Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?

Subject: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Susanl
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 03:26 PM

I've been looking for ways to promote my new CD and someone mentioned CD Baby. I'm a little unsure about it as I've heard some bad reviews about other sites. This one LOOKS more legitimate than the others, but I'm wondering if anyone has used it or knows anyone who's used it and what their opinions are.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 03:33 PM

seamus kennedy uses it...and has success with it...think jed marum does as well...

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Maryrrf
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 04:32 PM

I use it and while my CD's aren't flying off the shelves (my fault, not theirs) they are a good company and legit. I'm quite satisfied. Tell us more about your CD.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: JedMarum
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 04:51 PM

CDBaby is a great site, and the folks running it are damn helpful. They provide a lotta info and tools to help you market your CD - and this is good stuff, but if you just wanna put your CD and let 'em sell it, that's OK too.

I don;t know why, but I sell more off Amazon. Amazon is more expsive, but more people buy CDs there, in my experience - but maybe that's because kids use CDBaby, and I don't qualify as a kid anyomre!

If you're htinking aobut using CDBaby; I give the site a hearty "thumbs up!"

best of luck with it too!

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: SeanM
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 04:52 PM

The band I'm in (The Poxy Boggards) has been listed for a while. We get some business, but honestly rely mostly on shows for sales.

It's a nice add on, doesn't cost all that much to us, and it is there for people who search it out. Advertising would be key to actually making it a real money making adventure, though.

M

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Kim C
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 05:02 PM

Good. We were thinking about giving them a try next time around.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 07:26 PM

I've been using CDBaby for a year,now. I've never had a problem with them and they are flexible about changes.


Stephen Lee

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: michaelr
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 08:08 PM

CDBaby is OK but they charge up front to set up your account. A couple of similar online stores that don't are CDStreet.com and efolkmusic.com.

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: radriano
Date: 07 Mar 03 - 11:58 AM

I find CDBaby to be okay. Haven't sold many CDs through them but then I'm relatively unknown so I'm not surprised.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Susanl
Date: 07 Mar 03 - 02:09 PM

Thanks for all your input.CD Baby sounds like a decent place. Michaelr, have you used all three sites, CD Baby, CDstreet and efolkmusic, and if so, have you found any difference in the success rates?

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 07 Mar 03 - 05:09 PM

Also try soundclick.com.

Stephen Lee

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: hesperis
Date: 09 Jul 03 - 05:50 PM

How long does it take to get a new album set up at CD Baby? I'm getting a wee bit frustrated. My package was signed as received a month ago, and three weeks ago they said it would take 5-10 days to finish being set up. I wrote a couple of days after the 10 days were up, and still haven't received a reply.

I can understand it taking more time if they let me know about it, but I can't understand NO REPLY to "Why is it taking so long, is there a problem, is there anything I can do?"

I was on the free May offer, but if this is their service for free why would I want to pay them to set up the next album?

I'm getting around three people a day bugging me if they can buy my CD yet... and every day I have to say "No, I haven't heard from CD Baby." I'm beginning to wonder if I should have just sold the CDs myself and saved $4 US per CD and the postage!

So how long did your album take to get set up with them?

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Fortunato
Date: 09 Jul 03 - 07:21 PM

It only took a few days for me, hesperis, nothing like your problem; I got membership through the company that reproduced my CD, Oasis. CDstreet seems easy as well. I've had lots of trouble understanding what the hell amazon is doing. Whoever designs their website is not suceeding in communicating with me. There always seems to be info missing. Not so with CDBaby and CD Street, they make it idiot proof.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Nathan in Texas
Date: 09 Jul 03 - 11:22 PM

I got a free membership in May and everything went smoothly; my CD was available quickly. Haven't sold anything yet, but you can change that by clicking here

I've bought one CD through CD Baby and found it a great experience. They have really entertaining responses to purchases and keep you posted on the status of your order with hilarious e-mails.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: JedMarum
Date: 10 Jul 03 - 11:35 AM

I've found CDBaby to be very quick, courteous and professional. They've also answered my questions quickly. They may be bogged down right now, but I've never seen that problem before. I'd keep after 'em and ask "wassup?"

