Why I Still Buy CDs

YEA!!! CD's are and always will be a better value than lame MP3's...all the rich white suburban kids are just cuaght up in the ipod hype.

Update, 2006-09-24: It turns out the e-mail-sharing policy is on CD Baby’s About page. It reads, in part:

We NEVER give or sell your personal info to any other company - EVER! (No not even your email address!)
Only the musician whose CD you buy will know who you are.
If you don't even want the musician to know about you, just say so at the bottom of your order form.

Again, I think that last bit should be on the order form itself, but I’m still very happy with the shopping experience. You only need check out the rest of the About page to get the feeling that the company really is working for the artists. Or as CEO Derek Sivers noted in a follow-up e-mail to me, “We really believe that was THEIR sale, not ours, we were just the ones that shipped it for them.”

Chris: Thanks for writing. I should have explained better, because I did enjoy hearing from you, particularly with a message offering a free download. That seems like positive customer support to me.

What I didn't like was the way CD Baby said, "Thanks for your order; by the way, we've just given your e-mail address to the artists." Perhaps that's noted somewhere in the terms of service, but I would have preferred a big checkbox on the final order screen asking, "Would you like us to share your e-mail address with the artist?"

But as I said, the shopping experience was positive overall. In fact, I received another followup from CD Baby the other day with links to pages where I could write reviews about the discs I'd just bought. "It only takes a minute and would mean a lot to the artists," the message said, reinforcing my impression that this is a company that values musicians.

The e-mail continued with a list of Editors' Picks CDs in the genres I'd bought, increasing the chances I'll go back.

My apologies if I crossed a boundary.

CD Baby supplies contact info for buyers of the cds to the artists in order to try and build a mailing list and data base of people who have purchased one's music.

I personally send a "thank you" to everyone who has bought my cd as an appreciation for that act. As expressed in the e-mail I also like to share free downloads of bonus stuff on the website. Hmmm, but now I'm a bit concerned that people may find this intrusive.

Anyway CD Baby is a GREAT outlet for independent music and I cannot say how much it means to have a legitimate and innovative site to release new music. Cheers!

Thanks, Mark. I should mention that your latest CD is on permanent repeat in my wife's car.

And yeah: a few years ago, I submitted a CD I produced to both Amazon and CD Baby. Not only was the CD Baby submission experience far easier, the artist later had so many problems with Amazon that he dropped his listing there.

I'd like to add my two cents from the artist's POV: CDBaby is flat-out great.

I've been releasing recordings since they were big flat black plastic things, and these guys are a rarity - honest to a fault, and on the side of truth and goodness. I'm probably among their smallest sellers, but they still treat me with respect and never fail to pay what's owed.

They do a lot more for their artists, such as no-nonesense digital distribution, help with promotion, and they'll even provide knuckle busters so we can take credit cards at gigs!

Nice to know somebody actually buys CDs these days, too. Hey, I can give ya a deal on some cassettes...