Is CD Baby my publisher? Is AVL my publisher?

CD Baby is not like a traditional publisher; we’re closer to what folks in the biz call an ‘administrator.’ In our role of a publishing administrator, we register songs with Performing Rights Organizations and collect publishing royalties on your behalf. This is different from a traditional publisher that may also provide a full suite of creative and legal services (e.g. sync licensing, copyright).

In order for CD Baby to collect royalties on your behalf, you will need to list “CD Baby Publishing” as the publisher for all tracks, unless an affiliated publisher already represents those tracks. In that case, the publisher should be listed as whatever is already on file with the Performance Rights Organizations.

(Since AVL is the parent organization of CD Baby Digital, you may also see this listed)