Independent artists and record labels - Selling your music on the CMDB Network is an exciting new way for you to help your music reach through the barriers of traditional distribution to the millions of potential customers in the Internet audience. By registering your music for sale on the CMDB Network, your music will become available to all the "Virtual Stores" on the Network. Each selling site will be able to offer your music for sale, and we at CMDB will coordinate the shipping and fulfillment of all orders. The process is relatively simple, with two approaches for you to choose from:

Distribution Options

    This is our preferred plan and is FREE to qualified artists. To participate, you must send us an initial inventory of 5 units of each product you would like to sell (one of which will be opened to scan artwork and sample soundclips for the site). In each month when we owe you $100 or more (or more frequently upon request), we will send you a check for the units sold, and tell you how many units to send us to replenish our supply. We will report to you at any time how many units we have sold, and your current balance. We will return any unsold units to you at any time upon request. There is no cost to you to keep your products on the site and we only get paid if you sell product. We have found that this option is much more efficient for customers, since it prevents customers from paying multiple shipping charges when an order is shipped from different locations, and allows for the fastest possible delivery of product. (See the description of Option #2 below.)

    To sign up for this plan, complete our Online Artist Application. A distribution agreement will be generated for you to print, sign, and return to us with the initial inventory of 5 units of each project you would like to sell. With no setup fee and no maintenance charges ever, you can see why we think this is clearly the best option.

    This option is only for artists or record companies with an established shipping mechanism in place, or who can demonstrate a well organized and efficient shipping plan, and who are approved to become an Independent Distributor. (If you are a bookstore manager and desire to become an independent distributor of multiple product lines, click here.) Persons must have a quality printer, such as a laserjet or inkjet printer that prints in black ink at 300 dpi or above, access to e-mail (that is checked at least daily), and a supply of packaging materials and product sufficient to meet projected demand. We will notify you of orders by e-mail and will provide you with a customized order management system for order processing. You will be responsible for printing the invoice, packing and shipping the products as indicated on the invoice. We will forward the proceeds from each sale and the shipping and handling fees we’ve collected to you when we receive confirmation from the customer that the product was received, or when you supply us with a tracking number or other proof of delivery. Customers will randomly be sent an e-mail survey of their satisfaction with their purchasing experience which will ask them to confirm that (1) they received a printed invoice bearing the name of a CMDB Virtual Retailer with their order, (2) the product was in good condition, and (3) the packaging was presentable and professional. We reserve the right to pull a product from the site if an artist (or record company) cannot demonstrate an ability to deliver product or does not promptly respond to inquiries from us. There is a $50 setup fee associated with becoming an Independent Distributor under this plan.

   To sign up, complete our Online Artist Application. A distribution agreement will be generated for you to print, sign, and return to us with the one-time setup fee and one unit of each product for scanning and sampling.

Product Pricing

    Pricing for your product is entirely up to you, but you should keep in mind some basic assuptions: (1) The CMDB network is a retail distribution network driven by participating retailers. Those retailers make a profit by selling your product at a markup, and therefore you must be willing to sell at a wholesale price if you want any retailers to sell your product. If you need guidance about product pricing, contact us and we will make some suggestions. (2) The Internet is a very competitive marketplace for music sales. Most new CDs by mainstream artists with big advertising budgets will sell for around $13.50 when they are just released. Older titles may sell for more, or less, depending on demand. Keep this in mind when pricing your product.

Website Appearance/Design

Basic Plan

    All distribution options above include our Basic Plan for Website Presence. Through your listing with us, we provide you with a basic internet presence including an artist picture, brief description of the artist, and a link to the artist's home page (if any). It also includes a graphic of the project artwork for each project listed, three sound samples from each project, and a brief description of the project. You can also choose from one of the following additional features to add to your basic plan:

Standard Plan - Itinerary Page

    An additional itinerary/profile for each artist is also available. The page would be a link from the standard Artist Information page on the site for every artist, and could contain a detailed history of the artist, statement of faith, description of ministry, discography, concert itinerary and booking information. The page is a standard format for all artists (not a custom page), but the text and titles are written by the artist. Artists can update the content twice per year without charge, or additional times for a fee. A complete re-write or reorganization will incur a new setup fee. This plan carries a one time setup fee of $100.00.

Preferred Plan - Custom Website

    If an itinerary page just isn't enough, we can design a full custom website to your specifications. The base setup fee is $250 per page, and may be more depending on what you want. Contact us for a quote.

Production

    In addition to the core services we provide, we have access to providers of production and recording services. By taking advantage of our industry relationships and volume ordering, we can help you produce a high quality product at a very competitive price. We also have relationships with Christian recording labels, who are always looking for the next big hit. Large volume sales on our site can be a strong indication that your music is ready for wide-scale distribution.

Start selling your music on the CMDB Network - Apply Today!

Online Application