Navigate the CD Baby maze to a flawless music release. Everything you need to know to upload music!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 พ.ค. 2024
- [Updated for CD Baby's new Boost offering!] For simple and clear help releasing your music, check out my free guide, "Navigating the Music Release Maze: Stop relying on luck and start building your fanbase" here: helvigproductions.com/navigat...
00:00 - Overview
02:17 - Free Music Release Guide!
03:11 - Create an account with CD Baby and log in
04:14 - Step 1: Single, EP, or Album?? Which should you choose?
05:21 - Basic information for your release
06:25 - Adding additional artists to a track (Featured or Primary? What's the difference?)
08:31 - Custom Casing explanation
09:45 - Adding Producer Credits
10:10 - Release Date
10:36 - Record Label & Copyright Owner
11:06 - Bar Code considerations
11:40 - Genre
12:55 - Famous Artists - Why???
13:22 - Specific Track Information and details
13:56 - Composition Type
14:18 - Add new songwriter
15:06 - Writer contributions, percentages, and publishers
16:08 - ISRC Code
17:37 - Digital distribution options
18:51 - Clip Selection
19:16 - Partner Artist IDs
20:38 - "Create new artist profile" for your producer(s)
21:29 - Territory Restrictions
21:43 - Social Video Monetization: TH-cam, Facebook, and Instagram
23:05 - CD Baby Boost option - Is it worth it?
24:45 - Big picture on royalty collection
26:37 - Cd Baby's License for Sync Money option
27:42 - Artwork upload
28:24 - Upload the audio (.wav file)
29:16 - Title Overview (check the details!)
29:46 - Pay for your release and submit if you're ready
30:08 - What happens while you wait for your release date
31:22 - Congrats and good luck!
31:47 - Song registrations can wait until after the release (check out our other resources)
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Excellent presentation. You've cleared up several questions I had for my first-ever release. Thanks so much.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks dear from Paris listening
Thank You, Stephen. GREAT JOB. I'm in the process of releasing my very first single. And, I needed a little refresher on registering my music with CD-Baby. I clicked Like & Subscribed to your TH-cam Channel. Thanks Again.
I highly appreciate the detailed explanations :)
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for a super fast response helpful👍😁
Thank you ❤! You are very much appreciated 🙏🏻
Thank you! Clear and very helpful :)
You're welcome!
Very helpful - thanks for posting 👍
Glad it was helpful!
Great video and most helpful in a new, more modern sense. We put out our first album via cdbaby in 2009 and just recently put out two more. One thing we ran into for both albums recently released was in attempting to attach featured artists. We have a children's choir featured on both albums and they do not have online artist accounts of any type. Cdbaby would not let us past the screen where you have to attach the links to the featured artist accounts. Wasn't a huge deal; the choir had no expectations in this regard. They know what they sang on ;^)
Glad you got it sorted out!
Much help
Awesome video guide!! Excellent BOOST update info, makes it really clear. Well done
Glad it helped!
I've looked at 20 to 30 videos on distributors (and music marketing videos i've looked at hundreds over 2 years) and yours is by far the best! I've been on distrokid and wasnt happy cause I wasn't getting paid on all streams even though i hadn't spent a penny on anything that could be bots. was thinking between CdBaby and Tunecore. All your info answered everything in one video. I'm so glad I found this site. I'm signing up for all your info. a couple of questions. 1. hows your feeling with the 9% cdbaby takes vs 0% with tunecore ie why CdBaby? 2. isnt 3 to 4 weeks enough time to pitch to spotify editorial playlist etc . cant wait to see your videos on royalites. Love to see one on Sync pitching too. Keep it up. your channel will take off.
It all comes down to the math. How many streams do you expect each year? If it's below 100,000 you may be paying more for the yearly renewal fee that Tunecore or Distrokid charges than you will be losing to the 9% fee that CD Baby takes on those streams. If you are getting over 100,000 streams every year, it may be more practical to use a distributor that does not take a cut of royalties and charges a flat yearly fee.
As little as 1 week is enough to pitch to playlists, but giving it more time may increase your odds. Hard to say with any certainty.
