ComplaintsforC D Baby Inc

• Initial Complaint

  10/15/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Ok, I've been releasing music through CD Baby for 10+ years now, and the customer service gets progressively worse every year. It's bothersome because it never use to be this way when I began working with them. We, the artists, put too much time and effort into getting things perfected on a music release just for CD Baby to drop the ball at the most critical step - releasing the music properly.I mention the poor customer service because 1. there is no Phone Number call center. 2. there is no Live Chat. 3. the Email response time is absolutely terrible. It takes weeks and sometimes months to hear back from ********, how are we the paying customers suppose to have a successful release when the company releasing the music is out to lunch with no proper response time to resolve issues as they arise and occur?CD Baby used to have all three of those mentioned contact options 5 years ago btw. Even then, there was a lot of deflection and run-around talk when trying to get a straight answer from the secretaries and workers. They always try to make things sound complicated or "impossible" when trying to make necessary adjustments to your music catalog. Some of the adjustments cannot be made after the fact and I clearly understand that. However, many data changes Can be made for months even years after a release. yet, many of their employees will do everything they can to try and not make these data changes for you in a timely manner.I have many projects released and soon to be released with them. I also don't know if/when they will get their act together? These problems have been going on for years and are affecting my current new releases. Take a look around the internet - there is no shortage of CD Baby incidents just like my current situation with them.Status updates and reliable contact channels for businesses are important!Paying for employees so that your company actually has some to do the work is important!I hate that I have to mention this...

  Business response

  10/15/2024

  Hello,

  I apologize if there was a delay in response to your request.

  We work hard to get back to all of our clients in a timely manner.

  While we no longer have a phone support line, there are a few options to get support.

  This link to our help center explains how to get help/contact CD Baby.

  ************************************************************************************************

  We are happy to help you with any questions or concerns.

  Please use the methods outlined in the help center article to contact us and we will get back to you and resolve your issue as soon as possible!!

  Thank you and take care!
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/29/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  As a professional musician, producer, and studio owner for the last 45 years, I've sent many clients and projects to use the services of discmakers, cd baby, and the sound lab - which is where my complaint begins.(since 1985). On Aug 15th 2024 I sent a studio master to the sound lab, through their portal, for mastering. I requested 4 finished files - `a 24 bit 96K version, a 1 6 bit 44.1K version, a 16 bit 48K version, and a high resolution MP3 - all with metadata included for release purposes. When they sent me the 1st proofs to approve or reject those files were included, I rejected the 1st proofs - a normal part of the process. I received a second set of proofs from them which also included the 4 files types I had requested. I rejected the 2nd set of proofs, An executive decision was made to send a new studio mix after hearing what their process was doing to the song and paid the customary extra $30 for a new master after rejecting the 2nd proof (giving notes with each rejection). When I received the 3rd proof on Aug 22nd it was to our satisfaction and approved it but noticed there was only 1 file in the queue (16 bit 44.1K). I was missing 3 files. I contacted them through the link given for support immediately on the 22nd. After requesting the files several times with no response for 4 days, I received an email from ***********************. I was appreciative that someone had finally responded to my urgent need for the files - given there was a promoter already hired and waiting on the missing files. On the 26th *** told me I would be receiving them soon. On the 27th I notified ******** still hadn't received the files. *** responded that I would receive them before the end of the day on the 27th. I've emailed several times and am not receiving responses and don't have the files and they have the money. Almost 40 years working with them & now I can get no response or files.

  Business response

  09/10/2024

  Hello,

  Any issues with the Sound Lab are handled through our sister company Disc Makers.

  Please contact Disc Makers for help retrieving the files.

  Here is their contact information:

  Disc Makers
  *************************
  **************
  *******************

  Thank you and take care!
  

• Initial Complaint

  08/19/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This has happened within the last month of August 15 2024.Cdbaby is a music distributor.The nature of this dispute is cdbaby is charging me $181.56 in bogus fraudulent streaming fees which they have no proof on, it's only hearsay, lies from spotify.I would like a refund of $181.56 in fees removed from my cdbaby account.Cdbaby has not tried to resolve this problem.

  Business response

  08/20/2024

  Hello,
  
  We were recently notified by a digital partner of irregular streaming patterns associated with your release. This has been identified as unusual, artificial or manipulated streaming activity, which violates the terms of most digital music services and has resulted in the removal of your release.
  
  Such issues often arise when artists use marketing companies that employ misleading techniques, such as fake accounts, playlists, or bots, to inflate streaming numbers. To prevent further complaints or financial penalties, the release was removed after detecting a significant number of artificial streams. This also makes the release ineligible for redelivery.
  
  While we cannot confirm it definitively, it is likely that the promotional services you used caused these artificial streams, leading to the release's removal. Continued use of such services could jeopardize your entire catalog.
  
