases. The event spans three days of intensive, celebratory interaction and learning, designed not to give a platform to industry talking heads, but to give artists the tools they need to leave the ballroom and change their creative lives and careers.

“CD Baby pays close attention to what our artists need,” explains Kevin Breuner of CD Baby. “We know they are often hungry for a real plan of action, for helpful advice and encouragement, not for another panel on abstract business issues facing major labels.” The focus is on accessible, actionable ideas and tips that work for musicians at a variety of career crossroads, meaningful takeaways that energize and transform.

Last year, the conference made the move from its long-time home in Nashville to Austin, where it was able to connect with a fresh community of musicians in another deeply musical Americn city. Attendees will be encouraged to take full advantage of Austin’s quirky, rootsy music scene, connecting them with artists, presenters, and other participants that reflect the city’s idiosyncratic creativity and charm.

The presentations, workshops, mentoring sessions, and jam rooms will be waiting for musicians on August 28-30, 2020 at the downtown Hilton.

Past attendees may remember, the earlier you get in on tickets, the more opportunities you'll be able to apply for. In previous years, early ticket purchases have included perks such as:

• Showcase and open mic slots
• Studio tours
• One-on-one mentoring
• Song pitch sessions
• YouTube Studios and Spotify Sessions

2020 DIY Musician Conference
August 28-30, 2020 
The Austin Hilton
Early-bird tickets available for $129 at diymusiciancon.com.

CD Baby is proud to announce the hiring of a notable Indian music professional to its rapidly expanding network of international representatives. It is the first large international artist services and distribution company to do so.

“India has some of the richest music cultures in the world and artists are eagerly looking for opportunities to share their creativity with audiences around the globe,” explains Heli Del Moral, VP of International Development at CD Baby. “We encourage artists to stay independent and to access our world-class promotion tools to help them propel their music careers. Education is a top priority for CD Baby.  Our mission in India is to simplify the process for artists and composers, and to give them the practical steps and information they need to successfully market and sell their music.”

The two hires’ life work speaks to this mission. Ritnika Nayan, with years of music business leadership and education experience, literally wrote the book on indie music in India, all while managing a large festival and her own music company. Nayan will also represent CD Baby’s sister companies, including DashGo, which offers services tailored to labels’ needs.

“I have always been passionate about the independent music scene and music education has been my focus in the last few years. I feel CD Baby is one of the few companies that genuinely shares the same vision of empowering artists,” Nayan reflects. “CD Baby is for the artists and it helps artists take control of their music, not just through digital releases, but also through education. I feel truly blessed to be able to help the indie scene in India through CD Baby, this is exactly what our country needs right now.”  

The hire marks another step forward in CD Baby’s regionalization strategy, bringing its artist-oriented support to local markets in meaningful, informed ways. “India is a huge, vibrant market and presents a great opportunity for CD Baby,” says Tracy Maddux, CEO of AVL Digital, parent company to both CD Baby and DashGo. “We believe that Ritnika is the perfect person to help us grow and learn about what artists and labels need in this diverse, intensely creative country. This is a very exciting expansion for us that marks our commitment and belief in the future of the indie music market in India.”

CD Baby currently has 19 representatives operating in 25 countries around the world.

About CD Baby

CD Baby is the largest distributor and rights administrator of independent music on the planet.  It is home to almost 750,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks, getting independent music to more than 150 digital services and platforms around the globe and allowing artists to monetize their presence on YouTube. Artists using the CD Baby platform have earned more than $730 million since its founding. Its Publishing Administration service allows over 250,000 songwriters/artists to collect all of their publishing royalties. CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry.

From Korean coffee commercials to Season 3 of Stranger Things, CD Baby is landing prime placements for its artists that may have serious impact on their careers. Music synchronizations, though still a small fraction of music revenue, are a fast growing part of the music earnings pie. 

CD Baby, in its efforts to support all sides of independent musicians’ careers, knows sync placements are key to many artists’ careers. It’s broad catalog’s ability to service so many music users is why CD Baby has doubled down on its sync efforts in parallel to its fast growing publishing administration offering that works with over 200,000 songwriters and publishes over 1.3 million songs. 

On the other side of the sync equation, music supervisors and show runners have discovered that if they need a really good singer-songwriter track in the Philippines language Tagalog or if they need a truly unusual subject matter like vampire, they can go to the sync team at CD Baby. “Music teams come to us for mainstream music, the kind you’d expect shows to need, but also for the niche stuff,” explains Brett Byrd, CD Baby Licensing and Publishing Representative. “We don’t have a niche like some catalogs - we have every niche, so we can serve the overwhelming majority of those opportunities.”

“Our catalog is so broad and massive that we can get very specific,” adds Jon Bahr, VP of Creator Services. “We have made it easily searchable with streaming data as a guide so quality options are a click away. We have a version of most things people are looking for. We’re approached a lot for tracks in a language besides English or with very culturally specific elements. From Spanish covers of pop hits to Russian Hip-Hop, we have it all.”

Recent placements of note include TV shows like Stranger Things, What We Do in the Shadows, Narcos, Seal Team, and American Idol; ads for brands like Delta, Jeep and Volkswagen; brand content with the likes of Condé Nast, Facebook and Marriott; and films like Inspector Pikachu. CD Baby’s sync team has discovered how profoundly global sync has become. For example, Volkswagen France’s television commercial used a CD Baby-pitched delicate acoustic guitar score by a Filipeno artist. 

CD Baby’s other sync advantage, beyond its massive and extremely diverse catalog, lies in the indie nature of its artists, who often can grant the rights to hold both rights of the song - the master sound recording and the underlying composition). To allow for artist flexibility, the Sync Service is on an opt-in basis when distributing and is non-exclusive so that the artists have the rights to license themselves if an opportunity arises. The clear rights picture and the ability to only deal with CD Baby, who already have the pre-cleared rights to license, means a music supervisor knows working with CD Baby will be a quick and hassle free process. 

Making life easy for supervisors leads to amazing twists of fate for artists, whose unique work may wind up taking off in ways they never imagined. “For a lot of artists, especially in more niche stuff, a placement is more than they’ve made just from sales and that is exciting,” Byrd says. “With the placement on What We Do in the Shadows, you could watch the comments on the band’s YouTube channel and see how many got to the song from that show. On top of the upfront payment for the sync itself, a placement can contribute to other backend streams, sales and royalties.”

Licensing’s core outlet of shows, ads, films, and other media with always be valuable and have large visibility, but other music uses where a licensee might need access to the entire range of CD Baby’s catalog are another exciting area of business. These range from event music for live streams (since CD Baby controls millions of assets on YouTube) to background music for businesses to powering whole libraries for companies. “We are able to service a company the way stock music might serve them on a blanket license or rate card basis,” notes Bahr. “We power the music in high-end hotels throughout Asia, for example. They use CD Baby artists’ music for the various areas of the hotel and we uniquely can offer localization so the spa in Malaysia is just as authentic as the spa in Thailand. It’s all local music we distribute and administer, but we just happen to have local artists in every country in the world. If you don’t need a specific hit, but want a lot of quality released music - we guarantee we can supply what you need. You might not know the artist, but they are real bands and as a distributor we make sure it’s all detectable by Shazam, another positive side for artists and music supervisors alike. Try Shazaming stock music.” 

About CD Baby
 
CD Baby is one of the largest distributors and rights administrators of independent music on the planet, home to almost 750,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks, getting independent music to more than 150 digital services and platforms around the globe and allowing artists to monetize their presence on YouTube. Artists using the CD Baby platform have earned more than $730 million since its founding. Its Publishing Administration service allows over 200,000 songwriters/artists to collect all of their publishing royalties. CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry.

CD Baby continues its significant focus on and investment in the development of artists’ careers with the further growth of its Creator Services team, which empowers artists to maintain their independence, ownership rights and creative control with support and resources similar to a large record label.
 
The latest hire of Los Angeles-based Geoff Halliday brings creative project development skills and existing editorial relationships to lead release marketing for the rapidly expanding international team focused on providing artist/label services to its exclusive artist roster. Halliday joins the CD Baby Creator Services team as head of promotions and will oversee the company’s artist marketing globally. Halliday was previously Director of Digital Marketing at Red Light Management where he oversaw marketing and promotions for artists including Marshmello, ODESZA, Rhye, Bob Moses and Bassnectar, among others.
 
“Having spent years as an advocate for independent music and having worked across DSP relations in a variety of roles, I am extremely enthusiastic and eager to join CD Baby's growing Creator Services team,” Halliday says. “I am truly delighted to be a part of enriching the experience for both new and existing members of the CD Baby roster.”
 
CD Baby, previously known as the starting point for artists, launched its Creator Services team in 2018 to formalize and deepen its commitment to serving artists at all points in their career as an alternative to the traditional label system. CD Baby Creator Services has swiftly grown from three to 12 people covering A&R, Account Management, and Promotions, with team members located around the world, including the UK, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia. The team works with diverse artists across genres, such as global star Aloe Blacc, rising Latin phenomenon El Alfa, Danish singer-songwriter Oh Land, Disney actors Jayden Bartels and Max & Harvey as well as many prominent performers. 
 
CD Baby Creator Services has landed its artists on countless streaming service playlist covers, as well as facilitated many unique opportunities involving studio sessions, outdoor advertising campaigns, and new product launches. CD Baby is a preferred partner at the major digital services, and Halliday and the team will continue to build on this reputation to maximize value for artists.
 
“The CD Baby Creator Services team was born out of the need to serve and - most importantly - add value to our biggest clients and be a home for established artists across the industry and globe,” explains Jon Bahr, VP of Creator Services. “CD Baby has become a true player in the Artist/Label Services space and Geoff’s addition to the team is a huge boost for continued success for our artists’ campaigns with our streaming service partners.

About Geoff Halliday

Geoff Halliday has been in and around the music industry for the better part of 15 years. Most recently, Halliday was Red Light Management’s Director of Digital Marketing working with artists including Marshmello, ODESZA, Rhye, Bob Moses and Bassnectar, among others. Halliday started his career at WPRB Princeton Radio before relocating to Los Angeles to work in the music distribution space at BFM Digital (eventually acquired by The Orchard). In 2011, Halliday took on a new challenge as his music project Hands was signed to the Kill Rock Stars label and toured nonstop for the following years. This on-the-ground experience helped develop and sharpen his skills in digital marketing and content strategy during a time when social media and streaming were becoming more relevant by the second. In 2015, Halliday reentered the digital distribution world as DashGo’s music service Promotions Manager before joining Red Light Management. Halliday’s diverse experience and knowledge base provides the foundation for his refreshing take on the digital music landscape.
 
About CD Baby
 
CD Baby is one of the largest distributors and rights administrators of independent music on the planet, home to almost 750,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks, getting independent music to more than 150 digital services and platforms around the globe and allowing artists to monetize their presence on YouTube. Artists using the CD Baby platform have earned more than $730 million since its founding. Its Publishing Administration service allows over 200,000 songwriters/artists to collect all of their publishing royalties. CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry.

CD Baby’s HostBaby is partnering with leading music-oriented web hosting provider Bandzoogle.

It’s a perfect match: Two committed independent music companies, founded and run by musicians, whose mission is to better serve the DIY and self-managed artists in a shifting digital business. Bandzoogle will now host artist sites for HostBaby, as the storied web hosting service winds down.

“Bandzoogle shares our focus on artists, with tools that help them wherever they are in their career,” explains Tracy Maddux, CEO of AVL/CD Baby. “They have built the best hosting product for indie musicians, and they back it up with amazing customer service. Like us, they keep ahead of a fast-changing business and think hard about what tools will best support artists’ dreams and goals. I can’t think of a better partner in web hosting, and I’m glad we finally get to work more closely together to promote indie music as a whole.”

"Bandzoogle and CD Baby share similar values and goals: our sustained, honest efforts to provide all of the tools DIY artists need online today,” says Stacey Bedford, CEO of Bandzoogle. “We both have longevity in the industry (over 35 years combined!) and we are thrilled to be able to work together to help musicians."

HostBaby users will notice very little change as the partners work closely to migrate the sites slowly and seamlessly. They’ll keep the same domain, inbox, and other assets, as well as all hosting time purchased and all deals with CD Baby. They will also have the same high level of customer service and responsiveness they have grown accustomed to with HostBaby and CD Baby. “We aim to make this move so effortless and easy for users, they barely notice,” notes Kevin Breuner, VP of Marketing at CD Baby.

In addition, users will discover a wide range of new, exciting tools for promoting their music and engaging their fans. These include highly customizable mobile-friendly templates, direct-to-fan eCommerce to sell music, merch, and tickets, as well as run crowdfunding and fan subscriptions, and integrations with popular platforms like Bandsintown and YouTube. As the transition occurs, HostBaby will not accept new sign ups.

“Our goal is to create or provide the strongest, most effective tools for artists to make the most of their creative lives and music careers,” Breuner states. “This partnership will allow us to move forward in a focused way, putting energy into new offerings while keeping our high standards of support and service.”

About CD Baby

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to 650,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks that are made available to 100+ digital services and platforms around the globe. Artists on the platform are empowered to monetize their rights while maintaining control of their own careers, and have collectively earned over $600 million since the company’s founding. CD Baby’s Publishing Administration service allows over 160,000 songwriters to collect all of their publishing royalties and currently administers over 1 million songs, and its sync service has garnered artists placements in series like Stranger Things.

CD Baby is a division of AVL Digital Group.

About Bandzoogle

Bandzoogle started with a single website built by Bandzoogle founder Chris Vinson for his alt-rock band, Rubberman. Now celebrating their 15th anniversary, Bandzoogle has grown to a team that is 80% musicians, and has powered websites for over 100,000 artists in 213 countries and territories. Along the way, Bandzoogle members have sold over $36 million in music, merch, and tickets directly to their fans, commission-free.

Keynotes feature Questlove, DMC, Alejandro Escovedo, Gina Chavez

Austin does its own thing, and often does it with music. That’s why CD Baby is bringing its DIY Musician Conference to the city this August for the first time. The conference unites musicians who are taking charge of their own careers and offers a wide range of actionable talks and workshops on musicianship, royalties, marketing, live performance, and other key elements making a musical life and living. 

This year’s speakers and presenters include many that represent Austin and its independent spirit. In a keynote, Questlove will explore what tools and tech support a musician’s creativity and business goals. Consummate storyteller and rap legend DMC will also be featured as a keynote speaker. Alejandro Escovedo will talk about his career in a fireside chat, and Gina Chavez will relate how she found the courage to sing and play her truth. 

Other Austin speakers include freestyle master SaulPaul, named Austinite of the Year in 2017; audio production whiz and owner of Same Sky Productions, David Messier; video director and producer Traci Goudie;  Stephen Belans, sought-after Americana drummer/producer; advance vinyl pressing plant owner Caren Kelleher of Gold Rush Vinyl; and talent buyer Mike Henry.

Thought-provoking stories will be complemented by one-on-one mentoring and in-depth workshops on everything from songwriting and beat making to marketing, PR, and royalties.  NPR All Songs Considered host and indie music kingpin Bob Boilen will talk about what he listens for in new music. Other presenters include Shan Dan Horan, an alternative/metal label founder and video producer whose unscripted show, Musician Rescue, will air in 2020, and Judy Stakee, a former Warner/Chappell songwriter developer who offers career advice to songwriters. Seattle-based Afrofuturist SassyBlack will lead an interactive digital beatmaking workshop.

Artists will also get an opportunity to learn about important promotional and listening platforms directly from the people who build and run them, like Spotify and YouTube. “Along with our musician community, we work with a lot of digital platforms who serve this community,” says Kevin Breuner, VP of Marketing at CD Baby and host of the popular DIY Musician podcast. “Every time someone from a digital service provider, say, has come to the conference, they’ve walked away amazed. They simply never guessed how diverse and engaged the independent musicians of the world are.” 

Days of learning end in evenings of jamming and listening to fellow indie artists’ showcases. “We’re always listening to our community’s requests when it comes to programming, and they always want more chances to hear and make music together,” Breuner notes. “These are some of the best, more unexpected moments.” The fun will be captured live by the crew from Comedians Interviewing Musicians, who will interview attendees in front of an audience for their popular podcast and YouTube channel.

The conference regularly attracts participants from all fifty states, as well as several dozen countries. These are musicians brand new to the scene and seasoned veterans making a living from music. They are all ages, all ethnic backgrounds, all musical styles and approaches you can imagine, from hip hop MCs to old-time one-man bands.

Everywhere at the conference, not just behind the podium, however, you can find tales of artistic satisfaction--on musicians’ own terms. “Every year it feels like there’s no better time than now to be an artist entering the marketplace or pushing to the next level. At the conference, you can strike up a conversation, and hear new ideas about how to make music a rewarding pursuit, no matter where you are in your career. I often find myself taking notes as people tell me their stories,” says Breuner. “You get so many artists from places around the world, with so many background and genre pursuits. They have one thing in common: They are creating the art they want and finding an audience.”

