CD Baby has paid $1 Billion to 1 Million indie artists

CD Baby has paid out more than $1 billion to more than 1 million mostly D.I.Y. artists since the company’s 1998 founding.

Those artist have used the D.I.Y. music distribution platform to distribute more than 10 million tracks.

“For us, it’s not just about how much the top earners make, but also about what the payout means to all of the unique artists we work with who are charting their own course, based on their creative vision and their personal versions of success,” says CD Baby President Joel Andrew. “Our mission has always been to work as hard as possible to serve musicians dedicated to doing their own thing, their way. Our success is a reflection of their success.”

Indie musicians like the ones that CD Baby serves have grabbed an increasingly large market share and now make up more than 43% of the total global music market by ownership according to an October 2021 report from MIDiA.

Bruce Houghton is Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.