CD Baby Cumulative Artist Payouts Cross The $1 Billion Mark

Billion Dollar CD Baby

DOWNTOWN MUSIC HOLDINGS’ CD BABY has paid out more than $1 billion to its artists since the company’s 1998 founding. To achieve this, the company has empowered more than a million artists worldwide to distribute 10 million+ tracks to listeners. 

CD BABY President JOEL ANDREW commented, “For us, it’s not just about how much the top earners make, but also about what the payout means to all of the unique artists we work with who are charting their own course, based on their creative vision and their personal versions of success. Our mission has always been to work as hard as possible to serve musicians dedicated to doing their own thing, their way. Our success is a reflection of their success.” 

Independent musicians like the ones CD BABY serves have grabbed an increasingly large market share of the music business. The independent music sector grew to more than 43% of the total global market by ownership in 2020 according to an OCTOBER 2021 report from MIDiA. 

CD BABY’s relationship with DOWNTOWN began in 2014 with the launch of CD BABY PRO, a songwriter royalty collection solution for CD BABY clients utilizing DOWNTOWN’s SONGTRUST platform. DOWNTOWN acquired CD BABY in 2019 (NET NEWS, 3/27/19) and has invested significantly in enabling the company to drive innovation in the technology, tools and resources that help level the playing field for artists at all levels. 

Said DOWNTOWN CEO ANDREW BERMAN, “As business partners since 2014, we appreciated the depth of CD BABY’s organization and its incredibly loyal client base, two key drivers of our acquisition. Unique in the industry, they have long understood that not all creators are the same, each having their own story, ambition and art to share. With CD BABY now leveraging resources across DOWNTOWN’s platform, including technology, royalty collection, global licensing operations and capital, we are able to drive equity and innovation to all creators at an accelerated pace.” 

“Earning money has helped me in the sense that I can replace equipment when things go faulty,” says EAST COAST-based soulful pop/R&B artist LEE WILSON, who works with CD BABY “But beyond the practical, the money has helped me focus more on music and has enabled me to go down to part-time in my day job, instead of full-time. Hopefully one day, I’ll be able to transition full-time into music alone.” 

Added ambient/electronic artist ROBERT RICH. “It feels very good to have substantive rewards for my work, as part of a positive feedback loop. It gets hard to be creative in a hermit-like vacuum — especially during a pandemic, when live performance is not an option. Seeing some income is a reminder that people do actually listen and care about the music.” 

UK trance vocalist and songwriter NATALIE HOLMES said, “Earning money from what I do has helped me to improve my own confidence, which in turn spurs me on to get better with everything I create.” 

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