Tickets can be purchased at diymusiciancon.com

CD Baby users can now instantly master their tracks right from the CD Baby dashboard, thanks to a new partnership with automated mastering platform CloudBounce. The service costs only $4.90 a track, half of what other services are charging for this feature, making it accessible to artists, who are increasingly releasing singles, rather than entire albums of material. 
 
“A large segment of the indie artist community is drastically changing how they release music. There is definitely a shift to releasing songs as soon as they are finished instead of the traditional album release,” notes Kevin Breuner, VP of Marketing at CD Baby. “As artists release more and more singles, this gives them mastering options that fit within their budget and workflow. CloudBounce ensures these artists’ master recordings have the final touches needed to sound totally pro.”
 
Instant, algorithm-driven mastering eliminates a long-standing recording bottleneck, mastering, which makes the difference between an iffy demo and a serious track. A higher-res file (like a 24-bit WAV or AIFF file) is uploaded onto a separate server, and within minutes, the mastering process is complete. Artists can then accept the final cut or tinker with a number of settings to tweak the results.
 
CloudBounce’s mastering engine is based on the most sophisticated audio processors for intelligent audio analysis and mastering. It allows artists to tackle the toughest challenges in audio production, enhancing the overall balance, EQ, resonance control, stereo imaging and achieving professional loudness standards.
 
“Mastering engineers can do amazing work, but aren’t always accessible to all artists or right for all projects. Automated mastering is a perfect solution for self-managed and emerging artists,” explains CloudBounce CEO Anssi Uimonen. “A mastered recording simply sounds more professional, giving it that polish that makes it far more likely to get it onto a high-trafficked playlist. It should be the standard for all artists.” 
 
“We’re excited to fold yet another key service for artists into our dashboard,” says Breuner. “It’s part of our mission to support indie artists every step of the way, as they find the right strategy for releasing and promoting their music.”
 
About CD Baby
 
CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to 750,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks that are made available to 100+ digital services and platforms around the globe. Artists on the platform are empowered to monetize their rights while maintaining control of their own careers, and have collectively earned over $600 million since the company’s founding. CD Baby’s Publishing Administration service allows over 160,000 songwriters to collect all of their publishing royalties and currently administers over 1 million songs.
 
About CloudBounce

An alum of the Abbey Road Red incubator, CloudBounce is the most versatile online mastering service, allowing musicians in more than 70 countries to instantly and cost effectively master their files.

Artist service provider CD Baby is partnering with Audible Magic – the music industry’s go-to expert in digital content identification, licensing, and monetization – to increase content protection for artists and labels. As part of the partnership, CD Baby will use Audible Magic’s RightsRx™ service to identify content rights conflicts prior to delivery to a Digital Service Provider (DSP), ensuring that CD Baby remains a trusted distribution partner of digital platforms worldwide.

As streaming continues to grow exponentially, both companies are at the center of one of the music business’s greatest opportunities and biggest challenges: How do distributors and artist service companies concurrently manage growing data volumes, comply with DSP requirements, and still provide the best service to musicians, all in a cost-effective manner?

“Audible Magic is an essential element that enables us to play our role in the music business,” said CD Baby VP of Marketing Kevin Breuner. “Their powerful identification technology allows us to serve our artists – and the platforms and services they rely on – quickly and fairly.”

When a user requests to upload files, RightsRx™ allows CD Baby to check Audible Magic’s comprehensive registry of over 30 million media assets. RightsRx™ then indicates if the file is a duplicate of another audio track in the system, or if it is a potentially suspicious file. CD Baby can proactively decline to upload the file in question, rather than reactively taking it down at a later time due to a potentially costly rights conflict. In the vast majority of cases, however, files will upload seamlessly and be ready for distribution.

“CD Baby plays a vital role in the independent music community. We look forward to supporting their ongoing efforts to provide the highest quality of service to their artists and maintain strong relationships with the DSPs,” said Vance Ikezoye, President and CEO at Audible Magic.
RightsRx™ is part of a bigger strategy at CD Baby to be the best partner possible to diverse music services and an even more diverse community of artists. This demands constant learning, extensive tech savvy, and real creativity.

“We’re doing everything in our power to provide digital partners with data and assets that boost our artists. We want to create the best experience via these partnerships,” said MJ Woodis, CD Baby’s Director of Digital Operations who leads a 19-person team that addresses this challenge. “We work closely with DSPs, and it’s often more of a conversation, not just rules laid down. The heart of the matter is not to restrict as we get them music and data, and to enable search and other discovery methods to help our artists. It’s a growing process.”

About CD Baby
CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to 650,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks that are made available to 100+ digital services and platforms around the globe. Artists on the platform are empowered to monetize their rights while maintaining control of their own careers and have collectively earned over $600 million since the company’s founding. CD Baby’s Publishing Administration service allows over 160,000 songwriters to collect all of their publishing royalties and currently administers over 1 million songs.

About Audible Magic
For more than 20 years, Audible Magic has continuously created innovative, industry-leading solutions that protect digital media and accelerate its monetization. An Emmy-winning pioneer in proprietary content recognition solutions, its core identification platform performs billions of nearly instantaneous content match transactions every month. Audible Magic has become the trusted intermediary between the majority of rightsholders (music labels, distributors, publishers and collectives) and digital service providers (such as Facebook, SoundCloud, TikTok/Musical.ly, Dailymotion, Twitch, and Twitter), navigating the complexities of content identification, ownership determination, and rights administration.

Now indie artists can run inexpensive audio and banner ads with precise targeting

Show.co is rolling out new, powerful tools to self-managed artists and independent labels. The marketing magic, once the sole purview of big industry players, is no longer out of reach for working musicians.

Users of the site can now run audio ad campaigns on Spotify, iHeart, and other platforms to reach fans right where they are most likely to engage, while they are listening to music. They can target listeners in a specific city or region with customized 30-second ads. 

Artists can also target potential fans via banner ads on carefully selected sites, from big music destinations like Rolling Stone and CMT.com, to niche blogs, sorted by genre. All starting at the accessible price of $50 for audio ads, and $20 for banner ads.

“We’re really excited about this new set of campaigns,” says CD Baby VP of Marketing, Kevin Breuner, who conducted several test campaigns for his own band using the tools. “A lot of these tools were once exclusive to major labels and big brands, with audio campaigns on Spotify costing more than many musicians are able or willing to invest. Now for the price of a stack of flyers and a tank of gas, you can reach out to thousands of people, right when they are already thinking about music.”

The campaigns on Show.co are designed with busy artists in mind. They can set up their marketing plan and let the campaigns run in the background. They can easily and intuitively see what’s getting traction and tweak their approach accordingly “Streaming platforms and music-related media offer a lot of opportunities for artists to connect with fans,” Breuner notes. “We want to give people the tools not just to get their music out there, but to make an impact and find their audiences.”

CD Baby artists get free access to Show.co and its complete set of marketing tools through their CD Baby artist dashboard. Labels and managers can set up accounts directly via Show.co.

CD Baby is announcing several key hires in music’s fastest-growing countries and regions: Latin America, the UK and EU, Canada, and East Asia/Pacific. 
 
In the global music business, all independent music is local. CD Baby’s artist-centered approach means international expansion equals regionalisation, and the independent distributor and artist services company has hired representatives worldwide. These regional specialists will either expand CD Baby’s existing presence in their area, or launch a new regional presence. 
 
“CD Baby is committed to becoming a global leader and to serving independent artists around the world. We need to be present where the artists are, and to provide artists everywhere the ability to get support and access to our services the way our US artists do,” says Heli Del Moral, CD Baby’s VP for International Development. “We feel it is very important to be physically present in these regions. To this end, we are expanding our global team with industry professionals who believe deeply in our vision and share our passion for indie artists.”
 
CD Baby’s Latest Regional Hires:
 
Henriette Heimdal will be joining CD Baby’s London office as Market Development Coordinator. Heimdal brings with her strong relationships across the European industry, having worked in recent years for trade association Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), representing the global independent sector.
 
"I have long admired the DIY spirit and independent-to-the-core ethos of CD Baby,” Heimdal states. “The artist direct market is expanding daily throughout the world, and I am extremely excited to be joining the UK team as these opportunities continue to grow."
 
“As we build increased and deeper relationships with our considerable UK & European artist base, I am hugely pleased to welcome Henriette on board,” says Rich Orchard, Director for UK & EU Market Development. “Her wealth of experience across those markets will be invaluable as we expand our European footprint in the months ahead.”
 
Darryl Hurs is CD Baby’s new Canadian representative, based in Toronto. Hurs started Indie Week Canada almost two decades ago as a hobby, only to transform it into a flagship event for the independent music scene, with thousands of bands applying each year. 
 
"I am looking forward to being part of the international marketing team of CD Baby representing Canada,” Hurs says. “I've run Indie Week for the last 18 years with the focus on helping indie artists and I look at this as an opportunity to step it up to a higher level. I am especially excited to help artists and businesses build success stories."
 
“Canada is a very important market for us, and Toronto is an incredible capital for indie music,” explains Heli Del Moral. “Darryl walks the talk, and we think he’s an ideal representative and artist advocate.”
 
Johanna Rivera will join CD Baby representative Juan Peña in Colombia. Based in Bogota, her work will support artists from other South American and Spanish-speaking countries as well as Colombia, including parts of the Caribbean like the Dominican Republic. She worked for two years as Head of Customer Operations for a digital distribution company where she learned how to work with the artists to understand their goals and kickstart their careers.  
 
“I am happy to be part of a team created by artists for artists,” ethuses Riviera. “Colombia is a big market and the artists are ready to grow. We are the partner to make that happen.”
 
Keith Tan has devoted years in Singapore to a wide range of music-related projects. Tan will be founding the first Asian office for CD Baby, a significant move into a increasingly important market.
 
“Asia Pacific has a growing market of independent artists that are putting out content and music at a very high rate. We see potentially high growth in markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, The Philippines, Australia,” notes Tan. “We look forward to working with artists from these parts to assist them in their artistic journey.” 
 
In addition to experts on the ground, CD Baby is adding a series of Artist Support Centres around the world, starting with the UK in the coming months. These centers will give specific advice in local languages tailored to the needs of artists in those locales. They will add a new dimension to CD Baby’s current relationships with local PROs, publishers, and other significant organizations that power careers for independent artists and labels.
 
“One of CD Baby’s true differentiators is that we are very focused on customer service. You should be able to pick up the phone and talk to a person, or get an email back promptly with an informed reply. We need people to answer in a local timezone who know the intricacies of the region and who can relate on a very local level,” reflects Del Moral. “We have built the team with this in mind, and the people who care most for artists will help us have our best business. We see this less as internationalisation, and more as regionalisation.” 

CD Baby is proud to announce its recent partnership with SACM, Mexico’s only Performance Rights Organization. 
 
One remarkable benefit to Mexican artists from this alliance is that CD Baby will be offering free standard submissions to all registered SACM members.  SACM is equally honored to recognize CD Baby as their “preferred” and recommended distributor.  Representing more than half of all Mexican artists, this is the first time SACM has inked such an agreement.
 
“Along with renewed hope for the future of their country, Mexican artists are feeling more empowered than ever. They want to learn more, enjoy life and be in charge of their music careers,” says Heli Del Moral, CD Baby’s VP of International Development.”Music artists in Mexico are not only producing more creative and higher quality projects, they are building loyal relationships with their fans and seeking reliable and trustworthy partners to help them manage and grow their music business. They want transparency and flexible options that allow them to adapt quickly to a very dynamic industry. We’re thrilled to offer them the tools they need to accomplish this.”

Emer Villalobos Saunders, Director of International at SACM, sees this agreement as “a historic agreement and a culmination of a long-time mission to bring artists in Mexico a viable and trustworthy way to distribute their music. Both SACM and CD Baby share a set of values and a philosophy that puts the artists first.” 

This is the first step of a true alliance to develop additional services and integrate efforts to benefit composers and performers in Mexico. “The alliance between CD Baby and SACM gives independent artists in Mexico a rock-solid foundation and a support system that will help them lead the way far into the future,” Del Moral notes. “For CD Baby, we feel this demonstrates our commitment to one of the world’s top streaming music markets.” 

About CD Baby

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to 750,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks that are made available to 100+ digital services and platforms around the globe. Artists on the platform are empowered to monetize their rights while maintaining control of their own careers, and have collectively earned over $600 million since the company’s founding. CD Baby’s Publishing Administration service allows over 170,000 songwriters to collect all of their publishing royalties and currently administers over 1 million songs.

About SACM

The Society of Authors and Composers of Mexico (SACM) is a collective rights management non-profit organization created in accordance with Mexican legislation in the year of 2007.  Its history goes back to 1945, when the Mexican Union of Music Authors, Composers and Editors (SMACEM) organized with the purpose of creating a new culture that protects intellectual works as an important part of the cultural heritage of the nation, and as an essential element of cultural identity. The current president of the society is renowned Yucatecan singer-songwriter Armando Manzanero.

1500 musicians of all ages, career stages, and walks of life. Engaging, actionable presentations by people like them, people who have worked for years to get music heard and to build fanbases. CD Baby’s DIY Musician Conference spans three days of intensive, celebratory interaction and learning, designed not to give a platform to industry talking heads, but to give artists the tools they need to leave the ballroom and change their creative lives and careers.

This year, the conference is moving from Nashville to Austin, to connect with a fresh community of musicians in another deeply musical city. The presentations, workshops, mentoring sessions, and jam rooms will be waiting for musicians on August 16-18, 2019 at the downtown Hilton.

“CD Baby pays close attention to what our artists need,” explains Kevin Breuner of CD Baby. “We know they are often hungry for a real plan of action, for helpful advice and encouragement, not for another panel on abstract business issues facing major labels.” The focus is on accessible, actionable ideas and tips that work for musicians at a variety of career crossroads, meaningful takeaways that energize and transform.

“The magnitude of this experience has been amazing. It exceeded my expectations beyond belief,” says indie-soul singer-songwriter AHI. “Bob Boilen said I was his favorite new discovery. I’m on clouds. The DIY Musician Conference changed my life.” Boilen went on to invite AHI for a Tiny Desk Concert.

This year’s edition will take full advantage of Austin’s quirky, rootsy music scene, bringing in artists, presenters, and other participants that reflect the city’s idiosyncratic creativity and charm.  

2019 DIY Musician Conference
August 16-18, 2019 
The Austin Hilton
Tickets on sale now at www.diymusiciancon.com

CD Baby, the publishing and distribution powerhouse behind the world’s self-managed artists, has hired its first VP of International Development, Heli Del Moral. Del Moral will be building CD Baby’s business outside of North America and Europe. Del Moral’s hire comes hot on the heels of the company’s recent expansion in Europe with the opening of its UK office and will augment the already robust team of Latin America-based CD Baby representatives working to support independent artists in their home countries.

Del Moral will join the Portland team starting September 4, 2018.

Del Moral brings an overlapping set of skills and passions ideal for the new role. He has served in leadership positions at some of the most influential brands in the media industry. For more than a decade, Del Moral worked at Disney as director of international marketing and promotion for ESPN and ESPN Deportes, driving profitability for the Latin America region, developing the European market and supporting business growth in Australia, sections of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Prior to Disney, Del Moral served 8 years as National Director of Marketing and Promotion at Univision Network, working closely with high-profile celebrities and music artists in the Hispanic market, building relationships and promotional content for artists and television programs, and as executive producer of network image.

Like many CD Baby leaders, Del Moral has also had a substantial creative career. He is the recipient of three Emmy awards and numerous Telly, Promax and other honors for his creative efforts.  He is passionate about the music and entertainment industry and has profound admiration and respect for artists and their craft.

“I believe that CD Baby is ideally positioned to expand its global reach and I am excited to work together with our international group to help artists around the world release their music, gain their independence and realize their dreams,” says Del Moral. “I can’t wait to see what we can achieve together.”

“We’re delighted to welcome Heli to the team. His deep knowledge and experience in growing international markets has been well demonstrated at ESPN and Univision,” remarks Tracy Maddux, CEO of CD Baby. “We’re excited to unleash his talents to help market and develop the CD Baby brand worldwide.”

About CD Baby

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to 650,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks that are made available to 100+ digital services and platforms around the globe. Artists on the platform are empowered to monetize their rights while maintaining control of their own careers, and have collectively earned over $600 million since the company’s founding. CD Baby’s Publishing Administration service allows over 160,000 songwriters to collect all of their publishing royalties and currently administers over 1 million songs.

CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Twenty One Pilots, and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers while partnering with CD Baby.

