Bye-Bye, Baby!

Wow. An example of letting go.....

I hope CdBaby will be continued with the same spirit you have created it.

Wow I commend you for your hard work and building a great company you are a great inspiration.

I hope they have the good sense not to change a thing. CD Baby is the best thing to happen to independent music in the Web's history so far. I'd hate to see it lose what makes it special.

Congratulations, Derek.

As usual, you're an inspiration.

Wow - Disc Makers is now the new owner?! I hope CD Baby still keeps the same fun indie-vibe feel and great customer service it always has. I'll try to get used to the fact that you really are out of CD Baby, Derek. Nothing against Disc Makers - in fact, I've used them for each release I've had so far (8 of them)...just hoping the good things about CD Baby stay the same. And, I'm looking forward to whatever else you've got in store.

Regards,

KevOz

http://www.KevOz.com

Fare thee well! I'll always remember that time when you advised me _not_ to turn into a programmer myself - funny days during/after the dotcom crash :)

Being in charge of the CD Baby brand and "experience" is an immense responsibility - and an exhilirating reality.

I've been friends with Derek for 8 years and there's an immense mutual respect between us for what the other has accomplished. I've always felt that if I could work anywhere else but Disc Makers, it would be CD Baby, because our missions are identical: serve the independent artist and help the artist achieve success with their music, regardless of how they define that success.

The weight of the responsibility of being the steward of CD Baby is almost palpable to me. The existing CD Baby team stays in place, the brand will retain its integrity, and we're very excited about tapping new opportunities for artists to sell more CDs and downloads.

Derek's built a great business these past 10 years, one for which there is a real need. I'm proud to be the new keeper of the flame.

Tony van Veen, president, Disc Makers

Wow, a big news! Congrats on leaving the past behind and moving on! You must feel very free.

I'm excited to follow you on your upcoming journeys.

ari

Hey, congratulations! Freedom takes over!

Exiting new days for you, my friend!

Good luck Derek - can't wait to work with you on your new project!

Wow, wow, wow... congratulations, Derek! Seems like a good match with DiscMakers.

Looking forward to your next steps, and wishing you the very best! Have fun.

Keep that pioneering spirit alive, pal.

-P

Derek- Smart move. Good for you, and enjoy what you're doing now. Backpacking, living simply.

I've used Discmakers for most of my releases, and think they're a good company. Hope they can handle both!

Derek- Smart move. Good for you, and enjoy what you're doing now. Backpacking, living simply.

I've used Discmakers for most of my releases, and think they're a good company. Hope they can handle both!

na tash a

http://www.natashamillerweb.com

if it weren't for CDBaby i would never been heard outside of a few small clubs. i am in constant amazement of what CDBaby has enabled me to do musically and how it has given me exposure worldwide. Thanks for the vision, the fortitude in making it happen and i know the next round will be even better.

All the best Derek! What a great success story you are.

Tom.

CD baby is the best thing that ever happened to independent music and I am sad to see Derek go. He always kept it so personalized with his e-mails and cute/friendly sayings included in his inspirational words. I wish him the best and I truly hope that Disc Makers won't change a thing.

CD baby is perfect just the way it is!

You are truly an innovator. Everybody is anxious to see what you do next!

Thank you for the inspiration.

Woah!

I didn't see that one coming.

Thank you Derek for changing the world with CD baby. I can't wait to see how you change the world with your new venture.

Good luck Disc Makers. I hope you continue in keeping CD baby be the best thing that has ever happened for indie music.

Thanks Derek, for selling my albums, and paying me money :)

Thanks for supporting and nurturing independent music.

Thanks for being an honest, straightforward human being.

Much love and best wishes to you in all your future endeavors.

/Jeff Smoots

Congrats Derek. Now the fun really begins. I look forward to participating in your next brain child. I've worked with Tony as well and think you made a wise choice in handing off the CDBaby reigns.

Well, first off I hate to see you not at the helm of CD Baby... but, I wouldnt want you to stay if you didnt want to.

You will be missed.

But like you have said you havent been there much lately anyway.

You have a life to live an I respect that... Enjoy, you deserve it.

Your (CD)baby is only ten~

I'm shocked and yet not surprised by this move. I've said it before: you are a true innovator.

Blaze your trail~

You have made it possible for people all over the world to access and purchase my music.

What will you do for an encore?

My lighter is lit and raised.

peace~

Rosendo

All the best Derek,

Thanks for all the help you have given us to get our music out to the children of the world.

Neil Monkey

The Funky Monkeys

New Zealand

Derek,

Congrats and thanks for starting CD Baby and allowing us indies to shop our music to the world.