The only problem I have with CDBaby is they don;t seem to attract folks to me. Somehow I sell 4 times as many on Amazon and Amazon is more costly! Go figure??

I'll admit, I don;t follow cdbaby's marketing strategies - and that may be why. They did just sell out my first record, though - but that's a box of 30 over the last year! Not big numbers. It looks like the new one is doing better.

Keep after 'em CDBaby's a good service.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: GUEST,Seamus Kennedy in Ireland
Date: 11 Jul 03 - 10:23 AM

I wholeheartedly recommend CDbaby. They sell a LOT of my CDs and they send me a weekly check. As with most performers, I sell most of my stuff at live performances. I also have my recordings carried by Irish import stores. I have a link to CDbaby at my website, and I include the info on my printed promo material - schedules, etc.
I'm very happy with them.

SEAMUS

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: hesperis
Date: 11 Jul 03 - 04:49 PM

Ok, thanks guys. It's up... and it took so long because they changed something important without letting me know. (They'd originally made a short url of betweenworlds, however I was concerned because that is another band, so they changed it to betweentheworlds and didn't tell me they'd take longer because of it.) A little more communication would have been nice, but that's ok considering what they did.

So it's all working out, the page looks great, I can finally tell people it's UP!

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: dwditty
Date: 11 Jul 03 - 05:03 PM

I use cdbaby as well. I also sell my cd on my own site (links to both in the current - 11Jul 03 - mudcat auction). Hesperis, call them up. I did. My site was set up an a day or two after they received my cd. As a DIY (Do It Yourself) artist, few of my sales come from the web unless people I know go there to buy. Most will be sold at shows. I am also on a campaign to get airplay (I know, good luck),

dw

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 02:55 PM

Since I no longer have room for CD storage, I've taken to buying music on MP3, mostly through emusic.com. I get 75 tracks a month for about $20 a month.

I see that a number of Mudcatters market their recordings through CDBaby. You can buy MP3's through CDBaby, but they're usually as expensive as the CD itself. I've noticed, though, that I can buy some CDBaby MP3's through Amazon and emusic, at significantly lower prices.

How does CDBaby handle selling MP3's through other retailers?

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: DebC
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 04:14 PM

It's included in their digital distribution package.

Deb Cowan

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 22 Apr 09 - 04:18 PM

CDbaby provides digital distribution to many of the other retailers. If you have a bar code (which you can also get from CDbaby for $20) they will automatically distribute it if you have the correct licenses and give them the go ahead. The thing is that they distribute the entire album digitally to places like Amazon and iTunes, although the individual tracks are also available for sale there.

I think some people have their own accounts with the various retailers so they can offer individual tracks. Thus they can offer their originals not requiring fees for licensing, whereas a full album with a mix of originals and cover songs would need licensing for both physical cds and digital downloads (2 separate fees).

CDbaby lets the artist set a price for purchase of the entire album as mp3 download, so the price is often lower than the physical CD purchase, depending on the artist.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Anne Lister
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 03:30 AM

I love CDBaby. Always a good experience to work with them and although I don't sell vast quantities, they do enable me to reach audiences I wouldn't otherwise reach and their digital distribution has earned me some money too. And I love their emails.

Anne

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Darowyn
Date: 23 Apr 09 - 03:48 AM

There are a couple of big advantages to CD Baby.
You can get a barcode to identify your CD. This can come in useful if it ever does find its way into a shop or a radio station.
They send it out to a list of online distributors.
You will never of heard of most of them, but the list includes iTunes, which is nearly as good as Amazon.
The emails are a delight!
Cheers
Dave

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: JedMarum
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 12:12 AM

Anyone like the new CDBaby site?