The CD Baby umbrella of business units also includes CD Baby Publishing Administration, CD Baby Licensing, distribution platform Soundrop, CD Baby Manufacturing, marketing suite Show.co, CD Baby YouTube Administration, multi-channel network Illustrated Sound, website host HostBaby, the CD Baby Store for downloads and physical sales, promotional tool HearNow. CD Baby is a division of AVL Digital Group, which is also the parent company of Disc Makers.

Thoughts on reaching a major milestone by CD Baby's VP of Creator Services Jon Bahr

It’s true - the tides of the music business have risen in the past few years as streaming has gained a massive foothold with no signs of letting up. Alongside the rise has been a string of lawsuits, metadata/registration problems, unknown compositions, suppressed content, failed legislation (and current legislation that hopefully may soon pass), missing songwriters, royalty delays and royalties incorrectly paid out. In nearly every situation, the issue surrounds the underlying composition - the song, which was crafted by a songwriter.

We are thrilled to announce that CD Baby Publishing Administration is solving those problems globally for over one million songs and 160,000 songwriters in over 50 countries with direct affiliations at more than 30 Performing Rights Organizations worldwide. This groundbreaking milestone - with over 750,000 songs where we administer 100% of the publishing shares - is truly helping solve the industry’s publishing problem one songwriter at a time. Our global Publishing Administration service is getting these songwriters their rightfully owed money globally and emptying the often discussed many “black boxes” at collection societies.

At its core, CD Baby’s role is to help music creators both get their music into the world and make sure they collect upon every revenue stream for that music. We give artists and songwriters full choice to layer different services under creator-friendly terms as opposed to overreaching rights grabs. With 9 million recordings distributed (one million new tracks in 2017 alone!), four million songs with YouTube & Facebook monetization, three million songs under non-exclusive Sync Licensing, one million songs under Publishing Administration, 25,000 new Publishing songs registered a month, and 4,000 new songwriters a month collecting all their Publishing owed, CD Baby is getting money flowing to music creators.

At CD Baby, we educate that “No Song Should Go Unpublished.” A songwriter is inherently their own publisher, but knowing what to do usually ended with joining a performing rights organization like ASCAP or BMI in the US or SOCAN in Canada and hopefully knowing to collect as a both a writer and a publisher. In my thirteen year tenure at ASCAP, I met countless songwriters who said ASCAP was their publisher (which is incorrect). Not managing your publishing shouldn’t mean the writer doesn’t get the money owed, but it does within the international framework of how songwriting royalties flow..

In the US, for certain interactive services like Amazon Music Unlimited and Pandora Premium the album or single won’t go live - though completely delivered by a distributor - without a Publisher registration/license of their works via Music Reports Inc. (MRI).  We, as well as our artists and songwriters, certainly want their music to be available to as many listeners as they can unimpeded by their lack of publishing understanding.

Most unpublished songwriters aren’t aware of all of the royalty streams going uncollected. Though royalties should flow better if the Music Modernization Act becomes law, songwriters will still need to proactively get their mechanical royalties in the US or work with a partner/publisher that will. If not, their royalties will be given away after three years.. Writers still wouldn’t collect their mechanicals for streams of their music in the rest of the world.

Each songwriter that chooses to use our Publishing Administration when distributing their music with CD Baby gets more money for each stream or download and solves countless global data problems. In a streaming era, where mechanicals account for roughly half the publishing royalties owed, songwriters have royalties sprinkled in every country in the world where someone pressed play and they don’t realize it. In a real world example, a CD Baby published writer collected over $25,000 in just one country from a foreign online gaming platform that one wouldn’t think pays out directly.

The CD Baby songwriter community is truly global with 45% international releases. Our administration partnership with the great folks at Songtrust / Downtown Music Publishing allows us to collect at the source for our songwriters via their direct global affiliations with over 30 PROs covering in over 75 countries and territories where we have clients. In just 5 years in operation, we already have well over 50,000 songwriters administered at both ASCAP and BMI. We make it easy to get full global songwriter royalty collection with a simple 1-year term followed by a quarterly renewal and a fair 15% administration fee. In the US and Canada, a writer can even join a PRO as a songwriter without leaving our website. We are trying and succeeding at getting music creators their royalties, making it easy in the process.

What’s our next act? There are some rights left in this neighborhood of music.

In a few short weeks, more than 1,500 musicians from all over the world will gather in Nashville for one of the few truly indie artist-centric conferences out there: CD Baby’s DIY Musician Conference. (August 24-26 2018) Unlike many industry events, DIY Musician equips working musicians of all backgrounds and genres with tools, inspiration, and networking opportunities to take their creativity and careers to the next level.

“Along with our musician community, we work with a lot of digital platforms who serve this community,” says Kevin Breuner, VP of Marketing at CD Baby and host of the popular DIY Musician podcast. “Every time someone from a digital service provider, say, has come to the conference, they’ve walked away amazed. They simply never guessed how diverse and engaged the independent musicians of the world are.”

The conference regularly attracts participants from all fifty states, as well as several dozen countries. These are musicians brand new to the scene and seasoned veterans making a living from music. They are all ages, all ethnic backgrounds, all musical styles and approaches you can imagine, from hip hop MCs to old-time one-man bands.

The 4th Annual DIY Musician Conference
Omni Hotel, Nashville, TN
http://diymusiciancon.com/

This year, the conference is hoping to further boost this community energy, planning even more chances to meet each other, play together, and exchange ideas about what’s working in this new, wide open era. Expanded jam rooms and showcases, as well as places and times to hang out and talk, will be one of the cornerstones this year.

DIY Musician will also tackle some of the toughest problems confronting musicians at all points in their careers: marketing and audience building in a saturated market. There will be sessions on Facebook ads for musicians on a budget, to using special marketing campaigns via sites like show.co to promote a fresh release. “A lot of what will be discussed lies at the heart of what got me interested in the DIY Musician podcast years ago,” explains Breuner. “It’s the idea that you can reach anyone and you can start building an audience just by engaging with people online and writing good music. You can be anywhere and still make it work for you.”

In addition to cutting-edge promo practices, the conference also offers a bevy of opportunities for artists to hone ever-important skills like mastering live performance. Expert and popular speaker Tom Jackson will be back this year with his live music makeover, a chance for selected groups to get a whole new way to approach their stage game.

Along with actionable tactics and strategy, the conference has made a practice of presenting success stories from unexpected corners of the music-making world. Folks like songwriter and guitarist Lance Allen, one of this year’s featured speakers, who figured out how to craft and pitch music to key streaming service playlists--and pay his mortgage. And Ariel Bloomer, whose blend of indie rock star and life coach spirit has inspired countless musicians and fans, and built her a satisfying life and viable career.

Everywhere at the conference, not just behind the podium, however, you can find tales of artistic satisfaction--on musicians’ own terms. “Every year it feels like there’s no better time than now to be an artist entering the marketplace. At the conference, I hear so many inspiring stories, from talking to people randomly. We’ll strike up a conversation, and then suddenly I have to start taking notes. That’s a great idea!” says Breuner. “You get so many artists from places around the world, with so many background and genre pursuits. You hear so many varied stories of success and creative fulfillment. It all has one underlying message: You can create the art you want and find an audience.”

About CD Baby
CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to 650,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks that are made available to 100+ digital services and platforms around the globe. Artists on the platform are empowered to monetize their rights while maintaining control of their own careers, and have collectively earned over $600 million since the company’s founding. CD Baby’s Publishing Administration service allows over 140,000 songwriters to collect all of their publishing royalties. CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Twenty One Pilots, and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers while partnering with CD Baby. The CD Baby umbrella of business units also includes CD Baby Publishing Administration, CD Baby Licensing, distribution platform Soundrop, CD Baby Manufacturing, marketing suite Show.co, CD Baby YouTube Administration, multi-channel network Illustrated Sound, website host HostBaby, the CD Baby Store for downloads and physical sales, promotional tool HearNow. CD Baby is a division of AVL Digital Group, which is also the parent company of Disc Makers.

CD Baby has opened a new office, its first east of the Atlantic, in London, headed by Rich Orchard.

Orchard joins CD Baby as Director of Market Development, EU. He has more than 15 years experience in music and tech, most recently at Absolute Label Services as Head of Digital, where he worked with a wide range of independent artists and labels. Prior to that, Orchard spent six years at Activision, where he dealt extensively with publishers on games like Guitar Hero Live.

“I’m extremely pleased to welcome Rich Orchard to the team. Given his experience in independent music distribution, music licensing and technology development, Rich is one of the most well-rounded candidates we considered for the role,” says CD Baby CEO Tracy Maddux. “He’s a great fit with the team and understands every perspective on how we make the CD Baby platform valuable to our users. I am sure he will prove a valuable resource to the 40,000+ artists we support in the UK and EU.”

“In what is undoubtedly a golden age to be making music and self-releasing, I am thrilled to be joining a team that embodies the DIY ethos and everything it means to be independent,” says Orchard. “I am hugely looking forward to our deeper relationship hereon with the UK and European artist community, as we support and empower them through our platform and services to grow their audience, maximise revenue streams, and take their career to the next stage.”

Working with Orchard in the UK office will be newly hired Artist Relations and Promotions Representative Steve Cusack. Cusack has a background in artist relations and music promotions across digital and radio. Cusack has been running his own independent song pitching company, PluggerBeatz.com . He has landed many featured placements on New Music Friday and other notable outlets for bands such as Dusky Grey, Newton Faulkner, The Sherlock’s and Allman Brown to name a few. Across Europe, Cusack has deep relationships with both music service editors as well as the radio community.

Cusack joins the newly formed Creator Services department, which brings together Artist Relations & Promotions, Publishing, Sync Licensing, and Music Service Relations. The Creator Services department is an eight member team spread across the US, Argentina, Brazil and the UK.

Head of Creator Services Jon Bahr commented, “We are thrilled to bring Steve onboard the team at the inception of our new Creator Services department. The team serves our priority artists with marketing and label services to further propel their releases. Steve brings an expertise in music promotion and relationships at the streaming services to hit the ground running and be a big asset to our growing team.”

About CD Baby
CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to 650,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks that are made available to 100+ digital services and platforms around the globe. Artists on the platform are empowered to monetize their rights while maintaining control of their own careers, and have collectively earned over $600 million since the company’s founding. CD Baby’s Publishing Administration service allows over 140,000 songwriters to collect all of their publishing royalties. CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Twenty One Pilots, and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers while partnering with CD Baby. The CD Baby umbrella of business units also includes CD Baby Publishing Administration, CD Baby Licensing, distribution platform Soundrop, CD Baby Manufacturing, marketing suite Show.co, CD Baby YouTube Administration, multi-channel network Illustrated Sound, website host HostBaby, the CD Baby Store for downloads and physical sales, promotional tool HearNow. CD Baby is a division of AVL Digital Group, which is also the parent company of Disc Makers.

Spotify has proven vital to emerging and independent artists for distribution and income--and now as a launch pad for serious marketing efforts. From a tiny fraction of overall listening ten years ago to a huge slice now, streaming platforms provide a new place for independent artists to actively engage fans.

Thanks to CD Baby’s recent new offerings via marketing platform Show.co, artists have more ways to reach listeners and build an audience. The coolest feature: pre-save campaigns that automatically convert post-release to “save,” a feature unique to CD Baby and show.co. It’s like the beloved iTunes pre-sale links, but for a new streaming reality.

CD Baby offers a set of tools that opens up possibilities once only within the reach of major labels--free to all CD Baby artists. “We work to support our artists’ efforts to reach fans where they listen, and Spotify is one of these crucial places,” says Kevin Breuner of CD Baby. “More than 30,000 labels and artists have already used Show.co’s services, so we know it works. We are really proud to offer this to our artists as a part of their already comprehensive toolbox.”

In the hands of each CD Baby artist, Show.co can launch numerous campaigns to drive audience growth and list building, promote new music and videos, and more. These calls-to-action can include following the artist on Spotify, subscribing to the artist’s YouTube channel, engaging in a contest, premiering a music video and more. Artists also have the opportunity to trade music singles for a fan’s email address. Once the fan submits their email address, their city and country are also automatically collected, providing valuable information for marketing efforts such as tour promotion.

Pre-saves are the streaming music-era answer to the pre-sale link. Via Show.co, these campaigns roll over automatically to “save,” once the album is released. “The automatic pre-save is a proprietary feature,” explains Rebecca Bateman, Senior Marketing Manager at CD Baby. “Pre-saves are not built into Spotify. We figured out how to both create a pre-save campaign and then turn it into a regular save campaign automatically once the release goes live, so the campaign stays relevant,” with no action required from busy artists.

Show.co had quietly attracted the attention of major labels (Universal) and big indies (Rounder, Nettwerk), as well as others. But since the acquisition by CD Baby, its 650,000 independent artists are able use the service for free to share content and collect important audience data. For artists and labels who do not use CD Baby, Show.co’s marketing services cost up to $99 per month.

Pre-saves are more than a gimmick; it’s a way to grow a fanbase and gain full access to fans. “Show.co provides an amazing direct-connect for our artists and their fans,” says Breuner. “Indie musicians can not only build their email lists, but also track what platforms their fans are using to consume their music, thus guiding the artist on what music streaming and video services to focus on.”

About CD Baby
CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to 650,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks that are made available to 100+ digital services and platforms around the globe. Artists on the platform are empowered to monetize their rights while maintaining control of their own careers, and have collectively earned over $600 million since the company’s founding. CD Baby’s Publishing Administration service allows over 140,000 songwriters to collect all of their publishing royalties. CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Twenty One Pilots, and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers while partnering with CD Baby. The CD Baby umbrella of business units also includes CD Baby Publishing Administration, CD Baby Licensing, distribution platform Soundrop, CD Baby Manufacturing, marketing suite Show.co, CD Baby YouTube Administration, multi-channel network Illustrated Sound, website host HostBaby, the CD Baby Store for downloads and physical sales, promotional tool HearNow. CD Baby is a division of AVL Digital Group, which is also the parent company of Disc Makers.

It’s been a banner year for independent music and the artists from all walks of life who make it.

Independent artists continue to make up an ever-growing share of the music business overall, with the proportion growing year over year (for 2017, it was around 40% of total industry revenue). CD Baby has seen similar growth, with its artists earning around $80 million payout on a catalog of more than 9 million digital tracks. CD Baby added around 1 million digital tracks in 2017 alone.

Much of the growth in the market for independent music comes from new platforms like Spotify and YouTube, where it’s easy to discover and listen to indie artists. At the same time, physical sales and downloads remain important for some styles, pointing to the diversity of models among independent artists. It all adds up to an increasingly vibrant scene that’s come a long way since CD Baby was founded twenty years ago.

The majority of this vibrancy comes from completely new distribution platforms: streaming services. “Just six years ago, iTunes downloads were the main source of sales revenue for our artists,” explains Kevin Breuner, VP of marketing at CD Baby. “Now, large amounts of money are generated by streams on Spotify and Apple Music. With this shift, we’ve seen revenue increase dramatically. The overall pie is growing, and indie musicians are getting their slices.”

For example, in 2009, when earnings from Spotify made up only around 1% of artist revenue, total income from the DSP barely scratched $500K. Now, as that Spotify’s share of revenue has grown to 58% of total earnings, artists are taking home almost $47 million from the streaming service alone.

“We’re excited to see average artists’ earnings grow for a third consecutive year due to millions more consumers engaging in music discovery on streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora,” says CD Baby CEO Tracy Maddux. “YouTube is also a playing field-leveling platform that is contributing hugely to artist royalty growth. We’re very optimistic about the trend as we continue to lobby for higher per stream rates.”

“I’m so proud of what we see the artists in our community accomplishing everyday,” enthuses Breuner. “We’re committed to supporting and boosting their accomplishments.”

About CD Baby
CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to 650,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks that are made available to 100+ digital services and platforms around the globe. Artists on the platform are empowered to monetize their rights while maintaining control of their own careers, and have collectively earned over $600 million since the company’s founding. CD Baby’s Publishing Administration service allows over 140,000 songwriters to collect all of their publishing royalties. CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Twenty One Pilots, and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers while partnering with CD Baby. The CD Baby umbrella of business units also includes CD Baby Publishing Administration, CD Baby Licensing, distribution platform Soundrop, CD Baby Manufacturing, marketing suite Show.co, CD Baby YouTube Administration, multi-channel network Illustrated Sound, website host HostBaby, the CD Baby Store for downloads and physical sales, promotional tool HearNow. CD Baby is a division of AVL Digital Group, which is also the parent company of Disc Makers.

AVL Digital Group, parent company of CD Baby and Disc Makers, already one of the largest distributors and service providers to independent artists, has made a major step into B2B services with the acquisition of LA-based AudioMicro and its AdRev and DashGo divisions. The purchase adds significant capabilities for CD Baby to serve record labels, publishers, and other music companies. The company now represents one of the largest catalogs of song rights in the world.                                                                                                          

AudioMicro includes the YouTube monetization platform AdRev, one of the world’s largest YouTube Content ID managers and Multi-Channel Networks; label services provider and distributor DashGo, whose powerful API is used by independent labels to send metadata automatically to music services; and synchronization licensing platform AudioMicro.com.

