Derek Sivers has been a guiding light for me in the music business. As the founder of CD Baby, he made it possible for independent artists like us to distribute our CDs without major label support. But even more importantly, he has always been extremely generous in sharing his experience and lessons with other musicians. I guarantee you that he has changed many lives this way.
I once took the collection of his advice (still available on the CD Baby website here) and printed it into a booklet that I underlined and read it over and over. It’s funny to me how many of his tips are now part of my daily routine and my general outlook on making and promoting my work as an artist.
So I was surprised and pleased to get an email from Derek a few months ago saying that of all the thousands of musicians he met while starting and building CD Baby into the success it is today, Maria Volonte was one of his favorites. (His e-mail actually said, “Hopefully you know you had one of my favorite albums at CD Baby.”) Not only that but he told me that he wanted to include one of our songs in his new e-book “Anything you want.” Buyers of the book would receive a free download of songs by Derek’s favorite CD Baby artists, including one by Maria.
Obviously, we were thrilled and sent him our tune “SF Tango.” It’s an honor for us to be a part of Derek’s latest project. Thanks Derek for that and for all your help and encouragement over the years.
You can purchase “Anything you want” — and get a free download of Maria’s “SF Tango” and songs from other great artists — here.
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