Thanks. When are you coming out with another video? You mentioned one on Royalties.@@helvigproductions
This video was incredibly helpful, awesome!
Love to hear that!
@@helvigproductions Very helpful indeed but there is one trend that I can not forgive everything lately is becoming washout, small letters and out of focus, is that the programers fault ? I even use dark mode. I hope I don´t ge blind by the time I upload my music with CD Baby or there is a way to see better this new change.
Thank you so much for this video! I did have one more question: How does a PRO fit into cdbaby's method of distribution? Is there a way for the two to communicate the royalty information well? I was hoping I could upload an existing IPI into cdbaby, but I am not sure if that is possible at this point in time. In the case that I cannot, would I just register with BMI and not opt into the Boost feature for cdbaby?
CD Baby no longer sends your song info to any PRO. (They used to with their "Pro Publishing" option. That is now "Boost" but does NOT include registering your song with a PRO. Boost includes SoundExchange and The MLC. During the upload process, they will still ask for songwriter and publisher info, but they don't actually do anything with it now.
To answer your question, yes, you could register it with BMI separately. You could also opt into Boost if you'd like (for MLC and SoundExchange). Doing those 2 things would cover the vast majority of royalties generated and are easy to accomplish.
However, in the video, I recommend using SongTrust to register your song (they'll send it to BMI and The MLC for you) and then sign up with SoundExchange yourself. I'll skip all the details of why, but that will be slightly more comprehensive from a collection standpoint.
@@helvigproductions Thank you so much!
Very helpful video- thank you! I have a question about genres. My music sounds classical. And there we have the problem. When I put classical under "genre" a message pops up to say that this genre is excluded from some monetization. I heard you say "genre" is not something I should worry about, but none of the listed genres on CD Baby describe my music. I ended up putting "new age" with subgenre "ambient" and then "avant garde" for second genre with classical avant garde for subgenre. But this is so far from what my music sounds like. Any advice? I know that on CD Baby (just as you mentioned) genre is included for CD Baby's own classification purposes- their sync service for example. And for that purpose I'd like to get it right. But how? Obviously my music is not "classical" but sounds like it. What to do?
Interesting! This is new to me, but it makes sense. "Classical" is often recordings of other composers work, so their message makes some sense. I recommend submitting a support ticket to CDBaby if you want to get it right. I can't say for sure that the genre will make any impact on your end results, but it's worth submitting a ticket if you have the time. Otherwise how you handled it is exactly what I would recommend. Please let me know what you hear back from them if you go that route. Good luck!
Thank you for your kind reply. I will do as you suggest.
@@helvigproductions
Hello, here is an update- I asked CD Baby if I understand it correctly that if I select "classical" genre my music won't get monetised. They said- that's correct. I also asked them if they are going to add genres to their list since there are quite a few composers whose music falls under "classical" sound. Sure, a lot of their music is for film, but the sound does not fall under any of the genres listed. So, CD baby replied- No. In short, the struggle continues. On one hand I think I ought to select "film music" which is the second best in regards to how my music is described, but what if that gives the wrong impression that my music was created to accompany film and that may prevent sync opportunities!?
Great video . really helpful.can I ask....
The part you mentioned isrc code.
My songs are registered with PRS and PPL..I want to release a 10 track album on Cdbaby.
I haven't released anything aside from videos on you Tube
Do I use Irsc code created in PPL?
An ISRC code's purpose to be a unique identifier for a specific master recording. There's only one per master recording. So if you already have one from PPL and are releasing the same exact version, use that ISRC again.
Great video! I am uploading a new album to CD Baby and got tripped up on something and can't seem to get past it. Getting no help from CDBaby. My problem is in the "Partner Artist IDs section. It has my ID name spelled correctly Howard Livingston & Milemarker 24 and has the correct links to iTunes, Spotify and TH-cam. However, there is a second Partner Id spelled Howard Livingston and Mile Marker 24 which is not recognized and is asking me to create a new artist ID for iTunes, Spotify and TH-cam. I think I may have entered the name wrong in the beginning but went back and corrected everything. However, the incorrect name will not go away and I can't move forward without agreeing to having a new artist ID created by the streaming services. I don't want to create an additional ID. Can you give me some advice how to get around this? Thank you in advance. Just for reference I have several other older albums with CDBaby.