“Bringing these companies together with CD Baby will amplify our ability to serve more kinds of clients, from newly minted independent artists to established labels and publishers,” explains Tony van Veen, AVL Digital Group CEO. “The number of rights we now represent has multiplied substantially, and we have strengthened our arsenal of technology for rights holders with this acquisition. I’m very excited with how AdRev’s unique Content ID technology and DashGo’s API will help optimize asset monetization for artists, labels, and publishers across the globe.”

“As a company, CD Baby has a long history of using best-in-class technology to locate and claim all of the money made from all uses of our clients’ music,” CD Baby CEO Tracy Maddux says. “The addition of AdRev and DashGo allows us to offer more in-demand services to our existing clientele, our core business of independent artists and small labels, and help monetize the content of a much broader range of music companies.”

Together, the companies will become one of the world’s largest music asset administrators. CD Baby already distributes almost 9 million tracks with nearly 1 million as publishing administrator and DashGo brings an additional 250,000 sound recordings as well as digital retail playlist, sales and marketing expertise. “Worldwide, it makes us one of the largest players, perhaps even the largest,” notes Maddux. “It's a big move for us in terms of asset administration capabilities.”

“We’re excited to add our LA team and capabilities to the CD Baby crew, and to continue to strengthen our technology to monetize our clients’ assets even more efficiently,” adds AudioMicro CEO Noah Becker. “Our whole staff is excited to be on board. This will help us grow even faster than before.”

AudioMicro’s headquarters will remain in Los Angeles, the hub of sync and production music. “It’s a great strategic fit for CD Baby,” Maddux concludes.

About CD Baby

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to almost 650,000 artists and nearly 9 million tracks that are made available to 100+ digital services and platforms around the globe. Artists on the platform are empowered to monetize their rights while maintaining control of their own careers, and have collectively earned well over $500 million since the company’s founding. CD Baby’s Publishing Administration service allows over 130,000 songwriters to collect all of their publishing royalties. CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Twenty One Pilots, and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers while partnering with CD Baby. The CD Baby umbrella of business units also includes CD Baby Publishing Administration, CD Baby Licensing, distribution platform Soundrop, CD Baby Manufacturing, marketing suite Show.co, CD Baby YouTube Administration, multi-channel network Illustrated Sound, website host HostBaby, the CD Baby Store for downloads and physical sales, promotional tool HearNow. CD Baby is a division of AVL Digital Group, which is also the parent company of Disc Makers.

If you’re a CD Baby artist, you’re instantly verified on Spotify, thanks to a new partnership between the indie music powerhouse and the streaming platform. No extra steps or logins, just instant access to Spotify’s data about listeners’ demographics and track and playlist performance.

“Getting verified has always been an important part of artists’ approach to Spotify, and now CD Baby artists can do it with very little hassle,” announces Kevin Breuner, CD Baby’s VP of Marketing. Artists using CD Baby as their distributor only need to log into their account and voila! They are verified.

Verification opens up a wide variety of tools for artists. They can see who’s listening in real time and track demographics and geographical location. They can compare the performance of different playlists and tracks to see what’s really getting traction. And users can find similar artists Spotify listeners are enjoying, to better target ads and marketing campaigns.

Spotify verified artists can also:

• Share playlists directly with fans
• Update their artist bio on Spotify
• Customize their artist profile image
• Access analytics for all songs
• Pin songs, albums, or playlists to the top of their profile with a custom photo
• List tour dates
• And more

“Spotify has a lot to offer artists, and we’re happy we can give access to all our artists who want these tools,” says Breuner.

The last few months I've been on the road in Nashville, Barcelona, Mumbai and Rio, meeting with artists and I’ve noticed something is brewing. The gates are down and independent artists are dashing into the music world like no other time before. It’s got many people outside the independent music scene looking over their shoulders.

What’s the cause of all this? YouTube.

It’s no secret that YouTube is a disruptive factor in the music industry. It provides incredible opportunities for every type of artist to reach fans all over the world with their music. It also enables new and unsigned artists to compete with popular artists and the mainstream music industry on a more level playing field thanks to its technology. Those once rare viral music videos that plastered headlines a few years ago were signposts for a new way to build music audiences.

Artists are now using YouTube to act like the TV stations, radio programmers, and newsrooms of the past. And YouTube itself is highly engaged in helping creators unlock the potential of its platform. In August at our 3rd annual DIY Musician Conference, YouTube staffers attended in force, showing creators how to create and promote their music and videos on YouTube.

As I traveled, I got a little curious myself about how YouTube might be changing the world of music. So to explore these international scenes, on long airplane rides, I read Streampunks, the new book by the company’s Chief Business Officer, Robert Kyncl. It left me energized and intrigued, with a new appreciation for artists around the world who are unlocking YouTube’s potential.

The first time I observed a YouTube success at CD Baby was in 2012 when we got a call from a publisher that owned the composition rights to the song “Somebody That I Used to Know” by the artist Gotye. He called because Gotye’s song was number one everywhere in the Western world, except Canada, where a cover of the song had topped the charts instead. That cover was an appropriately licensed version by the band Walk Off the Earth, who released a brilliant video, “5 Peeps, 1 Guitar,” that powered its version to number one instead. As of this writing, the group now has 2.8 million subscribers and is approaching 700 million aggregate views on its YouTube channel, in addition to 188K followers on Instagram and 2.9 million Facebook likes. They’ve used their YouTube channel to continually create quirky, interesting, compelling videos and build their repertoire to include a major label release that includes a gold certified record.

At CD Baby, we’re fortunate to work with a number of other artists who have built thriving independent music careers using a similar YouTube-first approach, building a fanbase with a steady release of covers before releasing their own original content. We’re also thrilled to see the rapid growth in earnings for independent creators whose music and videos we administer on YouTube. In the past five years these earnings have grown from virtually nothing to nearly 10% of the $100 million our artists will earn this year.

The amazingly talented vocalist Peter Hollens whose channel has 1.7 million subscribers and 264 million views has built much of his career on YouTube. He also has 126K Twitter follows. The band Ninja Sex Party appealed to its 1 million YouTube subscribers last year with a physical pre-release of “Under the Covers,” selling nearly 44,000 CDs and vinyl records and debuting on the American Billboard charts at number nine. And just in case you’re tempted to write this off as a fluke, it’s worth noting that NSP has just repeated this success a few weeks ago, with their second release, “Under the Covers 2.” The group used YouTube to pre-sell 25,000 CDs and released in the top 20 on the Billboard charts. This approach to building a fanbase of YouTube subscribers as a bridge to the next level is no longer novel, and it’s happening all over the world.

YouTube is unsettling the order of things everywhere in the music industry for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it enables the artist to connect directly with more than 1.5 billion potential fans worldwide. There is no other digital platform that unlocks this large of an audience worldwide (second place might be Apple iTunes with over a billion users, and third is China’s Tencent, which has more than 500 million subscribers.)

YouTube also lowers the barriers of investment for art. A well-thought out, highly creative and competently performed video can now compete with the high cost, commercially produced, major label financed videos on a more level playing field. It enables artists to retain both ownership and creative control, leading in my opinion to more diverse creative expression.

The platform also provides incredibly valuable data directly to channel owners and creators with a few clicks. Utilizing YouTube’s analytics, creators know who their fans are and where their fans are, which in turn helps them conceive content that resonates with their audience. This enables creators to understand how to better deploy their most scarce resource: their time. It helps them understand things like where to tour and even what kind of content to create. And it does this in near real time. YouTube enables transparency in an industry known for opacity.

YouTube paid out more than a billion dollars to the music industry in 2016. That is triple the amount of ad supported revenue paid out by Spotify, although less than either Apple iTunes or Spotify in aggregate dollars. And YouTube is here to stay as part of the massive Google-Alphabet ecosystem. Next time you hear an industry pundit decry the low per stream payouts from YouTube, consider who the source is and who is really threatened by access, transparency, diversity of art and competition for fans worldwide. I’m excited to see how both YouTube and other platforms evolve in how they are connecting artists and fans.  My hope is that Apple, Spotify and emerging platforms like Tencent also invest in these tools of connection that are clearly helping Independent artists level the playing field. 

Alex Winston and Max Hershenow (one half of MS MR) didn’t want to make hits. The old friends just wanted to make some songs together. They went back to music-writing basics, hanging out, and letting tracks unfold. The result was Post Precious, a surprise project that the duo decided to keep independent, eschewing the label route and working with a small team and CD Baby to bring their dark-tinged, perfectly crafted pop to the world.

Winston had a long, trying track record with labels. The classically trained singer and self-taught instrumentalist and songwriter was dubbed the next Kate Bush by The Guardian after an early EP. The praise led to major label deals with the likes of Island, then to getting burned as her creative vision was throttled by slow moving corporate machines with divergent visions of what the young female artist should be. Her full-length album, though raved about by American critics at Pitchfork and Spin, faced what one Noisey writer called “a perfect storm of bad timing, poor management, and shit luck.”

“I thought I was signed for who I was, but they wanted me to be something completely different. I felt trapped,” Winston recalls. “You want to make those investing in you to be happy, but it wasn’t creatively fulfilling.”

Creative fulfillment sprang up elsewhere over the years, including in her work with friends like Hershenow. As they jammed together, revelling in the music and feelings that came from collaborating, they decided they needed to put out Post Precious themselves.

“Working independently, it feels much easier to pivot. When you work with a large label, it can take a lot of energy to push the project through, to get the support you need to run with certain ideas,” Hershenow explains. “Often when you write, the biggest impediment is the anxiety that comes when you focus on external factors. But with Post Precious Alex and I let the work lead us on any journey it needed to. We were free.”

“I was so burned out trying to chase what I was supposed to be,” reflects Winston. “This project came together because we were having a good time writing. We were making music for fun and it was so refreshing. It made sense that we’d work on all the other aspect ourselves, outside the label system.”

They knew they could drive it but not do it all themselves. So they turned to The SoundClub, a one-stop boutique label services and artist development shop run by Kelli Fannon (who worked at Rdio) and Sarah Manha (who’s worked in radio and artist relations). Building a nimble but dedicated team, Post Precious decided to use CD Baby as their distribution homebase.

“This kind of project is a case study of the new model of artist development: working with a small team, whether a manager or label services type situation, while retaining ownership & control of the music and creative vision and being scrappy with the approach to traditional tent-poles like PR, radio, and videos,” notes Ben Hubbird of CD Baby. “This is a chosen path for many artists who have lots of ties to the label system, but want to make music and promote it their way.

Winston and Fannon had worked together before, putting out a single Winston recorded between label deals. “At some point, I said, ‘Screw it, let’s do it ourselves.’ That track, ‘101 Vultures’ ended up being our most successful single. They really embraced it at Spotify and it got on a couple key playlists,” says Fannon. “We’re playing a label role, working on marketing as well as project management. We do press. We’re doing videos on the cheap. We’re touching everything and keeping it as DIY and scrappy as we can.”

This scrappy approach comes naturally to Hershenow and Winston. Post Precious reinforced the importance of creating in community, of finding support and inspiration from friends. “I live with amazing friends, incredible musicians, in LA. There’s a great music community around us in Beachwood Canyon, giving feedback and support. It feels like we’re part of an era,” muses Hershenow. “In a future when we don’t know what’s happening with the music, being part of a community of friends and other talented people who have our backs, whom we respect and support, feels like the real spine of a long-term career.”

“You don’t have to spend a million dollars on things for them to click, for them to do the job,” says Winston. “Frankly, I was never really attuned to what was being spent. I was the creative person and I left the business to someone else. This is teaching me to become a businessperson. I’ve learned to be accountable for every dollar we’re spending.”

Post Precious is on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and SoundCloud.

About CD Baby

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to almost 650,000 artists and more than 7 million tracks, getting independent music to more than 100 digital services and platforms around the globe and allowing artists to monetize their presence on YouTube. Artists using the CD Baby platform have earned more than $500 million since its founding and its Publishing Administration service, CD Baby Pro, allows over 100,000 songwriters/artists to collect all of their publishing royalties.

CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Twenty One Pilots, and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers. Artists like Rooney are among the musicians who’ve dropped the old label system and turned to CD Baby to strike out on their own.

CD Baby’s music marketing platform has a new, proprietary perk that labels, managers, and musicians can add to the marketing mix

Show.co, CD Baby’s marketing platform, will now allow users to run marketing campaigns that offer “pre-saves” on Spotify. This means fans can hit save on an upcoming release, before the tracks are publicly available, and get the music right in their library come release day. For labels and managers, this means more direct engagement with and access to fans, plus a potential boost when fans start listening on that special Friday.

Pre-saves are the streaming music-era answer to the pre-sale link. Via Show.co, these campaigns roll over automatically to save, once the album is released. “The automatic switch from pre-save to save is a proprietary feature,” explains Rebecca Bateman, Senior Marketing Manager at CD Baby, who has an extensive background in programming and development. “Pre-saves are not built into Spotify. We figured out how to both create a pre-save campaign and then turn it into a regular save campaign automatically once the release goes live, so the campaign stays relevant.”

All an artist needs to launch a pre-save campaign via Show.co is a Spotify URI, the service’s internal links, and the date the release is slated to go live, information musicians can easily get from their distributor. Then they can go to Show.co and create a Social Unlock campaign. “On the date it is released, your music will magically appear in their library,” says Bateman.

These Social Unlock campaigns trade fan emails for goodies and access to favorite artists’ latest work or special assets created just for the campaign. “There’s a layer of distance between fans on social media and music or video platforms, and artists,” explains Kevin Breuner, VP of Marketing at CD Baby. “Show.co helps musicians bridge that gap, connecting directly with fans via email, which is still one of the best means to reach and keep an audience.” In return, fans get more exciting experiences, an early chance to hear a long-awaited new album, a discount to a show, or other perks.

Meanwhile, Show.co is continuously searching music and social media services for hidden opportunities for artists and for ways to use these opportunities quickly and easily. “Show.co is streamlining its plans, and we are focused on providing cutting-edge features,” Bateman states. “As digital service providers build out more capability in their APIs, we are always looking for ways to incorporate those changes and upgrades into Show.co's tools. Our goal is for this to be a best-in-class service for audience-building campaigns, turning them into real revenue generating opportunities for musicians.” 

What do you do when you take over leadership at a company whose very name suggests a business facing decline? When your predecessor was an ideas guy, a guru, a hands-on coder? How do you fill those shoes and encourage growth? You do what many thoughtful CEOs do: focus on the people.

CD Baby faced just such a challenge. Its name shouts its past: The business sprang from a moment when artists no longer had to rely on labels to get out there, and they used a now fading format to do so. What the name won’t tell you is how the company transformed, from a business built around the charisma of its founder, to a company built on a solid team of dedicated and motivated employees, so dedicated that employees rarely leave. CD Baby has seen less than 1% employee turnover this year, a figure down from more than 20% in the past.

And it’s seen continual financial growth, despite the repeated disruptions of the music business’ transition to digital distribution and then streaming. “The number of artists and the growth in our catalog is unprecedented,” notes CD Baby CEO Tracy Maddux. “We’ve seen the annual additions to our digital catalog of more than 750,000 tracks per year for the past 5 years.”

The company had to pivot. Founded by a thought leader in DIY music, Derek Sivers, who had been the face and driving force behind the company for a decade, CD Baby faced a serious transition from a single, central personality to a more horizontal management approach.  It had to keep its creative, quirky soul and its devotion to customer service, while completely reimagining its digital offerings and shifting away from selling physical objects, to partnering with artists and platforms around the world.

“We shifted resources away from our .com presence, the online store that sold downloads and physical, both declining businesses,” Maddux explains. “We shifted resources towards digital rights management and monetization, which are both growing businesses and services artists desperately want and need. And growth happened.”

This growth happened because the new CD Baby cultivates talent and encourages employee development. Maddux likes to credit his team for this shift, but deserves some of the credit himself.

Maddux listened carefully to the CD Baby team, methodically addressed bottlenecks and issues, from how inventory was managed in the warehouse to what services needed to expand to best serve artists. CD Baby began offering professional services that finally allowed independent artists and boutique labels access to the full range of royalties, by acting as publishing administrators, helping monetize YouTube videos, and offering sync licensing

In the past several years, CD Baby has become a one-stop platform that educates artists on how to make money from their music and offering monetization of all music rights, from CD sales, to digital distribution, to publishing and sync. “Growth requires a collaborative approach. No one has all the knowledge and understanding. A simple business, like digital distribution, does not require a rocket scientist to re-imagine. Derek launched groundbreaking digital distribution back in 2004 and many others have copied, from Tunecore to Distrokid,” says Maddux. “But to be of real service to artists means investing in people and enlisting the talents of many to broaden and deepen the offerings.”

