CD Baby Merges with Disc Makers
Portland-based CD distributor CD Baby was purchased by the company behind Disc Makers. A source at the company says that Disc Makers president Tony van Veen addressed employees Monday, and assured workers that his parent company, Audio & Video labs, indended to keep the CD Baby staff intact and keep the company in Portland. An email sent out to inquiring artists gives the same impression, reading: “For us here at CD Baby, it is business as usual. As always, everyone is completely committed to supporting Independent Musicians,” adding that nothing would change with users’ “account, payments, or anything else. All of the people who have been making CD Baby such a great company are still here!”
An additional email just sent out to artists from CD Baby founder Derek Sivers reads:
There’s a beautiful quote from Abraham Maslow: “Life is an ongoing process of choosing between safety (out of fear and need for defense) and risk (for the sake of progress and growth). Make the growth choice a dozen times a day.” (sivers.org/maslow)
You might have seen in CD Baby’s 10th birthday announcement last March (sivers.org/bilbo) that I haven’t worked at CD Baby since last year. In fact I’ve hardly been there since 2002. I designed all the internal systems to run without me, so that I could be free to go learn and invent new things.
But now my new projects are exciting me so much that I decided to hand over CD Baby to someone that’s going to make it better than ever for you. I chose Disc Makers as the new owner because their president Tony Van Veen has been one of my favorite people for years, and I always felt they’d do a better job of running CD Baby than I could.
The CD Baby staff, location, name, and everything else will stay the same, but I think you’ll start to notice more attention given to improvements that help you sell more music.
So, this isn’t big news. Just letting you know that CD Baby is in better hands now, and I’m off to new things.
CD Baby has thrived through a national trend of slumping CD sales, and van Veen told employees that he thought the company could do even better by utilizing a little self-promotion and setting goals in each department. Changes to employees’ health care packages were also discussed–WW’s source says the new plan requires employees to pay a premium, but added that it is also a better plan. “Most of us are actually pretty excited about the whole thing,” the source said.
As for Sivers, he says he’ll be working on new ventures:
I thought about doing a charitable foundation, but instead decided to just create little businesses that can help you with promotion, assistants, networking, education, and the music itself. Even if they never charge you a thing or operate at a loss, I don’t care. It’s not about that, now. As long as you’re learning and growing, I’m happy.
Here’s the original email sent to inquiring artists:
Thanks for your email!
CD Baby was recently purchased by Audio & Video Labs, the parent company of Disc Makers.
For us here at CD Baby, it is business as usual. As always, everyone is completely committed to supporting Independent Musicians!
Nothing has changed with your account, payments, or anything else. All of the people who have been making CD Baby such a great company are still here! We are excited about our future and hope you will be too.
If there is anything I can do to help, just let me know!
Be well,
More when we get it!
:: Seattle Sound Magazine
says:[…] Portland’s online record distributor, CD Baby, is sold to Disc Makers. The company will stay i… LOCAL CUT Leave a Reply […]
Posted @ August 5th, 2008 at 10:37 am (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkBlade Sharpener
says:Will they change the company name to “Baby Makers”?
Posted @ August 5th, 2008 at 1:35 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkWho really does the work? « The Adventures of Competent Girl
says:[…] - in response to some of this public commentary from our-boss-until-yesterday, Derek Sivers. (No, we weren’t fired.) Derek is probably best known in the tech industry for his very public migration from PHP to […]
Posted @ August 5th, 2008 at 2:28 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkJoseph
says:WALMART has moved into town. Go get your cookie cutter CDs from Disk Makers and then sell them through newly corporatized CD Baby. Make sure those profits are sent straight back to New Jersey too. We wouldn’t want the local economy to benefit in any way. Thanks for selling us out Derek.
Posted @ August 5th, 2008 at 2:35 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkMartin
says:I don’t actually think that the new company at the helm is necessarily going to be a bad thing.
Derek was never as benevolent as he would have you believe:
http://mushrush.com/blogfat/archives/2008/08/an_open_letter.php
In the interest of fairness, the letter at that link is just my opinion, but it’s worth mentioning that I first posted that link as a comment on Mr. Sivers’ own blog. He did not approve it.
Posted @ August 5th, 2008 at 4:22 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkCompetent Girl
says:Re Joseph - It’s only day 2, but from what I’ve seen and heard so far, it wouldn’t surprise me if Disc Makers doesn’t end up putting more money into the local economy than Derek did. Derek taking his profits and going to India (while interesting and likely well deserved) doesn’t contribute to the local economy. Disc Makers renting hotel rooms for out of town executives does.
Posted @ August 5th, 2008 at 9:01 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkTvV
says:No, it won’t be Baby Makers. The barriers to entry to that brand are too low.
