CD Baby is the elder statesman of independent distribution — founded in 1998, and the service that popularized the "pay once, stay up forever" model. Audora is a young, curated platform built around the whole release. The two barely compete for the same artist, which is exactly why the comparison is useful: figuring out which model fits you answers most of the decision.
Who writes this: this guide is published by Audora, a music distribution and promotion platform — so yes, we're one of the options discussed below. Prices and terms of other services were checked against their public pricing pages on the date above and can change at any time; always confirm on the provider's own site before you commit.
Key takeaways
- CD Baby charges once per release ($9.99/single, $14.99/album as of July 2026) and keeps 9% of your royalties forever. No renewals — your music never comes down for non-payment.
- Audora is a monthly credit plan (free to start): a release costs 10 credits, and the same plan covers cover art, bios, and a promotion studio that auto-posts to TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram — with 0% commission.
- CD Baby's parent company Downtown was acquired by Universal Music Group in February 2026 — the "independent" pioneer now answers to the biggest major label.
- Set-and-forget catalog with zero ongoing effort: CD Baby. Active release strategy with promotion built in: Audora.
Audora vs CD Baby at a glance
Prices checked July 2026 against CD Baby's public cost page — both services can change terms at any time.
| CD Baby | Audora | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Pay once per release, self-serve | Curated, waitlist-gated, human-reviewed |
| Pricing | $9.99 per single, $14.99 per album, one-time | Monthly credit plan, free to start — a release costs 10 credits; see pricing |
| Commission | 9% of all royalties, forever | 0% while subscribed — you keep ownership |
| If you stop paying | Nothing to stop — music stays up | Releases stay live; service costs recovered from royalties, the rest stays yours (Distribution Terms) |
| Ownership | You keep ownership; parent owned by UMG since Feb 2026 | You keep ownership |
| Promotion tools | Sync licensing and marketing tools | AI campaign planning with auto-posting to TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram |
| Distribution route | Self-serve delivery to stores | Through Sony Music's channel |
| Best for | Occasional releasers who hate subscriptions | Artists actively building each release |
Where CD Baby genuinely wins
- The set-and-forget guarantee. Pay once, and your music stays on every platform even if you never log in again. Few models match that peace of mind — no renewal anxiety, ever.
- Simplicity for rare releasers. One album every three years? $14.99 once beats any subscription arithmetic, including ours.
- Sync and publishing add-ons. Decades-old sync licensing and publishing administration programs that can collect royalties most artists don't even know they're owed.
- Nearly three decades of paying artists. Longevity builds justified trust.
The 9% that never goes away
CD Baby's model has one permanent tax: 9% of your royalties, forever. On a hobby release it's pennies and genuinely fair. But commissions scale with success — if a track takes off years later, CD Baby keeps 9 cents of every dollar it earns, for as long as it earns. The one-time fee wasn't the price; the 9% is.
Who owns your 'independent' distributor now
Where Audora wins
- 0% commission while subscribed. Audora's revenue is the plan, not a share of your success. If your song blows up, every royalty dollar is yours — CD Baby's 9% applies forever, hit or not.
- The release work is included. Cover art, short/medium/press bios, campaign planning, and rendered promo videos come from the same credits. CD Baby delivers your finished package; Audora helps you build it.
- Promotion that posts itself. Audora's Promotion Studio auto-publishes approved posts to TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram — the growth channels that actually break independent music in 2026. CD Baby's promotion tools pitch playlists; they don't run your socials.
- Humans reviewing, humans answering. Curated access, human review of every release, and a support commitment of about one business day for a human reply.
- A label-channel route. Distribution through Sony Music's channel, with a path for standout artists to be promoted further by our team.
Keep 100% of your royalties — and get the release built, too
Sony-channel distribution, cover art, bios, and auto-posted promotion in one credit plan. Free to start, 0% commission.
Already on CD Baby? Your streams can move with you
Because CD Baby has no renewal, many artists leave old releases there and start new ones elsewhere — that's perfectly fine and avoids any migration. If you do want to consolidate, streams follow your ISRC codes: re-deliver with the same codes, wait until live, then take down the old version. Full steps in our switching guide. Note that CD Baby has no renewal to save on, consolidating is about tidiness, not savings.
Which should you pick?
- Pick CD Baby if: you release rarely, want zero ongoing costs or obligations, and are happy trading 9% forever for never thinking about your distributor again.
- Pick Audora if: you're actively building a release schedule, want promotion and presentation handled in the same plan, and want 0% commission on whatever your music earns.
- Honestly viable: some artists use both — legacy catalog resting on CD Baby, new releases built and promoted through Audora. Nothing about either service prevents it.