Distributor pricing
CD Baby charges a one-off fee for each release, $9.99 for a single and $14.99 for an EP or album, with nothing to renew. In return it keeps 9% of your streaming and download royalties for as long as your music is up. That makes it good value if you release rarely and want your music to stay up without a subscription, and expensive if you release often or earn a lot.
| Plan | Yearly fee | Per release | Royalty cut | YouTube Content ID | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | None | Single $9.99, EP $14.99, album $14.99 | 9% | Keeps 30% | No limits |
Because its cut grows with your earnings and its fees add up with every release, CD Baby only works out cheaper than a yearly plan if you release once or twice a year and your music earns little. Past that, a yearly plan such as DistroKid’s costs less, and RouteNote’s free plan can cost less again while your earnings are very small.
| Example artist | CD Baby | DistroKid | RouteNote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just starting out 2 singles a year, earning about $50 a year |
$73
Standard plan
|
$75
Musician plan
|
$23
Free plan
Cheapest
|
| Releasing regularly 6 singles and an EP a year, earning about $600 a year |
$387
Standard plan
|
$75
Musician plan
Cheapest
|
$270
Free plan
|
| Band or small label 8 singles and 2 albums a year across 3 artist names, earning about $4,000 a year, with royalty splits and YouTube Content ID |
Not suitable: No automatic royalty splits
|
$927
Ultimate plan
|
$720
Premium plan
Cheapest
|
Enter how often you release and what you earn to see CD Baby next to every other distributor we track.
No. You pay once per release and your music stays up, with no renewals.
9% of streaming and download royalties, and 30% of YouTube and social video earnings.
Only if you release very little and earn little. See CD Baby vs DistroKid for the full comparison.
We couldn’t confirm that CD Baby pays collaborators their share automatically, so check with CD Baby if you need it.