Grammy Chase Day 14 started off with the usual peace and quiet meditation, mildly gathering myself and my intentions together. It sounds odd as I type it, like I’m painting this picture of myself as some all righteous shaman or yogi, but I’m just a guy who’s noticing the importance of “Starting My Day”, before “My Day Starts Me.” There is surely a difference. My oldest son woke up a unusually earlier and emerged from the dark hallway leading from the bathroom into our family den, fully dressed and ready for school. Not to discourage his independence and self-starting sense of responsibility, but I asked him two questions. 1) How are you Buddha (nickname)? 2) Did you wash up? His response was, “Well what do you mean by wash up?” I just stared at him, calmed myself, chuckled inside and advised that he go into the bathroom and finish the great job he was doing. Comedy relief early in the morning followed by a heap of oatmeal topped with organic yogurt, dried cherries and crushed pistachios. MMmmmm!
So, onto the Baby Talk. In doing my research, I came across some interesting information regarding Indie artists associated with CD Baby and their representation at the Grammy’s from last year, February 2009. Once again, the cloud of smoke from all the hype of Major artists created such a hazard that neither myself or the general music fan realized that a great deal of Indie artists were nominees and even recipients of Grammy’s last year. The hardcore fact here is that last year their were 15 CD Baby artists alone that received Grammy nods, with 2 artists actually winning.
Best Traditional Folk Album - Pete Seeger
Best Reggae Album – Burning Spear
I remember the first time I learned about CD Baby and the uproar it caused both positive and negative. Many artists were in disbelief as if it were to good to be true and were so suspect of getting jerked-over that unfortunately they stayed the course of the more frustrating, tried and true approach to getting noticed, which was shopping demos to the Majors. However, there were just as many artists that were tired of getting ripped off just as well that actually saw CD Baby as an opportunity to control their own situation. Hat’s Off to the artists who stuck with CD Baby and saw the light, as what started as just a hobby for Derrick Sivers (Founder) in 1997 has not only made him millions, to the tune of $22 Million when he sold CD Baby to Disc Makers in 2008, but it also proved lucrative for the artists that jumped aboard. Sivers donated a vast majority of his payout to an organization he created called The Independent Musician’s Charitable Trust. The money is strictly allocated for the investment in the future of budding artists/musicians of which he sees no further earnings or cut. Which makes this guy a truly rare gem.
So if you’re an Indie artist, its not too late to sign on. The math is pretty simple from the set up charges to what CD Baby keeps and what you as an artist puts away in your pocket. If you need convincing outside of the fact that CD Baby artists were Grammy nominees and even winners, see the numbers below:
As of December 2009
- 278,510 artists sell their music at CD Baby
- 5,339,025 CDs sold online to customers
- $107,769,092 paid directly to the artists