  You may also incur an artificial streams penalty fee. This fee is charged to CD Baby for distributing content that was fraudulently streamed. This fee is then passed on to you per section 4(c) of our Artist Agreement.
  
  We urge you to work only with promotional agencies that use genuine methods and avoid companies that offer guaranteed streams or playlist placements for money, as these practices violate most music platforms' terms and conditions.
  
  If you have additional questions or want to learn more about artificial streaming, check out this help center article: What happens if I use a service that promises more streams, or I play my own music on repeat?
  
  Thank you.

  Customer response

  08/20/2024

   
  Complaint: 22151315
  
  I am rejecting this response because: CDBABY HAS ALREADY TOLD ME THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN EVEN BEFORE I CONTACTED THE BBB SO THAT DOES NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM HERE.

  AGAIN I NEED ALL OF THE BOGUS FINES REMOVED FROM MY ACCOUNT IMMEDIATELY.

  THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO FRAUDULENT STREAMING ON MY PART.

  SPOTIFY AND CDBABY DOES THIS ALL OF THE TIME WITH UPCOMING MUSIC ARTISTS LIKE ME.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *** ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  07/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I paid cdbaby to distribute my music and it has not sent it out to some important platforms like Tidal I also paid CDbaby to collect my royalties and despite reports of thousands of streams I am not receiving the majority of my royalties.

  Business response

  07/25/2024

  Hello, 
  
  We have responded to your concerns via email. Please reply to that email if you need further assistance. We're committed to providing prompt responses, and aim to continuously improve our service by addressing all of your concerns and questions. 

  Best regards, 

  CD Baby

• Initial Complaint

  07/23/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I paid full price with all of the extras for distribution of 9 albums.One month ago, CD Baby pulled down my latest and most popular record. they lied and said that Spotify told them to do it but I spoke to Spotify and they said CD baby did this. This record and songs are all on Spotify's Discovery Mode. Meaning Spotify themselves are promoting this record and have put anywhere from 9 to 4 songs on their own playlists because they make more money doing this, for almost 2 years. I've attached record of Spotify doing this as a service of theirs. I've contacted CD baby no less than 6 times by email and through their website and no one will respond or help me. My record is still in the CD Baby dashboard but the songs are not on SPotify. There's no reason for them doing this. My Songs are not on any illegal playlists and I've already asked for any shred of proof that anything wrong has occurred and they cannot. this is horrible business practice and service. Because this si my most popular record, it's diminishing hits on my music profile. Spotify is where I get the most plays because I am on 65 radios stations all over the world and whenever I'm asked for links -I always link to the Spotify account, not Apple, or Deezer or ******* or whatever.

  Business response

  08/06/2024

  Hello,
  
  We were recently notified by a digital partner of irregular streaming patterns associated with your release. This has been identified as unusual, artificial or manipulated streaming activity, which violates the terms of most digital music services and has resulted in the removal of your release.
  
  Such issues often arise when artists use marketing companies that employ misleading techniques, such as fake accounts, playlists, or bots, to inflate streaming numbers. To prevent further complaints or financial penalties, the release was removed after detecting a significant number of artificial streams. This also makes the release ineligible for redelivery.
  
  While we cannot confirm it definitively, it is likely that the promotional services you used caused these artificial streams, leading to the release's removal. Continued use of such services could jeopardize your entire catalog.
  
  You may also incur an artificial streams penalty fee. This fee is charged to CD Baby for distributing content that was fraudulently streamed. This fee is then passed on to you per section 4(c) of our Artist Agreement.
  
  We urge you to work only with promotional agencies that use genuine methods and avoid companies that offer guaranteed streams or playlist placements for money, as these practices violate most music platforms' terms and conditions.
  
  If you have additional questions or want to learn more about artificial streaming, check out this help center article: What happens if I use a service that promises more streams, or I play my own music on repeat?
  
  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  07/22/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Five of the albums we have distributed through CD Baby disappeared from AppleMusic earlier this year. We have contacted Apple directly about the situation and they responded in less that 24 hours stating they researched the situation and we need to talk with our distributor (CDBaby) regarding issues with content availability. I have subsequently filed three (3) support tickets with CDBaby for assistance with this; the earliest on March 20th 2024, and then again on June 14th and July 18th. None of these tickets have received any response from CDBaby except for a bot stating the support team is working hard to respond to the request.

  Business response

  07/23/2024

  Hello,

  I have re routed your requests to the correct team. They will look into the issue with Apple Music and get back to you ASAP!

  Thank you and take care!
  