Best Wishes on your new 'risky' endeavours.

"life is only a blue bag,,knock a squeeze out of it whenever you can"

Dereck, you been a pioneer and inspiration for the independent community and I'm sure you will continue to be. I wish you all the best for your future endeavours....I'll be watching closely

Congrats Derek & Tony, I'm sure we'll have great new opportunities in the times to come... Like direct to order cd?

Like everyone else, I wish you well! I celebrate and congratulate you for this step.

For ALL of us who have benefitted from your

vision and creativity...thank you more than you know!

My hope for CD Baby is that it can continue to build on your sense of shared and generous community.

...To boldly go, where no man have gone before! The final frontier!

To new adventures! Cheers, mate!

Congratulations Derek - thank you for everything. May your future be bright.

Derek,

You are a man that always follows your heart. That's why CD Baby was such a success. Keep me informed as to what you will be doing next.

Always follow your heart.

Love, Peace, and Blessings to you and yours

Tyrone K Sullivan

"The Muzik Director"

You're an inspiration and I wish you all the best in your new adventures! Look forward to hearing about it.

What you said is what we got, that's precious in the music business!

Peace and music and best wishes.

Man, you are one way cool dude...You accomplished for so many what they dreamed might be possible but were too busy making music to execute. Thankyou thankyou thankyou for taking us around the world and into the future.

Diskmakers: you've got one tough act to follow. keep that spirit.

You helped create a new vision of the artist service company as an effective device for artists to inexpensively get their CDs "out there" and to choose from an unbundled set of services in order to get control of their own releases.

The elegance in the simplicity of what your company offered materially helped change the dialogue about the recording industry, and the options available to the independent artist.

It's great that you made this contribution to the way music is distributed. It's great that you've found a buyer that you think will keep the candle burning.

I wish Diskmakers all the best, secure in the knowledge that it will keep your spirit of practicality and incremental improvement. Because you now have created the idea of a really workable artist services company, Diskmakers will understand that either it meets this need, or another company will arise to do so.

Best wishes to you in your new ventures. It will be fun to see what you do next.

best, Robert Nunnally

Derek--

This story is so inspiring. I heard you speak once at a convention, and you embody the whole notion of living in the NOW, doing what feels right today--neither resting on laurels nor fearing the future.

There's a lot to be learned from you, just in witnessing how you live your life. I admire it greatly.

Mary Ann Farley

Derek, When your "baby" grows up you've got to let it go and get on to YOUR next phase. You've managed to change the music world as we'd known it for the better and with Disk Makers the future looks good. I trust your idealism will continue into your future projects. I look forward to helping in any way I can.

Bon voyage!!!

Derek,

congratulations for having the courage to take your dreams in new directions. I look forward the learning what those may be, and helping in any way I can.

That's the way you do it, Derek! Congratulations on your miracle working skills and best of luck on your future ventures. You've done the world a world of good!

Thank you so much for giving musicians like myself a great opportunity and never-ending encouragement. Because of you and CD Baby, I found a new path. Best of luck to you, though you don't seem to need any luck to do anything. I am sure CD Baby will keep your spirit, no doubt.

Thanks again for everything.

i will miss your guidance and strength, but wish you all things wonderful. keep grabbing the world by it's tail both for you, and for all of us who follow.

much love,

rita mizrahi shamie

I hope that Disc Makers can do even a quarter of what you have done for indie musicians at CD BABY!!!!!

The last time someone bought a DD track was 7th Jan 2008. Sivers told us DD was the best thing thing since sliced bread. I don't think so. I am totally underwhelmed.

Mark Whitty

Glad to hear you are so excited about your current and future projects. I am too! CDBaby seems to be in good hands. Smiles to YOU!

best of luck derek! thanks for all the help over the years & continued success in all that you do

Hi Derek,

I joined CD Baby and recommended every Australian Independant composer to join your exciting new business after seeing the results. Having been more than pleased with my CDS gaining more recognition and sales worldwide I wish you every success in all your future ventures. You are indeed a breath of fresh air to the world wide music business.

Ciao Bambino! :)

Please continue in the spirit of the original creation. tnx

Thank you for everything Derek, good luck with all your projects, i love everything you do!

Cheers

I,m sorry to know that you're leaving or rather have lefted. I remember leaving a comment about several of your staff members and how helpful they were to me. I was very impressed how quickly you responded, thanking me. To me it showed you really cared about customer service. (GREAT!!!!!!!!. I thank you've done and excellent job. But, I understand, God gives us all a purpose or puposes in life. And, if we don't fulfill it or them we want be satisfied until we do........

