Members Standard8 Posted January 12, 2008 Members Posted January 12, 2008 Do they allow you to take advantage of their physical CD sales network but use another distributor for the digital download sales? Althought $4 per CD seems a little steep, when calculating and figuring out what it would cost just DIY with a website, bandwidth, merchant account, postage, packing, time involved just dealing with it with modest success selling 500 disks in a year, $4 doesn't sound all that bad. The more I think about it, $4 is a really good deal up to the point we are approaching Gold status. So, does anyone here know if CDBaby allows you to use that service only, or know of any other online distributors of physical CD's? Alot of my friends have used CDBaby and love it, but that was before there was much competition, like Tunecore for example. Basically, I like the no commission part of tunecore, if I get lucky and sell 1000 albums in a year, that's $900 to CDBaby, $0 to TC. But still need physical CD distribution online. Not in a retail store, strictly online CD sales. Thanks for any info yall have. It's much appreciated.
Members indistr Posted January 12, 2008 Members Posted January 12, 2008 Standard8, did you get a chance to look at INDISTR.com? I really think you'd dig what we have to offer. We pay out more than any digital distributor, and our services are free. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you, Kevin HockinKevin@indistr.com
Members elsongs Posted January 12, 2008 Members Posted January 12, 2008 Do they allow you to take advantage of their physical CD sales network but use another distributor for the digital download sales? Althought $4 per CD seems a little steep, when calculating and figuring out what it would cost just DIY with a website, bandwidth, merchant account, postage, packing, time involved just dealing with it with modest success selling 500 disks in a year, $4 doesn't sound all that bad. The more I think about it, $4 is a really good deal up to the point we are approaching Gold status. So, does anyone here know if CDBaby allows you to use that service only, or know of any other online distributors of physical CD's? Alot of my friends have used CDBaby and love it, but that was before there was much competition, like Tunecore for example. Basically, I like the no commission part of tunecore, if I get lucky and sell 1000 albums in a year, that's $900 to CDBaby, $0 to TC. But still need physical CD distribution online. Not in a retail store, strictly online CD sales. Thanks for any info yall have. It's much appreciated. You own the rights to your CD. You're only making an arrangement with CD Baby to sell your CD on their site. There's no such agreement that forbids you from selling or distributing your CDs elsewhere, though if you spread yourself out too much, your revenue streams won't be very concentrated. Many people go with CD Baby since they're the most well known online retailer of Indie CDs. I've sold CDs on CDBaby.com since 2001, never had a complaint.
Members BlueStrat Posted January 12, 2008 Members Posted January 12, 2008 Yup, I sell 1-2 a week without trying. They can also get you digital through itunes.
Members Standard8 Posted January 12, 2008 Author Members Posted January 12, 2008 At the heart of my question is whether or not there's an "indie" retailer that sells physical CD's online. Let's say I've got my mind made up with selling my digital downloads on TC because I expect enough sales to make the 9% commission on CDBaby really make a difference. Where do I get the online retailer for physical disks and keep my digital download business with TC?
Members BlueStrat Posted January 12, 2008 Members Posted January 12, 2008 I couldn't tell you that, but my philosophy is that since CD Bbay is so well known, 9% is a cheap commission to pay for the exposure and results they provide compared to most other sites. Fully half my sales are from people in Europe and Australia. 91% of high volume in exposure is worth more to me than 100% of lower exposure. Only you can determine if it's worth it to you or not.
Members PeterTuneCore Posted January 12, 2008 Members Posted January 12, 2008 At the heart of my question is whether or not there's an "indie" retailer that sells physical CD's online. Let's say I've got my mind made up with selling my digital downloads on TC because I expect enough sales to make the 9% commission on CDBaby really make a difference. Where do I get the online retailer for physical disks and keep my digital download business with TC? Okay, you heard it here first! A scoop! http://tunecore.typepad.com/tunecorner/2007/12/tunecore-physic.html TUNECORE DOES PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION! It's a pilot program. I think you'll find it solves all your problems, washes the dishes, aligns the planets and brings about world peace. --Peterpeter@tunecore.com
Members Standard8 Posted January 12, 2008 Author Members Posted January 12, 2008 Do you provide a UPC with bitmap image for us to get printed on the CD like CD baby?
Members PeterTuneCore Posted January 13, 2008 Members Posted January 13, 2008 Do you provide a UPC with bitmap image for us to get printed on the CD like CD baby? Yep. And our UPC is FREE. --Peter peter@tunecore.com
Members Netvalar Posted January 14, 2008 Members Posted January 14, 2008 @PeterTuneCore That looks great I especially like the add to your site or social network profile. However with the limitation of Canada and US I feel that CDBaby is still the way to go plus with CDBaby you can opt to have your physical distribution handled by SuperD distribution with over 13,000 retail stores needing albums on their shelves. And the best part is your payment is handled by CDBaby. I do see the potential of TuneCore in the coming years though need that International market.
