CD Baby
January 17th, 2009 by Lior ShamirSurprisingly, the world’s most renowned indie artist retailer is experiencing growth in CD sales, of all sectors. CD Baby, founded by Derek Sivers and recently acquired by Discmakers for $22 million, has reported significant uplifts in recent physical sales and titles: 2% increase in CD sales, and 7% increase in new album titles since 2007. That’s good news but, more significantly, the company boasts a 45% increase in digital music distribution revenues during the same period which is a better reflection of where the music industry is at. Overall, CD Baby has paid out $34 million to its artist members in 2008, a 28% increase from 2007. Although these figures reflect the company’s revenue growth as opposed to the mean earnings of its members, considering the current financial climate, it’s promising data for the indie artists community too.