The new CD Baby pricing is UNREAL (2023 Review)

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

What do you think? Can you name a distributor that I should compare next? 🙋‍♂

[@billB101]

Landr. No hidden extras.

[@Paromaster]

Unchained Music

[@theresourcemusicgroup]

We moved from CDBaby a few years back when we signed with Symphonic Distribution. Lifetime distribution and no fees. We just moved our catlog over to their platform. At that time their business model was that you had to be accepted into their distribution instead of the DIY paid model. They just recently opened their platform to the DIY community. They're a lot like AWAL is for you. Marketing and label services. But, CDBaby flat out has more inclusive services at a good price that no other company can match hands down.

[@AnmolVermillion]

Tunecore

[@ribbontribute]

Great info,, Can you explain how if u set up wPublisher? As your distributor, how to let them know you will set up directly yourself w songtrust direct as your admin, publisher? Also, can you setup a prerelease date & presave date w c.d. baby like distrokid offers?

[@_tomissa_]

Thank you. CD Baby it is. What I do not like about the subscription model is they take down your music if you unsubscribe. Better to pay the one-time fee.

[@marshall.w8635]

When you're talking about the subscription model taking down your music if you unsubscribe, you're talking about DistroKid right? Because CD Baby is the one-time fee that doesnt take down your music.

[@_tomissa_]

@@marshall.w8635 yes I’m talking about Distrokid

[@mszuala]

@@marshall.w8635 ya he is talking about distrokid

[@FrankJonen]

@@marshall.w8635 all subscription services take your stuff down when you end the contract. That's why one-time payments are the only contracts that make sense.

[@II-wk8kv]

@@marshall.w8635 he's contrasting it with that yeah

[@dekoningtan]

THANK YOU FOR PUTTING THIS INFO OUT. I've been saying this to people for years and I keep on having to re-explain it.

[@ParanormalArson]

This is interesting! There's a few things I'm...less than happy with re. Distrokid. This looks like it's a much better option.

[@FlowProdOfficial]

Great video, thank you! When using CD Baby to distribute an album, do you know if it's possible to release the individual songs within the album on different days? Doing this is a great way to build traction ahead of the full album releases so it would be super useful!

[@Sound_of_the_trees]

distrokid just hides their royalty fees behind fancy words like subscription and "value added services"

[@TimONoff1]

Cdbaby charged $4,99 for the same stuff almost for one whole year in 2022. Me and my band switched to cdbaby and so far so good ❤

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

NiCE! The $4.99 deal is back! (I sound like a Wendy's commercial 😂)

[@RachyKatly]

I switched at that time too

[@realdevdiv]

@@IndieMusicAcademy 😂💔

[@ravneetkaur6611]

Facing issues in distributing in facebook cd baby issues

[@stephenjclement]

What are your thoughts on them also taking 40% of sync placements, 30% of KZbin, Instagram, and Facebook, and 15% of publishing royalties? For folks who aren’t making much money off of their music, it seems like a great deal, but for those who are bringing in a larger income, these seem like steep percentage cuts. How do these compare with AWAL and others?

[@christophegoze]

Awal and Cd baby are not publishers and not synch placement companies. they offer the service because they have some connections and probably have demand from partners. I work with publishers (and have a few contracts around the world) and also work for some of major UK synch companies. I get a lot of synch from them around the world while I get zero from AWAL ... I would forget about digital distribution companies when it comes to publishing and synch. Now , a good publisher would take around 30 % of your incomes for publishing your work world wide . and a good synch company takes 50 % of license fee and performing fee (when they also are the publisher of the work) . That's very standard fee around the world. So in that sense , AWAL and CD baby are cheaper. They just dont do the job right :)

[@stephenjclement]

@@christophegoze Thanks a million for your thoughts! Is there a way to opt out of these percentage fees for CDbaby then? If so, what services would you recommend using in their place?

[@christophegoze]

I have an account with CD baby for a side project I did not want to release via my usual distributor (Awal) and if Im correct all you have to do is not give the publishing to CD baby ( I did not take that option since Im already published) and do not give them the right to synch your release . They will then only distribute your tracks and nothing else and therefore not take any share on any of those incomes. That's what I do with them . @@stephenjclement

[@YesWeCanSong3]

@@stephenjclementyes, you need to email cd baby and ask to be released from their pro services (if you signed up with Pro). They make you stay with them for a year but you can get out of it after that.

