Release › Distribution & label services
CD Baby
Long-running independent music distributor, now owned by Virgin Music Group (Universal) following the Downtown acquisition; charges a one-time fee per release plus a 9% commission on streaming income, with publishing administration, sync and physical distribution as add-ons.
- Best for
- One-time-fee distribution with publishing and sync collection built in. Artists releasing a few singles or albums per year who prefer one-time fees and want their catalog to remain online without maintaining an annual subscription.
- Skip if
- You release constantly; per-release fees add up.
- First move
- Price your next release with their pro publishing option. Calculate your total cost using your expected release volume and CD Baby's commissions.
- Watch out
- Post-acquisition support is the weak point: users report multi-week to multi-month response times, payout delays via Tipalti, and account suspensions with vague 'risk' language and near-zero appeal success.
- Reach
- Industry-wide
- When
- Worth it once you have releases out.
- Based in
- United States