CD Baby
An online store and distributor that sells independent musicians' albums directly to fans.
Where CD Baby comes up1 episode or test
CD Baby let independent musicians sell albums directly to fans, and the sources say its appeal was visible buyers. Former rock stars told Derek Sivers that a thousand sales with each buyer's name and comment beat a million through Warner Brothers or EMI. The lesson: selling directly shows you who your customers are, and that connection can matter more than volume.
- A million sales
- Buyers stay anonymous
- A thousand albums
- Each buyer's name and comment
Knowing each buyer meant more than a million sales
From Derek Sivers on CD Baby
What was said about CD Baby
Musicians valued knowing each buyer over huge anonymous label sales. Former rock stars who sold through CD Baby told Derek Sivers that seeing each buyer's name and comment, even across a thousand albums, meant more than a million sales through Warner Brothers or EMI.
Sivers took this lesson into selling his own books from his own site: one price covers paper, ebook and audiobook, all proceeds go to charity, and buyers get an email from him that reaches his inbox when they reply. "I like that I know you and I know that you've bought this book."
Sivers told the CD Baby story by retelling tales already tested aloud. Anything You Want, his account of starting, growing and leaving CD Baby, drew on stories he had told friends and conference audiences, so he already knew where people laughed and which points to keep.
Seth Godin had asked for a manifesto of 10,000 words. The book took about 20 hours in total and came out a week after Sivers sent it. "I wasn't having to conjure new insights I was just telling my tale."
Derek Sivers: No Wasted Words
Sivers started, grew and left CD Baby, and he told that story in Anything You Want. Former rock stars who sold through it said seeing each buyer's name and comment beat a million sales through a label.
Musicians valued knowing each buyer over huge anonymous label sales. Former rock stars who sold through CD Baby told Derek Sivers that seeing each buyer's name and comment, even across a thousand albums, meant more than a million sales through Warner Brothers or EMI.
Sivers took this lesson into selling his own books from his own site: one price covers paper, ebook and audiobook, all proceeds go to charity, and buyers get an email from him that reaches his inbox when they reply. "I like that I know you and I know that you've bought this book."
Sivers told the CD Baby story by retelling tales already tested aloud. Anything You Want, his account of starting, growing and leaving CD Baby, drew on stories he had told friends and conference audiences, so he already knew where people laughed and which points to keep.
Seth Godin had asked for a manifesto of 10,000 words. The book took about 20 hours in total and came out a week after Sivers sent it. "I wasn't having to conjure new insights I was just telling my tale."
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