Derek Sivers Got $22 Million For CD Baby
Entrepreneur Forms Musician’s Charitable Trust
$22 million. From a one man operation in his garage to a $22 million sale to Disc Makers in ten years. It’s a story that will flame the fires of hope for hundreds of music entrepreneurs The story is made more powerful because Derek Sivers is generous with his time and because he earned it by providing much needed services for indie musicians.
CD Baby sells CDs and downloads for almost a quarter million artists and to date has sold 4.5 million CD’s paying out $83 million to them. I don’t know about much about purchase multiples, but why would Disc Makers pay $22 million for a company that size whose core business, CD sales, is on the decline? TRUST. Those quarter million artists trust CD Baby to treat them fairly and pay them quickly. Disc Makers may be able to build on that trust and its own reputation to create a one stop shop for independent and d.i.y. music.
What will Sivers do with his big pay day? He’s put into Musician’s Charitable Trust: "I didn’t even want the money… It’s all just going back to the musicians," he told Venture Voice. I’ll have more details on what Sivers is up to soon or you can listen to the Venture Voice interview here.
Why does Disc Makers want this business? Because even if they don’t sell a single on of your discs or downloads they still make money off of the registration fee. It’s the Apple Care of the music business.