God Bless

always,

Rev Curtis J. Grant

Congradulations Derek. Thanks for all the help. Be confident that you've made the right choices. Feel secure in the decisions you've made (Disc Makers).

much success to you....

and again thanks.

you did whuuut?? awww maaannn

i hate uncertainty and discmakers might be run by a cool guy but they are a big company and even if they do a good job it aint gonna be da same, dude

Hey Derek,

You have integrity, and, I have the utmost respect for you and what you have created from scratch. I wish you the best of luck. Take care, David Carter, Corvallis

DiscMakers did my first CD, and everyone I dealt with there was an inept fool. This is in stark contrast to the high level of help, support, and artistry I've always appreciated from CDBaby. I can understand you wanting to get out of the biz, and I can understand you wanting to get a good price from a big company, but overall I feel quite sad about this end of an era.

Alec: mistakes can always happen even at the best companies. In 10 years of running CD Baby I heard more-great and less-bad about Disc Makers than any other company in the industry. They're not a "big company" in comparison to the other bigger offers I turned down. I chose them as the new owner because I know they'll do a better job of running it and improving it than any other company out there. Very sorry you had a bad experience with them, but it must have been a rare anomaly, because 99.9% of their clients I've ever spoken with were thrilled with their service.

Derek,

Best wished with your new endeavor. Can't wait to hear about it.

Even

Wow!

The end of an era. Many thanks for all you have done for all of us. You will be missed greatly - particularly that sense of "personal touch" we all got from receiving occasional emails and updates and useful advice from you. Take care. Enjoy whatever comes next. - Ted Killian

Way to Go, Derek. You have set the standard and we are all very fortunate that you came along with your BRILLIANT IDEAS to help us.

Blessings to you and your new endeavors.

Rebecca

Thank you Derek for everything. I hope CdBaby will be continued with the same style you have created it. I hope you have a great new opportunities. All the best

DEREK I NEVER MET U PERSONALLY-BUT I FEEL LIKE I JUST LOST A LIFE-LONG FRIEND.GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FUTURE ENDEAVORS,GOD BLESS,AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE FOR INDEPENDENT ARTIST AROUND THE GLOBE.

Derek... best of luck with your future. You've been an amazing and personalized leader over the years for me and many, many others. Make it happen, man!

"WTF" OMG!!!! Thats why things been kinda funky lately!!

Yo disc makers did not give us the time of day without a shit load of money. And now they got they hands on the only thing the no to low budget artist has to fight back with. When they run yo shit into the ground and turn all these good artist in to mean ass indusrty people then you will see what was more important!!!

Dont get me wrong. Im happy for you. I just think things were going good already. Why fix what ant broken? No disrespect to disc makers This is all I got!

Never made great $$$ through online vendors but at least I'm out there; Thanx to D.S. and CD BABY for keepin' it free unlike some companies like Tunec... oh sorry; we can't say that!

The best of luck to you. You gave the independent artist a place to survive in this crazy business we call music. I wish you nothing But the best for you. I guess everyone will agree, if you set up another situation somewhere else in the world, if you are leading, I'm sure many of us will follow. Thank you for being a great inspiration.

Thank you Derek! You're a true visionary and as an independent musician I just want to thank you for creating CD Baby. It has been a tremendous help for me and thousands of other musicians. Best wishes, and if you can, keep us posted on what you are up to next!

Vince Madison

Derek

I have met a genius and he is you.

Best wishes for you future ... most likely it will be something quite amazing ... & earthshattering knowing your mind.

Derek, Your kindness, help and inspiration are worthy of sainthood. Thanks for everything you have done for all musicians and just being a really cool person. Many blessings (whatever flavor you choose) on your new adventures : )

Derek, BIG congrats to you I have been with CDbaby from day 1! and I have watch CDBABY grow as you have helped me grow right along with you over the past 10 years, I remember when CDBABY didn’t have the connection of getting all artists’ on Digital Download companies and You will be terribly missed and please please keep us all posted on your future endeavors, I want to say to you Derek there has never been any problems with CDBABY on my behalf your staff has always been there for me and I believe that Disc Makers will do a Great Job, but you know, no one can run a Business like the original Owner because it was your Vision and your Heart and that is what you brought to us, Good Luck Derek, give my best to your Family for me, GOD BLESS YOU!!!!!!!!!

Dear Derek,

Best wishes to you Derek. I know

CDBaby will miss you as all your

subscribers do!

I'm sure you have left CDBaby in

excellent hands, and congratulations on having the

mind and innovation to have created such a wonderful site as

CDBaby which has helped so many musicians.