[@altermoremusic]

​@@stephenjclementтам потрібно думати про співпрацю з такими як Artlist, якщо нас цікавить sync licensing.

[@ronnysmobilephone]

Yes , do a comparison please .

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Will do thanks so much for commenting!

[@MyCalmWorld]

Your thoughts on CDB+ ... the actual cost is $49.00, not $9.99.

[@BuuERadley]

Yea I was in the middle of registering a release and encountered this new CDB+ where it appears they are now charging us for services that were once included in the album/single price. I think this will make CD Baby a bit less competitive but I'd like to hear others' opinions

[@koeloekai]

Thanks! This was really helpfull for our choise. 🎉

[@HappyLunarModule-ki6cq]

Thanks much for information

[@pakmanmusik]

I love CD Baby. I always get the pro add on. My question is, even with the pro add on, so we still need to register at Sound Exchange and BMI?

[@Homie_badamosi]

was your music distributed to audiomack and snapchat

[@pakmanmusik]

@@Homie_badamosi I believe so, I selected every store available. There were like 20+ stores

[@DrSAlam-ku2gg]

When CD baby says it takes 30% of Facebook and Instagram does that mean they advertise there or they play my songs there and will they take 30% if I share my music there?

[@davehansmann491]

I'd like to see a video review of CDB Boost and your opinion on paying $39.00 for that added feature or if it is rather worth it to just sign up on Sound Exchange and MLC separately since it is free to do so. I heard you cover Sound Exchange in a different video but I did not know about MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) until I was prompted to "Add It To Cart" upon my first single release I just did. I decided to not use it for this first one. Your thoughts?

[@YesWeCanSong3]

OMG!! I wish I known that. I just signed up a new album and paid full price. 😮

[@brexistentialism7628]

Thanks for the royalty calculator

[@ShereefHerbal]

Can you explain the payouts And how they calculated quarterly

[@cheezy_cheez]

thanks! going to choose cdbaby for my latest releass

[@godislove4089]

what is the best federal tax classification for CD baby artists making little money

[@phrtza]

Yeah, I am going to release on CD Baby next. I only managed to release one single on amuse and then they changed the policy, making it unusable for me (releasing rarely, paying only one time cost per release makes a lot of sense).

[@souleo1417]

Hi, do you know where I can get instrumentals that I can use for my cover songs? I can't play any instruments well and I don't want to get a copyright so I'm trying to figure out how people get backing tracks and there's very limited info online about it

[@fourwallholidaymusic]

audiosparx i meant. sorry. its a licensing site for music

[@metal-magazine]

yOU FORGOT TO MENTION: cd babys charges you $39 per album just to collect your publishing royalties... sooo the album final price is actually $49.. to expensive for indie artists

[@mete-5320]

Do u know if I Can Choose the exact time Where my Music should be released? On the cd baby site I Can only Choose a date

[@spazzoutofficial5232]

This sounds really good but I thought the same about United Masters until I found out that they take the rights to your music. Does CD Baby let the artist keep the rights to your music or do they take the the rights like United Masters?

[@PSYB3RMOTH]

they never take ownership of ur work

[@gothjim325]

I paid $71.75 in March 2022 for an album, and couldn't get anyone ever to answer a few simple questions.

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

What were the simple questions?

[@scotteepunk]

Ryan, do a comparison between CD Baby and Tunecore for a KZbin video.. Currently Gayle's song ABCDEFU has just over one billion streams on Spotify. Now before she released that song she was one of tens of thousands singer/songwriters in Nashville. For the amount of streams she has now what amount will she pay CD Baby? Do the comparison between CD Baby and Tunecore.

[@AcousticOST]

Does CD Baby do cover song licensing? I make guitar covers and I’ve used Soundrop for two years but they recently laid off a huge amount of their workers and now they’re terrible, I’m still waiting for an email response from them for over a month. If CD Baby doesn’t do cover song licensing, do you have any recommendations for a different service that does?

