CD Baby: Independant music at its best

For those of you who haven't caught on to the MP3 wave and still enjoy a nice CD, I recommend that you check out CDBaby.com. It's my all time favorite music store, next to Tower Records, that is.

I grew up in Sacramento, CA where the first Tower Records was established. They later took over a whole neighborhood block and added a Tower Books, Tower Records, Tower Video and even a Tower Theater & cafe! It was a great place for a teenager, at the time, to hang out. I later got a job there that I loved. I remember the excitement I had every time I would sift through the CDs and find some rare album. Tower also turned me on to new music when they introduced their listening stations. I always felt like they kept true to their musical roots, so I was saddened to see them lose their business.

It’s hard to find any more music stores out there that sell anything but the top 40. The industry seems to have turned to MP3's and iTunes. I actually use iTunes myself, but I miss not having CDs. I also have a hard time finding new music this way because their collection is so vast and hidden by so many links.

A couple years ago I came across CDBaby.com and fell in love. They are an online record store that sells albums by independent musicians. There music comes straight from the musicians with no distributors or labels involved. This means that the musicians get more from the sale than they ever would with a label.

CDBaby.com has a number of ways to find new music. Just type in a musician you like and they will offer up a list of musicians they think you would enjoy. They’ve also categorized their selection by mood. So if you are in a quirky mood or feeling somewhat patriotic, they’ve got the right music for you.

They best part is that they are friendly! They have that certain personal touch that a lot of music stores don’t have anymore. Sometimes they will even send you an extra CD to try out when you buy something online.