I wish you continued success in all your future endeavors!

Sincerely,

Shirley Gifford

Derek,

Thanks for everything ...

david

Thank you Derek for making me

feel welcome.I like what you

said about me being the boss.

I'm learning more about promotion.If people don't know

about you sales won't come.As

the saying goes "nothing ventured

nothing gained".Good luck with

your new project.

Dorian : see sive.rs which has all my projects and sign-up links for each. Thanks!

Can you come back to CD Baby please? I signed up with CD Baby over two months ago and it has been the most awful experince!!

All I get are automated responses. They completely ignore my requests to have my site "finalized" I had one conversation with someone there who said that I just happened to join right when they were changing their systems over.

So basically I have two months of lost business thanks to these ignorants!

Does anyone offer a competitor to them?

Can you create one? If not, I will.

They are absolutely careless. As soon as I find the alternative I am going there!!!

P.S. Not only are they ignoring every request but they also screwed up all of the inputting I did regarding album details sample songs etc...They still haven't fixed ANYTHING!!!!! Freaking Idiots over there!
I'm sincerely sorry to hear that. Unfortunately I hear it many times a day from people, these days. I don't know what else to suggest. — Derek

It's a disaster. Any chance they could rollback?

It seems the myriad glitches and problems with the rewrite aren't getting fixed. Issues artists and customers have seem bigger now than even a month ago - when there were already a huge mess.

IS it necessary to integrate the two systems? What would happen if they ran CD Baby as one system, and DiscMakers as another?
I'm not in contact with them, and didn't even know about this relaunch in advance, but I'm quite sure they won't roll-back and use my old version again. Sorry! — Derek

By the way, Derek, I think it's a tribute to the brand equity that you built with CD Baby that there haven't been front-page articles in the music press about how badly Discmakers has ruined it already.

Speaking as a usability engineer, the new accounting is almost a case study in ignoring user needs and rolling onto a new system that never should have been adopted -- while giving lip service to user complaints about it. It actually gave me new appreciation for why my employer pays people like me buckets of money to make sure we don't make such a big mistake ourselves.

Personally I'm even making plans to migrate my Hostbaby site away because I don't want to give any more money to this type of management.

Really hope you made a ton of money off the sale, 'cause your former 'baby' is in its death throes at this point from a brand and artist equity POV.

Long time cdbaby artist. I made 2500.00 from 1 song, dont play live. I knew as soon as you gave me a email that you moved on something bad was going to happen. Usually companies try to improve, but you cant improve something that was created perfect!! It was a very sad day when you left and it has became much sadder, a to be soon former cdbaby artist.

David Ireland

hi derek

i know that you are no longer involved with CD Baby in any way but i feel that an official announcement or comment regarding the new website on your frontpage would be appropriate and very welcome even if it were just to underline your apparent disinterest.
hi Jim. Sorry, I disagree. I announced very widely last year when I left. And I really haven't spent more than 30 seconds on the new CD Baby website, so I really have nothing to say about it. So my only official announcement would be “Please don't talk to me about CD Baby. I left two years ago. I have no knowledge or opinions about whatever they're doing now.” Many people who read my site now don't even know I was ever involved with CD Baby, and most people know I've been gone for years. So I'm not going to do an official announcement. Sorry. — Derek

Thanks for your reply. may I suggest that you spend somewhat more than 30 secs looking at the new CDBaby site especially at the Forum where there are hundreds of comments from disgruntled artists. Then maybe you will better understand why you are receiving emails and comments about a company you left 2 years ago. If the CDBaby relaunch had gone smoothly nobody would be bothering you about it. For me the main reason why I feel you should officially comment is because of your comment " 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 would." CDBaby is part of your history and simply saying that you have no opinion seems to me the wrong choice.
I have seen the hundreds and hundreds of disgruntled posts on cdbaby.org, yes. Please see my">sive.rs/horses">my favorite fable. CD Baby made some major changes two months ago. Maybe it's horrible. Maybe it's great. We'll see.... I really did put the company in the best hands I could, and I'm sorry to hear things have gone so horribly these last couple months. But to officially comment on it... what's the point? It's like asking you to officially comment on what the new residents of your old house have done with the paint, and then to post that comment in the newspaper. Why? To shame them? To clear your name and let the world know you disagree with what they've done? How does that help anyone? — Derek

Q: How does that help anyone?
A: It helps your credibility as someone who is willing to "stand up and be counted". Or am I confusing you with somebody else?
It helps your former tenants (to continue your house metaphor) by making them feel they are not alone in acknowledging this "horrible mess".
It helps the current owners in their assessment of the situation.
I am not asking or expecting you to become actively involved in your former business. I simply thought it would be appropriate that you issue a comment similar to "Bye Bye Baby". Thanks for the correspondence. It's been interesting.
Thanks Jim. I understand your reasoning. Everyone knows the relaunch has been a mess. Even them. For me to make an extra post calling extra attention to that seems unnecessarily mean and unhelpful. I'm sure it'll improve. — Derek

Rang CDBaby once... heard a voice speaking clear english on the other end and thought "Wow! CDBaby's first words!".