My suggestion would be to delete that "project" and start fresh. It probably thinks there are 2 different artists associated with the release. Go to your dashboard, scroll to the bottom where it lists "Incomplete Releases" and then click view/edit. Scroll all the way down to the bottom and click "Delete Release." Otherwise, review your info and make sure there is only one artist listed on the release. You can also try logging out and loggin back in to see if it will refresh. If all else fails, delete and start fresh. Good luck!
You are awesome thank you dear actually I subscribed with one album three song and one single I paid 9.99 for the album and cd boost 39 dollars but soon after they sent me to hear now to promote my music and it’s only 2.95 per release but I can’t find my music on social media I thought ce baby was going to put my song in steaming or maybe it is too soon I got to be patient but for mechanical rights mlc I would have to pay everytime for cd boost so if I got a catalogue you’d 20 song that’s a lot for the mechanical rights so if I subscribe with songtrust would this protect me ? Meaning if we I put my song and not pay for cdb boost ?
SongTrust is cheaper in the long run for getting your songs registered with The MLC rather than paying for CD Baby's boost feature every time.
Hey Stephen. Tanks for the tutorial. I have a question tho: We (as a Band) just have released our first ever single. I would love to now claim all those artist profiles, but there is nothing to claim, at least that's what CDBaby tells me. For TH-cam it sais "You don't have any eligible artists in your account". What does that mean? And how long do I have to wait until I can claim our spotify-Artist account (how does it work?)? I hope you, or somebody else, can help us out. Thanks a lot, cheers from Switzerland.
The easiest way is to wait and claim them once the single is out, because that's when the profiles will actually be created. If you just submitted, CD Baby is still getting your song to the distributors and each distributor will get artists profiles created shortly. For Spotify there is a way to claim your profile earlier, you can find the link to that in my music release guide that I mention in the video description.
So question. Today being May 1st, if I choose the release date as May 4th, and you and the site stating it can take 5 to 10 business days, will it gray out that date since its too soon or will it let me choose it and hope for the best?
You can choose the release date to be same day I believe, but it's going to come out whenever it finishes quality control checks, processing, and delivery.
Thanks for this video. Please how do I change the option from "Do it all. Even unpaid" to "Download and streaming" after music has been delivered to free music platforms?
I need help please!!😢
Sign in, go to your release, click view/edit and then scroll down. Click the "distribution" tab and you'll see a button that says "cancellation options." Click that and then scroll down and select "cancel from specific partners" and proceed from there.
I would also just note, that it doesn't really matter if you just left it on "Do It All. Even Unpaid" - it's really not that big of a deal.
@@helvigproductions The reason I asked, because my songs has not yet appeared on streaming platform and even TikTok. So I feel that might be the problem.
Also I think if I cancel it , that will take my songs down from the process
Very informative video. Thank you. On the royalties, what percentage does CD Baby cover and what percentage does The MLC & Sound Trust collect? I would assume that CD Baby collects about 80%? When des your roylty video drop?
Still working on the royalty video - it's complicated. When it comes to STREAMING revenue (Spotify, Apple, etc) due to an artist-songwriter specifically, to my understanding, CD Baby collects about 75% of it. In the United States The MLC covers about 16% and PRO's about 9%. SongTrust would be collecting MLC money on your behalf, as well as the publisher's share of any PRO money and then additional international royalties, if there are any. But, due to how complicated this all is, take my numbers above with a large grain of salt. Plus, there's SoundExchange if you have digital radio streams, which you can register on your own. And, of course, there can be non-streaming royalties with things like synch placements on TV.
@@helvigproductions Very cool! Thank you for the response! Looking forward to the royalty video. Also, I'm wondering how the foreign stuff fits in.
@@stormsofevermore every country has its own royalty laws and collection agencies. SongTrust works to make sure you are registered and collecting with international collection societies/agencies.