I hope they're not finished. The artist pages really suck. You cannot arrange the text in any respectable way; no spaces, no blank lines, no HTML.

So far it's a giant step backwards!

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: JedMarum
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 12:17 AM

AND I don't see why the retail pages are NO better. The display of links is OK - but again, the BIO section is now all jammed into a single blob of text, totally unreadable and perfectly useless.

Simple HTML codes or "white space" sorts of text arrangements have got to be required for these sections to be useful.

It's a bit like James Joyce's aversion to punctuation - but at least he had a willing audience.

Imagine the stupidity of trying to get busy "passers by" to read a box of text that looks like this:

SANDS OF ABERDEEN - by Jed Marum with Hugh Morrison and Mason Brown is a Lonestar Stout production for Boston Road Records. It was recorded at Crystal Clear Studios in Dallas TX and at The Millstream in Toronto Ontario. The album was produced by Paul Mills. ABOUT THE PLAYERS: Jed Marum; guitars, lead and harmony vocals Hugh Morrison; button "box" accordion, back-up vocals Mason Brown; pardessus viol, banjos, banjola, guitar, lead and harmony vocals Pete Dawson; whistles, Irish flute, back-up vocals Jaime Marum; mandolin and octave mandolin, back-up vocals David Shaw; Upright bass, back-up vocals Curly Boy Stubbs, guitars and mandolin ABOUT THE SOUND: A strong mix of Irish, Scottish and original songs and tunes. From driving, up-beat airs to beautiful, narrative songs expertly performed with humor and style. A fast connection of Celtic to American Celtic roots with unique instrumentation and refined musicianship. Seasoned professional performers. ABOUT LONESTAR STOUT: Lonestar Stout is a series of concerts presented by Jed Marum and Boston Road Records in partnership with the Southwest Celtic Music Association and other music promotion organizations. Jed Marum with Hugh Morrison and Mason Brown are the primary performers. They present a strong mix of Irish, Scottish and original songs and tunes. From driving, up-beat airs to beautiful, narrative songs expertly performed with humor and style. A fast connection of Celtic to American Celtic roots with unique instrumentation and refined musicianship. Seasoned professional performers. REVIEWER COMMENTS: "What sets Jed Marum apart from other Celtic/Folk artists is the performance concepts and delivery he brings to the stage – the historical significance, poignancy and emotion that his songs evoke, in addition to being a great singer and a stellar player. Jed is one of my favorite performers and we are happy to be on board with his Lonestar Stout project." - Betsy Cummings, Entertainment Director for the North Texas Irish Festival

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: meself
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 01:21 AM

I just tried to check out my own stuff there - and I'm left confused, and a little worried. However, I have to admit that I only skimmed through the (generic) messages they've sent me, and haven't followed the links, etc., so I can't start complaining yet ...

I can't find any evidence of my own cd, other than its title in my "my account" info. ...

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 04:29 AM

no comment - I can't access the site! Tho I certainly wouldn't be enticed by the 1 par blurb on Jed's page. I need spaces between text

I've tried my bookmark & clicking on website via google & clicking on the URL in my latest order in March & each time I get -

Problem loading page
The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.
The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments.

sandra

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: GUEST,Dave_
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 06:44 AM

There appears to be a problem accessing their site..I cant get on it to check our site out

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Banjiman
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 07:00 AM

I've just accessed it no problem. All info appears to be there (except accounting!).

The new Artist Profile and Biog page looks like a good idea.

We've been using it for 2 years with no problem.

Paul

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 10:17 AM

Jed's page looks good now - they must have been improving it while it was not accessible.

sandra

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: DebC
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 10:44 AM

Does it take a while for the changes to go up? I added my bio and it's coming through on the website.

