This business model uses one large website as a database for music. Content creators contact the website directly and set the price of their music. The website sets a minimum downloading fee to cover costs; the fee is set on a monthly basis (or on a per-download basis). Customers access the website and purchase all the music they want, knowing that the artist receives most of the profit.
Some websites are already implementing this model. For instance, CD Baby sells independent music that comes directly from the artist. Since this model cuts out several middlemen, CD Baby claims that artists receive USD 6-12 per album versus the USD 1-2 that artists typically receive through their record labels. There are currently 248,891 artists on CD Baby and over USD 87,052,087 dollars have gone directly to the artist since the company opened for business in 1998 (Hefflinger 2008).
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