Discmakers isn't wasting any time. Within a week of announcing their purchase of CD Baby, they're now in the process of launching Elite Artist Services, a nice little place where established acts can go when their tired of playing the Major Label game.
Offering services like Duplication, Merchandising, and DISTRIBUTION, it may well be just a matter of time before, like MP3.com, the Indie artists at CD Baby are completely overshadowed by the likes of NIN and Radiohead.
What could this "potentially" mean for Indie artists? The Worlds only Indie distribution company being flooded with the NEW Indies, former Major label acts that want to have more say in their music? Well, it could mean that, as Indies, we'll have to start stepping up our game. Or, it could also mean that the playing field just got leveled. I guess it depends on how you approach your music.
I'm not trying to hate on any artist who wants to have more control over their work, in fact I think that it'd be awesome if all artists had complete creative control, it would do away with the "Disney Creation" acts like Miley Cyrus and Vannessa Hudgens. We could stand to weed out the fodder a little bit.
The wheels of progress never stop.
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3 comments:
No worries, P. Elite Artist Services was conceived independently of the CD Baby initiative. Like our other services (CD Baby, Disc Makers), Elite is still all about independent artists, albeit ones with more name recognition.
Whether these artists sell product on CD Baby will depend on the artists themselves. CD Baby already sells (or has sold) CDs from other artists who move significant volume, whether it's Ingrid Michaelson, Dan Zanes's kids' music, or Jack Johnson's early stuff. These artists have not hurt any other CD Baby artists' sales potential.
It may appear counterintuitive, but if we decided to have more recognizeable artists on CD Baby it would actually help the lesser known acts sell more product when the visitors who came for Ingrid Michaelson stayed and browsed. It certainly wouldn't hurt sales.
Did you know that CD Baby sees more transactions each month from its titles on iTunes than from its cdbaby.com site? Why? The audience is larger, and even though CD Baby's artists are not featured anywhere prominently on iTunes (something we hope to address, btw) there are many "mainstream" music buyers who accidentally stumple upon the independent CD Baby artist content.
In short, Elite and CD Baby are distant cousins in the AVL family (that's the parent company of Disc Makers, CD Baby, and Elite Artist Services), but can work together to the extent that it makes sense for both companies.
Decisions at CD Baby will be made by the local team in Portland, and will be good for CD Baby and it's artists. Like Google's "don't be evil" philosophy, we have a "don't screw the independent artist" mantra.
Tony van Veen
Tony,
Thank you for taking time to read and post your comment. It's refreshing to see that you're open to discourse. I very much appreciate that.
I am very much in favor of business growth, and fully understand and embrace Discmaker's right and reasons for doing so.
My main concern and, I believe, the concern that a lot of Indies have right now is what the future holds for us.
You have to understand the shock that a lot of us Indies are feeling right now. Many have considered CD Baby, and Derek himself, as the prime Champion for Independent music, where we are only limited by our own willingness and abilities. A lot of us were also comforted by Derek's assurance that he would never sell CD Baby. Then in the course of a weeks time to find out that not only was it sold, but to Discmakers, who is planning Elite. It's a lot to take in, for a lot of people, and is naturally going to raise concerns.
Having been part of the MP3.com deal (in fact my partner/wife Dana Detrick wrote for The Women of MP3.com), it really struck a chord with me. Initially it sounded the same. They were just "enhancing" the site by allowing artists with more "name recognition" to use the services. Pretty soon, those artists took priority and eventually the Indies were dismissed totally. I'm not saying that that is your plans, or even that that was the initial plan for MP3.com, but it sure drums up memories.
I can see your points as to how this "could" potentially help lesser known acts, and sincerely hope that that is the case.
I wish you all the best in the growth of your company and simply request that you remember, in all your decisions, you effect the growth of ours.
Thank you again, Tony. It means a lot that you would take the time to address our concerns.
Paul Clark
Serious Vanity Records
Change is always scary. CD Baby has been a brand with such a fiercely independent image that anyone acquiring it would look like a corporate behemoth. From my admittedly biased perspective, the DM acquisition is the best way for CD Baby to move forward. Derek was ready to get out and would have sold the company to someone else if it hadn't been us. The alternative was acquisition by Amazon or some other entity that does not care a lick about the independent artist.
Disc Makers makes its living off independents - artists, filmmakers, small business. I was a drummer in a moderately successful Philly hardcore band in the mid 80's myself, and my musical and business philosophy were formed by the old hardcore DIY ethos.
We do no major label/studio work, we don't work with major indies, just with what I call "micro indies." Since our bread is buttered by independent artists, Disc Makers' and CD Baby's interests are aligned 100%. We both serve the identical customer.
Elite Artist Services is a new growth initiative for us. We think it's a timely concept and hope it goes well, but it's the tip of the tail, and certainly ain't waggin' the dog. Our priority is driving more customers to CD Baby's current artists. Elite Artist Services does not feature in our CD Baby plans in any real way. We won't force Elite customers to put their product on CD Baby, and are not counting on any sales boost for CD Baby from Elite artists.
It's a free country, and clients vote with their wallets each day. The best way to ensure loyalty of the CD Baby artist is to offer great value day in and day out. We do that by providing a channel for them to sell product - as much product as possible. We are planning a number of initiatives to increase CD Baby's visibility and product sales.
In the wake of an acquisition like this I'm aware that there will be both criticism and scrutiny of CD Baby's next steps. I welcome both. Through discourse and by responding to customer feedback we will build the strongest company CD Baby can be.
Disc Makers did not get to be the market leader in CD manufacturing by ignoring its customers or delivering poor service. CD Baby didn't either. As we say here, "without customers we might as well go fishing."
TvV
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