Just two weeks after their recent acquisition of  CD Baby, the largest independent music seller in the world, Disc Makers today announced the launch of Elite Artist Services, a new division geared towards major artists who want to go independent. Elite Artist Services will offer established artists the opportunity to generate "substantial additional income" associated with selling CDs and downloads directly to the consumer, without the benefit of a traditional record label contract. Elite is offering major artists who go independent virtually all of the manufacturing, distribution, download, marketing and e-commerce infrastructure services required to release their projects.

"With major artists like Radiohead, Trent Reznor, and Tori Amos leaving their labels in increasing numbers, going independent has quickly shed its undeserved stigma, and is now seen for what it is – a major profit opportunity for established artists with a solid fan base," said Elite Artist Services vice president Jeffrey Epstein. "An artist that has already sold 100,000 records clearly has the name recognition to go out on their own, and could increase their profit margin by as much as tenfold with EAS."

"Disc Makers has numerous years of experience helping independent and established artists with successful releases," he told FMQB. "We're a trusted business partner for these artists, and we want to help them maximize their profits without compromising control."

The new service will offer a suite of services that includes graphic design, mastering, disc manufacturing and packaging, download sales through the artist’s web site and major sites like iTunes, Rhapsody and Amazon.com, CD distribution through Sony RED, custom merch production, product warehousing, ecommerce processing, web site development, and digital and print marketing. Long term contracts with the artist are not part of the company's business model, and the artist retains complete control over their music and their rights.

For more on the new service, as well as a look at their interactive revenue calculator, visit www.EliteArtistServices.com