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CD Baby Milestone: $300 Million Paid out to Artists

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CD Baby announced that, as of today, it has paid out more than $300 million to artists using its services, This year total payouts to artists are expected to be $60 million. That's up from $56 million in 2012 and $48 million in 2011. “It took us eight years to pay out the first $50 million," says CD Baby CEO, Tracy Maddux. “But now our artists are earning at least $50 million per year and this year we expect to beat $60 million."

CD Baby helps artists monetize direct-to-fans sales, online video through their YouTube and Sync service, and publishing through CD Baby Pro. Artists that use their services also tend to stick around, according to the company, with less than 2-3% leaving in any year.

Among the 325,000 users, are former major label artists, top-selling indie artists, part-time professionals, and profit-making musical hobbyists. Macklemore, The Antlers, The National, and Bon Iver are examples of artists that came up distributed by CD Baby and keep their catalog there. Ingrid Michaelson and Gregory Alan Isakov have continued their partnerships with CD Baby throughout their succesful indie careers. Greg Brown and Grant Lee Phillips are examples of arists that have dropped out of the label system and gone d.i.y.

“Each month we find out about more of our artists doing things outside of the mainstream to generate revenue. We keep adding services to empower them to do that—tapping into multiple streams of revenue - no matter where they are in their career,"  explains Kevin Breuner, CD Baby's Director of Marketing.

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