Members Standard8 Posted January 14, 2008 Author Members Posted January 14, 2008 This is all true. In my band's case, the digital download part should pretty well handle international customers, we don't really plan to sell many physical discs. Probably 1 disk for every 10 downloads. The monetary aspect of paying 9% to CDBaby for downloads doesn't justify their global ability to ship physical discs. That's in my band's case, probably will vary case-by-case. If I planned to sell thousands of CD's all over the world, CDbaby might make more sense. Basically, the way I see it, I don't thik there's a single computer sold today that doesn't have a CDR drive and a 10/100/1000 ethernet card. And anyone who is a serious fan and absolutely must have your CD, they already know where to get it on your website. Outsourcing international distribution of CD's doesn't seem necessary. Again, that's in our case. And I might change my mind next week.
Members PeterTuneCore Posted January 14, 2008 Members Posted January 14, 2008 @PeterTuneCoreThat looks great I especially like the add to your site or social network profile. However with the limitation of Canada and US I feel that CDBaby is still the way to go plus with CDBaby you can opt to have your physical distribution handled by SuperD distribution with over 13,000 retail stores needing albums on their shelves. And the best part is your payment is handled by CDBaby.I do see the potential of TuneCore in the coming years though need that International market. Sounds great! Everything I hear about CD Baby's physical distribution is top notch, I wish you the very best. Our own is in the "pilot" stage, which has its advantages (early adopters attention!), but always do what's best for your situation. --Peterpeter@tunecore.com
Members fuzzball Posted January 15, 2008 Members Posted January 15, 2008 I couldn't tell you that, but my philosophy is that since CD Bbay is so well known, 9% is a cheap commission to pay for the exposure and results they provide compared to most other sites. Fully half my sales are from people in Europe and Australia.91% of high volume in exposure is worth more to me than 100% of lower exposure.Only you can determine if it's worth it to you or not. Exactualy, if no one knows it exsists there will be no sales. Think of potential, and consider they link it to several sites.It has worked well for me.
Members fuzzball Posted January 15, 2008 Members Posted January 15, 2008 This is all true. In my band's case, the digital download part should pretty well handle international customers, we don't really plan to sell many physical discs. Probably 1 disk for every 10 downloads. The monetary aspect of paying 9% to CDBaby for downloads doesn't justify their global ability to ship physical discs. That's in my band's case, probably will vary case-by-case. If I planned to sell thousands of CD's all over the world, CDbaby might make more sense. Basically, the way I see it, I don't thik there's a single computer sold today that doesn't have a CDR drive and a 10/100/1000 ethernet card. And anyone who is a serious fan and absolutely must have your CD, they already know where to get it on your website. Outsourcing international distribution of CD's doesn't seem necessary. Again, that's in our case. And I might change my mind next week. Actually you may be mistaken. There is still many people without internet (or at least high speed internet). With this in mind you could miss out on some potential market penetration. Low speed click and purchase for a CD is still viable.
Members Standard8 Posted January 16, 2008 Author Members Posted January 16, 2008 Actually you may be mistaken. There is still many people without internet (or at least high speed internet). With this in mind you could miss out on some potential market penetration. Low speed click and purchase for a CD is still viable. That's why I'm still interested in making a CD available. As I said before, I expect a 1-10 ratio in CD's versus downloads. When a situation arises where we just can't keep up with the demand for our CD's, well, that's a problem I hope and pray I have the chance to deal with. Until then.... screw 9% commission on downloads for the ability to ship my CD to India.
Members Netvalar Posted January 31, 2008 Members Posted January 31, 2008 I looked into this a while back forgot to come in and post the results. Yes the digital aspect of CDBaby.com can be opted out allowing you to use Tunecore for digital distribution instead. All artists being recorded through Sellaband.com at this time have their physical cd listed on CDBaby.com and digital distribution handled through The Orchard who is partnered with 400+ global digital sites. However as you basically have to be a label or something close to that to work with The Orchard Tunecore looks like the best bet for digital distro
Members Anaon Posted February 29, 2008 Members Posted February 29, 2008 Hi! I just read that Cd Baby can provide a UPC barcode for your album. Ok but I wonder what this UPC barcode is? Does it work anywhere, even in Europe? Ca it be used by any retail store then? Thanks
Members DeveryHarper Posted February 29, 2008 Members Posted February 29, 2008 Hi!I just read that Cd Baby can provide a UPC barcode for your album. Ok but I wonder what this UPC barcode is? Does it work anywhere, even in Europe? Ca it be used by any retail store then?Thanks As far as I know it can be used in Europe and beyond, for sure it can be used in retail stores also. They register it with the same place everyone else registers barcodes so it is YOUR barcode and it can be used only by you.
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