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

CD Baby is partnered with EasySong Licensing. I used it recently for my wife’s album to secure the licenses and it actually was “easy” in my experience.

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

But it’s not built into CD Baby, it’s a separate site.

[@AcousticOST]

@@IndieMusicAcademy thanks for the info! I’ll definitely look into it cuz distrokid is expensive

[@blackobysdyan]

Thanks for the info

[@neilomusic1]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@konumusic]

If you are not planning on moving past a certain amount of streams or you are unsure and just beginning then CD Baby is fine and seems like a great deal at first. However once your streams start to increase and you move past a certain point, that 9% they take is felt immediately. There's more to think about other than the initial setup fees of any platform. Many streams for all of you🙏

[@jennw6354]

So who do you suggest once someone's streams start to increase?

[@konumusic]

@@jennw6354 choose a company that doesn't take a percentage. I personally use Tunecore and Distrokid, depending on the project. Tunecore for the big stuff because they have the best stats and clearest data of where your traction is coming from. If you have a budget for promotion then this is very useful. Distrokid is great for testing out the waters but their additions can add up pretty quickly. 🙏🏾🤙🏾

[@AdrianMilanio]

9% royalty take is not worth it for me

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

What distributor do you prefer? I’ll review them next!

[@NewCrewMember]

Good luck

[@gnhard87]

Think it really makes a difference? Music online forever means a lot to me

[@altermoremusic]

Замість 9% яких ти не бачиш, ти будеш регулярно платити гроші Distrokid за додаткові послуги які потрібні твоєму релізу. Ці послуги оплачуються за кожен реліз роками. А ти не знаєш, принесе тобі музика гроші чи ні. Тиж краще заплатити раз і не перейматись щоб потім твою музику не видалили, якщо ти перестанеш платити 😂

[@supa_josh]

​@@IndieMusicAcademydo illustratemusicdistribution

[@ericgrajeda2671]

Does CD baby have a store like 15 years ago of all their artists However use to review all the artists and communicate with them ......

[@DrSAlam-ku2gg]

Will cd baby take 30% of my official artist channel even if I am making non music content?

[@chrisdoninzane]

Thanks for review ❤

[@michaeld2176]

Can CD baby generate artwork that can be used for a release yes or no . If so what is the fee

[@matthew-herman-music]

Code still works everyone!

[@loucifer8009]

What does "CONTENT ID" mean????

[@bluedev1495]

How do you publish collaborations, features, and remixes with CDbaby?

[@mcelf168]

Definitely would like a review/comparison of LANDR

[@bossgigs3525]

Thanks for this man

[@AATM.Sports]

What about the youtube content ID and youtube profile merger with music channel how distro does?

[@DeathToMusic]

CD Baby is the best choice as costs are once-only and very affordable

[@b.nolo_]

I wanna know if it is safe to accept the artist agreement with cd baby what are the advantages and disadvantages of agreeing to the Artist Agreement of CD Baby

[@benjaminbritschfayet7510]

Do you have the garantee to have a legacy deposit with CD Baby ? assurance it will be on stream platforms for ever ?

[@bbrog1279]

Question from a novice: is a single 1 or two songs(Sides A and B)?

[@larrygiles8556]

Ryan, can you do a video about the Cdbaby boost feature?

[@Yoji-u8i]

⚠️ 🚨🚨I'm currently using the amuse distributor, and am wandering, if I distribute with cd baby, can I be able to merge KZbin accounts, even the topic channel that is auto generated by amuse

[@Bradleybrookwood]

Hey there, I'm looking for a new distributor but I don't see the code for 50% off? Did the code expire? I would love to get a discount on distribution services because the current distributor I use doesn't really get back to me for several months and that's unacceptable to me.

[@ChameleoKing]

Does CD Baby offer the mastering tool like Distrokid?

[@FrederickLewisDeAngelis]

How does Tunecore Measure against this new CD baby model?

[@altermoremusic]

TuneCore is a scam. Just watch a lot of reviews on KZbin.

[@coreydigiovanni3924]

does cd baby have integration with meta/fb pixel? so you can put a pixel on your streaming landing page and connect it with your meta ad campaign?

