CD Baby - thoughts?

Confused...Was that not the big revelation; That CDB will do that for you?

They will :

1. make cd's
2. put them onto streaming services, including their own streaming site

Your pick. I don't want or need cd's, so I'm going with the all digital deal
 
No physical CD's. Digital sales through CDB, then I'll have them put it onto iTunes, Amazon, etc...

TBH...I've not look at "electronic only" download sales options lately, and how best to use them...though I have used CD Baby for physical CDs...but I would think you could do electronic only without needing to use CD Baby, unless of course there is something to be gained from using them as a middleman...?

Are they the only path for electronic only sales...?
 
unless of course there is something to be gained from using them as a middleman...?

That's exactly what it is. Last I tried, you had to be able to identify yourself as a record label (or publisher?) to release directly to iTunes.
Either way, it was a pain in the ass and a lot of hoops.

I think having your music available through CDBaby is take-it-or-leave it, but the fact that they can make it available in Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, etc is their selling point.
Aggregator...Is that the term?

There are plenty of digital outlets but CDBaby seem to be the, or the best known, one-stop-shop.
 
TBH...I've not look at "electronic only" download sales options lately, and how best to use them...though I have used CD Baby for physical CDs...but I would think you could do electronic only without needing to use CD Baby, unless of course there is something to be gained from using them as a middleman...?

Are they the only path for electronic only sales...?

Good point, a few things though... iTunes appears to require a Mac product and Apple ID etc... I don't have any Apple products myself. I can pay the $80-90 to CDB and let them upload it onto iTunes as well as Amazon, YouTube etc... and I believe they only take a percentage out of what is sold on their own site, as opposed to both Apple and CDB taking money off of iTunes sales. I'll go check on that and report back later.
 
Thus far, I've created my artist page, started the "create an album" feature, named the album, listed the tracks, some other things, and here's the options for distribution. I've never heard of half of these, to be honest. But I am still wondering if by going through CDB, if they take portions of sales that are made through 3rd party sites, like Amazon or iTunes. Yes, it'd save me a ton of time by having that, like Paul said, one stop shop, but I might reconsider if they take out of your sales.

CDB options.jpg
 
Well, after submitting my cover art, I'm on the "upload files" section. Here's all it says (reminder, I have it set to upload only to digital stores, like iTunes):

"Upload high quality files in either WAV or FLAC files. Files must be stereo, 44.1 kHz sample rate, and 16bit. (You can upload MP3s that meet the same specifications, but it isn't recommended).Click here for more info..."

I don't see where the technical requirements for iTunes comes into play. Like some have said, including me, maybe those requirements are bypassed when not doing this directly through Apple. Seems a weird thing they'd agree to though, considering there could be low-quality stuff available on their service (iTunes, I mean). Perhaps CDB is paying Apple some annual fee for allowing them to put whatever they want onto their site...?
 
Sorry, lol. Just having fun.
I don't recall any checks or restrictions when going through CDBaby to get to iTunes.

The only thing I can think is that maybe if you go directly to iTunes and tick all their boxes you're identified as 'mastered for iTunes' or something like that?

idk..but either way CDBaby will push your stuff out there quite happily.
 
It looks like iTunes doesn't specify what levels files should be, but their Sound Check function brings everything to about -16dBLUFS. If you make it louder than that it will just get turned down and your song will be less dynamic than some other songs. If you make it quieter (and more dynamic) its peaks will likely get limited down so Sound Check can raise the overall level. It's likely the same deal with other streaming services but each to their own standard level using their own methods of measurement.

The most stringent thing I recall about iTunes is their rules on file naming.

---------- Update ----------

ReverbNation can also get your music into iTunes and a bunch of other sites.
 
Seems a weird thing they'd agree to though, considering there could be low-quality stuff available on their service (iTunes, I mean).
There is some real low quality garbage on iTunes... mine. I didn't use anything Apple to get my tunes there. Just put it up on CDBaby, that's all. They took care of it.

Someday I should go back and look to see what my sales amount to. I haven't looked in quite a long time.

Speaking of which, there is a bill in the US Congress that addresses royalty payments for streaming and online services. We might actually get more than $0.00010209 per stream. Well, us as in the US, not the UK. They gotta get their own laws passed. :p
 
Yeah, don't use CDB for physical sales, set up a Bandcamp account, you can sell downloads (and they do any format) and physical copies through them- they take Paypal and credit card payment, so you don't have to mess with that stuff.

I think the direct-iTunes thing requires you use one of their contracted mastering houses (they get a cut, no doubt).
 
As I understand it, you only need to jump through those hoops with iTunes if you want to use the Mastered For iTunes (MFiT) logo. Otherwise you can send any old rubbish provided you pay the fees. Yes, you'll need to be a serious record label if you want to deal direct but most of the labels that I deal with go through aggregators anyway as it makes their life easier.

We've released a few things through CD Baby (although nothing recently). Everything seemed to go smoothly and I keep finding the material on all the newer streaming/download sites so they seem pretty good at pushing their catalogue to new places.
 
Get the fuck over it and click OK. :)

It's more work on my end, removing mastering plugins and the like, doing semi-remixes as well, if I need to send out to a mastering place. But even though I know I don't need to now, based on the comments coming in, I still might go that way. I'll know soon.
 
As I understand it, you only need to jump through those hoops with iTunes if you want to use the Mastered For iTunes (MFiT) logo.

I did see that too, but it wasn't as clearly stated. But you're right. And does the MFiT stamp carry any additional weight? Playlists or other stations or anything that would be exclusive to those types of files?
 
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