CD Baby in 9 slides
A veteran independent distributor with no annual fees - pay once per release and CD Baby keeps a 9% commission on royalties.
- Music distributor
- Music distribution platforms
- Based in Portland, United States
What you do on CD Baby
How the money is made: selling digital products
- Make it once
- Upload and list it
- Buyers download it
- Royalties paid out
A veteran independent distributor with no annual fees - pay once per release and CD Baby keeps a 9% commission on royalties.
Founded 1998 · next to 10 other music distribution platforms
Work and topics
Good for
What CD Baby takes
Guess first: how much of every $100 you earn does CD Baby take?
$9.99/single one-time + 9% of revenue
From the published fees, before payment-processing, currency or withdrawal charges. Work out your own amount →
How the money reaches you
From sign-up to payout
- Sign up$9.99 per single
- Start straight away
- Do the work
- Earnings clearPayment generated at the start of each week once balance meets your chosen pay p…
- First payoutMonths
2 ways to withdraw
- Bank transfer
- PayPal
Can you join?
Yes, if you live almost anywhere.
You need reliable internet. You can start straight after signing up. First payout: months.
What you need
- Reliable internet
- $9.99 per singleSign-up cost
- Instant sign-upHow sign-up works
Open in 200 of 200 countries and territories
What people actually earn
CD Baby says it has paid over $1 billion to independent artists since 1998.
Source: cdbaby.com ↗CD Baby reported paying out $80 million to independent artists in 2017, according to Billboard as cited by Wikipedia.
Source: en.wikipedia.org ↗How it scores
Strong on access and fees. Weaker on getting paid.
- Fees4.5
- Getting paid2.3
- Access4.8
- Track record4.0
- Proof of earnings4.0
- Verified earnings
- Open worldwide
- Clear fees
- Low cut
- 10 years running
- 20 years running
- Fully documented
How much we know
We have 10 of the 17 things we track for every platform. Fees, payouts, join rules, countries and real earnings count most.
What we have
- What kind of platform it is
- Year founded
- Headquarters
- Fees
- How fast you get paid
- Withdrawal methods
- Join requirements
- Countries it accepts
- Real earnings figures
- Wikipedia or reference page
Still missing
- Plain-English overview
- Minimum payout
- Payment protection
- Review ratings
- Support channels
- Mobile apps
- Social accounts