CD Baby’s 2018 payouts surpassed $100M, continuing strong trend for indies

CD Baby announced that its artists earned more than $100 million last year. The figure is a jump from about $80 million that it made in 2017 distributions. Tracy Maddux, the CEO for the distributor, spoke with Music Business Worldwide about the company’s results and the outlook for independent artists at large.

“We believe that the independent share of the sound recording industry worldwide is growing faster than the industry overall,” Maddux said.

Although Maddux didn’t disclose specific figures for CD Baby’s revenue or distributions, its growth is part of a general upward trend for indies. Independent label growth and digital rights agency Merlin said in June 2018 that it expected to make payouts of $500 million in one year, bringing its cumulative distributions to $1.5 billion since 2012. Streaming was cited as a significant revenue source for a majority of Merlin members. It also supplied growth in the latest report from the Worldwide Independent Network.