The stories of CD Baby leaders rising through the ranks feel somewhat atypical for tech-driven companies born during the first dot-com boom. Take Joel Andrew, who started work in CD Baby’s warehouse 13 years ago and who this year was sworn in as a member of the Oregon State Bar. “He now serves as our in-house counsel,” Maddux notes.The senior leaders  for Marketing and Finance also rose from entry-level jobs over the course of 11 years.

“Our team has grown by 40% in the past five years,” Maddux explains. “We now have 135 full-time employees and 5 contractors in 7 locations, supporting artists all over the world in three languages--and counting. Along the way we’ve invested in building a culture, powered by a clear mission and vision of working in support of the artist community. We are working to create a place where team members are excited to come to work; where music industry professionals can stay and grow and have a career for a decade or longer.”

Maddux and his leadership team very much view CD Baby as a technology platform company. “Now most of our new people investment is in platform development, meaning people who write code to make our various websites work better for our artists. We’re reinvesting our profitability into our people who then improve the quality and enhance the functionality of our offerings,” says Maddux. “We now employ more than 30 technologists who do everything from writing code to developing our gigantic music database. Many of these folks started somewhere else in the company, including positions in the warehouse and client support.”

And those investments in CD Baby’s digital offerings have helped the artist earn more. “It has been sad to see the decline in physical. Today CD and vinyl sales represent less than 10% of our artists’ gross sales. But the promise and growth in digital sources of revenue are actually growing what our average client takes home each year. This includes publishing and sync sales, which are now more than 10% of artist earnings. We view our role in technology development as enabling this earnings shift to digital sources of artist revenue from physical.”

“I’m having this radical and recurring thought lately,” said Maddux. “If one visionary coder like Derek Sivers can start a platform that does so much good for its artists, and we can build on that start by developing an army of technologists who improve the core idea, why are we not spending all of our time as leaders developing our people?”

CD Baby will bring the DIY Musician Conference to Nashville August 24-27, 2017. It will turn Music City into a temporary hub for one of the most dynamic parts of the music business: the indie music scene, the musicians of all backgrounds and styles who shape their own careers, on their own terms.

The conference is the largest event dedicated to musicians of any genre who share a common professional approach. Last year’s meeting in Chicago attracted artists from 44 different states and 15 different countries.

“Independent musicians and small boutique labels are one of the fastest growing segments of the market, and they share a lot of concerns,” explains CD Baby’s Kevin Breuner. “No matter what kind of music you make, no matter where you are in your career, you need similar advice and support, and we program the conference in direct response to the questions and concerns we hear from musicians.”

CD Baby’s DIY Musician Conference

www.diymusiciancon.com

Omni Nashville

August 25-27, 2017

Sponsored by GigSalad, Berklee Online, Kickstarter, Royalty Exchange, Stashimi, and Brooks Pierce

DIY Musician Conference insists on providing strong, actionable advice that artists can start applying immediately. Going beyond the talking-head panel, DIY offers artists everything from press photo and live show makeovers (thanks to experienced photographer Becky Yee and live performance guru Tom Jackson), to legal clinics led by the music law specialists at Brooks Pierce.

Experts will present deep dives into how to manage touring, publishing, and promotion in efficient and authentic ways. Other topics include how to use Spotify and Facebook Live to maximize income, how to grow audiences via social media and platforms like SoundCloud, and how to make the most of performance opportunities on the house concert circuit.

There will also be ample opportunity to learn from artists who succeeded in creating sustainable careers. This year’s keynote address will be given by Nashville-based Americana singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier, who turned a renegade, raw artistic vision into a successful career, using her own approach and resources. Gautier, who wrote her first song at 39, has gained a large audience, while insisting on owning her career and building a team around her.

Artists will also have a chance to exchange ideas and relax together, thanks to several jam rooms and evenings filled with showcases, all downtown. The conference’s move to Nashville was about bringing one of America’s most musical cities into the mix, with its unique blend of business acumen and creativity. “Nashville’s energy will add another dimension to the conference,” says Breuner. “Our evening showcases, which we’ve expanded this year, will really highlight the diverse community of musicians that make up the indie world.”

About CD Baby

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to almost 650,000 artists and more than 7 million tracks, getting independent music to more than 100 digital services and platforms around the globe and allowing artists to monetize their presence on YouTube. Artists using the CD Baby platform have earned more than $500 million since its founding. Its Publishing Administration service, CD Baby Pro, allows over 100,000 songwriters/artists to collect all of their publishing royalties.

CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Twenty One Pilots, and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers. Artists like Rooney are among the musicians who’ve dropped the old label system and turned to CD Baby to strike out on their own.

“There’s a huge wave of DIY musicians in Latin America who are learning to become serious entrepreneurs,” says Kevin Breuner, VP of Marketing at CD Baby. “It’s just forming, as these artists take control of their careers.”

CD Baby has been supporting this wave, building a network of representatives in Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico. Now the indie music distribution and artist services powerhouse is welcoming its first Argentinian representative to the fold, Martín Liviciche. With a BA in journalism and music production, Livichiche founded his own label and publishing endeavor and has managed publicity for major government cultural initiatives and festivals in Buenos Aires, among many other projects.

These experiences have given Liviciche insight into what makes a difference in artists’ careers. “In today's modern music market, there are a ton of different ways to sell and consume music that transcend borders,” he says. “While it’s extremely important for independent musicians to have a trustworthy and stable distribution partner to make their music available on all global music platforms, it’s even more important for artists to work with a company who understands their needs, and gives them the tools and education needed to be successful. “

CD Baby has created an environment friendly to artists from Latin America. The platform is localized in Spanish and Portuguese, and CD Baby has developed strong relationships with all the major music platforms operating in Latin America -- including Spotify, Google/YouTube, Apple, and Deezer -- to get local artists visibility whenever possible.

“We are already one of the largest distributors in Latin America,” explains Tracey Gill Miller, CD Baby’s Manager of Global Marketing. “We’re representing 20,000 artists. We fervently believe in digital music’s huge growth potential in emerging markets, and particularly in countries like Argentina.” It’s easy to believe, when the company has experienced 50% to 150% year over year growth in new titles released in each of its Latin American territories.

“The tools and resources that CD Baby provides, and its strong history as a global leader in the sector makes them the best option for the Argentinian musician of today,” Liviciche notes. “I’m proud to join this global team of music professionals, and am excited to bring this world class distribution service to independent artists in Argentina.”

About CD Baby

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to almost 650,000 artists and more than 7 million tracks, getting independent music to more than 100 digital services and platforms around the globe and allowing artists to monetize their presence on YouTube. Artists using the CD Baby platform have earned more than $500 million since its founding. Its Publishing Administration service, CD Baby Pro, allows over 100,000 songwriters/artists to collect all of their publishing royalties. CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Twenty One Pilots, and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers. Artists like Rooney are among the musicians who’ve dropped the old label system and turned to CD Baby to strike out on their own.

Indie artists now have more marketing muscle. CD Baby, the leading indie music distribution and royalty administration service, is integrating the music marketing services of its latest acquisition, Show.co into its artist dashboard. This will give CD Baby’s entire community of musicians and labels access to a powerful array of promotional tools that can bolster their popularity on streaming services and engage larger social media followings.

“Show.co has become a key marketing tool for major label artists, so we know CD Baby artists are going to be excited about free access to this service." says Kevin Breuner, VP of Marketing at CD Baby. “It’s designed to let artists and labels leverage just one piece of content on Show.co to drive specific actions from fans.”

In the hands of each CD Baby artist, Show.co can launch numerous campaigns intended to drive audience growth and list building, promote new music and videos, and more. These calls-to-action can include subscribing to a YouTube channel, engaging in a contest, or following on Twitter or Spotify. Artists also have the opportunity to trade music singles for a fan’s email address. Once the fan submits their email address, their city and country are also automatically collected, providing valuable information for marketing efforts such as tour promotion.

“Show.co provides an amazing direct-connect for our artists and their fans,” says Breuner. “Indie musicians can not only build their email lists, but also track what platforms their fans are using to consume their music, thus guiding the artist on what music streaming and video services to focus on.”

Show.co had quietly attracted the attention of major labels (Universal) and big indies (Rounder, Nettwerk), as well as others. But since the acquisition by CD Baby, 650,000 artists will be able use the service to share content and collect important data. For artists and labels who do not use CD Baby, Show.co’s marketing services cost up to $119 per month. But for all CD Baby users, the powerful marketing tool will be free in the coming months.

“More than 6,000 labels and artists have already used Show.co’s services, so we know it works,” says Breuner. “We are really proud to offer this to our artists as a part of their already comprehensive toolbox.”
 

About CD Baby

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to almost 650,000 artists and more than 7 million tracks, getting independent music to more than 100 digital services and platforms around the globe and allowing artists to monetize their presence on YouTube. Artists using the CD Baby platform have earned more than $500 million since its founding and its Publishing Administration service, CD Baby Pro, allows over 100,000 songwriters/artists to collect all of their publishing royalties.

CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Twenty One Pilots, and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers. Artists like Rooney are among the musicians who’ve dropped the old label system and turned to CD Baby to strike out on their own.

Independent distributor and music services company CD Baby has reached an industry milestone of 100,000 songwriters under its Publishing Administration service. Representing over 625,000 songs, CD Baby Publishing is on the verge of a large expansion to most European countries as well as Brazil, Israel, Mexico, and Singapore. This will bring the reach of CD Baby Publishing to 22 countries and numerous more territories. The overall CD Baby platform already serves musicians throughout the world and has paid out over $500 million dollars to artists and songwriters.

Formed in 2013 under the branding CD Baby Pro, CD Baby Publishing allows a CD Baby songwriter to completely and efficiently collect the royalties their songs generate worldwide. CD Baby Publishing has begun to expand its offering by allowing select songwriters to add songs that were not distributed by CD Baby. This new pilot program will more holistically service existing CD Baby clients as well as non-CD Baby songwriters to make sure any song written is being completely monetized around the world.

This spring, CD Baby Publishing will expand its service to accept songwriters from most European countries and their respective territories as well as Brazil, Israel, Mexico and Singapore via direct relationships with each country’s Performing Rights Organization. The publishing expansion centers around the following relationships: Austria (AKM), Belgium (SABAM), Brazil (ABRAMUS only), Czech Republic (OSA), Denmark (KODA), Finland (TEOSTO), France (SACEM), Germany (GEMA), Greece (AEPI), Israel (ACUM), Mexico (SACM), Netherlands (BUMA), Norway (TONO), Portugal (SPA), Singapore (COMPASS), Sweden (STIM), Switzerland (SUISA) and Spain (SGAE). CD Baby Publishing is currently available in Canada (SOCAN), Ireland (IMRO), United Kingdom (PRS) and United States (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC).

CD Baby’s VP of Music Publishing and Rights Management, Jon Bahr, commented: “The rapid growth of CD Baby’s Publishing service is a testament to the huge swath of music creators that lack publishing deals, which results in their valuable royalties going uncollected. Our goal is to make sure all of the money generated from a song makes it to the songwriters. We’ve proven that we can do this at the astounding scale of representing 100,000 songwriters, which is far beyond the size of any single publisher in the world. We are thrilled to expand to Europe, Brazil, Mexico and beyond.”

CD Baby Publishing has uncovered royalties worldwide for its songwriters from key platforms like streaming services, but also more obscure sources like cruise ships, online piano lessons and airplane music. Artist/songwriter and CD Baby Publishing client Craig Cardiff expressed his gratitude to the importance of CD Baby’s service by saying, “Without CD Baby Pro Publishing, I wouldn’t have been able to get any of the mechanical royalties generated from each and every one of my over 45 million streams on Spotify.”

The CD Baby Publishing Administration business sits alongside CD Baby’s Sync Library, which offers over 2 million pre-cleared songs to license and has established partnerships with sync platforms like Music Gateway and Pond5. Recent Sync placements include Aquarius (NBC), Vice Principals (HBO), Lucifer (FOX), Doubt (CBS) and films such as Keeping Up with the Joneses.

Beyond its Publishing Administration offering, which uses technology and services from Downtown Music Publishing-owned Songtrust, CD Baby distributes over 7 million songs to a wide range of digital services around the globe, such as Spotify and Apple Music. CD Baby has long been at the forefront of creating ways artists can release their music, reach their fans, collect their earnings and help create sustainable careers. 

In 2016, CD Baby launched a number of key initiatives, including real time trending for Spotify and Apple Music, integrated Cover Song Licensing within its distribution portal; the acquisition of the Loudr Distribution platform; the acquisition of Show.co artist marketing platform; and the launch of Soundrop Distribution with full cover licensing integrated.

About CD Baby

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to almost 650,000 artists and more than 7 million tracks, getting independent music to more than 100 digital services and platforms around the globe and allowing artists to monetize their presence on YouTube. Artists using the CD Baby platform have earned more than $500 million since its founding. Its Publishing Administration service, CD Baby Pro, allows over 100,000 songwriters/artists to collect all of their publishing royalties. CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Twenty One Pilots, and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers. Artists like Rooney are among the musicians who’ve dropped the old label system and turned to CD Baby to strike out on their own.

The year 2016 was a watershed year for the half-a-million or so artists and labels CD Baby distributes worldwide. It was the year its artists’ lifetime gross earnings crossed the half-a billion-dollar mark (yep, $500,000,000). But the most important trend was that revenue from streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music overtook downloads as the number one source of artists’ sales.

We’re pleased to see that independent artists are now making more money from their music thanks to the growth in streaming. Of all digital revenue, streaming represented only thirty-two percent (32%) of gross earnings in 2015. In 2016, that ratcheted up to almost half.  And including ad supported YouTube monetization, streaming and YouTube combined represented fifty-two percent (52%) of artists’ revenue.

[See Pie Chart]

But other sources of revenue are still important as well – both to the artist and the consumers whose preference favors other formats. We saw vinyl sales grow again last year, but more slowly in 2016. We saw CD sales decline by about twelve percent (12%); the third consecutive year of contraction. And downloads, while also declining by twelve percent (12%) in 2016, still makeup more than a third of artist revenues. Our common-sense guidance to self-distributed artists and small labels is to monetize their music everywhere they can, which brings us to an important point.

What’s really behind a shift in earnings is not ‘big tech’ that doesn’t care about the artists; it’s the fans who are choosing to consume music via streaming. It’s a shift in consumer behavior. There are tens of millions more people consuming music via streaming every year. But there are also still consumers for physical and download formats. Shifts in format preferences take time. They never happen all at once but are inevitable once started. That’s why we think artists should get their music everywhere the fans are willing to consume it.

We understand that some artists are concerned about the viability of streaming services. But we shouldn’t ignore the fact that in 2016 there are now profitable streaming services. Rhapsody attained profitability last year. Streaming at Apple, Amazon and Google are likely profitable as the large firms already have the scale and scope to sustain a service. As long as artists are growing their earnings with these services, they should consider focusing on how their fans are choosing to experience music. If any of the large digital service providers fail in the next several years, there will be another in its place to pick up their clients. Consumer behavior is the only thing that matters.

CD Baby’s digital catalog grew to over seven million tracks last year. We figure it’s among the largest catalogs in the world and represents 15-20% of the content available on Spotify and Apple Music. It’s also growing pretty fast – we added about 750,000 tracks in 2016. And many of those tracks make real money. CD Baby Members had combined gross earnings of over $83 million from all sources last year (about $44 million of it from streaming and YouTube). What we liked the most about these earnings is that they grew in absolute terms. That means we paid out more money in total, and each Member made more money in 2016, thanks, again, to streaming. Trying to use pretzel logic that these artists are starving and they should earn more (they should) misses an important fact that many of the artists derive income from other sources, like sales on other platforms, touring and merch.

Recently I received a letter from a label that uses CD Baby for distribution services and the gist of it was, “My songs aren’t earning what they used to - how can I reverse the trend?” When we took a look at the data, we noticed that the label hadn’t released anything in awhile, it hadn’t opted into some streaming services and it wasn’t actively using the new tools of promotion now available to artists to engage and discover new fans. 

It’s no secret – some songs earn more than other similar songs because they are being promoted. Art isn’t entitled to an equal share of income from any source just because the art is good. To succeed in any format requires artists to actively harness the tools of promotion, especially those tools available on these new platforms that are reaching the incremental millions using subscription services. These tools, from analytics to playlists, are powerful and more available to independent artists than ever before, leveling the playing field for independent artists.

Average earnings per CD Baby artist grew solidly in 2016 because of streaming. While in prior years we had seen growth in downloads and streaming offsetting some of the declines in physical, 2016 was the year that growth in streaming revenue offset all of the declines in other formats. All of the industry is growing again because of this shift in consumer behavior. Is it 1999 again yet - the peak of recorded music? Nope. But our advice to independent artists - don’t ignore a huge opportunity to connect with fans who are streaming. There will be millions more in 2017.