Debra on CDBaby

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 10:54 AM

As good and useful as CDBaby is, there's an inherent problem with the basic concept of artists selling their own CDs: There's no longer a label identity. I dunno about anyone else, but I make a habit of looking for new releases on labels such as Fellside, Rounder, Musical Traditions, Springthyme, Greentrax and several others. I just don't have time to scan through the thousands of new releases on CDBaby.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Darowyn
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 11:23 AM

Then why don't we get together and decide on a Label name, and all sign ourselves up to that?
Then all you would have to do is look for new additions on the Madcatters label- or whatever.
Cheers
Dave

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: GUEST,jeff
Date: 14 Jul 09 - 05:35 PM

In recognition of changes in the marketplace I decided to NOT release a CD on CD Baby. My release is on itunes and amazon in the downloadable format only. One can purchase the six songs as a collection entitled 'Sylvania Serenade' for 5.94US which includes cover art or download each song individually for .99US. My version of 'House of the Rising Sun' seems to be selling the most according to the approval ratings on itunes. Just released the collection and will receive my first paypal deposit tomorrow.

Am doing a series of three 6 song collections. The aforementioned 'S/S' is all traditional. The next six will be all inspirational 3 trad and 3 original. 'Wade in the Water', 'Wayfaring Stranger' and 'Amazing Grace' and 3 originals. The last will be all secular original. One will be able to purchase any or all of the 18 songs. Sequencing will be at the purchaser's discretion. If purchasing all 18 songs I'll add an 'Artist's suggested' sequencing option.

When touring I'll carry CD's in the 'jewellbox' traditional form w/cover art, liner notes, etc., but feel the future of music is in the pc accessable 'cyberworld'.

The advantage of itunes/amazon is that one pays a flat fee. CD Baby has a flat fee and a pecentage per unit. The only advantage I can see in having a presence on CD Baby is simply potential sales from the 'If you liked THIS CD here are 5 others you may enjoy'. To be included in the secondary list may increase interest in one's product.

Don't know if this approach will prove to be the future, but it saves me the trouble of dealing w/Disc Makers, Oasis or some other post-production company. I simply download the recordings and cover art and let the world at large decide on the viability of my releases. Direct marketing in it's simplest form.

Having a website and a myspace presence is important, too. People can access your material for free and download from itunes/amazon if one includes links as I have done.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: JedMarum
Date: 15 Jul 09 - 09:06 AM

Yes - they fixed it. The issues with arranging text on the artist BIO and the album detail pages that is. I spoke too soon.

I have to go through all of the pages in great detail, but I will. I know these major upgrades are very painful and can time to sort out. I'm back to hoping for the best!

You page look great Deb!

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Maryrrf
Date: 15 Jul 09 - 09:31 AM

I had a look. I think I liked the old format better.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: DebC
Date: 15 Jul 09 - 09:47 AM

Thanks, Jed. Except I uploaded the same photo twice and it's still not there, just the LGL cover.

Maybe I'll try again.

BTW, Jed-sorry I am going to miss you when you are here.

Deb

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: JedMarum
Date: 16 Jul 09 - 09:06 AM

Yeah - the changes I made took over-night to go into affect. That's annoying, but probably temporary.

You're not going to be at Portland? We'll miss you. We'll sing a song or two for you!

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: DebC
Date: 16 Jul 09 - 09:44 AM

I uploaded photos and they still aren't there. Not sure what is going on. My bio came through okay. I have manipulated the photos to comply with the 200 x 200 pixel limit, but no joy.

As for Portland, I'll be over in England at that time.

Deb

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: GUEST,PerS
Date: 17 Jul 10 - 12:53 PM

The CDBaby site has not been available for the last month or so, and they don't give any explanation. Does anyone know what is happening or if this is the end of CDBaby?

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: DebC
Date: 17 Jul 10 - 12:59 PM

It's been working for me...

CDBaby

Debra Cowan

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Bobert
Date: 17 Jul 10 - 03:43 PM

Ya' kinda have to work CDBaby a little... Move yer stuff from one style to another tyo keep it fresh... If ya just set up one CD and leave it alone it will get buried in their system... But, all in all, it has been a pleasure dealin' with CDBaby... And I've sold about 50 of my CD, "13 Shades of Blue" thru them without havin' to do much messin' with the liasting... Not bad...