Okay. Got it. I have a single release coming. I have a feeling it is going to go over really well. I think for the release, I will do Boost, and then the next one does it the way you suggested. It depends on how much the other 3 are. I know long run wise it's way better to join MLC, Song Trust as you suggested. Thank you 👍👊🙏 🇺🇸
@@stormsofevermore Just to be clear - if you use CD Baby's Boost or SongTrust, there is no need to register those releases with the MLC as that's what you're paying for with either of those options.
Do you have any info on cdbaby stages? Seems no one made a video about it yet anywhere!
No. This video is for the standard distribution process only.
Great Video! Just some questions.
1. When can I expect to start receiving money? Of course it depends on the stream count but do I need to do something other than the tax forms for money to start showing up at the pay point counter?
2. Is it necessary to affiliate with a P.R.O.? How does it help?
Thanks for the question. Different types of royalties can come in at different times. I believe streaming royalties are paid out on a quarterly basis. Other royalties generated, like public performance royalties for instance, can lag behind 6-9 months. But public performance royalties are generated from use on TV or radio broadcasting (not from your music streaming platforms like Spotify or Apple Music), so if your music isn't on TV, don't expect those royalties. The vast majority of royalties that new artists anticipate will simply be the streaming revenue directly from CDBaby.
To answer your second question, affiliating with a PRO allows you to collect those "public performance" royalties I mentioned above. If your music is used on TV, in a movie, or played extensively on the radio, you can expect royalties from your PRO. While it's not technically necessary to register with a PRO, it's a good idea if you want to ensure you're collecting all available royalties. If your music is being used on TV, movies, or radio, absolutely get registered ASAP. I also recommend registering with the MLC and SoundExchange if you are not using CDBaby's "boost" option to do that for you.
@@helvigproductions thanks! 🙏
Hi I wanted to ask a few questions on cd baby downloading an album for release....volumes is that like a single or double album.when it says no of tracks I have 10 so track count volume I did 1 for each...is that correct?
I can't quite follow this questions fully, but I think I can clarify that yes, if you have a double album, you can use Vol 1 and Vol 2 as identifiers of each "disc."
Great video! I want to release my song on Feb 13. It’s almost finished so I will have it on time on TH-cam and Soundcloud. If I upload it to CDBaby it will probably be on the streaming services after 13 Feb. But I was wondering if I set the release date to 13 Feb. and the song is on Spotify on 18 Feb. will it still say release date 13 feb on the song info?
Honestly, I can’t say for sure. You’ll just have to try and see what happens. Please report back with the results! This question has come up before here concerning old releases as well.
I would submit it to CD Baby at least a month in advance to set up all your release protocol. Such as socials, ads, email lists etc., Also, it takes Spotify roughly 2 weeks once you get it to CD Baby.
@@stormsofevermore agreed. I think I recommended 4-6 weeks in the video.
I started my registration with CDbaby only to realize that Nigerian does not have tax treaties with the US, hence i would ve chatge 30% off my payout aside the 9% cut from the royalties. Is there a way i can navigae this ?
oooh, that's brutal. This would be new territory for me and unfortunately I don't have an answer for you. You may want to do some research on other non US-based distributors and see if there's a better option for Nigerian artists. Please let me know if you learn anything helpful on this topic. I would also encourage you to reach out to CD Baby and ask the same question, they may have more information. Just expect the response to take a couple days at least.
Does the music come out with a discography page as well , do you know how that works ?
CDBaby will submit your music to the streaming platforms. If you're a new artist, the streaming platform will create a new "artist page" for you, if you've previously released stuff, then you connect your artist IDs during the upload process with CD Baby. The discography page on each streaming platform will be updated to show your release.
What if i upload the song on cdBaby and a few months later i want to release the music video on my youtube channel !?
Is it going to cause any or major copyright problems with TH-cam .. even though it's my TH-cam channel ?
No, it'll be fine. There's ways to claim and merge your Official Artist Channel that is created with TH-cam music. support.cdbaby.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026725111-TH-cam-Official-Artist-Channels#h_3e00e820-171e-40ad-949c-f3d3cc47d542
@@helvigproductions 21:43 in this part when i try to click 'COLLECT TH-cam MONEY' CDBaby is saying :
''This release is ineligible for monetization due to the chosen genre.''
it's a Gospel Album .. i didn't find any genre other than ''spirituality'' ... is this notification going to mean anything in the future ?
