CDBaby.com Guru: Derek Sivers

This is a short but very interesting interview to Derek Sivers, CDBaby.com president. CD Baby is a little online record store that sells albums by independent musicians. They only sell music that comes directly from the musicians. No distributors. Musicians send them their music. They digitize and warehouse, sell them to the customers, and pay the musicians directly.

Derek, considering your big expertise with Cdbaby.com, what do you think about online shopping? Pros and Cons?

Selection is the best. You know “it” (the web) has everything, and at the best price.

Only downside : can’t flirt with the cute employees.

10 years of online shopping, people say there have been diminishing margins and returns due to growing competition, and more investment in marketing than ever (Adwords, PriceGrabber), what do you think about this?

If you’re just trying to sell something that everyone else is selling, then of course customers will just look for the best price.

At CD Baby, we generally sell music you’re not going to find anywhere else. So nobody seems to care about the price much. The artist sets the price, anyway. It’s their creative choice, not ours.

What about fraud?, there has been growing credit card & shipping re-direction fraud, harder to fight back.

It’s no problem. We look at every order before shipping it, and if it looks too suspicious, we cancel it. Been doing it the same way since 1998 and it’s never been a problem.

Thank you for your answers. Now, about you, what are your projects for the future?

Just trying to make cdbaby.com a fun place to find new music. We’re open to any suggestions from music fans.

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