Downtown names new CD Baby, Soundrop president as competition increases

Downtown Music has elevated Scott Williams to the President of digital music distributors CD Baby and Soundrop. He previously served as the company’s Chief Technology Officer.

There was no immediate word on the plans of Williams’ predecessor, Joel Andrew, who had been promoted to run the company just two years ago. Kevin Breuner was recently promoted to SVP of Artist Engagement and Education.

CD Baby currently distributes 10 million tracks for 1.2 million artists, but the changes in leadership come at a time of increased competition.

Rival Tunecore recently joined DistroKid in charging a flat annual fee for unlimited releases designed for artists who are increasingly releasing music on a near-constant basis. CD Baby charges a one-time fee for each release plus 9% of sales.

“We’ve been laser-focused on serving the more than 1 million artists that rely on us to get their music out into the universe to be discovered and to generate income,” said Williams. “I am so fortunate to be able to grow at the company I love so much to continue my mission of helping the independent artist community.”

Williams joined CD Baby in 2013 as Vice President of Technology and was promoted to CTO in 2019. He was central to the launch of Soundrop, a low-cost music distribution service with transparent pricing, collaborator splits, and no annual fees.

“During his tenure at CD Baby, Scott has spearheaded the ongoing evolution of the company’s technology platform that has made it a favorite of independent artists all over the world,” said Andrew Bergman, CEO of Downtown Music Holdings. “As President of CD Baby and Soundrop, Scott will bring the same passion for innovation he’s brought to tech to the company’s overall operations as we continue to expand our offerings to artists.”

MORE: DistroKid adds unlimited video distribution to Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Vevo

Bruce Houghton is the 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.