CD Baby, the largest seller of independent music in the world, is thrilled to announce it has now paid over 100 million dollars to indie artists. 2008 marked the company’s 10th consecutive year of increased CD sales (up 2% over 2007), despite an industry wide drop of almost 14% and global economic slowdown. iTunes and other digital partner sales through CD Baby totaled $24.2 million in 2008, almost a 42% increase from 2007.
All this success has directly benefited the artists who rely on CD Baby’s services with 34 million paid out in just the last year alone – up a whopping 28% from the prior year.
“There are very few musicians that can actually make a living off their music,” said Joe Purdy, an American Folk signer who has earned more than $640,000 selling his CDs and digital versions of his songs through CD baby. “I have been one of the fortunate few whose passion translates into a career and CD Baby played a huge role in that. I bought a house last year thanks in part to my relationship with CD Baby and the amazing people they have working there – and that’s why I’ll be releasing my 10th album with CD Baby later this year.”
More than 150,000 artists worldwide sell their more than 277,000 albums through CD Baby’s many distribution channels. CD Baby artists can sell:
• CDs and digital downloads on www.cdbaby.com
• Digital downloads through CD Baby’s global digital distribution partners including iTunes and Rhapsody,
• CDs in retail stores throughout the US and Europe through CD Baby’s physical distribution program
• CDs and other merchandise at their own gigs with CD Baby’s Live Sales program.
“People are consuming more music than ever before,” says Tony van Veen, CEO of parent company Audio & Video Labs. “This steady increase in demand has forced a democratization of distribution that independent artists are in perfect position to take advantage of. CD Baby simply provides those artists with the channel to reach out to new audiences.”
