Skip navigation
sign up
log in

For those who want a digital-ONLY release

Some artists want to skip CDs completely, and sell only digital downloads.

Before I tell you how to do this, I need to tell a couple things:

  1. Although digital music sales increase every year, there is still a huge percentage of music buyers who prefer the tangible, physical product. We're absolutely thrilled to help you sell your music however you think best. But please ask yourself whether you're really at a point in your career where you're ready to shut out a big portion of your potential audience by refusing to make CDs.
  2. The following info applies no matter how many songs you have on your album. A “single” is considered an album with only one track.

That being said, here's exactly how to do a "digital only" release:

  1. Burn one finished mastered copy of your music on to a regular audio CD-R. (NO mp3, aiff, or wav. Just regular audio CD.)
  2. Sign it up at CD Baby like any other album.
  3. Pay the $35 setup cost, and if you don't have your own unique barcode for this new album, have us make you one for $20.
  4. Mail that one CD to us, with a note explaining that it is for digital distribution only.
  5. Email the cover art as a 1000-by-1000 pixel TIFF file (RGB, no compression) to art@cdbaby.com
  6. We will create a page on CD Baby with a 'Buy Mp3" button for your fans to purchase and download your album.
  7. We digitize it and distribute it to all of the usual digital distribution outlets.
  8. Voila! There's your digital-only release.

If you would like to customize your digital distribution options, ("Hey, I only want to be available at iTunes", "I want to be available at every download retailer you work with except ones in Japan", "I need distribution everywhere except Napster", etc.) we'd be happy to accommodate your needs. Once you've signed up for digital distribution in your account, you'll find a RESTRICTIONS link in the lower right-hand corner of the "HOW MUCH DISTRIBUTION" page. You'll be able to use that feature to make special distribution requests.

Also, if you want to sell downloads only on cdbaby.com (and NOT on iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, etc.), you can set your distribution percentage to ZERO. Then we'll post those MP3s for sale on our website, but nowhere else.

If you decide to send us physical stock later, we will automatically start selling those as well. Just be sure the art and songs on the physical CD match what we are already selling for download.