Downtown Music has appointed Molly Neuman as President of its ‘Direct-to-Creator’ division, CD Baby.
Neuman succeeds CD Baby’s previous President, Scott Williams, who Downtown says “drove tremendous stability and organizational improvement at CD Baby” during his two-year tenure.
Williams will remain on as a consultant to Downtown and CD Baby.
Additionally, CD Baby COO Christine Barnum, a longstanding member of the CD Baby leadership team, who Downtown says “has been instrumental in many achievements at the company including most recently leading CD Baby and Downtown’s efforts on Trust & Safety” will be leaving the company.
Neuman has nearly three decades of experience in various leadership roles, including her role as president of Downtown’s publishing administration company Songtrust, which Downtown reports has seen revenue growth of more than 2,500% over the past six years.
Before Songtrust and Downtown, Neuman served as Head of Music at Kickstarter and interim President at the American Association of Independent Music.
Plus, as a founding member of the influential band Bratmobile, Downtown says that “Molly exemplifies CD Baby’s combination of industry expertise coupled with real-world experience as an artist”.
Neuman’s management will encompass Downtown’s Direct-to-Creator brands, CD Baby and Soundrop.
Under Neuman’s leadership, Downtown says it will “expand its services, enhance user experience, and provide even greater support to the global community of independent musicians”.
The leadership change at CD Baby follows the recent consolidation of Downtown’s operating businesses.
As part of its long-term plan to focus exclusively on the services sector, Downtown announced in April that it had completed its integration strategy across its business-to-business and creator-focused businesses into a single operating company.
As part of this integration, the operations of CD Baby merged into its Downtown Music division.
Also as part of the integration, Pieter van Rijn was appointed CEO of Downtown Music, reporting into Andrew Bergman, CEO of Downtown Music Holdings.
CD Baby became part of Downtown in 2019 when it acquired AVL Digital Group and its portfolio of services for independent artists – in a USD $200 million deal.
Downtown then transitioned from being a significant owner of music rights at the beginning of 2021 to focusing exclusively on the global services sector when it sold its owned catalog of 145,000 copyrights to Concord for around $400 million.
Several services-focused M&A deals over the past five years have also been central to Downtown’s strategy of becoming a partner to copyright holders rather than owning copyrights itself.
Well-placed sources have told MBW that the company is on course to generate USD $900 million in revenues this year.
“After her highly successful stint leading Songtrust and subsequently leading Downtown’s marketing and communications team, Molly is the perfect fit to lead CD Baby in this new chapter.”
Pieter van Rijn, Downtown Music
“Molly’s appointment marks a significant milestone for Downtown Music,” said Pieter van Rijn, CEO of Downtown Music.
“After her highly successful stint leading Songtrust and subsequently leading Downtown’s marketing and communications team, Molly is the perfect fit to lead CD Baby in this new chapter. Her visionary leadership and deep understanding of the independent music landscape will elevate our direct-to-creator offerings and help us further our mission to support and empower artists at every stage of their careers.
“We are extremely grateful for Scott and Christine’s contributions to CD Baby during their respective tenures. They exemplify our commitment to independent music creators and to providing the highest standards of services to our partners across the rights spectrum and at every step of the creative journey.”
“I look forward to working with the talented teams at CD Baby and Soundrop to drive innovation and growth and to continue building a vibrant ecosystem for creators around the world.”
Molly Neuman
“I am thrilled to embark on this next chapter of growth at CD Baby and Downtown,” said Molly Neuman. “I am passionate about providing independent artists with the tools and opportunities they need to succeed.
“I look forward to working with the talented teams at CD Baby and Soundrop to drive innovation and growth and to continue building a vibrant ecosystem for creators around the world.
“I am extremely grateful to Justin Kalifowitz, Andrew Bergman and Pieter van Rijn for their support and this tremendous opportunity.”
Elsewhere at Downtown Music, last month, the company launched a new division called Downtown Royalties & Financial Services (DR&FS), following its acquisition of royalty processing platform Curve Royalty Systems in January 2023.
Also last month, Downtown Music secured another $500 million of credit capacity from Bank of America to expand its services for independent artists and labels. The company initially established its partnership with Bank of America in 2022 with a $200 million credit facility to provide artists and rightsholders with advances in exchange “for a short-term share of future royalties”.Music Business Worldwide