The fans are out there. Their clicks and taps can make a musician’s career. But how are fans listening? And where do they live? These questions stand between indie artists and substantial career development and revenue. CD Baby helps answer these questions with a new data analytics tool that’s been over a year in the making.

In addition to physical and digital distribution, as well as streaming and licensing opportunities, thousands of CD Baby artists now have access to a Trending and Analytics dashboard. The new tool provides interactive data reports of geographic heat maps of countries, states, and cities where an artist’s music is most widely streamed and downloaded.

“This knowledge gives our musicians a vital guide of not only where to tour, but where to market their tracks and albums via targeted social media promotion,” says Kevin Breuner, CD Baby VP of Marketing.

With the new Trending and Analytics tool, artists can also observe trends in how their fans are listening, whether through Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes or other streaming services. Within streaming services, artists can also find out which tracks are most popular as well as the most popular playlists that have boosted their track plays. Data is also broken down to show preferences for desktop, mobile, or tablet listening.

Digesting this influx of data turns out to be an immense undertaking. “We often receive up to 14 million lines of data in one night from Spotify alone and trends in this data changes constantly.” says Erica Sinkovic, CD Baby Manager of Product Development. “Now artists can observe these changes on a daily basis.”

“Our new analytics features are the next logical step in our expansion of our CD Baby Pro artist dashboard,” explains Kevin Breuner, CD Baby’s VP of Marketing. “We’re working to become a truly one-stop shop, where artists who have been historically shut out of entire sides of the business can gain access to real income and vital information.”

About CD Baby:

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to more than 400,000 artists. The CD Baby catalog makes up an estimated 17 per cent of iTunes track offerings. With a one-stop professional dashboard allowing indie musicians to manage their royalties and licensing, CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers. Greg Brown, Willis Earl Beale, and Grant Lee Phillips are among musicians who’ve dropped the old label system and turned to CD Baby to strike out on their own.

CD Baby, the leading distribution and royalty administration destination for independent artists, has acquired Show.co, the digital music marketing platform and Soundrop, once the most popular playlisting and social listening app for Spotify.

“We’re excited to continue Show.co’s powerful marketing tools for musicians,” explains Kevin Breuner, VP of Marketing at CD Baby. “It’s another set of tools we can offer to the independent musicians we have worked to support and encourage for years.”

More than 5,000 labels and artists use Show.co to share content and collect important data that strengthens their connection to their fans. The Portland, OR-based firm plans no changes to Show.co’s services.

In addition to continuing Show.co’s offerings, CD Baby plans to revamp Soundrop, which went dormant after Spotify shifted its third-party app strategy. Soundrop will become the new springboard for artists looking for an alternative distribution approach, one that favors constant creation and single-first strategies. The revived Soundrop will be the new home for many Loudr artists, the distribution service CD Baby acquired earlier this year.

“We are very happy to see a new home for Show.co and a new future for the Soundrop brand,” says Jørn Haanæs, Soundrop’s former CEO. “Soundrop and Show.co were both about helping artists connect with their fans. To finally see the last part of our original vision take effect is wonderful.  Entering into music distribution was always the dream, as that’s the ultimate fan connection, now it’s soon to be the reality.”

It’s all part of CD Baby’s ongoing efforts to put artists’ needs first and to find the right tools and services to support their careers. “We see this as another high-caliber way to serve musicians and give them the best of what’s out there,” concludes Breuner. “For existing Show.co customers, it will be business as usual.”

About CD Baby

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to almost 500,000 artists and 7 million tracks, getting independent music to more than 100 digital services and platforms around the globe and allowing artists to monetize their presence on YouTube. Its one-stop professional dashboard, CD Baby Pro, allows indie musicians to collect all of their publishing royalties. CD Baby Pro administers the publishing rights of more than 500,000 songs for 100,000 songwriters.

CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers. Greg Brown and Rooney are among musicians who’ve dropped the old label system and turned to CD Baby to strike out on their own.

Independent distributor and artist services company CD Baby is pleased to announce the hiring of Jon Bahr as Vice President of Music Publishing and Rights Management. A 13-year veteran of ASCAP, Bahr brings strong relationships and extensive experience to the position, which now includes administering more than 500,000 compositions for 100,000 songwriters in CD Baby Pro, in cooperation with SongTrust. Bahr will remain based in New York City.

“I’m thrilled to bring onboard a skilled and experienced industry veteran to spearhead CD Baby’s rights management initiatives,” says CD Baby CEO Tracy Maddux. Bahr’s expertise will supplement the company’s constantly expanding offerings. CD Baby has been at the forefront of creating support structures to support independent artists and their royalty and rights needs, boosting income and helping create substantive careers. The company distributes nearly 7 million songs to a wide range of digital services, such as Spotify and Apple Music.

"CD Baby has been the heart and soul of the independent music industry for many years and I've spent my career serving these same music creators,” Bahr enthuses. “I'm incredibly excited to lead the growth of CD Baby's publishing capabilities, deliver new opportunities to artists and get more money into the pockets of songwriters."

Bahr worked at ASCAP since 2003, most recently as Senior Director of Marketing & Communications. Bahr oversaw ASCAP's advertising, sponsorships, member benefit partnerships and marketing campaigns. He was a creator and executive producer of the successful annual ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO conference, heading content, sponsorships, logistics, customer service and marketing for the event. Bahr was instrumental in driving the success of ASCAP's 100th birthday integrated marketing campaign, including the star-studded commissioned film, Why We Create Music, and its companion song, "More than the Stars." Prior to ASCAP, Bahr worked at music booking agencies Artist Group International and Ted Kurland Associates, Emcee Artist Management, Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals, Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's organization True Majority and managed indie rock band, The Slip.

“Publishing remains one of the cornerstones of artists’ careers, and CD Baby is committed to providing the best possible administrative support to its CD Baby Pro artists,” explains Kevin Breuner, CD Baby Vice President of Marketing. “Having Jon on our team will help us reach our goal of being a one-stop place for independent artists to manage and grow their careers.”

About CD Baby

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to almost 500,000 artists and 7 million tracks, getting independent music to more than 100 digital services and platforms around the globe and allowing artists to monetize their presence on YouTube. Its one-stop professional dashboard, CD Baby Pro, allows indie musicians to collect all of their publishing royalties. CD Baby Pro administers the publishing rights of more than 500,000 songs for 100,000 songwriters.

CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers. Greg Brown and Rooney are among musicians who’ve dropped the old label system and turned to CD Baby to strike out on their own.

September 30-October 2, 2016 at Chicago’s Congress Plaza Hotel, Sponsored by GigSalad and Berklee Online

Actionable, artist-driven advice. That’s the main inspiration for the DIY Musician Conference presented by CD Baby (diymusiciancon.com), the only conference created specifically to give independent artists tools, skills, and ideas they can take home and implement instantly.

Now in its second edition (September 30-October 2, 2016 at Chicago’s Congress Plaza Hotel), the conference is expanding and including high-energy talks, carefully curated panels, and useful workshops by artists and music industry pros. “We’ve asked a lot of artists what they need and want more of, and have designed the program with this in mind. We’ve included more workshops and one-on-one mentoring,” explains Kevin Breuner, VP of Marketing as CD Baby. “The conference isn’t about a big-name speaker talking in general terms, or about information that is more geared toward managers or label execs. This is about content that people can use right away to move their careers forward. It’s about strong takeaways.”

This year’s keynotes include Jack Conte, one of the driving forces behind Pomplamoose and founder of artist funding platform Patreon. Conte is a perfect example of how indie musicians are finding uncharted roads to success and building significant careers using digital tools, innovative marketing, and good old-fashioned hard work.

“I'm super pumped to be a part of the conference,” exclaims Conte. “Being in an indie band for 10 years is one of the hardest things I've ever done. I can't wait to dive into the nitty gritties and answer some questions.”

Some of the nitty gritties include the art and craft of songwriting, with Grammy-nominated writer Steve Seskin whose songs have been recorded by and scored chart hits for Waylon Jennings, Alabama, Peter Frampton, and Tim McGraw, among others. In-demand fashion and commercial photographer Becky Yee will not only share tips on how to get great band photos, but will work with artists at a special photo booth, with shots artists can take home with them.

Topics will range from managing the creative process to booking a house concert tour, from putting on a stronger live show (the live band makeover with veteran manager Tom Jackson) to diving into sync, publishing, and streaming revenues. In addition, Berklee Online, the premier platform for online music and music business education, will curate several panels.

When not absorbing new ideas, artists can hang out, network, and even play together in a new feature this year, the Jam Room. “We had a lot of spontaneous music making last year,” recalls Breuner. “It started with just a few artists playing, then got really big. Artists asked for a dedicated space to jam, and we’re doing it.”

“This conference is one of the most engaging, productive artist events of the year for PledgeMusic and me,” says Benji Rogers, who in addition to his role as founder and chief strategy officer at PledgeMusic, is an advocate for new, more artist-friendly tech approaches to music rights and distribution. “I’m really excited to return."

About CD Baby:

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to more than 400,000 artists. The CD Baby catalog makes up an estimated 17 per cent of iTunes track offerings. With a one-stop professional dashboard allowing indie musicians to manage their royalties and licensing, CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers. Greg Brown, Willis Earl Beale, and Grant Lee Phillips are among musicians who’ve dropped the old label system and turned to CD Baby to strike out on their own.

by Tracy Maddux, CEO, CD Baby

Ninety-nine percent of the data in existence was created within the past two years. Yet, more than 99% of recorded music was created before the past two years. Recorded music was largely an analog phenomenon until the ’90s and the digital era. The institutions that sprung up around the music--to record, distribute and monetize, even to secure copyrights and administer royalties--were all created as analog institutions, not forced to compete, or even exist, in a digital world until very recently.

The bulk of the data meant to help collect revenue for music rights holders is not ready for the digital world. Much of this metadata is incomplete. It is often in conflict with other data sources and does not form a complete picture of the recording it’s meant to describe. The underlying music that consumers enjoy and which serves as the livelihood for songwriters, labels, publishers and artists must have clean and connected data to ensure that digital revenue reaches its correct earner.

Setting aside feelings, good and evil, what is happening in our industry is technological disruption and changing patterns of consumer preference as renting music becomes as popular as buying music. This is irreversible and as participants in an industry, we have to choose our path to the digital world carefully for our industry to prosper. If the participants in our industry vilify and attack each other, either through litigation or extortive threats of litigation, we engage in zero-sum behavior: one entity wins, one entity loses. This is not a path towards the creation of a healthy music industry. And it does not solve the metadata problem.

What the industry needs are more innovators and fewer lawyers. We can’t stand by as class-action vampires step in to sue everybody and anybody whose data is incomplete. The winners from that kind of strategy are the lawyers; no one else will benefit in the long run. I repeat: litigation is a zero sum strategy and it is a wealth destroyer, not an industry creator. Litigation rarely enables or forces fundamental changes.

We need to find a way forward, but first we need to reframe the problem in a way that sets up mutually acceptable outcomes. Certain industry players and middle-men have set up the debate (we’ll call these the value destroyers from here on out) to say the newest entrants to the market, like Spotify, operating on imperfect metadata, intended all along not to secure rights or pay rights-holders. These value destroyers say, “They are inherently evil and will have to pay for their actions!” This view of the world is overly simplistic and dangerous to the industry itself.

Other industry participants such as the artists, composers and their labels and publishers (we’ll call them value creators from here on out) facilitate the creation of wealth for themselves and art for the consumer by making music, distributing it and monetizing music rights via the digital service providers (DSPs). There are other neutral intermediaries in the market that serve vital interests: publishing organizations, data consortiums, the societies in collecting performance royalties, SoundExchange, distributors. These all have a place in the value chain, enabling value creators. 

The DSPs operating with this imperfect data are not inherently evil and their intent has rarely been maligned. In fact, new technology takes time to get right; new business models take time to make money. We’ll call these the market makers.

We are on the cusp of an all-out war in which the value destroyers attack the market makers to the detriment of the value creators. We will all lose if we choose to allow this to happen.

Let’s start with two basic facts.

One: There are competing interests with the music industry around the sound recording and composition copyrights. These interests compete for a pool of revenues allocated by market makers through direct negotiation or statute.  These competing interests must work together in order to assure working marketplaces.

Two: The most critical factor ensuring that all copyright holders get paid their appropriate share of revenue is to have metadata at the song or track level that describes all those interests perfectly.

If there are gaps in the data, someone gets screwed. Their money goes undistributed – for a time at least – into ‘black boxes,’ or pools of money allocated for unidentified interests to claim. After a time, that unidentifiable ‘black box’ money is distributed on a pro-rata basis to the top earning value creators. All of the venerable institutions of administration, the PROs and SoundExchange for instance, from time to time release un-attributable money to the big earners.

This is not true of the market makers, who hold this money until their intermediaries, like HFA or MRI, can identify the appropriate rights holder. Those pools of money are growing, and smelling increasingly attractive for attack by the value destroyers.

Now, I’ll make an argument that will not be popular with the value destroyers and a few value creators. Legal action, such as the recent songwriters looking to get certified as a class action, will in the end only distribute others’ money unfairly and to the detriment of all value creators. All of the revenues earned on DSPs such as Spotify are subject to claim by rights holders first. Without willing participants in the marketplace, the market makers cannot succeed.

Lawsuits against market makers, for harms real and imagined, will enrich lawyers and intermediaries and do nothing to solve the underlying problem of bad data. And it’s a Devil’s bargain for those songwriters on the sideline who are considering similar action. Join, and you might get paid if you win the lawsuit. Don’t join; your pool of potential royalties just got diluted to pay a settlement. In actuality, the class-action lawyers will likely find a way get paid win or lose, from pools of creators’ money generated on the marketplaces.

What is a creator to do? My suggestion is this: go and perfect your metadata. If you believe that your music has been used and that you have not been paid because your claim on the underlying music is not perfected, then go and perfect it. It’s a much more effective and beneficial action to use your trade group, publisher, agent, manager, distributor, aggregator or even lawyer to point out and take ownership in a work and then go and ask for money than seeking remedy in the courts. It is the primary function of any intermediary to go and represent your interest in a direct and constructive way than to utilize the blunt force of a lawsuit that will take years to complete and will only destroy the value of the market makers and redistribute the pool of royalties in an inequitable way.

Imagine a music industry wrought with litigation that drains the economic life and vitality from it. Now imagine a music industry that values rewarding creators first. Now choose.

LANDR, a revolutionary platform making DIY mastering easier than ever, has fully integrated with CD Baby’s dashboard to create a one-stop shop for indie musicians. Artists can master, preview, and save tracks or samples — all from inside their CD Baby accounts.

Vice President of Marketing for CD Baby, Kevin Breuner, said many artists releasing singles skip the mastering process to save money and time, noting, “Genres like electronic and hip hop music have really become single-first-type genres. YouTubers and cover song artists have found great value in LANDR as well.”

Breuner also pointed out, “LANDR is not competition to traditional mastering, but tapping into a totally different group of people. There is still a very firm place for traditional mastering, (but) for someone who wants to get a track live quickly, LANDR is a great choice.” Engineers are already enjoying free trials and saving masters for less money in less time!

It costs only $9.99 per track, and CD Baby members get free accounts and icons on their dashboards for convenient clicking.  Engineers offering other mastering services might charge ten times that much and sometimes will only master entire albums, making LANDR’s integration into CD Baby’s vast dashboard of service a convenient service for DIY musicians. 

About CD Baby
CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to more than 400,000 artists. The CD Baby catalog makes up an estimated 17 per cent of iTunes track offerings. With a one-stop professional dashboard allowing indie musicians to manage their royalties and licensing, CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers. Greg Brown, Willis Earl Beale, and Grant Lee Phillips are among musicians who’ve dropped the old label system and turned to CD Baby to strike out on their own. For more information, please visit: www.cdbaby.com.

About LANDR
LANDR is the cloud-based audio post-production software platform that revolutionizes the mastering process with drag-and-drop simplicity to achieve professional studio quality sound in minutes. LANDR your demos before sharing them, drop in full length DJ mixes or live recordings, or make a track on the road and have it mastered in time for your gig the same night. LANDR lets you integrate mastering seamlessly into your creative process. For more information, please visit: www.landr.com.

The world’s most artist-responsive music distributor of independent recordings has decided to put on their first conference. CD Baby--which handles a wide range of services for over 350,000 artists--will hold the DIY Musician Conference on October 23 through 25, 2015 at the historic Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The conference--whose early bird fee is a low $49--will offer presentations to help independent musicians on a wide range of music business topics such as online monetization, touring, online video, publishing, building a team, list-building, and more.

“With the DIY Musician blog and podcast, CD Baby has long been a trusted source of actionable information for independent artists,” says Kevin Breuner, CD Baby’s V.P. of Marketing. “Creating a conference where artists gather together as a community to learn and be inspired by one another was an idea that’s time has come.”

