Avoiding execute cuts and instead focusing the cutbacks on uninformed decisions, CD Baby lost several key employees last week, people who truly carried the spirit of the company.
The fact that the employees were made to sign non-disclosure agreements, despite their positions, is a sign that the company is frightened to have this news, and other inside information, leaked to the public.

At this point it's becoming clear that CD Baby is no longer an independent company, it's profit-driven motives over common sense and humanity make this company like any other. It was bound to happen eventually. Thanks AVL & Discmakers & D.Wendell Sivers.

I think all you reporter types keep missing the real story

CD Baby was started by Derek Sivers and acquired by AVL/Discmakers, but what made it run so well has always been those people who were there day in and day out. People who deeply cared.

Look at the reality:

For an entire year, the absentee owner of CD Baby (Derek Sivers) couldn't even bring himself to show up at his own business and prior to that, for many years he lived in Los Angeles and would show up in Portland sporadically, stay for a few weeks, then leave again. Yet, he took all the credit for it's growth and never mentioned the people who did all the work. He then sold the business to AVL without even a thank you to the 100 people who made his fortune for him.

I think Miss Maranda is right. AVL is in the process of streamlining it's operations and is methodically cutting out the heart of CD Baby. Sadly, CD Baby is now a company that is well on it's way to becoming another sterile entity on the internet, just like those companies that I believe prompted Mr. Sivers to start CD Baby in the first place.

Executive cuts I meant.
When Discmakers (via AVL) bought CD Baby, they froze pay and told employees not to expect anything until raises in June.
Now that it's June, there has been another set of lies put forth to keep people strung along. Now the company is denying overdue raises, ignoring cost of living pay-increases, and suggesting hiring temps to do work after firing 10 people. This isn't how a friendly company does business, this is how capitalism kills the independent spirit.

wasn't CD Baby written up as a growing "green" company and as one of the top 20 companies to work for in Portland? Besides saving short term on benefits and destroying the culture, what does the AVL company gain?

I would also like to know, were the employees laid off (meaning when times got better they could come back to work) or were they terminated?