Online Indie Music Retailer CD Baby Acquired by Disc Makers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 6, 2008 - 8:43am.

Portland, Ore. - CD Baby, an online retailer of CDs for over 242,000 independent artists, has been acquired by CD and DVD manufacturer Disc Makers for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 1997, Portland, Ore.-based CD Baby charges a one-time setup fee of $35 per CD, allows artists to set their own prices, and retains $4 of every sale while paying artists on a weekly basis.

The company has to date sold over 4.5 million CDs and paid out over $83 million directly to artists.

CD Baby added digital distribution services in 2004, offering to service its artists' music to retailers like iTunes, eMusic and Rhapsody, and more recently launch a similar service for filmmakers (FilmBaby) and a Web hosting service for musicians (HostBaby).

Artists who have sold albums on CD Baby before signing with a major label include Regina Spektor, Jack Johnson and Gary Jules.

New Jersey-based Audio & Video labs, the parent company of Disc Makers, intends to retain existing CD Baby staff and facilities.

The companies had already been working together for the past seven years.

"Disc Makers was my first choice to take the company to new heights," said CD Baby founder Derek Sivers, who will continue as a consultant to the company.

"Their operational expertise is just what little CD Baby needed to grow up."

http://sivers.org/bye-bye-baby

http://www.discmakers.com

http://www.cdbaby.com

Published in DMW Daily, August 6, 2008

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Comments

notes on filmbaby

Submitted by Dan Medina (not verified) on August 10, 2008 - 3:43pm.

Hello, this is Dan, I have been producing and directing my own films for several years now. I was selling my doc with filmbaby, aka film baby. I got eight of my friends to purchase my dvd from the filmbaby website, which they did, but filmbaby only paid me royalties for TWO items sold! They cheated me! They denied it and then never responded to my request of removing my film from their site. Finally my attorney threatened filmbaby and then my film was removed from their website. I am positive others had similar experiences with them. Dan Medina

Film Baby is just one of many websites that rip off artists

Submitted by Ronald (not verified) on August 27, 2008 - 10:17am.

Film Baby is just one of many websites that rip off independent artists and filmmakers, Ronald read this article http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FREEE-BOOKS1/message/709

Don't believe the hype!

Submitted by jeff bugbee (not verified) on September 18, 2008 - 3:04pm.

I've personally experienced filmbaby.com and know the owner. It is a legitimate business that does what it says and is currently working hard to establish itself as a truly independent distribution outlet. Film Baby was NOT sold to DiscMakers and is currently run by a handful of people working hard and filling orders from a warehouse in Portland, Oregon. There phone number is 877-345-6222. 9 to 5 pacific time. email filmbaby@filmbaby.com.

check out the comments on

Submitted by jeff bugbee (not verified) on September 19, 2008 - 10:49am.

check out the comments on this page about jaman: http://tammydes90.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/independent-filmmakers-and-pr...

Fake References, Fake Study

Submitted by William Alexander (not verified) on December 8, 2008 - 7:03am.

The "study" slamming Film Baby and others that is referenced by "Ronald" is a complete fake. Just try to check out any of the references in the footnotes and you will find that they are either non existent, or non relevant. Then try to verify any association with Princeton University -- there is none. If you are still not convinced, try calling any of the Law Firms that are supposed to be handling the class action suits. They have never heard of Film Baby or the alleged class action suits. As someone who has been selling films through Film Baby for two years and getting excellent service, I'm at a loss as to what would motivate anyone to slander these honest hard working people. I don't know anything about the othar companies that are demonized in this article, but would not base any opinion on this farce.