The DIY Musician Conference--which will draw between 500 and 1000 attendees--is not limited to CD Baby artists and is expected to grow into an annual occurrence focusing on practical steps independent musicians can take the following day to grow their music careers. The gathering will consist of keynotes, breakout sessions, meet-and-greets, and one-on-one consultations where artists work closely with CD Baby mentors.

For more information and to order your ticket to the DIY Musician Conference:
www.diymusiciancon.com

“The conference is the antidote to industry gabfests where panels have become more about being seen than being helpful,” explains Breuner. “Every one of our panels will offer actionable, tactical advice to emerging artists to help them further their musical careers, from how to add names to an email list, to how to maximize download and streaming volume. Geared towards the hundreds of thousands of DIY musicians trying to break through, the DIY Musician Conference offers only hard-hitting information and networking for emerging artists.”

While many national conferences gather in cities like N.Y.C., L.A. , Nashville, and Austin, Chicago’s music industry has seen recent growth and is undergoing a renaissance among festivals, blogs, labels, agencies, venues, and artists. The well-located Congress Plaza Hotel is steps away from Grant Park, Millennium Park, the Chicago Cultural Center, and the Art Institute.

“For years, artists have asked us when we’d start an artist conference of our own,” concludes Breuner. “We’re happy to say that it’s finally happening!”

June 23, 2015 – New York, NY – Revelator, a cloud-based platform that provides an end-to-end sales and marketing intelligence service, has entered into a long-term partnership with CD Baby to provide immediate access to the Revelator platform for select CD Baby customers. Revelator’s analytics tools will also be integrated into the CD Baby dashboard.

“CD Baby is an invaluable service to independent artists and record labels, and we at Revelator are excited to partner with them to bring more actionable insights and efficiency to their customers,” said Bruno Guez, Founder and CEO of Revelator. “Indie companies and artists need a comprehensive solution to unify their sales and marketing data so they can make informed decisions for their business. By working together, we can provide much more value for CD Baby users, ensuring that they always have autonomy, control, and access of their data, and the tools to succeed in running a music business in today’s increasingly complex digital landscape.”

“CD Baby artists know that the music industry is a business and are always looking for the best tools available to help them further their careers,” said Tracy Maddux, CEO of CD Baby. “We’ve been impressed by Revelator’s ability to provide an all-in-one data solution and are looking forward to integrating their technology into the CD Baby platform.”

Revelator is further expanding their client base through talks with a number of other large independent distributors regarding custom or integrated solutions as well as co-branding opportunities. The company continues to welcome new, high-profile independent labels and expand its roster of artist clients.

For more information or to sign up for Revelator, visit www.revelator.com. Ollie Buckwell, Revelator’s Global Head of Business Development, will also be in New York this week during the New Music Seminar and A2iM’s Indie Week events.

About CD Baby

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to more than 400,000 artists. The CD Baby catalog makes up an estimated 17 per cent of iTunes track offerings. With a one-stop professional dashboard allowing indie musicians to manage their royalties and licensing, CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers. Greg Brown, Willis Earl Beale, and Grant Lee Phillips are among musicians who’ve dropped the old label system and turned to CD Baby to strike out on their own.

About Revelator

Revelator is a leading cloud-based provider of sales and marketing intelligence for independent music businesses. Established in 2013 to bring affordable enterprise-level tools to distributors, labels, artists, and managers worldwide, Revelator solves today’s music business challenges by integrating sales, marketing, reporting, and analytics into an all-in-one multi-platform solution to provide unprecedented transparency, simplicity, and efficiency to the industry, saving customers both time and money.
 
To learn more, please visit www.revelator.com and follow Revelator on Twitter at @GetRevelator

The Revelator Team

Bruno Guez, Founder & CEO
Founder of Quango Music Group and former Creative Director, Music for Cirque Du Soleil, Bruno is a music industry veteran with over 20 years of experience working with international artists and global brands. His area of expertise includes Digital Media, Branded Entertainment, IP & Content Licensing, Digital Music Distribution, Publishing, and Strategic Marketing.

Ollie Buckwell, Global Head of Business Development
Digital music pioneer with over 20 years experience. Ollie founded Dorado Records and held positions with CDuctive, eMusic, and UMG as Head of Global Digital Marketing, prior to leading EMI’s digital business development and marketing for the Latin America Region. Ollie also worked with Tribal Brands and Verizon Wireless on their music services, sponsorships, and licensing initiatives until joining Revelator at the beginning of 2015.

Advisory Board

Chris Blackwell, Advisor
Founder of Island Records and a legendary music producer with over five decades of production credits, Chris is universally recognized as the person who brought Jamaican music to an international audience, forging the careers of Bob Marley as well as many other high profile rock acts, including U2.

Rob Wells, Advisor
Rob is a leader in the digital music space. Over the last 15 years, he built Universal Music Group’s digital business from its infancy into a global leader. Most recently, as President of Global Digital Business, he held responsibility for digital strategy, licensing deals, and investments. Rob initiated UMG’s Artist Portal program.

Tom Ryan, Advisor
Former SVP Digital Strategy and Development at EMI, Co-Founder and CEO of Pluto TV, Board Member at Smule, and Founder of CDuctive, Tom brings extensive experience at the intersection of media/entertainment, commerce, and technology. Tom was also CEO of Threadless and EIR at Bessemer Venture Partners.

Omri Dolev, Advisor
Seasoned digital media and marketing executive with hands-on experience in social media, mobile development, corporate planning and financing. Co-Founder of Lev Group Media - Warner Music Israel and a digital investment boutique, Omri brings years of knowledge and experience of corporate business development as a CEO and founder of many companies.

U.S. Contact:
Ollie Buckwell
Global Head of Business
ollie@revelator.com
USA: 305-490-2112

International Contact:
Bruno Guez
Founder | CEO
bruno@revelator.com
FR: +33 177 477 216
IL: +972- 54 227 4563
USA: (914) 826 8690

Press Contact:
Laurie Jakobsen
Jaybird Communications
laurie@jaybirdcom.com
USA: 646-484-6764

Press Contact for CD Baby:
Tristra Yeager
RockPaperScissors
newyear@rockpaperscissors.biz
USA: 812-339-1195

CD Baby, the go-to distribution company for independent artists, has found another way to help musicians promote their work and boost their music-related income: by creating its own multi-channel network (MCN) on YouTube, Illustrated Sound (illustratedsound.com).

YouTube has become very choosy about who can launch an MCN, but CD Baby was the perfect candidate for creating a cool, positive place for music and musicians: “We’ve been an indie artist advocate and platform for nearly two decades. We bring scale and we have a track record of doing right by the artists,” explains CD Baby Director of Strategic Partnerships, Phil Bauer.

MCNs do more than simply aggregate YouTube channels; they advise channel owners, cross-promote, and allow users to optimize their revenue earning potential. CD Baby will build on its customer service finesse and DIY expertise to help musicians hone in on more effective strategies and to help musicians hone their revenue-maximizing strategies. An artist, for example, who is still building her fanbase will see a payout from YouTube’s ad programs sooner as part of a MCN, instead of waiting to earn her first $100.

Illustrated Sound’s initial focus will be on artist education, including guiding artists to improve their channel’s earnings and chasing down answers to complex questions. “CD Baby’s YouTube catalog grossed $3.6 million in 2014, so it’s clear that a large number of our artists are using the platform, and some do it with real savvy,” says Kevin Breuner, CD Baby VP of Marketing. “But we've identified many that have yet to follow even the first round of the simple suggestions laid out by YouTube to optimize their channel.There is an enormous amount of missed revenue because artists have not approached YouTube as its own platform. We're going to educate artists, and by bringing them into the network, we'll really have the opportunity to partner with them to drive more money for their content.”

To do this, CD Baby plans to tap into its strong customer support team. CD Baby operates the largest phone bank for digital distribution and promotion in the music industry. “YouTube offers many resources for users to make the most of the platform,” explains Bauer, “but they tend to be scattered in a lot of different places. We have ambitious plans for what this could develop into, but first we want to capitalize on core competencies. The first step will be distilling all the advice and best practices into actionable pieces that artists can use, which in turn will help them make more money from the platform.”

The CD Baby-powered MCN will also take advantage of the promotional potential afforded by CD Baby’s huge and wildly diverse catalog. “Illustrated Sound’s forum will give artists a place to interact and connect,” Bauer comments. “We hope to set up genre-specific channels. And our popular retail platform will allow us to target buyers by genre.”

The MCN will be open to artists who do not use CD Baby. Launching with a dozen channels, the company hopes to grow the network’s offerings to a thousand channels in the first year or so. “This is what we do really well,” notes Bauer. “We take a complicated process and scale it up and bring it to more artists.”

CD Baby-distributed artists are no stranger to the small screen, having competed in and won every major talent contest style show, from The Voice (Javier Colon, Beverly McClellan, The Swon Brothers, Will Champlin) to American Idol (Beach Avenue’s Nick Fradiani, Lee DeWyze, Megan Joy, Nikki McKibbin,  Corey Clark, Josh Gracin, Latoya London, Diana DeGarmo, Jordin Sparks, Kristy Lee Cook, Matt Giraud, Sam Woolf, and more) to America’s Got Talent (Michael Grimm, Beach Avenue).

Now, two are making their mark on this season of NBC’s The Voice. Joshua Davis, currently one of the top six artists on the show, continued his rise in front of a growing national audience with his stunning performances. Also on this weeks show, Sawyer Fredericks performed Michigan songwriter and CD Baby artist May Erlewine’s ‘Shine On’, an anthem of hope for the times. It’s rare for the show to put an indie songwriter’s work in the spotlight, a move CD Baby applauds.

Sawyer, a young and prolific songwriter from upstate NY, is also representing the folk tradition on The Voice. He was introduced to Erlewine’s music early on, many years ago. May’s song, ‘Shine On’, found its way into his heart, and he sang it on this week’s show in dedication to his mother.

“I am honored that Sawyer connected with my song,” Erlewine says. “It is the best thing an artist can hope for that their work offers something inspiring and useful to others. ‘Shine On’ was written to be sung around the world, to support environmental and social justice movements, with an aim to bring encouragement to those in need. This is a really unique situation and I am proud that the song will help to represent independent artists on national television. I am grateful to Sawyer for working so hard to sing it. ‘Shine On’ belongs to the people.”

Davis's music is a foundational part of the Michigan music scene. His incredible musicianship and songwriting has paved the way for many young artists. Joshua’s songs are the soundtrack for the mitten state and his community has rallied to support him and his journey on the show. That community includes Davis’ longtime friend Erlewine, who has been inspired by Davis and his music for years.

"It was an amazing moment of serendipity when I met Sawyer Fredricks and learned he was a fan of my dear friend May Erlewine and her song ‘Shine On.’ I was excited to encourage Sawyer to pursue this song choice and am so proud of The Voice for choosing to support independent songwriters. I am also thrilled that such a beautiful and important song will be reaching a greater audience. Watching this all unfold has been one of the best parts of my experience on The Voice!"

Erlewine’s latest album is Where We Are, produced in 2014 by Earthwork Music and distributed by CD Baby. Both Davis’s A Miracle of Birds and Fredericks’ first full-length album, Out My Window, were released in 2013. All are available from CDBaby.com and all other online retailers.

Tune in to The Voice on NBC, Monday and Tuesdays at 8 PM, to follow Davis and Fredericks as they continue on the show.

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to more than 350,000 artists. The CD Baby catalog makes up an estimated 17 per cent of iTunes track offerings. With a one-stop professional dashboard allowing indie musicians to manage their royalties and licensing, CD Baby has become the go-to partner for many icons in the new music industry. Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and Macklemore had their start on CD Baby, while others like Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have maintained independent and highly successful careers. Greg Brown, Willis Earl Beale, and Grant Lee Phillips are among musicians who’ve dropped the old label system and turned to CD Baby to strike out on their own.

New York, April 9, 2015: HFA, the nation’s leading provider of rights management services for the music industry, has been engaged by CD Baby to assist with data management and royalty administration services.

Independent music distribution giant CD Baby has tapped HFA’s rights management service, Slingshot™, to help facilitate distributing publishing royalties that are generated when CD Baby’s artists’ recordings are accessed through iTunes® Match.  Slingshot is supported by HFA’s deeply established relationships with the music publishing community, flexible, state-of-the-art technology and comprehensive rights management database.

“Slingshot is a wonderful rights management platform that compliments the ever-growing set of tools CD Baby is creating to help our 350,000 artists. We are enthusiastic to work with HFA in the coming months in order to efficiently distribute publishing royalties,” said Robert Filomena, CD Baby’s Director of Music Publishing.

“Slingshot’s goal is to streamline the royalty administration process for distributors and enable payments to rights holders,” commented Lauren Apolito, HFA’s Vice President of Strategy & Business Development.  “We are pleased to work with CD Baby to simplify the royalty process so it can focus on enhancing its client offerings.”

About HFA

HFA is the nation’s leading provider of rights management, licensing and royalty services for the music industry. With over 48,000 music publishing clients, HFA issues the largest number of licenses for the use of music in both physical and digital distribution formats. Slingshot™, HFA’s rights management service offering, includes a suite of information management and technology solutions designed to simplify and facilitate the administration of intellectual property rights. HFA also serves the D.I.Y. market with Songfile®, the company’s fast and easy online licensing tool. As a technology innovator and industry leader in establishing global data standards, HFA is a founding member of Digital Data Exchange (DDEX) and a five-time InformationWeek Top 500 Relentless Innovator. For more information about HFA, visit harryfox.com and hfaslingshot.com.

Contact:
HFA       
Dalita Keumurian
Director of Marketing & Communications                                                     
(212) 922 3297
hfapress@harryfox.com    

AUSTIN – For the third year running, CD Baby — one of the largest independent music aggregators — will curate an official showcase at the SXSW music festival. From up-and-coming artists self-releasing their first EPs to established major artists who have chosen to start their own labels, CD Baby is home to many of the world’s best independent artists, and is proud to partner with SXSW to bring six of the best to the stage of the venerable Maggie Mae’s Gibson Lounge (widely regarded as one of Austin’s best intimate listening rooms) on March 20^th from 8pm – 2am.

Lineup

8pm: Doug Burr Denton, Texas-based Doug Burr came late to music, but he’s made up for lost time with his candid, thoughtful songs that offers no easy solutions to life’s nagging questions. Mixing country delicacy with electric excess on his new release, Pale White Dove (on long-time label Velvet Blue Music), Burr navigates a course between desperation and redemption as he digs deep in search of the truth.

http://schedule.sxsw.com/2015/events/event_MS30791

9pm: Summer Cannibals Formed in 2012, Summer Cannibals have wasted no time honing their chops. Their 2013 debut brought plenty of praise, and their recent sophomore release, Show Us Your Mind, refines their beautiful rawness. Riffs, hooks, fuzz pedals - Summer Cannibals have them and they’re not afraid to makes them loud and memorable. Featured on NPR’s Austin 100 Playlist.

http://schedule.sxsw.com/2015/events/event_MS30015

10pm: Chaos Chaos Raised in Seattle and now based in Brooklyn, sister Asya and Chloe Saavedra turned away from the indie music that made them famous as teenagers (as Smoosh) to explore the world of synth-pop. On their latest EP, Committed to the Crime release, they’re dealing in very personal lyrics and dance hooks, mixing up New Romantics and hip-hop in an irresistible cocktail.

http://schedule.sxsw.com/2015/events/event_MS29625

11pm: Olivver the Kid Los Angeles-based drummer (and ex-member of The Neighbourhood) turned indie-electro singer-songwriter Olivver the Kid makes alt-pop with an R&B tinge in his music, and already has a sold-out tour under his belt after releasing his debut EP, Freak. But it’s a sound that works just as well when stripped to the bone, as he’s shown in many appearances.

http://schedule.sxsw.com/2015/events/event_MS32367

12am: Sadat X From his beginnings as one of the founders of Brand Nubian, Sadat X has gone on to release 12 albums in a career that’s spanned three decades. His music keeps getting better and going deeper. His newest release, Never Left, is hip-hop for adults, people who’ve grown up with the music and come to it now with a different perspective and fresh understanding.

http://schedule.sxsw.com/2015/events/event_MS29389

1am: Black Milk Detroit-based producer and rapper Black Milk has built a huge cult-like following over his 10 years releasing albums and performing. Rarely does such a respected producer gain such parallel renown as a rapper, and now he can add entrepreneur to the list, as he’s started his own label, Computer Ugly to release his new material. One of the most respected artists in hip-hop, he’s bringing the Nat Turner live band to the stage for what will surely be a transcendent and sweaty close to the evening.

http://schedule.sxsw.com/2015/events/event_MS29181

About CD Baby

CD Baby is – by some measures - the world’s biggest independent music distributor and the home of more than 300,000 artists, providing an estimated 17 percent of iTunes current catalog. CD Baby has a long, established history of supporting emerging acts and their commitment extends to live music. That’s why they’re hosting the Third Annual CD Baby Showcase at SXSW, to be held Friday March 20 in the Gibson Room at Maggie Mae’s, 512 Trinity Street, from 8pm to 2 am. 