It’s also not Walmart. Disc Makers was never such a stripped down, low quality, low service brand.
CD Baby is a Portland company (albeit with a worldwide clientele). Its employees live, work, and pay taxes in Oregon. The company pays its taxes in Oregon. And the goal is to grow the company, add clients, add employees. (And rent the occasional room for an out of town exec like me.)
CD Baby as a brand will continue to exist. More importantly, its spirit as the advocate of the artist will persist. Both CD Baby and Disc Makers make their living from serving independent artists. If Derek Sivers had sold to someone else, all bets would have been off. One thing that’s for sure: we won’t make any decisions that screw the artist.
Once a company grows, you become subject to criticism of being “the man.” It happens to Disc Makers occasionally. It’s happened to CD Baby. But there are very few companies that treat artists with the integrity that these companies do. And maybe that’s the secret to their success and longevity (10 years for CD Baby, 62 for Disc Makers), in an industry where the side of the road is littered with carcasses of companies that didn’t offer value, service, or quality.
CD Baby is a fantastic brand - one of the strongest in independent music. It’s a great honor to be its steward.
Tony van Veen - new papa to the Baby
Posted @ August 5th, 2008 at 11:46 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkCASEY JARMAN
says:Wow, thanks for taking the time to respond to all this stuff, Tony. I’m guessing you’re probably pretty busy about now. Conversation gets pretty contentious around here, but just seeing you wade into these waters is reassuring to me, anyway. CD Baby is a pretty big piece of the Portland music puzzle, I think that’s why people get touchy about it. But I’m sure if you stick to the game plan you’ve laid out here people will come around. Good luck with everything and long live CD Baby.
Posted @ August 6th, 2008 at 2:42 am (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkLady Nikki
says:Hey another CDBaby employee weighing in. I’ve worked here for a year and never met the mystical and touchy Mr. Sivers. However on the day the buy out went through, we had direct honest communication with Mr. van Veen. I have been impressed with his logic and laser sight on positive changes, two things we could never depend on from Derek. We’ll see how it goes of course, but so far so good. Cheers!
Posted @ August 6th, 2008 at 8:27 am (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkDave Allen
says:I believe that transparency is a huge issue on the ‘net and especially on web sites like CD Baby’s.
I have never been comfortable with Derek’s statements such as the one’s in the vein of “CD Baby has paid artists $xxx millions of dollars” - it certainly looks good in print but when there is not a way to look at CD Baby’s financials because they are a private company then interested parties, not to mention independent artists who use the service, will never really know what a statement like that means.
As a user/artist on CD Baby I would hope that DiscMakers will be more open and transparent about what those numbers actually mean. A lot of money has clearly been changing hands and CD Baby is not a non-profit company. Just saying….
Posted @ August 6th, 2008 at 10:31 am (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkKings of A&R » Apple iTunes Still #1, New Music and Artist Happenings, Promotion Better Than Prevention?
says:[…] Makers Buys CD Baby: Disc Makers buys CD Baby for $900 million. CD Baby will continue to operate as a separate company and founder Derek […]
Posted @ August 6th, 2008 at 11:20 am (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkalex arrowsmith
says:well i think cd baby is awesome, and disc makers is also pretty awesome. i’ve gotten cds done through disc makers and always had a very positive experience with them. they have their shit together when it comes to cd manufacturing, and though i’ve felt a little guilt for not going with a local cd manufacturing place, i’ve not regretted it at all.
cd baby has been basically flawless too IMO. for self-released artists, it’s pretty much the best thing there is. so for these two companies to hook up…i feel good about it. i haven’t been wronged by them yet, and i don’t expect to be in the future.
Posted @ August 6th, 2008 at 2:02 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkJuan Mutant
says:Tony should be aware of what he just purchased. CD Baby does business with Wal-Mart, it has been for quite some time.
Liquid Digital Media is Wal-Mart’s digital download store - so he should be mindful of immediately dismissing his business partners. I think this is just one example of salesman talk - saying whatever needs to be said to cover the truth and smooth the waters.
The simple fact is that Discmakers and their investors paid tens of millions of dollars for this company, and needs to regain that money as quickly as possible, and will do whatever they can to do such. Be wary.
Posted @ August 7th, 2008 at 10:06 am (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkColie Brice
says:Hey Tony is facing these concerns head on. Gotta give him credit for that.
Posted @ August 7th, 2008 at 2:20 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkTvV
says:Walmart? I don’t get the point.
CD Baby’s interests and the artists’ interests are aligned. If our digital partners move lots of downloads, that’s good for our artists and good for us. If they move few, that’s not good for artists or for us.
Every decision makes itself. Some answers just take longer to reveal themselves.