@@barryallen6217 the genre is fairly meaningless, I would try another genre and see if it goes away.
what if you originally have released an album a year ago? Can you still set the original date or do you have to rerelease it?
Good question. I haven't actually tried doing this, but when you're selecting the release date, it does give you options to select dates in the past. Presumably that means it will release immediately, but show the date you selected as the release date. I haven't tested that, but it's what I would try.
Do you now know if this works?
hi watched the whole video one question that i cant get answer to is can i have multiple artists on cdbaby it doesnt say how many can you have for example distrokid or landr have their plans around how many artists can you have" so can i have multiple artist under one account ! if yes can i claim the profiles for both of them like spotify youtube etc an answer would really help im bilingual and want to release under my real and stage name if thats a possibility.
CDBaby doesn't charge per artist, they charge per release. I would suggest creating separate accounts for each artist you'd like to release under.
@@helvigproductions thank you so much for replying if i do decide to can i manage 2 artists in one account is it possible will i be able to claim the spotify, youtube frr both of them. and will creating 2 accounts mess things up id for example hae the same real name probably the same bank account contact and tax details song writer name as well. i could but dont wanna try multiple distributers my experience with distrokid has so far not been great sr umm some guidence will help thank you in advance
@@reallyqaiser I can't say for certain as I have not tested in myself. But if I had to guess, you should be able to have as many artists in the same account as you want. If you want to be careful, submit a support ticket to CDBaby asking the question as clearly as possible and wait to hear back. Otherwise you'll just have to try and then see if any complications arise. I'd love to know what you discover one way or another.
@@helvigproductions thank you so much this really clears things up thanks for the reply
I'm a bit confused. Will CD Baby register my songs with PROs if I go for CD Baby Boost? Also, do all three options come under $40?
They will not register your songs for you anymore. PRO registration is not included in Boost. What do you mean by all 3 options?
I understand your concerns. In my previous question, I inquired about CD Baby Boost. I would like to confirm if all three options are included in the $40 fee. If I choose CD Baby Boost, am I still able to register with Songtrust or my local PRO?
@@GuitaristAbhishek I'm still not sure what you mean by "all three options." Boost involves the MLC and SoundExchange. You'll need you're local PRO regardless. If you'd like to be a member of SongTrust, they will register your song with the MLC. I recommend registering with SoundExchange regardless, as CD Baby's boost is only collecting half of the SoundExchange royalties.
@@helvigproductions Thank you for this valuable information. Could you please help me with one more question? Is it necessary to have a checking account to receive payments from CD Baby? I am from India.
Is it possible to stagger the release dates of individual songs on an album?
No. An album will have one release date. You could release individual songs as singles on the dates you want, and then release an album containing those songs as well. Just use the same ISRC codes from the singles when you upload the album and the streaming numbers will be connected as the same song.
Can you select multiple language?
Good question. My guess is probably not. Select whichever is the majority, or just pick the one you think is best.
How to use the TH-cam Allowlist cd baby feature?
That's a bit outside the scope of this video, but you can use this article to look at some of your options: support.cdbaby.com/hc/en-us/articles/211095303-Claims-Disputes-and-Permissions-on-TH-cam
what is the best federal tax classification for CD baby artists making little money
They cheat the books report them to the IRS. NO MONEY 💵 reported cheats
I have to encourage you to talk to a own tax professional of course, I am not one. However, if you're making little to no money, there probably isn't a need for a separate tax classification. You can simply use your name and social security number when filling out the W9 form (if that's what you're referring to). If you feel like you need an entity, a single-member or sole proprietor LLC is the next easiest thing and very common for this sort of thing.
Please I distributed with cd baby and now I can’t login into my account they say invalid pin or user name I did forgot password and they not sending a mail
Sorry to hear that. I don't work for CD Baby, so there's not much I can do for you to help you regain access to your account. You'll need to follow the password reset protocol. If you're not getting a reset email from them, that means it's either landing in your spam, or you are not using the same email you created the account with. Good luck.
