Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. 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.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/27/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My name is ************************************ I am an Artist, who've been doing business with a company by the name :"CD baby.com" for a longtime. I ,have a hard time reacting anyone from this company as a customer service Live person,to ask what happened to my Royalty $$ ,they suppose to pay as they always have.For the last few years, I am missing a payments from them,and now They Do not even reply:(If you can help, I would really appreciate .Regards, **************************** ************ h ************ c

  Business Response

  Date: 04/03/2023

  Hi *********,

  I'm sorry to hear you have been trouble reaching us! 

  I checked through our system to try to locate your account and any correspondence from you, but I was unable to find an account with the details you provided. If you know the email address you have on file with your CD Baby account, this will help us investigate your issue. 

  If you would prefer to get real-time support, our chat bot is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and on weekdays from 9AM - 1PM PST, real people are here to help. To connect to our live chat feature, simply click the icon on the bottom right-hand corner of the CD Baby website after logging in.

  Let me know how we can best help you moving forward. 

  Thank you

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/04/2023

   
  Complaint: 19860010
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  CD Baby HAS MY ACCOUNT !!
  

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************************

  Business Response

  Date: 04/13/2023

  Hi again *********, 

  I'm sorry I was not able to assist with the information you originally provided for your account. However, I was able to find your correspondence with our support representative, ********, who is still assisting you via email (Ticket #*******)

  I see that **** has provided you information on how to recover your account with CD Baby. **** has also instructed you that in order to continue receiving payment, we will need you to complete the tax documentation in your CD Baby account once you are able to successfully log in. 

  Please see ****' latest message regarding your log-in info, and continue to reply on that email for any further assistance. We are committed to helping you recover your account, and there are steps in that email we will need you to follow in order to continue to assist. 

   

  Thank you again for your patience and for reaching out. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/20/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hi, I chose CDbaby to distribute my CD Late Blooming, in 2015. I chose the pro-plan upgrade in which they also collect publishing royalties. A few months ago, getting ready to release my second cd in a few months, I went into my song catalogue with SOCAN (******** royalty collectors). My catalogue was a mess, with most songs from my first album having 2 registration numbers, SOCAN flagged them as under investigation as they did not know how to approach paying out the royalties, so obviously a big problem. I talked to SOCAN reps and they said that cdbaby/songtrust (affiliated since 2019) had to release their publishing claim, giving me a letter stating such, to pass on to SOCAN so that they could rectify the mess. I followed the cdbaby protocol for opting out of the pro-plan in December of 2022. I have followed up many times but the problem has not been resolved. I am beyond frustrated as there is nobody to talk with and I am just sitting in a queue (3 months now). Please advise.Thank-you, ***********************************

  Business Response

  Date: 04/03/2023

  Hi *****, 

  I'm sorry to hear you experienced this wait, and any inconvenience this caused. I looked for your original request, and see that you spoke with a supervisor of our support team, ******, who assisted in expediting the request, and our Pro Publishing specialist ***** followed up via email on 3/24/23 to confirm our relinquishment of publishing administration for your works. 

  I hope this has adequately resolved the issue, and please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any other questions. 

   

  Take care.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/04/2023

   
  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,
  
  ***********************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/16/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have the same issue as the other complainants. I am trying to resign from CD Baby Pro Publishing so that I may move to another music publisher; all requests are ignored. The company does not answer phone calls or enable voicemail; live chats are disconnected; and Zendesk help requests are ignored. By ignoring my requests, CD Baby is illegally holding the publishing rights to my music. I have lined up a reputable publisher but cannot make the switch until CD Baby Pro Publishing ends my agreement. This is a predatory tactic that enables the company to effectively steal intellectual property from artists. I have been through the resignation process 3 times (by following the process indicated on their site) and each request is ignored.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/01/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I canceled by agreement with CD Baby.com in 2013 but apparently they never stopped selling my CDs. I never restocked them with more copies yet somehow people are buying them still and reselling them on Amazon for large amounts of money. In addition in September 2022 I learned that CDBaby has been collecting the royalties for 35 of my copyrighted soundtracks without my permission. Sound Exchange sent an inquiry to them but they did not respond to me at all. I have sent them several letters via email and us mail. I am a senior citizen now on a fixed income and cannot afford a lawyer to harass them to comply. I believe that they have taken advantage of me as an independent artist and they owe me for mechanical sales, digital sales, and royalties they collected. To sell mechanical CDs someone had to make copies. Audio *********** **** is the parent company for CD Baby and they should fairly compensate me for their exploitation.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/06/2023

