There has been a lot of talk on the blog sphere lately about how bands are, or should, or could be making a living. Since Kevin Kelly posted his ‘1000 True Fans’ article on march 4th, and Nine Inch Nails has so ingenuously released his last project ‘Ghost I-IV’ also around that time (oh, and he just put a new free song for grabs, there’s no stopin this guy), artists have been going bonkers asking themselves how to re-actualize their ‘business models’. Although it’s quite obvious not every band can expect financial success using methods like NIN has, we should all take into consideration that such methods bare their fruits nowadays thanks to the distribution outlets internet provides. Your fans will be the first to appreciate the gesture. But bands must also capitalize on communication. Not the kind that brings you one timer friends only serving to show off how popular you are, but the kind where a real interaction takes place. The 1000 true fans is a powerful concept that struck a nerve due to the simplicity of it’s logic. Basically it goes a little something like this: if you can manage to get 1000 fans spend at least one days wage per year on your music you can make a decent living without living under the poverty threshold or without reaching the summits of stardom. Kelly explains that 1000 is just an arbitrary number of course, all depends on the many aspects of your status and ambitions as an artist. The main point being that spending time everyday consolidating a real relationship with your fans can and will pay off in the mid-long term. I encourage you to read it with attention, as well as the comments that follow. Although I consider there to be many flaws in the 1000 True Fan theory, it most certainly gets you thinking about the importance of developping such relationships. It also got me thinking about the eternal question, or rather the eternal dilemma of how to perceive and use art as a strategy to market and increase business as opposed to just writing music for tha purpose of creating art. But that’s a whole other debate altogether.
Woof !
Great post. Take a look at my recent post on Redefining “True Fans”: http://musicin2d.com/?p=36
“It also got me thinking about the eternal question, or rather the eternal dilemma of how to perceive and use art as a strategy to market and increase business as opposed to just writing music for tha purpose of creating art.”
By definition, you can’t perceive or use art as a strategy. We won’t go through the different definitions of art here, but its purpose has no link with business or money. If it has, well, you can’t call that art anymore, you call it a product.
“But that’s a whole other debate altogether.”
True!
[...] take risks with bands anymore by Frank Zappa What bands have to say about the music industry How should bands diversify their business model? Why bands could consider sponsorships with [...]