Table of Contents
Submission Process
Submission Process- General
- VIDEO: What is CD Baby??
- The New Title Overview Page is Replacing the Album/Single Edit Menu
- How do I sign up?
- Is there a fee to create an account with CD Baby?
- Is my personal information secure?
- Can I sell my audiobook through CD Baby?
Artist Name Requirements
- How should I enter my band name?
- How do I list additional artists that are featured on particular tracks?
- How do I list my artist names if there are multiple performing artists?
- Why can't I use my record label or a description of my music as my artist name?
- How do I properly format the information if my album contains "Meets, Presents, or Versus" as it relates to the performing artists?
Submitting Track Information
- How do I make edits to my track list?
- How do I sign up a multi-disc/volume album?
- VIDEO: How many tracks can I put on a single?
- Can I sign up some, but not every song from my CD?
- What about the bonus tracks on my CD? If they're not listed on my CD artwork, do they go to digital distribution?
- How do I differentiate two different versions of the same song on an album?
Submitting songwriter and publisher information
Submitting Art
- How do I upload my album art?
- How can I re-size my art to the required 1400 x 1400 pixel dimensions?
- What kind of ART IMAGE file should I upload?
- What happens if my cover art image is not perfectly square?
- How long will it take for my cover art to display in my member account?
- What kinds of things are not allowed in my artwork, according to your digital retail partners' guidelines?
Submitting Audio
- Will the metadata embedded in my audio files remain once you process my audio?
- Can you pull my audio/artwork files from my physical CDs?
- What kind of AUDIO files should I upload?
- Why shouldn't I upload MP3s?
- How long should it take to upload my audio files?
- I have a CD that blends each track together (i.e., DJ mix). Will it stay like that on your digital partner sites?
Classical and Opera Submissions
- Who should I list in the artist field on a Classical album?
- How do I correctly enter composers for a Classical album?
- How should I format the album title of a Classical album?
- How do I format song titles for Classical albums?
- Why can't I just list what is on my sheet music?
- How should I format an Opera title?
Your Page on CD Baby.com
Accessing Your CD Baby Artist Account
Your retail sales page on CD Baby.com
- Will my MP3s on CDBaby.com be high quality?
- Can I sell full-album AND single-song downloads on CDBaby.com
- VIDEO: What if I want my submission to be available for FREE?
- Do you have a link maker? How can I link people to my album page?
- What kind of information belongs in my "Description" and "Notes" section of my album/single?
- What do I need to know about sample audio clips on your site?
Your Artist Page on CD Baby
Financial Information (getting paid, sales reporting, paying submission fees ETC)
Paying for your CD Baby Submission
- What are the costs to sell on CD Baby?
- How do I check out and pay for my submission?
- How can I check out with a coupon if my submission is not ready yet?
- How do I use a coupon if I don't want to buy a UPC barcode from CD Baby?
- VIDEO: How do I enter a coupon?
- VIDEO: How do I use Submission Credits?
Receiving Payments from CD Baby
- Will a holiday affect my payment?
- When will I get paid?
- When do I get paid for physical retail distribution sales?
- How will you get the money to me?
- How do I update my payment info?
- VIDEO: Can CD Baby pay out to each member of my band separately?
Our Sales Reports Explained
- How do I find my Sales and Accounting breakdown?
- My friend downloaded my song yesterday - when do I see that in my report - and get paid?
- VIDEO: I don't see any sales, what is going on?
- What does "download" and "streaming" refer to on my sales report?
- VIDEO: How do I view my sales report in Excel?
- What is a trending report?
Soundscan, Billboard and SoundExchange Reporting
Tax Information
UPCs and ISRCs
UPC Barcodes/ISRCS
- How do the popularity bars work on iTunes?
- I keep getting an error message when trying to upload my album art?
- What is a UPC bar code and why do I need one?
- Where do I find my UPC
- Your system won't take my bar code! What's up with that?
- My CD doesn't have a bar code printed on the back of the artwork. Is that a problem for CD Baby’s partners?
Digital Distribution
Digital Distribution- General
- Can I do a "digital-only" release if I don't have CDs to sell?
- Can I release just a single into digital distribution?
- Can I offer pre-sales for my music?
- What partners/sites will my submission go to? How do I select specific partners/sites?
- VIDEO: What sites will sell my music?
- Will you tell me when my music is up on your partner sites?
Digital Partner Information
- Apple Music
- How do I claim my Artist Profile on Apple Music?
- Why am I unable to claim my profile on Apple Music? Or why is it saying my profile has already been claimed?
- Why are there videos on YouTube for each of my songs?
- VIDEO: Why did CD Baby suddenly post all of my music on YouTube?
- How do I get paid for my music on YouTube Music?
Mastered for iTunes
Cover Songs, Copyrights, Samples, and Royalties FAQ
Cover Songs, Copyrights, Samples, and Royalties- General Info
- Do I need to get a license to offer streaming on my cover song?
- What IS a cover song?
- What is NOT a cover song?
- VIDEO: What is a Cover Song?