Lauded artists like Ben Sidran and Mary Gauthier have been with CD Baby as they’ve built and maintained independent careers (not to mention Macklemore and Ingrid Michaelson), while venerated artists like Latin music legend Eddie Palmieri and drummer Gregg Bissonette have abandoned the traditional label system to work with CD Baby and discover how well independence can work for them.

CD Baby’s rights management service for songwriters—known as CD Baby Pro—had a huge year of growth in 2014. The service now represents over 54,000 writers and administers over 246,000 songs.  CD Baby’s administered catalog grew by over 250% in 2014, after launching in February 2013.

“While writers could sign up directly with ASCAP or BMI to collect performance royalties, many independent artists can’t get an established publisher to work with them, which is key to making other types of publishing revenue accessible” explains Rob Filomena, CD Baby’s Director of Music Publishing. “We’re making professionalized music rights management accessible to a large group of independents and, judging from the growth we’re seeing, this is an essential artist need right now.

CD Baby Pro is allowing its members to collect for the first time mechanical royalties from streaming services both in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, direct registration of songs with over 40 foreign societies has accelerated payment to members for performances in these territories by years in some cases, whereas relying on U.S. PROs alone would have taken much longer.

“We continue to help our members understand that performance royalties are only part of the equation with streaming services,” says Kevin Breuner, CD Baby’s vice president of marketing and host of the DIY Musician podcast. “I just came across one of our artists making $3000 from mechanical royalties collected for foreign  sales.This is money they wouldn’t have collected without CD Baby Pro..”

“Every little bit helps for today’s independent artists,” Breuner concludes, “and it’s only going to increase from here.”

From its humble beginnings 17 years ago in a garage in Woodstock, New York, CD Baby has grown into one of the world’s largest distributors of independent music, handling over 350,000 artists. Highly acclaimed hip-hop artists like Black Milk and Sadat X, world class jazz players like Miguel Zenón, outsider indie geniuses like Willis Earl Beal, and hilarious comedians like Ari Shaffir and Garfunkel and Oates have all found a home with CD Baby, and working with the company, they’ve enjoyed even greater success.

But it’s not only artists who’ve joined the fold. Labels like Velvet Blue Music and Slovenly Records have come on board, finding ease, satisfaction, and greater profitability in working with CD Baby. And in an increasingly digitally-oriented age, CD Baby has bucked the trend, being the only company in the business where sales of physical CDs have kept increasing for the last several years while maintaining best in-field digital services.

Here is the pick of the upcoming releases on CD Baby, the new music that’s destined to excite and resonate.

02/03/15 Paul Mercurio, It’s Not Me, It’s The World

Rhode Island-born Paul Mercurio has a remarkable resume, with Emmy and Peabody awards for his work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as well as having his own comedy series, regular stand-up appearances, and a Comedy Channel special. He graduated to comedy after gaining a law degree and working as an investment banker, and currently hosts The Paul Mercurio Show, an iTunes podcast. With all that under his belt, it’s perhaps a surprise that it’s taken so long for his recording debut to appear. Expect plenty of the humor that’s made him a household name.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/paulmecurio
http://cdbaby.com/cd/paulmercurio1

02/17/15 Seryn, Shadow Stars

It’s been highly-anticipated, but the sophomore album from Seryn is finally almost here. The six-piece from Denton, Texas is known for their stunning harmonies and songs that start out folky then grow into walls of sounds. Those are still major ingredients in their sound, but this time around they’ve expanded their palette, amping up the folk-rock and pushing toward psychedelia. With an eclectic mix of instruments, their take on music is different, but always absolutely arresting, with inspired songwriting and performances.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/serynsound
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/seryn

02/17/15 Divers, Hello Hello

Somewhere in the misty area between punk and indie, Portland, Oregon’s Divers work up a dynamic musical sweat on Hello Hello, an album documenting the exploits of a pair of banks robbers as they make their way across the United States. Already lauded in their hometown for their frenetic, energetic gigs, the four-piece has been widely tipped as a major breakthrough act. Their debut album delivers on their live promise, bristling with fire and bursting out of the speakers in a blaze of passion. They’re supporting the release with a tour to spread the message.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/DIVERS/106213376120283
http://www.partydamagerecords.com/divers/

03/03/15 Summer Cannibals, Show Us Your Mind

Named for a Patti Smith song, the Portland, Oregon-based quartet burst onto the world in 2013, and quickly racked up a string of plaudits, including an opening slot for Chvrches. Filled with knife-edge riffs and fuzz pedals, their sophomore release tosses out hooks that catch like Velcro in the mind. Recorded to tape, it’s music to overwhelm and release the mind, pop music at air-raid volume and intensity, a rainstorm of joy.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/SummerCannibals
https://twitter.com/SCannibalsBand

03/17/15 The Blind Shake, Fly Right

Minneapolis trio The Blind Shake has been releasing records since 2003, and this nine-cut EP via Slovenly Records finds them digging deeper into their bag of punk-rock twang. There’s garage music on “Tar Paper,” enough spaghetti Western psychedelic surf for a dozen Serge Leone movies, and some plain old horror on the title cut. Already famed for their looming onstage presence and catalog of songs, Fly Right seems them adding to and burnishing their legend. There’s nobody else quite like them.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Blind-Shake/62488177468
https://twitter.com/TheBlindShake

From its small beginnings in Woodstock, New York, in 1997, CD Baby has grown to become the world’s largest distributor of independent music. Now it’s the home to over 300,000 artists, generating a remarkable 17 per cent of the offerings on iTunes. CD Baby is the distribution partner to many who’ve enjoyed incredible success in the music business - both Macklemore and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon started out by releasing albums on CD Baby and the company still offers their back catalogue. There’s also a growing number of other artists, such as Willis Earl Beal and Mary Gauthier, who have turned their back on the traditional business model and now enjoy flourishing careers with the help of CD Baby. And there are plenty more CD Baby artists on their way to the big time. The Iceberg Tip Sheet gives a glimpse of some of the releases just out and those soon to appear through CD Baby, an inside track on those coming up as well as cult stars and breakthrough names.

01/13/15 Kingsley Flood, To the Fire

Since their breakout appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in 2013, Kingsley Flood’s star has been quickly rising, and 2105 will be a huge year for them. To the Fire builds on their recent recognition on NPR’s World Café as one of the next big bands, and they’ll also be releasing another EP in the summer, followed by a full album in the fall, along with a heavy touring schedule. Produced by Paul Kolderie (Radiohead, Pixies), To the Fire sizzles with their trademark horn/violin combination and keyboard textures behind singer Naseem Khuri’s engaged, passionate vocals.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/kingsleyflood
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/KingsleyFlood 

01/20/15 Sadat X, Never Left

Celebrating 25 years in hip-hop, Never Left is the 10^th solo album for former Brand Nubian member Sadat X. Beautifully crafted and detailed, it’s a disc that illustrates hip-hop can be for adults as well as kids. Starting with lead single “On Fire,” Sadat X deals with the real issues that affect people in their everyday lives. He’s still very much part of the alternative, conscious hip-hop scene. But the beats kick as hard as ever; growing older doesn’t mean growing soft. The crowning jewel in a long career, Never Left delivers everything Sadat X has ever promised.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sadat-X/51295319114
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sadatx15

02/03/15 Paul Mercurio, It’s Not Me, It’s The World

Rhode Island-born Paul Mercurio has a remarkable resume, with Emmy and Peabody awards for his work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as well as having his own comedy series, regular stand-up appearances, and a Comedy Channel special. He graduated to comedy after gaining a law degree and working as an investment banker, and currently hosts The Paul Mercurio Show, an iTunes podcast. With all that under his belt, it’s perhaps a surprise that it’s taken so long for his recording debut to appear. Expect plenty of the humor that’s made him a household name.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/paulmecurio
http://cdbaby.com/cd/paulmercurio1

02/17/15 Seryn, Shadow Stars

It’s been highly-anticipated, but the sophomore album from Seryn is finally almost here. The six-piece from Denton, Texas is known for their stunning harmonies and songs that start out folky then grow into walls of sounds. Those are still major ingredients in their sound, but this time around they’ve expanded their palette, amping up the folk-rock and pushing toward psychedelia. With an eclectic mix of instruments, their take on music is different, but always absolutely arresting, with inspired songwriting and performances.

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/serynsound
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/seryn

The Iceberg Tip Sheet: The Best of 2014

With the Winter holidays looming, CD Baby is offering fans of independent music a great deal: one cent shipping on all CDs purchased on Cyber Monday or the two days after. What a great way to wrap up 2014, a year when CD Baby drastically grew revenue streams by the millions for independent artists as its YouTube monetization program (CD Baby Sync) and publishing service (CD Baby Pro) really took hold. During this same year, CD Baby announced a 12% increase in physical sales!

To celebrate our final Iceberg album tip sheet of the year and the Cyber Monday deal, here’s the cream of the releases distributed by CD Baby this year. Many you’ll know; some might have slipped under the radar. But all are worth your attention, especially with one-cent shipping… which simply means more sales for independent artists.

Aan, Amor Ad Nauseum
Three years in the making, strong elements of soul mixed with songwriting that takes strange, enticing turns. Imagine a cross between the loudest Animal Collective songs and the quietest Big Black songs.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/weareaan
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/aan1

Acid Baby Jesus, Selected Recordings
Acid Baby Jesus purvey their highly twisted brand of psychedelic primitivism mixed with the folk history of their homeland, the solos lysergically stretched to breaking point and dazed in reverb. It’s what psychedelia was intended to do.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Acid-Baby-Jesus/146447782059432
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/acidbabyjesus

Gordon Ashworth, S.T.L.A.
Compositions that blur the lines between the soft melodies of folk and the abstractions of musique concrete, everything textured by the field recordings Ashworth made working as a cab driver.
Links:
http://orindal.limitedrun.com/products/522798-gordon-ashworth-s-t-l-a
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/16767-desperate-and-indebted/

Audiomachine, Phenomena
Their most ambitious outing yet, brought to life by 180 musicians, including the powerful beat of 10 percussionists, a compelling choir of 80 voices and the commanding force of a 90-piece orchestra.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/audiomachine?fref=ts
http://www.cdbaby.com/Search/YXVkaW9tYWNoaW5l/0

Audiomachine, Remixed
These film composers gave 17 of their most identifiable pieces to their favorite remixers and gave them a free hand to reconstruct the music exactly as they wanted. The results? Stunning, beautiful, even scary.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/audiomachine
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/audiomachine12


Willis Earl Beal, Experiments in Time
Beal made news by walking away from his record label deal to release his own work, and this strips away the record business makeover gloss to return to the sound that first captured attention.
https://www.facebook.com/willisearlbeal
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/willisearlbeal

Black Milk, If There’s A Hell Below
Elegant samples and rhythms that startle and mix with a rapid delivery and a positive message, Black Milk once again lays a blueprint for others to follow, while he stays ahead of the game.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/blackmilk
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/BlackMilk

Julie Byrne, Rooms With Walls And Windows
Truthful, simple music, built by a clearly expert hand – a whole world visible through the shades of perfectly arranged guitar and vocals, like the love child of Leonard Cohen and Vashti Bunyan.
Links:
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/16497-julie-byrne-prism-song/
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/juliebyrne2

Byrne and Kelly, Live in Australia
Plenty of Irish favorites to build on the success of their hit debut, showing the pair to be just as strong in front of an audience as they are in the studio.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Neil-Byrne/145333318861760
https://www.facebook.com/RyanKellyMusicOfficial
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/byrneandkelly

Cataldo, Gilded Oldies
A paradox. The music here is more accessible than Cataldo’s earlier work, but the lyrics are much darker, exploring the gulf that separates expectations from reality.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/cataldomusic
http://www.cdbaby.com/artist/cataldo

Chaos Chaos, Committed To The Crime
Seattle duo Chaos Chaos offers a glittering exploration of electro-pop and hip-hop. Memorable melodies and hooks that tug at the brain, dance-floor friendly, big yet still intimate and glossy without coming close to slick.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/chaoschaosofficial
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/ChaosChaos

Jeff Coffin and the Mu’tet, Side Up
The Mu’tet’s sixth outing of mutated music won’t fit into a pigeonhole in its journey around the fringes of music. Unifying and often mesmerizingly beautiful.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/jeffcoffinmusic
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jeffcoffinthemutet3

Dead Conspiracy, Abomination Underground
The welcome return of Portland’s first-ever, death-metal band, this vinyl release brings together the old – their original 1987 demo – and the brand new.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dead-Conspiracy/228804147194155
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/deadconspiracy2

Escort, If You Say So
The follow-up to their Chameleon single is dynamic, ambitious, and danceable,  as a jumping-off point for their own voyage across the ballroom that loves the past but looks very clearly to the future.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/weareesc0rt
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Escort

Faded Paper Figures, Relics
Electro-synth trio Faded Paper Figures have never tried to be a typical band. Since 2008 they’ve lived and worked bi-coastally, bringing in sitars, old analog synths, and an intensity of expression.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/fadedpaperfigures
http://www.cdbaby.com/artist/fadedpaperfigures

Mary Gauthier, Trouble & Love
Gauthier’s first studio release in more than four years includes her recording of “How You Learn to Live Alone,” a co-write with Gretchen Peters for the hit ABC show Nashville.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/marygauthiersongs?fref=ts
http://www.cdbaby.com/Search/bWFyeSBnYXV0aGllcg%3d%3d/0

Ghost Owl, Say Goodbye to Finland
This debut album from Ghost Owl offers a mix of concise arrangements and futuristic soundscapes that bring to mind the best British musical innovators, from Pink Floyd to Doves to Radiohead.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/GhostOwlBand
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ghostowl

Saúl Hernández, Mortal
Half-studio, half-live, this album tells its stories by juxtaposing the everyday and the magical, a soundtrack to the walk we all take through life.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Saul-Hernandez/177689228924433
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/saulhernandez1

Lovelife, Feel EP
2014 has been good for Lovelife, the band that splits its time between Brooklyn and London. The new EP features “Your New Beloved,” a pair of new songs and one track from their previous release, Stateless.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/LVLFinfo
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/lovelife13

Aimee Mann “I’m Cured” – Single
 “I’m Cured” is a love song, but a twisted one, sung by Aimee Mann as the common cold to the man who invented the cure. The whole project benefits the One Kid One World Foundation.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/2776album
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/aimeemann

Charlotte Martin, Water Breaks Stone
Praised by Details magazine as “a born storyteller and affecting vocalist,” the ninth album from the California singer-songwriter is the release to catapult her to the major artist category.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/CharlotteMartinMusic
http://www.cdbaby.com/artist/charlottemartin

OCD: Moosh & Twist, Living Out Loud
The debut commercial release from the Philadelphia duo known for their unique brand of hip-hop, with its lightning-fast rhymes, always full of wit and classic, feel-good production style.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/teamocd
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ocdmooshtwist

Neal Morgan, Neal Morgan
Intimate music for drum and voice that manages to catch the fine balance between challenging and irresistibly catchy, with lyrics to all the songs are spoken, rather than sung.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Neal-Morgan/165095266861366
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/nealmorgan2

Nicholas Payton, Numbers
Payton sticks mostly to Fender Rhodes on this outing, with only a few flourishes of the horn, to make what he calls “the hippest, funkiest Play-A-Long album that's ever been documented.”.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/nicholas.payton
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/NicholasPayton

Haley Pharo, Haley Pharo
Pharo has recorded with Michael Jackson and will.i.am. Her debut, a collection of pop, rock, and dance music, contains nine powerful, confessional, and infectious pop gems.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/haley.pharo?fref=ts
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/haleypharo

Quetzal, Quetzanimales
Grammy-winning East L.A. Chicano rock band Quetzal returns with a look at the world through the eyes of the animals, with cumbia roosters and bossa nova squirrels.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/quetzaleastla
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/quetzal1

Mike Sempert, Mid Dream
The former frontman for Birds & Batteries, Sempert brings an intimacy to his music that can swell to the epic while still retaining the feel of a conversation with a friend.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/mikesempertsongs
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/MikeSempert

Shook Twins, What We Do
The Portland duo are longtime fixtures on the folk and roots scene, and move up a gear with this release. Now they’re ready for the big time.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/ShookTwins
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/ShookTwins

Spottiswoode and His Enemies, English Dream
English Dream has all the flavors of Anglicana, a collection that runs from the pastoral to the scary. Compared to Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, and Tom Waits, the band is a New York institution.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/spottiswoode
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/SpottiswoodeandHisEnemies

Various Artists, 2776: A Millennium of American Asskickery
A skewed comedy-musical trip through America’s past, p