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I reached out to CD Baby on January 18th 2023 asking them to issue a takedown notice of my music from all streaming platforms, essentially ending my contract with them. I followed the protocols they list in their help section but I haven't heard from anyone since then. I've reached out twice since my initial request, but no one will get back to me. Sadly I can't call them either because I can't find a support number. I want all of my property released from my contract with CD Baby and I want them to issue a takedown notice on all streaming platforms so that my music is no longer available to stream. I also have over $30 in revenue that haven't been paid to me. They insist on getting my SSN for tax purposes but it's not necessary for such a small amount and I will not be giving it to them.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/20/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have tried to contact CD Baby to fix my song not being on Tik Tok. I could not find my song because Tik Tok hid my song and I could not find it. So I made a new account for Tik Tok and I found it. The song that is not on the Tik Tok is I Keep this Darkness by *******************.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/19/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  CD Baby claims that they directly deposited the amount of $25.48 into my credit union savings account on Dec 7 2022.It has been 6 weeks, and my credit union has no record of this deposit being made or attempted. It's possiblebut very unlikelythat I entered my savings account number incorrectly when setting up the direct deposit information. Repeated emails to and from CD Baby suggest, but dont definitively confirm, that the target account for the deposit was mine. (After I entered the account number the first time, all but the last two digits were visible, and I was (and still am) unable to review my own account information.)CD Baby's phone number states that they do not return phone calls "at this time". They typically respond to emails after 7-9 days, which I consider unresponsive. I pointed out to one of their ***** ******** that their website says deposits are made within 1-2 business days. He wrote, direct deposits from CD Baby can take a few days to arrive up to 5 to 7 business days. When I pointed out the contradiction with the websites claim, he stated, I am sorry that the timeline described in the email was not 100% accurate.I was paid by CD Baby previously; the payment was routed through PayPal, and worked fine. Around June 2022 they changed their payment system, and it has not worked in my case.In summary: The direct deposit *** have gone to a wrong account, but Im skeptical, and Im unable to verify this with CD Baby. My credit union finds no evidence of a deposit attempted. The company is difficult if not impossible to contact, and one of their reps even admitted that their payment timeline is deceptive. The whole issue is very strange. I wish to be paid the paltry sum I am owed, or to understand what error has occurred.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/11/2023

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Cd baby incorrectly distributed my music under another artist information on all platforms. then I received a W-2 stating that I had $166 in royalties my issue is that I never received a check for royalties meaning they are robbing artists!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/10/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Artists and producers beware. Avoid CD Baby. They allow anyone to commit perjury (federal crimes) by filing bad faith DMCA takedowns of your music that you own the rights to and still delete your distributed album after proving that you are the rightful music owner. Recently, I had a featured artist on my album (who owns no rights on my album and signed an agreement stating that I and my label own all rights on my music) intentionally lied to CD Baby, filed a malicious DMCA takedown as a means of harassment and revenge, and CD Baby took down my album even when I provided sufficient evidence of my music ownership to them. 3 times I spoke with CD Baby live agent employees who lied to me stating that CD Baby Legal received my counter notice claims and deceptively gave me the impression that everything was good/completed and all I had to do was wait for CD Baby Legal's decision. If something wasn't filled in correctly CD Baby and their employees should have immediately notified me of the missing Counter Notice criteria. I gave them exactly what they requested. If I decided to move forward with litigation against the bad faith DMCA takedown, I would won the case but as they say, the best revenge is massive success. The featured artist has already been permanently removed from my album with a more prominent artist taking her place, and I sent a notice to CD Baby to delete my account, albums, and all information. In closing, CD Baby is a cowardice/unscrupulous company for hiding behind automated messages with no phone contact, allowing employees to hide their displaying name with an initial, and for not doing the right thing. I've been with this company for 9 years... No more. Hopefully some artist(s) who have time on their hands can *** this company out of existence. CD Baby has absolutely no right operating as a business given how they treat their customers. To whomever is reading this, share this warning with your music network and stop doing business with CD Baby.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/14/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am unable to get CD Baby to relinquish publishing for my songs and my musical partner's songs, even though I followed the process of cancellation to the letter. I have asked BMI to trigger the relinquishment by revising from their end. It has not worked. CD Baby says you can cancel publishing or PRO via an email. It is on their website in FAQ. As a consumer I demand a corporate entity follow their own PUBLISHED rules and guidelines. I want my songs released. I do not want my songs to be published by CD Baby. I want this cancellation to be completed. It has been since April 26th, 2022.) NINE months.___________________________________________________________________________________Blanca E. (CD Baby)Apr 26, 2022, 11:16 AM PDT Hi *****. Thank you for confirming. Although you did cancel distribution for this release, the publishing administration service remains active. I've terminated our publishing agreement and we will be relinquishing our publishing claim for the following works:A Winning Hand Alligator Baptism Blind Man in the ********** New Day ***************** Change in the Weather Detroit City Man Devil's Dream Dont You Lose It Don't Let 'em See Ya Cry Don't Take Too Much Get This Thing Off a My Back Give Me a Sign I Can't Change Ya I Got It I'm Not the Woman I Used to Be In Any Town It Ain't Enough Its Never Too Early Last Ride Long Hard Road Love Is Blind Love Like a Fire Make a Right Turn Shoot to Kill Sink or Swim So High Stay Still Enough Time to Cry Suicide By Love Supernatural Blues Take the Long Road The River Used to These Blues When Bad Luck Looks Good You Left It Behind Our relinquishment will go into effect at the end of the calendar quarter in which you requested to cancel Pro (June 30, 2022).