Well done Derek and everyone, as a coder am supremely jealous. Then again - retired - nah nah ne nah nah - enjoying following your exploits!

I've been reading a few of the posts of the late CDbaby, I mean. Well, listen. It was created just about perfect. How can you improve on that?
My recent release, after releasing 3 CDs with CDbaby with Derek, has been held up over 2 months with the new changes to the site,and I DID get someone on the phone when I tried to call. Hopefully we've straightened everything out, but it's taught me not to put all my eggs in one basket. Maybe I was depending too much on CDbaby.
Now I'm selling my CD on my website, downloads via SnoCap and myspace, and constantly looking for more avenues for sales including myxertones for ringtones.

I hope CDbaby gets back on track and starts to improve. If not, I've got lots of great information and a template to use to sell my music thanks to Derek Sivers.

Be Blessed.

I'd like to point out just how clearly "Alec" saw the writing on the wall back on 2008-09-25. See comment #103 above where he stated: "...everyone I dealt with there was an inept fool." What sounded like just another disgruntled artist at the time has turned out quite prophetic, don't you think?

My fellow blogger "done gone" is trying to figure out what went wrong and I'm trying to figure things out for the little guy. Please visit both his blog and mine. Thoughts welcome at IndieDIY.

What Derek did for the indie music world was extraordinary and revolutionary. The new tenants basically turned the "house" into profit driven crack lab. I guess you could say that it now blends into the neighborhood. All good things eventually fall to Entropy.

Hi Derek,
Thanks for the article!!!

Audio-Rarities

Man you got out at the perfect time.
It's a shame that the CD's are on their way out. It seems like you caught the sale right at the CD's apex.

As far as the new CDBaby, my sentiments are aligned with most of the comments above. The service is terrible and $4 per unit sold? That might have worked 10 years ago but not anymore. The key to selling CD's now is to bring the price down to consumers. If I sell a CD for $7, CDBaby is getting more money than I am for MY music, MY product.

I'm using CDBaby just to get my stuff on itunes for the exposure and cred. I instruct all potential buyers of my tunes to NOT buy it from CDBaby.

To everyone reading this; learn to use the PayPal shopping cart utility on your website. PayPal fees are nominal compared to CDBaby. It's a very easy copy-paste HTML code and you'll have to ship it out yourself; in the end. Totally worth it!

Sorry Derek, I'm writing this comment for your readers. I can't praise you enough for how cool your blog is and how smart you were to eject from the CD business when you did. You probably thought you were leaving CDBaby with good hands back then but little did you know they themselves were being bought by a greedy board of investors (http://corinthiancap.com/discmakers.html) (IE, not longer a service oriented mom and pop Ballen-run company)

Good luck to you, Derek.

Derek! I remember meeting you at a coffee shop in Vancouver when CD Baby just started up and my 1st CD was just in the works! CD Baby was the first place to sell my CD's for me! I admire your creativity and innovation and wish you continued success with everything you do.
Warmly,
Marnie

Boy did you make a boo boo there disc makers really screwed it up and made it an ugly experience.

Hi
some time ago, I paid £40+ to CD baby to put an album onto itunes.

I never heard from them again. Not even to say that they wouldn't place it. Nothing.

Regards and enjoy your new adventure.
You might have entered the wrong email address. You should contact them. — Derek

Reading up all the articles. What a zen way to announce something so big. And you've even responded to someone having lost 40 bucks. Zen!

Thinking of comment 115, "...Many people who read my site now don't even know that I was ever involved with CD Baby...."

Secondly, it's swell that you, Derek, have moved on and "new, improved now" is the most important time for you.

Firstly, it's sad as a middle age man to find that people often don't remember basic things.

To extend the metaphor, sometimes when older guys like me say that a sport team, big corporation or big nation doesn't remember some basic fundamentals, we're not always crazy. Sometimes a nation does change and go downhill... we just don't want to admit it.

My pet peeve? People forgetting what used to be taught in school: That the Roman army was only for volunteers, that the volunteers were not paid, and that they fought as part of the whole republic, therefore being as innocent as everybody who stayed home.