CD Baby's Joel Andrew on How Independent Musicians Make Money (Episode 138)

Make Music Your Business.

If you have ever released music as an independent artist, you have probably heard of CD Baby. In Episode 138 of The Career Musician, Nomad talks with Joel Andrew, president of CD Baby at the time of this conversation, who started out opening mail and working in the warehouse between tours. He is still a bass player, still in bands, and as he puts it, still spending too much money on it.

This is a conversation about how independent musicians make money today, and about the side of the career most players never think about: balance, realistic goals and the business partners who sit "in the pocket" for you.

From the church band to the CD Baby warehouse

Joel grew up in Portland in a family of artists, and found his own path through music, starting with a killer gospel band at his church that always needed someone to fill in. Portland was not a big touring stop when he was growing up, so the scene focused on homegrown bands. Local was key. Building your own scene was key.

When his band signed to a small Portland label with no distribution plan, Joel went down to CD Baby to ask how it worked. They told him to sign up on the website, and then asked if he wanted a job. Back then, in the early 2000s, the debate was still whether you could be anybody without a major label. Then Joel watched artists like Dan Zanes find the right genre and community and earn more than people he knew on major labels.

Don't be ashamed to do both

For years, Joel toured (one year he was out for six months) and worked at CD Baby whenever he was home. Nomad stops the conversation to make sure every independent musician hears this.

"There's a number of ways to finance your musical endeavors... For me it was my day job, and that would allow me to go live this life that was really my reality."

Joel Andrew, 17:30

His transition happened naturally. Spanish-speaking artists started calling CD Baby, Joel spoke Spanish, and he discovered he loved talking with musicians all day and sharing what he had learned living in a van. That is The Biz pillar: diversify or die, without shame.

Balance, and the song you delete

Joel admits he swung too far into the professional side for a while, until his girlfriend (now wife) told him he was turning into a jerk because he wasn't playing music. Since then, balance has been his focus. When something feels off, the first question he asks is whether he needs more music in his life.

He has a creative habit worth stealing. A couple of times a month, usually on a Saturday, he writes and records a song, then deletes it. Knowing it will be deleted lets him push past his perfectionism and write more than he would otherwise. Every now and then, he keeps one. That is Objectivity from the ETHOS code: knowing how you work and setting up guardrails so you keep creating.

A distributor in the pocket

Joel describes CD Baby the way a bass player would: a business for musicians, by musicians, that acts like your side person. Its founder started it in 1998 just to sell his own CD, then his friends wanted in. From the start, the vision was to use technology to solve independent musicians' problems at scale, from distribution to publishing through its sister company Songtrust.

"We're here to be in the pocket for you. We're your rhythm section... you just do your thing."

Joel Andrew, 40:08

Asked how CD Baby differs from DistroKid and TuneCore, Joel sees DistroKid as focused on digital tools and creators, TuneCore on traditional artists who need distribution, and CD Baby on bands and singer-songwriters, with a big emphasis on education through its DIY Musician blog, podcast and conferences. He checks in with his counterparts at both companies monthly. In his view, maybe only half of traditional independent musicians are distributed yet, so there is room for everyone.

It has never been a better time to be independent

Joel shares the numbers he was watching at the time: global recorded music revenue in 2020 nearly back to 1999's peak, with the independent sector, aggregators like CD Baby, the fastest growing slice. Artists can now reach the world without a crossover label. The catch: around 60,000 new tracks were going up on Spotify every day, so cutting through the noise is real work. The upside: a home studio and a livestream cost far less than the old way of breaking an artist.

Success: 20 fans and a profitable year

Joel's definition of success is the most practical part of the episode. Set goals for the next year, and be gentle with yourself if you miss. Early in your career, aim for 20 fans. He used to see a 20-person crowd as a failure. Now he sees it differently.

"If you can get 20 people out of the seven and a half billion people in the world to love your music, that's a huge level of success."

Joel Andrew, 1:02:09

On money, aim to be profitable instead of dreaming about quitting your day job overnight. Spent $500 on your music this year? Try to make $500 next year, then add a little more the year after. Internally, Joel's team has talked about 200 real fans, each spending about $50 a year on shows, merch and streams. That adds up to real income. Work begets work, and fans beget fans.

His proof: a friend of a friend at a campsite told him one of his songs was awesome. For the president of a multinational company, that was one of the biggest moments of his year.

The takeaway

Finance your music however you need to, keep music in your life, let your partners handle the business details, and measure success one realistic year at a time. If you want a framework for those goals, grab the free plan of attack (POA) worksheet.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

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