Back in May, I spoke with Derek Sivers at the SanFran Music Tech Summit, and he mentioned he had recently sold CD Baby, but wanted to keep the news under wraps. Ever since that time, I've been curious as to what company had the honor and privilege of becoming a part of CD Baby.... This morning, like many of you, I received an email from Derek, and here's what he had to say:

"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."

You will be missed Derek! But, we know the company is in good hands, and we thank you for your dedication, vision and leadership, and bringing about positive change for the music industry. It's people like you that are truly changing the way businesses do business.

The good news for all you loyal CD Baby artists is that Derek said, "The CD Baby staff, location, name, and everything else will stay the same, but I think you'll start to notice more attention given to improvements that help you sell more music." And as a bonus, Derek is creating other projects/businesses that can help independent artists with promotion, networking, education, music, etc. So stay connected and follow Derek's projects and endeavors.

In 1999, when I was buying music from CD Baby, I remember thinking that the company was going to be popular with independent artists, and so I even started selling music there in January of 2000. CD Baby has come along way since that time, and in just 10 years, they now have over 240K artists and have paid over $80 million directly to musicians and bands. But, even as the company grew rapidly, you could always email Derek, and he would reply. This is part of the reason for their success - fantastic customer service!

We wish you the very best Derek!

For your nostalgic enjoyment, here a few photos from CD Baby's humble beginnings:

the command center


CD storage shed


from inside the storage shed