We’re going to do what’s best for CD Baby. Period. 89 people expect me to do so, will help me do so, and (I’m sure) will let me know if they think I’m not doing so.
Posted @ August 7th, 2008 at 10:26 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkAvi Korine
says:Like Martin’s post above, another voice has emerged from this event. Very telling….
http://craigregular.wordpress.com/2008/08/14/the-trap-of-business-death/
Clearly we’ll have to wait and see how this change will effect CD Baby.
Posted @ August 15th, 2008 at 3:49 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkCd dude
says:Ut was telling that the first order of business was to dump that silly ‘baby’ logo, now if they could find a way to deep-six the ‘CD’ part, they might be positioned for the future. Seriously, Derek’s true genius when history is rewritten will be his timing in selling out when he did. Ranks right up there with Mark Cuban’s exit strategy from Broadcast. Although he may have been able to get 30 or 40 million if he had done it in 2005, but who knew?
Posted @ August 16th, 2008 at 10:00 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkmaranda
says:It is good to see the community taking so much interest in what’s going on at CD Baby, as it can feel reaaaal far away from the Portland action all the way out here by the airport (we’re hoping to bridge that gap soon, though).
I’m writing from the perspective of someone who spends their days on the phone & e-mailing the clients & customers of CD Baby. Since being hired last September, I have seen not hair nor hide of Mr. Derek Sivers. Yet he has been entirely present, in the culture he created as the company’s founder and president for the last decade, as well as in the aftermath and legacy of the decisions he has made in recent years and his continued involvement by way of an Adam Smith-esque “invisible hand”.
Throughout my time here there have been speculations and postulations galore as to the future of CD Baby, as well as that of compact discs and music itself. From what I understand, this company was not intended to occupy the place it does in the “music industry”, but has it ever carved a niche for itself, and knowing where to go from here is, I can imagine, a real task.
Undoubtedly all action that is taken will influence the opportunities available for independent musicians in the years to come, and thus continue to shape the way music is made available with the incredible magnitude it has thus far (need stats on this? Just ask!). By the time I hit the scene, the CD Baby model seemed to me to be one of overwhelming inertia. Derek had created this great service with an immense reputation and client base; the idea was to keep it going and maintain the fundamental ideas & principles of making independent music profitable for artists.
As a new employee this was inspiring to be a part of, but there was significant discouragement in areas where the company had seemed to reached its limits. Growth was hindered by disorganization, confusion and lack of progress in day-to-day operations [by “growth” I mean not the generation of revenue, but of expansion of what we have to offer, and what role we play in making music available and possible].
In my opinion what we most sorely needed was an overarching vision for the future. Derek’s fundamental program had brought the company to it’s current place. All musings on the nature of the “music industry” and music-for-profit considered, this company needed an idea of where it wanted to go, and what it wanted to achieve if it was to go anywhere.
Discmakers now owns this company and stands to make money from it, yes. But with new leadership comes an opportunity to make good of the “CD Baby vision” as originally dreamed by Derek, with a commitment to the continued evolution of a vital service. According to Tony the mission is still to make artists happy– as it’s always been about. To do so, they recognize the need to keep staff happy as well, a large part of which is acknowledging the position the current employees are in to influence and contribute to the new era.
That’s exciting for us here, and Tony is dammmmn right when he says we’ll let him know how we feel (copy that, TVV?) We’re going to keep letting him know. We are still here on the ground floor with the musicians and the people that love music. It’s with sadness that we’ve lost some of our ranks, but a great many of us are sticking around to make sure we do what we can to see this thing through.
Because the employees have come to know through many adjustments and changes that we ARE CD Baby. We take everything about what we do to heart, which makes us all a little crazy and a lot passionate. Expect to hear from us as time goes on, and know that while it was never the plan to be where we’re at today, it’s where 89 of us are. Rest assured that we intend to be a part of the formation of the new face of CD Baby (get it? new face? no more baby…?), and that we are going to make the most of it to the best of our ability.
Posted @ August 18th, 2008 at 2:40 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkDeeLaBee!
says:Thanks Maranda for telling it like it is. Tsk. tsk. Paul Allen for copying other questions from other sites that others have wrote, and pasting it on different sites as your comments …Really?!!?.
Posted @ August 18th, 2008 at 4:40 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkmoney in the bank
says:A short about the first days of new the ownership -
Posted @ August 20th, 2008 at 11:00 am (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalinkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZGg9QZRV64
Harder Rock
says:Re: Video Short
Oh brother… I’m starting to think everyone but the new owner/president and the old owner/president are nothing but a bunch of whining ingrates.
Posted @ August 20th, 2008 at 1:20 pm (August 5th, 2008) | Flag this Comment | permalink