CD Baby’s Derek Sivers lets us in on a little secret… CD sales by indie artists are still growing.

Land of the Free CD Baby’s Derek Sivers lets us in on a little secret… CD sales by indie artists are still growing. By Andre Calilhanna | January 2008

“CD Baby is a little online record store that sells albums by independent musicians.” At least that’s how the CD Baby website describes it. Founded by Derek Sivers in 1997, the “little online record store” currently has over 200,000 artists selling music through the site, has sold nearly four million albums, and has paid close to $65 million directly to independent artists. The company began as a hobby for Sivers, who was a full-time musician at the time. Soon, he was selling CDs of friends and fellow musicians, and before long, CD Baby blossomed into a full-fledged online enterprise. Today, Sivers is regarded as an icon in the indie music community, and in 2003, he was awarded the World Technology Award for Entertainment (the same was awarded to Napster founder Shawn Fanning in 2001). In 2004, CD Baby added digital download sales to its growing list of online offerings, and Sivers has long been a regular fixture on the music conference/speaker circuit. FastForward caught up with Derek to get his take on the state on independent music as we head into the new year. How have you stayed relevant? As more and more players enter the online marketplace, how have you maintained your status as the #1 independent CD retailer? Are we #1? Really? Cool! WHOO-HOO! We're #1!! No really, we just stay focused on selling music. That's all. No advertising. No investors. No distractions. And we've been around for 10 years now, and have paid over $50 million directly to musicians. We're getting good at this. What do you see as the most interesting developments in music over the last six to 12 months? Particularly as they relate to independent music. The more things change, the more they stay the same, y'know? Companies everywhere are experimenting with "what's the new model of the music industry?" But of course, musicians making great music with an interesting angle are still getting attention, and people are still buying more music than ever, but through lots of different sources now, which works in the independent musician's favor. It's dizzying to think you have to stay on top of all of it, but honestly I don't think you do. Just focus on your music, make as much music as you can, and let the less-creative mouse-clickers of the world stay on top of the new companies launching every week. What about in the music industry? What strikes you as most interesting or most telling about what's happening in the industry these days? Working at a label is the most insecure job on earth right now. Being signed to a label is the next-most-insecure thing. Being a completely independent musician has more job security than either of them. With the ascendance of digital downloads, are CDs still relevant for indie artists? Despite what you hear in big media about CD sales dropping for big artists like Beyoncé and Eminem, CD sales down here on the indie level are actually UP 35% over last year! Yes, even physical CDs. (Downloads are up, too.) So next time you hear someone moaning about how "nobody's buying CDs anymore," remind them that's just the big-media-star artists. The displaced sales are spreading out to the indies, who are doing better than ever. Disc Makers clients are smart to keep manufacturing CDs! Especially at live performances, if people love your music, a great CD is still the most convenient way to go. Then if they want it on their iPod as well, they can just stick it in their computer and transfer it, but having the CD gives them that choice to play your music everywhere. It's a shame when someone says, "Oh we're not going to make CDs anymore. It's too expensive." But by saying that, they've just excluded 90% of their potential audience who is not the always-online broadband iTunes-purchasing iPod types. What tips do you have for someone signing up for CD Baby for the first time? Words matter. Read my articles at http://www.cdbaby.net/words. It's important to describe your music in an enticing way that makes strangers want to hear it. People see the words before they hear the music. Other than that, make sure to go proudly announce your CD is for sale, as soon as it's up! Most musicians get too shy to ask people to buy. Catering exclusively to artists who are basically unknown, who have no marketing or publicity budget, trying to reach buyers in a marketplace teeming with options... it just doesn't sound like a recipe for success. Were you thinking these thoughts as CD Baby was getting off the ground? Nah. I never meant to start a company. It was never about CD Baby. I don't care about CD Baby. I care about my fellow musicians, and always will do whatever I can to help them, whether it's profitable or not. And now? What's the breadth of CD Baby? How do HostBaby and PromoBaby fit in? Same thing: just doing whatever I can to help. A lot of my musician clients had out-of-date websites, so as I was helping them with that, and it accidentally became HostBaby. Now I've noticed that most of my musician clients need help promoting, so I've set up PromoBaby to try to help them with that. What has surprised you most about the success of CD Baby? This was supposed to be a hobby! The whole thing is a surprise! Can you give us any insight as to new/future developments happening at CD Baby? More international. By the time you read this, the CD Baby site will be in 9 languages, and we're going to be setting up offices in a few countries around the world. This will help Disc Makers clients get their music out to more places, easier. Already 30% of our orders go overseas, but this should definitely double it. What do you find most disappointing, or most encouraging about the independent music scene? What's encouraging is that musicians are in a better place than ever. Think back only 10 years ago where if you had recorded an album, there was nowhere to sell it but your shows! Unless you were going to have a "send a check or money order to..." instructions on your mailing list flyers. Now dozens of companies around the world want to sell your music, no matter who you are, no questions asked, no judgment passed. Independent artists on a level playing field with the majors at Apple iTunes, Amazon, and many other outlets. It's amazing! The only disappointing thing is the moaning: the artists who try to blame anyone but themselves for their lack of success, and don't realize the incredible power they have at their fingers. Their creativity is their greatest strength, and creativity doesn't cost a thing.