cd baby?

  • Thread starter Thread starter gullyjewelz
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gullyjewelz

gullyjewelz

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does ANYONE use cdbaby anymore?
wondering if they are worth it or if folks have found a better option?
 
gullyjewelz said:
does ANYONE use cdbaby anymore?
wondering if they are worth it or if folks have found a better option?
Click to expand...

That's a good question... I looked at that site and I didn't find very many new artists... lots of material that has been out on the site a long time. Have you thought about using one of those companies that pushes stuff direct to itunes? Music sales are a ruff deal nowadays... even the majors are having issues... looks like the only people making any money are pushing there stuff on itunes....
 
CD Baby is going strong. I'm not aware of there being no new members nor how anyone would know this.
I-Tunes happens to be their biggest customer, by the way.
Choose whichever company you like but whatever you do, don't use more than one.
The duplication of digital distribution to companies such as I-Tunes causes confusion with regards to who gets paid and ultimately results in your product being frozen.
 
i have to check out tunecore . .
thanks for the feedback . .
 
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/billybo

I used CDBaby for my solo record. Got digi distro to all the majors and minors. I continue to get checks every month (albeit small) from all of their partners (iTunes, Amazon, etc) as well as a few physical sales from the CDBaby page.
 
thats whats up billy - did you do any promotin yourself to get those cdbaby checks or did they come strictly by cdbaby pushin
 
i didn't notice any names or locations on the sales report, so who knows. i DID do a bit of promotion on several sites. i also released a strong single for free download w/ an exclusive remix not on the album a few months before release at these same sites, and on social networking sites. i guess it was a combo of frugal marketing and word of mouth.

and i'm not sure CD Baby "pushes" anything. no one would know i was on iTunes and all other affiliates from CD Baby unless i put out the word.
 
interesting . . . you mind sharing what sites u did your push? n how?
 
www.SphereOfHipHop.com, www.HolyCultureDownload.com (via www.holyculture.net), www.DaSouth.com and a few others i can't remember off the top of my head. these are all Christian/positive/"clean" sites and i know a few of the site owners - which helped in nothing else than expediting my request for news and updates. i still had to pay for banner space, etc. But most post news when news is actually submitted. there's a few that unless you know them, or unless they're very willing to promote your stuff, they won't really post any news you submit.

i'm not sure about other sites. i think i posted news about the free single around a bunch of blogs (here, ughh, etc) to try and spur some downloads and gain some interest, but that's a really impersonal way of doing promo and a lot of people don't like that. they either consider it spam from another no-name lame-o, or just consider it spam. i'd say get involved. if you are a part of a forum (for me, it was Sphere) get to know people. tell them about the album. kindly ask them to post what they thought about the song(s) you released.

also try to get everything ready ahead of time. to make a longer post short, here's a good template:
have your album DONE (mixed & mastered, possibly artwork) 4 months out.
release news of an upcoming album, introduce yourself, etc about 2 months out ... and release a single w/ this
"reminder" news and release date 1 month out. i also started pre-sale orders at this time.
submit news again on release date or ask the site if they have a release schedule they post - something to make sure anyone who liked the single is aware of the album's release.

you don't have to do that in that time frame, but give yourself time to promote a single and for it to spread for a while. try not to be too tight on the release date. sometimes masters don't come back satisfactory. sometimes artwork isn't quite done or shipping is delayed.

oh - and don't expect 100 sales on release day. or even the first month. or several months. most of my sales still, and probably always will, come from doing shows and selling them there.
 
great advice! good lookin out. even when u know stuff, it is ALWAYS good to hear it from others that do the dew!
 
Hey Gully whats up you can check out http://audiolife.com and http://theorchard.com they are both good options. The orchard in the number digital distribution channel on the Internet major label use them a lot. And audio Life is just off the hook when you watch the video to see what they have to offer your going to go crazy I know I did. I hope this helps and yes CB Baby is worthy every penny it's all in your marketing plan....peace!!
 
IMO CD baby has fell off a long time ago... Personally I only know a handful who still use it as an outlet for their online stores. There are more and more people these days who have chosen to go the path of building their own website and selling their products through there, directly or indirectly. Which holds its own pro's and cons.
 
how about some help with a marketing plan or . . anyone want to partner up? seems like my time is getting shorter and shorter . . gettin that mjuch harder to hold down so many different "positions" in this thing .. . it dont matter if i use cdbaby or my own site or whatever . . . i gotta find some jhungry teamplayers . . i aint MARTIN LUTHER KING!!! dammm lol - that 1 man show shit is for teh birds!
 
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