- VIDEO: What is a cover song? Can I sell them through CD Baby?
- Do I need to own all the rights to the music I'm selling?
Physical Sales on CD Baby (CD, Vinyl, DVD)
Physical Sales- General Info
- VIDEO: What is CD Baby's Physical Distribution program and how does it work?
- How to set up Physical Sales on CD Baby
- What is a "Pro CD-R"? What is a "Homemade CD-R"?
- VIDEO: What kinds of physical media can CD Baby help me sell?
- Do I need to have separate submissions for my CD/Digital Download and vinyl record?
- What is your physical distribution program?
Stocking Your Physical Inventory
- How should I mail my physical stock to you?
- How many copies of my physical product should I send in?
- Can I send more stock than you are requesting?
- I'm going on NPR, Good Morning America, The Voice, how many can I send?
- My CD is not shrinkwrapped. Is that a problem for CD Baby’s partners?
- VIDEO: Do we press discs on demand? How many do you need?
Inventory Management
- Why do you need to return or recycle my albums?
- How do you determine what is “excess inventory”?
- Who pays for excess stock that is returned?
- CD Baby has had my CDs forever! Why are you asking to return them now?
- What if my album starts selling more copies before you return them?
- Can I request to have you ship more or less items back than you originally flagged as excess stock?
CD Baby Sync Licensing
Sync Licensing- General Info
- VIDEO: What is sync licensing??
- What is Sync Licensing?
- What is CD Baby’s sync licensing program?
- How much does it cost to opt into the sync licensing program?
- What is required to be eligible for CD Baby Sync Licensing?
- Why should I opt into the sync licensing program?
Sync Licensing Payments
YouTube Monetization
- How do I make money from YouTube?
- Why should I have CD Baby help me monetize my music on YouTube?
- What percentage do I keep from the usage of my music on YouTube?
- Do I still own all my rights when working with your YouTube monetization program?
- How long am I locked into your YouTube Monetization Program for?
- Doesn’t ASCAP or BMI already collect the funds from YouTube monetization for me?
CD Baby Pro
CD Baby Pro- General
- Upgrading from Standard to Pro
- How does CD Baby Pro work?
- What is music publishing?
- VIDEO: What is music publishing?
- Why do I need CD Baby Pro?
- What does CD Baby Pro do?
CD Baby Pro Song Registration
- What information is needed to register a song for CD Baby Pro?
- How long will it take for my songs to be registered for CD Baby Pro?
- Can I register instrumental versions of my songs for CD Baby Pro?
- Can I register a spoken word song for CD Baby Pro?
- Can I register a remix, mash-up or song with samples for CD Baby Pro?
- Can I register a cover song for CD Baby Pro?
CD Baby Pro Royalty Collection
- What is the difference between a collecting and non-collecting writer?
- How much can I expect to earn from royalties?
- Doesn’t ASCAP or BMI already collect all my worldwide publishing royalties?
- Will you collect royalties for my co-writers?
- How much commission do you take of royalties?
- Why do you need my W-9 information?
CD Baby Pro and PRS
CD Baby Pro and SOCAN
- How long does it take to get affiliated with SOCAN?
- Once my CD Baby Pro signup is complete, how long does it take to hear back from SOCAN?
- I still need to affiliate with CMRRA?
- Do I need to register my songs with SOCAN?
- My songs are still not appearing on SOCAN’s repertoire search. Why?
- What types of royalties does SOCAN collect?
CD Baby Pro- Cancellation
SoundExchange Royalty Collection
SoundExchange Royalty Collection
- VIDEO: What is SoundExchange?
- Does CD Baby collect digital performance royalties from SoundExchange?
- VIDEO: Does CD Baby collect from SoundExchange?
- What are digital performance royalties for sound recordings? (Also known as non-interactive royalties)
- How is this different from income from Spotify or other streaming services?
- So, what happens if I have unclaimed royalties at SoundExchange?
Music Promotion Tools
CD Baby Music Player Widget
- How do I create a Music Player?
- Where can I use the Music Player?
- How do I edit my Music Players?
- What sizes are the Music Players?
- What browsers will support my Music Player?
- Is there a limit to the number of Music Players I can create?
Download Cards
- VIDEO: What are download cards? And what can they do for me and my band?
- What is a download card?
- How do Download Cards work for my fans?
- How quickly can I get my download cards?
- How will the download cards be shipped to me?
- Where can I see the different styles of download cards and stickers to order?
Music Promotion Tools
- What is Feature.fm
- VIDEO: How does CD Baby promote my content?
- Pandora
- How do I get my track information to pop up when my CD is inserted into a computer?
- What is Gracenote?
- How do I submit a correction to Gracenote?
Landr Audio Mastering
Landr Audio Mastering
- Landr Audio Mastering
- Why should I have my audio mastered?
- Can I use this service on my mobile device?
- How long does it take for me to get my mastered files from Landr?
- What's the difference between SoundLab and Landr?
- Who do I contact if I'm having problems with my mastered file or technical issues?