B~

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: GUEST,Peter at CD Baby
Date: 21 Jul 10 - 06:01 PM

@ GUEST,PerS
CD Baby has been online for over 12 year, and you linked to us in your post. If you're not able to reach us, perhaps there's another issue (software/hardware on your end) at work?

A little about us, for anyone else who wants to know:
From our humble beginnings more than a decade ago as a small, one-man operation in a garage, to our current standing as the world's largest online distributor of indie music, CD Baby has always been a company run BY musicians FOR musicians.

Inside the fortified walls of our warehouse (a virtual Wonka-world of music) in rainy Portland, Oregon, we listen to every single album we carry before it is posted for sale so that we can help you find other new artists you'll love, too.

No distributors. No major labels. We only sell music that musicians send us directly. We ship CDs from our warehouse. We sell downloads from our site. And we also deliver our artists' music to other download retailers, as well (iTunes, Rhapsody, eMusic, many more.) We sell you the music and then we pay the artist right away.

Cool thing: in a regular record deal or distribution deal, musicians only make $1-$2 per album, if they're ever lucky enough to get paid by their label at all. When selling through CD Baby, musicians make $6-$12 per album and get paid weekly.

Current Numbers
278,510 albums sold by artists at CD Baby
5,339,025 CDs sold online to customers
$107,769,092 paid directly to the artists

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Fortunato
Date: 21 Jul 10 - 06:27 PM

Good to work with.

cd sales and mp3s.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Sep 10 - 07:33 PM

Do any of you use their CD duplication services? My brother is finally ready to sign on with a cd of his classical piano pieces and we were just going to get a printer which can print right on the CDs, but in looking at CDBaby's services, I am wondering if that might be a better/easier (for me!) way to go. We've done it in the past with Mixonic, so maybe we'll get some from them, but it seems like it would make sense to have CDBaby do the whole ball of wax. (I suppose buying the right kind of printer and doing them ourselves might be less expensive unless we use a lot of ink, etc.?)

My Rog says we should just stick to digital downloads and not even bother with CDs. As my brother does not perform much, maybe he is right. The main purpose of getting his music out is to attract not just classical music lovers but also performers, in order to interest them in his many compositions.

What say you all?

Thanks!

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Cool Beans
Date: 12 Sep 10 - 11:19 AM

I've been very satisfied with CDBaby for the past seven years.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: GUEST,CDMaker
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 08:28 PM

We recommend CDbaby for physical CD fulfillment. At shows you really need physical CDs for sales - like t-shirts etc.

Our clients like it - some complain about the $4 per disc but that's nothing compared to getting set up to accept credit cards and stuffing envelopes and going to the post office yourself.

We're looking into USB flash drives as an alternative - they cost more than a CD - but by the time you figure artwork design time - we're just
looking into it -

When you're selling at a show - you can't count on people going home and finding you and downloading your music - you need to make it easy for them.

CDMaker
CD Duplication where only the discs get burned

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: GUEST,Guest - Lin
Date: 31 Mar 11 - 01:07 AM

I really like CD Baby. I go to often and go to the folk genre and of course their are sub-headings such as Traditional folk, Appalachian folk, celtic and a lot more.

Then I will spend awhile listening to many artists that I am not familiar with but will listen to several of their songs from the Cd. I keep a little note pad to mark down the name of the artist, CD title, price for CD to refer to later when I have a list together of maybe 5-10 CD's that I really like and want to purchase. I usually will listen to several songs to determine if it is a CD that I really would like to buy or not.
I wouldn't have come to know of these artists if I hadn't heard them on CD Baby.

Some CD's I have heard are just ok but I have heard quite a few real gems of artists I had never heard of before.