[@benjaminbritschfayet7510]

is it able to release the sampe single/EP both on Bandcamp AND CDBaby ?

[@avavictoriasongbird]

Worse decision i ever made. Not one personal touch there and they are involved with artistry??? Very didappointing

[@Mendylmao]

that's pretty interesting but tbh my music sucks and it's not worth paying money to distribute. any free distributors that yall recommend?

[@jackiesmith2710]

Imagine they want 10$ to release a single or album! they are making millions ripping off hard working musician These distribution companies have all kinds of tricks you rob

[@Gates7405]

Please does anyone one have an idea how music distributors are able to send your music to all these streaming platforms at once? How do they create a code or software to make sure it is uploads automatically to all these platforms

[@7oldkid]

Can you move from Distrokid to CD Baby? And would you have to pay the fee for the already distributed music?

[@WonsPhreely]

CDB has recently stopped customer support. It’s bad now. I’ve been with them for years. It’s really bad.

[@BashirBlacksmith]

Great Guy, I am nigerian is it possible to withdraw money with payoneer

[@Facedamuzik]

Do you recommend using the barcode and isrc codes? Or buying separately

[@MislavCupek]

Can you make a video on how to switch a distributor without losing access to to the existing channels/profiles/streams etc

[@another_alex8738]

You basically just have to release the songs or albums through your new distributor of choice. What's very important here: Do not change the metadata! Artists name, song/album name, artwork, and especially the UPC code and ISRC code provided by your previous distributor have to be the same!! Get all this information and then release it through your new distributor, but hold on to it with your old distributor. Wait a few day or so and take it off your old distributor. There has to be a short overlap. Don't take it off your previous distributor before you release it with your new one again. It is also possible to have two different distributors IF it's NOT the the same release of course. You can release your first single with one distributor, and your second one with another for example. There are a lot of videos online about this also tho if you feel like you need more information :3

[@MislavCupek]

@@another_alex8738 thank you very much for this answer. I see that my music portfolio maintenance expenses will skyrocket over time with DistroKid so I see myself eventually switching. Appreciate your answer and insight!

[@grasshopper808]

How do you no if somebody sends to a bot playlist.dont want that

[@michaeld2176]

9.99 for an album is fair but 9.99 for a single is Overpriced

[@emiliorodriguez6117]

Basically after seeing your channel and reading peoples comments… never go with distro kid

[@jaime99999]

gracias soy un pobre argentino y gracias a tu codigo pude pagar la publicacion y llegar a fin de mes

[@Djsatile]

I’m good with tunecore overall they better

[@flamersss]

So whats the best distributor to upload my very first song? lm a nobody so im not expecting to blow up but l will put money into promotion through facebook ads/ instagram ads etc. Is CDBaby still good?

[@earlay]

bro this is driving me insane where do I request them to send my money? theres no option for that

[@johnvallejo566]

Depends on how you have it set up for them to send you the money. I can’t recall but there’s a pay out so if you choose it at $20 every time you reach $20 they send you a check.

[@michaeld2176]

Can you review YouLost

[@loganunknown]

I've signed up to cd baby thanks to your recommendation, curious how long roughly it takes to have an album release on all platforms? Thanks again.

[@DigitalAura]

what did you find out? have you released an album?

[@loganunknown]

@@DigitalAurayeah, I released an album of 23 songs and it took a month in total, with Spotify taking the longest. The artist name is Even The Cats Left haha.

[@lilkvnny]

If they take 9% wouldn’t your share be 91% ?

[@DrSAlam-ku2gg]

Can I sell my own physical albums with CD baby booster or will they take a cut of that?

[@altermoremusic]

Я думаю що зараз після оновлення вони вже не займаються випуском на фізичних носіях. В наш час це вже не вигідно.

[@BradleyMcknight]

How do I move my existing official artist KZbin channel to CD baby?

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

You wouldn't need to move it if you started distributing with CD Baby. The new releases will pick right where you left off with your old distributor.

[@Kris_jellybeard]

link doesn't even work for the promo

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Yeah sorry about that. CD Baby said to just copy/paste the promo code while they fix their link generator.

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Link is fixed if you want that discount!

