Pop(ulist) Music

CD Baby (who distributes MAGNA) made around $70 million for independent artists and labels by distributing their music through Amazon and other online retailers over the past ten years, before founder Derek Sivers, who owned 100% of the company, finally sold the company to Disc Makers (founded by a friend of my grandfather's).

Sivers made $22 million from the sale -- a price he suggested, and which Disc Makers did not try to negotiate. No wonder he's in such a good mood. In typical Sivers fashion, he donated the vast majority of his payday to an organization he created called The Independent Musician's Charitable Trust, which will fund music education after he passes away.

"I didn't even want the money, it wasn't about that," he told Venture Voice. "I created what's called a charitable trust, and I transferred the ownership of the company -- as much as I could -- into the trust before selling [the company], so that when Disc Makers bought CD Baby, they actually purchased it from the charitable trust so that all the money went into the trust."

"All of that money is going to go to music education when I die," he added. "It's not even mine, it's sitting in a trust fund that will never go to me, never go to my kids or grandkids or whatever. It's all just going back to musicians."

Sivers recently sent an e-mail to his mailing list with lots of advice for musicians:

Want to meet 10 companies that might help you get into the European market? Last week, I went to the PopKomm Music Conference in Berlin, Germany - and brought my video camera around the exhibit hall, asking companies questions from a musician's point of view. The edited videos are posted here for you: http://sivers.org/popkomm

Since I posted an overwhelming list of books last week, here is a much more useful short list of top recommendations, with short descriptions and categories: http://sivers.org/book-picks

This has become one of the most popular things I've ever written : 6 things I wish I knew the day I started Berklee. A transcript of my talk I gave to incoming first-year students at Berklee College of Music. http://sivers.org/berklee

What's the future of the music business? Nobody knows the future. So what should you do? http://sivers.org/no-oracle

If you were able to free up even a few more hours of time per week, it could make a huge difference in your music. Read my interview with the author of the #1 bestselling book, The 4-Hour Workweek, sharing his tips on how to have more free time to work on your music: http://sivers.org/tim-ferriss

What's your grand pursuit? http://sivers.org/grand-pursuit

Like baby ducks think the first big creature they see is their mother, people do the same thing with prices. So how do you set a new standard? http://sivers.org/uncomparable

Have you noticed how a small action can change your self-identity? http://sivers.org/small-actions-changing-identity

Are there things you assume you have to pay for, that might instead be willing to pay you? http://sivers.org/reversible

Should I put my music on lots of websites, or just a few? http://sivers.org/be-there