  Customer response

  07/29/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.   Thank you for your assistance with this.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ************************

• Initial Complaint

  07/21/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My music distributor is a place called cd baby. The distribute my music to places like apple music and spotify. They removed my music from spotify without any notification. I paid them to distribute it to them. The removed some of my most popular songs. When I contacted spotify they said cd baby does this when they suspect fraudulent streams. Spotify said their policy is to remove the suspicious streams or to withhold payment for the suspicious streams. Spotify should have contacted me or followed spotifys process. I contacted cd baby and they have not replied. I used spotifys in app promotion services and nothing else. The removal of my music has impacted my revenue. I want my music restored back on spotify. Other major musicians whos music is suspected of having fake streams do not have their music removed from spotify. There is a musician named ***** the stallion who is suspected to have over ********** fake streams and spotify did not remove he music they just removed the ********** streams and my songs have no where close to that many streams

  Business response

  07/22/2024

  Hi ******. 

  I will be reaching out to you directly via email to ***************************

  I was not able to locate your account in our system so I will need more information from you in order to assist with this issue. 

  Talk to you soon. 

  Customer response

  07/25/2024

   
  Complaint: 22022012
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  they did not offer any resolution. They in fact found my account and said this:

  "We were recently notified by a digital partner of irregular streaming patterns associated with your release. This has been identified as unusual, artificial or manipulated streaming activity, which violates the terms of most digital music services and has resulted in the removal of your release.
  
  Such issues often arise when artists use marketing companies that employ misleading techniques, such as fake accounts, playlists, or bots, to inflate streaming numbers. To prevent further complaints or financial penalties, the release was removed after detecting a significant number of artificial streams. This also makes the release ineligible for redelivery.
  
  While we cannot confirm it definitively, it is likely that the promotional services you used caused these artificial streams, leading to the release's removal. Continued use of such services could jeopardize your entire catalog.
  
  You may also incur an artificial streams penalty fee. This fee is charged to CD Baby for distributing content that was fraudulently streamed. This fee is then passed on to you per section 4(c) of our Artist Agreement.
  
  We urge you to work only with promotional agencies that use genuine methods and avoid companies that offer guaranteed streams or playlist placements for money, as these practices violate most music platforms' terms and conditions.
  
  If you have additional questions or want to learn more about artificial streaming, check out this help center article: What happens if I use a service that promises more streams, or I play my own music on repeat?
  
  Thank you.
   
  ****************
  CD Baby  HearNow
  Visit our Help Center
  Get Paid to Improve CD Baby!"

  They did not give me any warning or offer the option of accepting the penalty fee instead of having my music taken down. If some one went and sent fake streams to drake or *********************** they would not take down their music or people could just go around and extort musicians and if they dont pay, then send fake streams to their music and get it taken down. cd baby is bias in their enforcement of rules.

   

  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  07/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  June 13, 2024 my last two musical releases disappeared from Apple Music. My followers were not able to access these two albums. I reached out to CD baby and asked them to advise on what the problem was. CD baby informed me that Apple Music had removed my last two releases from its streaming platform, without notice or explanation. They claimed it was for "excessive irregular streaming". The report on my analytics page of Apple music for artists showed no such increase, neither did my revenue from CD Baby. I contacted Apple Music and after much back and forth, with each company blaming the other, out of the blue CD Baby said they would restore my release. I had TWO releases that needed to be restored. They have only restored one. I have contacted them several times again, and this issue has STILL not been resolved completely. That they can even remove releases we paid to have distributed, then claim they have no control over it, then change their mind and say, oh OK we will restore it is COMPLETELY unprofessional.

  Business response

  07/15/2024

   Ticket #******* We replied to the client on June 24th informing them that there is nothing further we can do on our end to get their content back on Apple. Once a partner has chosen to remove content from their platform we do not have a way to override that decision. 

• Initial Complaint

  07/05/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  CD baby says they are doing site updates for 4 weeks and not allowing Artists access to their sales etc. Also I have not been paid my quarterly PRO Royalties that would be due to me in June. They have all artists locked out where we cannot view sales and they say this will last 4 + weeks. This is totally unacceptable. They also do nothing to answer support via chat, they also do not even have a phone support number anymore. They are totally dire! This is not what I signed up for and I've been using them for several years since 2015 or so. I want access to my royalty payments and I want to be paid on time especially since they are taking a 15% cut of my royalties which is outrageous.

  Business response

  07/09/2024

  A ticket (*******) was submitted on 6/27/24. We will be following up with the customer directly to address these issues.

• Initial Complaint

  07/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On June 15, our group (www.morrisonsisters.com) noticed our latest 2 projects had been removed from Apple Music. After contacting Apple, they assured us the distributor (CD Baby) was at fault and instructed us to contact them. After multiple attempts to contact CD Baby through their support portal and email, they have yet to respond. We paid CD Baby to have our music distributed to all major streaming platforms. They are now failing to provide this service and refuse to offer an explanation as to why.

  Business response

  07/03/2024

  Hello,

  We are currently in the process of restoring your release to any platforms involved in prior removals.
  This may take up to 5 days, depending on the platform.

  I apologize for any inconvenience.

  Thank you and take care!
  

  Customer response

  07/04/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