[@gregoryyoung4604]

Can you release an album a single at a time?

[@jonathanmunyenyembe]

How do i use your promo codes?

[@lfm119]

They don't have revenue splits

[@dimitrios_siranidis]

cd baby real pay ? can you make a video?

[@DominickWillard]

Rodriguez Donald Garcia Michelle Allen Timothy

[@avaonalee]

Is the discount still live?

[@jamezmonroe]

I always say CD BABY, and NOTHING else!!!

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

There it is!

[@narvsta]

Reverbnation artist keep 100% of royalties.

[@Korqo]

Thxs

[@AlsoppHilda]

Williams Mary Moore Amy Lopez Carol

[@allenhayesmusic]

This looks interesting

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Lifetime pricing is definitely attractive

[@jerrypalmer3534]

The pricing is because from what I understand Distrokid cost is about 20 bucks for the year...doesn't matter how much you upload..Maybe I'm wrong ..but I don't think so...

[@Dbrebornofficial]

Does cd baby put your music on TikTok?

[@altermoremusic]

Yes. I have my songs on it.

[@KingBabaJames]

Why are they giving out these deals! Probably finding difficultly attracting new indie Artists to rip off.

[@connorcarbon]

I wanted a comparison video, not a shill ad for CD Baby as they desperately attempt to compete with Distrokid

[@alexgray9959]

Their support team is terrible though.

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Worse than Distrokid?

[@alexgray9959]

Don’t have experience with distrokid. I waited 3 months for proper communication to get something resolved with 3D baby

[@lexworld1807]

The discount link doesn’t seem to work.

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Use the promo code in the meantime, and I'll tell CD Baby to fix that link!

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Thanks for letting me know!

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Ok they fixed the link now! The discount is now working!

[@arthousefilms]

Where can I actually search and view the different CD Baby artists to listen to them?

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

Oh man that’s i good question. I don’t know if they have a public directory or not.

[@altermoremusic]

You can listen to my music actually. I'm releasing my Abandoned album through the CD Baby.

[@BnmTyu-p5v]

Clark Sarah Brown Frank Thomas Angela

[@AnmolVermillion]

Routenote

[@MajorMoment]

they take 9% of your royalties tho, so even if they charged $0, it would still be a bad deal.

[@VibeWalker]

9%? That's all?

[@MajorMoment]

@@VibeWalker i mean, if you’re getting 0 streams, they would take $0.00 from you haha, but once you start getting into millions, it kind of becomes noticeable and annoying, cause you’re really paying them for NOTHING.

[@VibeWalker]

If I'm getting millions of streams, it's still worth it. A major label will take way more than 9, plus all publishing, masters , etc. etc. etc.

[@MajorMoment]

@@VibeWalker haha, well, unlike a major label, or any label for that matter, CD Baby will do absolute jack shit to get you ANY opportunities, so you might want to think again. 😅

[@VibeWalker]

I definitely wouldn't expect my distribution company to do anything other than what I'm paying them for. Which is to distribute my music. Marketing, promo tours, podcast interviews, etc...that's on the artist. 😂

[@officialjrduncanpage]

Landr is better in my opinion

[@soundtunerecordings]

why u make a video who banned u..strange

[@citiboiced24]

Tunecore is better

[@MakeMusicIncome]

Math doesn’t add up yer on year if you release 5 singles only a year. You pay $50 a year to CDbaby AND they take 9% vs. DK where you pay $20-40 per year and get 100% and can release unlimited singles or albums. If you only release one album per year, maybe. I have used CDbaby since the 90s. They rock, but the DK deal is better. I never use them for Content ID because I use Identifyy and CDBaby usually did nothing for CID. Just don’t use the DK extras, they are unneeded. And don’t get banned. 😂

[@IndieMusicAcademy]

LOL too late for me :) But you bring up a good point. I'll make a video next going deeper into the financial comparison between CD Baby and Distrokid. You're right some situations, DK might be cheaper, but in others CD Baby could be the winner. I think it comes down to the breakeven point and calculating the number of streams to generate that breakeven.

[@supa_josh]

So, do have to pay for every single release i drop... Even if i release every 2weeks?

[@michaeld2176]

Yup