Im having a problem, i have my TH-cam but cdbaby upload a song with the cover to TH-cam and i cant stop it or delete it
That's a topic channel. Don't worry.
Yes, exactly. Here's a link with a bunch of common questions around that: support.cdbaby.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026725111-TH-cam-Official-Artist-Channels
Hi dear I am a new artist but now iam releasing my work and about my name I guess it’s best if I keep my government legal birth name because someone is using DELAVIE ON FACEBOOK A SINGER AND THAT IS TUE NAME OF MY BAND THIRTY YEWRS AGO I WANT TO KEEP IT EASY AND SAFE I ALSO. USED NATALIE DELAVIE BUT AS YOU MENTIONED TO COLLECT MY ROYALTIES MY GENERATE FUTURE PROBLEMS AND CLAIMS BUT UNDER MY NAME I WILL BE PROUD TO SEE MY NAME NEXT TO MY MUSIC . I am French lived in America so can I use mlc and soundtrust?
If you use SongTrust, they will register your music with the MLC and other international agencies that collect digital mechanical royalties.
Is it gonna pose a problem if i put a song with the MP3 format ?
I'm not sure they'll accept your song in mp3 format... It's certainly better to have a wav file as it's the full, uncompressed quality. However, if you only have an mp3 and the wav file is impossible to get, you can get around it by converting your mp3 to a wav and uploading that. Just know that it won't increase the quality, it will simply change the file format and allow you to upload.
Thank you! I'll do that@@helvigproductions
@@helvigproductions is that the same for M4A to WAV? My music is saved as an M4A file and when I tried uploading cdbaby says must reformat to WAV or FLAC
Thanks for the video, however I think you skipped the most important part of this process - explaining CDBaby's Digital Distribution Agreement. The majority will not ever read this and just click by it, however people need to understand what they are agreeing to let CDBaby do. Thanks.
Is it bad?
Fair point. I'm in the majority there as well. I've used CD Baby for over a decade and have known dozens of others that have done the same. We've never had an issue with any terms of service. I presume you've read it? If there's anything noteworthy, please share!
takes over an hour to upload one 35 mb wav file and I have high speed upload. an album will take all day
As a note to anyone else that runs into an issue like this, you can always save your progress, refresh, and then resume uploading again. In all my experiences, uploads are fairly fast. But on occasion, I've had what I would call general website issues and a simple refresh tends to correct them. Sorry it took you a long time, typically it's not a problem.
If I use cd baby please do I still need songtrust
You never "need" SongTrust. It's an optional admin service that will register your music with agencies on your behalf, like a Performing Rights Organization (PRO) and the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) in the USA. CDBaby's "Boost" option will do the MLC for you, but not a PRO. To be clear, the large majority of the money generated from streaming will be paid through CDBaby regardless if you never did anything else. If you want to get all royalties, you could also go to each organization and register your music yourself. The next most important place is registering with the Mechanical Licensing Collective, which you can do on your own for free if you want. Then a performing rights organization (PRO) which is either ASCAP or BMI in the USA, and then SoundExchange and Music Reports should cover the rest. If you sign up with SongTrust, they will help get you registered with these other places for a one-time upfront fee and then collect and distribute those extra royalties on your behalf for a percentage of your earnings.
@@helvigproductions thanks for replying me it my first single release and I want to use cd baby so do cd baby register my song with songtrust because I want to also use songtrust, if cd baby don’t register with songtrust then I will need both , just wanna know so that I don’t register both if both work together
@@helvigproductions and what formate do cd baby use as in pixel
@@helvigproductions which music video distributor do you use because am little confuse on making the right choice
For album art they recommend 3000 x 3000 pixels@@mirrorme189
But it doesn’t make any sense six weeks and it doesn’t make any sense when you say promote your music ce baby job is to put your music on all streamings so they can collect what you are saying is that we have to promote so basically what you are saying cdbaby doesn’t promote your music ?😮
CD Baby is simply a service that works to upload and distribute your music to the streaming platforms. They are not in the business of promotion.
@helvig productions does it really only cost $9.99
yes