Lay vs CD Baby: a one-time fee against a share
Lay’s numbers come from the plans and payouts on this site. CD Baby’s were checked on at the pages listed underSources.
The short answer
CD Baby charges once per release, $9.99 for a single and $14.99 for an album, then keeps 9 percent of your digital distribution revenue, so you keep 91 percent, paid weekly. Lay Free charges nothing per release and keeps about 30 percent. CD Baby is the cheaper of the two once a single earns more than about $48, and it is ahead of Lay at every royalty figure above that, because 91 percent with a one-time fee is a hard combination to beat.
Where Lay is the different offer: a release that earns nothing costs nothing, and so does a release that earns a little. Lay also reads every application, answers support in 48 to 72 hours on Free, and has no fee that could lapse, because it charges no fee at all. CD Baby’s own advantage is the other side of the same coin: no recurring fee means nothing to miss, and it says your music stays online.
The two offers, row by row
Every CD Baby cell comes from CD Baby’s own distribution or pricing page, read on 25 October 2026. What CD Baby does not document is missing here rather than guessed.
| What the row compares | Lay | CD Baby |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay | $0 on Free, after we read your application. Pro is coming soon with no published price; Partner is agreed with you directly and has no public price. | $9.99 for a single and $14.99 for an album, charged once per release. No annual fee and no renewal.12 |
| How you open an account | Every account starts with an application. Self-registration is closed and a person sets the account up by hand. | Open signup, and a real person checks the audio and artwork before the release is delivered to the stores.1 |
| Your share of the royalties | On Free you keep about 70 percent of your royalties and Lay keeps about 30. On Partner the share is agreed with you individually. | CD Baby keeps 9 percent of your digital distribution revenue and you keep the remaining 91 percent.2 |
| Content ID and user videos | Not part of the plans we publish today. Ask us before you count on it. | YouTube Content ID monetisation is part of the release offer, and sync licensing and publishing collection are available through the paid CDB Boost add-on.2 |
| Stores and platforms | Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, TikTok, Instagram, Deezer, Tidal and the other major stores. We publish no store count. | 150+ platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, TikTok and YouTube Music, with a free UPC barcode and free ISRCs.12 |
| When the money reaches you | Your share is credited in US dollars to your Lay Credit Account once the stores pay us. PayPal payouts run monthly from a $20 balance. | Weekly payouts.1 |
| If you cancel or stop paying | Cancel in your dashboard or by email and we have the stores take your releases down. You are still paid for what they earned before. | There is no recurring fee to miss, and CD Baby states that a missed payment is not a reason for it to take your music down; its FAQ describes a release staying online permanently.1 |
| Support | One inbox, support@laydistribution.com. Free typically hears back within 48 to 72 hours, Partner within 24. No guaranteed response time. | An artist support team is included with the release; CD Baby publishes no response time.2 |
What the two prices mean in money
Here the fixed cost is per release, so the crossing point differs between a single and an album. Both are solved below.
The fee
A single costs $9.99 once, an album $14.99 once. Lay takes no fee at all.
The share
CD Baby keeps 9 percent; Lay keeps about 30 percent. The difference in share is 21 percentage points.
Where they meet
A single crosses at about $48 of royalties: 70 percent is $33.30, and 91 percent of $47.57 minus $9.99 is the same $33.30. An album crosses at about $71: 70 percent of $71.38 is $49.97, and 91 percent of $71.38 minus $14.99 is also $49.97. Below those numbers Lay leaves you more; above them CD Baby does, and the gap grows with every dollar.
Our arithmetic, not a CD Baby statement. It compares one release in one currency and ignores taxes, payment fees and CDB Boost. A catalog of many releases moves the crossing point down in CD Baby’s favour, because its fee is charged once per release while Lay’s share repeats every year.
Where CD Baby is the better answer
- 91 percent of the royalties and a fee you pay once per release.
- No renewal date and no recurring fee, so nothing lapses while you are not looking.
- Weekly payouts, faster than any monthly schedule.
- Content ID monetisation inside the release offer, with sync and publishing collection one add-on away.
- 150+ platforms with a human check of the files before delivery.
Where Lay is the better answer
- Nothing to pay per release: a release that earns little costs nothing at all.
- An application a person reads, and an account set up by hand.
- Support windows we publish, 48 to 72 hours on Free and 24 hours on Partner.
- Leave any time; there is no fee, so there is no cancellation step to get wrong.
- A German company in Karlsruhe, with the German terms prevailing.
Questions artists ask about CD Baby
Is CD Baby cheaper than Lay?
For a release that earns more than about $48 as a single, or about $71 as an album, yes. Below those numbers Lay leaves you more, and a release that earns nothing costs nothing on Lay while CD Baby’s fee is due before the release goes out.
Does CD Baby take a percentage of my royalties?
Yes, 9 percent of digital distribution revenue, on top of the one-time release fee. You keep 91 percent.
Does my music stay online if I stop paying CD Baby?
CD Baby documents that there is no recurring subscription fee and no takedown for a missed payment, and describes a release as staying online. Lay works differently: when you cancel, we have the stores take your releases down, and you are still paid what they earned before.
Does Lay include Content ID?
Not in the plans we publish today. CD Baby includes YouTube Content ID monetisation with the release, so if that money matters, it is a real difference between the two offers.
Can I release AI-generated music on Lay?
Not on Free: our Free plan does not accept AI-generated tracks. Pro, coming soon, will allow AI tracks you disclose. CD Baby’s AI policy is not on this page because we could not read it at the source on 25 October 2026.
Sources
Every CD Baby statement above comes from one of these pages, read on the date shown. Where CD Baby documents nothing, the table has no row rather than a guess.
Keep reading
Ready to start? Apply for a Lay account and we will read it ourselves. Theplans and prices are on the home page.