Also, if you are looking for artist's similiar to well known artists you can type in their name, "Joan Baez" for example and it will bring up all the artists they feel have similiar sound or style.
It's not going to be exactly like Joan Baez but at least you can find artists who have similiar music to an artist you really like.

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 31 Mar 11 - 09:11 AM

I've been using CDBaby for a few years now for our ShoreGrass music and think it's a terrific resource.

The best thing is the ease of digital distribution that they provide. People are becoming less and less interested in physical CDs but still download mp3's for their smart phones and ipods, using sites like iTunes, Napster, Amazon et al. The digital distribution option of CDBaby sends your music to all those popular download sites. And CDBaby lets you direct deposit royalties to your bank account, so it's nice to have little deposits made to your account without any intervention at all.

Emphasis on the little, but hey, this is folk music...

Subject: RE: Does anyone have opinions of CDbaby.com?
From: reggie miles
Date: 31 Mar 11 - 04:48 PM

Yep, I got opinions. You probably ain't gonna like 'em but I'm gonna key 'em anyway. You axed for it.

This company was started by someone truly bent on innovation. Via his unconventional approach, he was able to spearhead this company concept into the marketing giant that it eventually became.

Here's the bad part of success, once achieved, it becomes the envy of all who labor in view of it. Those who envy success in business, for the profit it can bring, covet those businesses that can create it.

CD Baby became profitable by providing a unique opportunity to their clients and customers. Their client's (musicians) profits grew along with the profits and popularity of CD Baby's innovative marketing and operations. CD Baby became the envy of every other company because they (CD Baby) chose to do what others refused to do, be different, be unique, be innovative.

It's unfortunate that the present owner of CD Baby, a Cd replication company, is so clueless with regard to that simple underlying principle. The first thing that the new owner did was to ignore everything that made CD Baby different and then go about trying to make CD Baby like every other company online.

For instance, the old CD Baby had 2 minute song clips available for each song posted to their site. The new CD Bad Baby determined that 30 second song clips were "what everyone else online was using". So, that's what the new CD Bad Baby owner decided to force everyone, on their CD Bad Baby site, to use. I can think of no other single factor that has decreased my sales at that site more than this, but that's probably just because I don't know what else they've done to screw things up.

In the hurry to gentrify this company and fix what wasn't broken, the new CD Bad Baby has sent my Cd sales directly into the toilet, to be flushed into obscurity down that long sewer pipe of no return. Gee, thanks for that great forethought and business moxie! Just because someone knows how to build and run a company that reproduces Cds, that doesn't mean that they have a clue regarding how to run or build a company that markets and sells Cds for musicians to listeners. The two business ideas are not the same.

This same principle has been used to destroy many many companies over the years. For example, the giant soft drink makers, you know their names, have ruined the unique flavors being produced by many independent makers of soft drinks. First, they buy up the competition and then, they change the formulas of those drinks. The differences are apparent enough, to those who loved the original formulas. Those that once were fans of the independent drinks lose interest in the "new" improved flavors.

That's how the major companies destroy the market share once possessed by those unique soft drink flavors. They turn what used to be a delightful beverage into a boring one. Then, they phase out the product, due to low sales demand. That, then leaves only those soft drinks that the major companies decide are worthy to put on the market. It's a way of gentrifying the market.

I didn't place my Cds for sale at CD Baby because CD Baby was just like every other marketing concept online. I went there because they were like me, different and being different helped them to become successful. If I wanted to be a part of what everyone else was doing online, it would have been a simple matter to join up with them, but that's not what I wanted to do. So, I didn't go that route.

Yes, I could shine my shoes, cut my hair off, throw away my faded, torn up blue jeans, put on a suit, a tie, a polyester blend button down shirt, get a-j-o-b and punch a clock. Then, I'd have enough money to buy a fancy, brand new, shiny, store bought guitar, that I could play when I wasn't workin' my 9 to 5. Somehow, I just don't think that's gonna happen any time soon.