The 5000 fans theory
Scott Andrew lays out a simple plan for the new world musician, with new world being a world in which you don’t make your money of CD sales. It simply states that if you manage to persuade 5000 fans to spend 20 dollars on your stuff (downloads, t-shirt, concert tickets) you make 100k a year and can quit your day job. So… as a musician you really don’t need your record company and you should probably support MP3 downloads of your music since they get your name out there and drive your online and ticket sales.
if you really like a particular artist and want to support them without paying for yet another piece of plastic, the very best thing you can do is tell other people. Swap those MP3s, burn those CDRs, blog about them, play those tunes in your podcasts.
April 26th, 2005 at 11:29
one snag: this is on a yearly basis… But I really like the idea and I know it can be done. Look at the webcomic artists. they do it all the time. (http://www.penny-arcade.com http://www.pvponline.com ) And all they basically do is ask for cold hard cash and draw the occasional comic
April 26th, 2005 at 12:06
Yeah it’s on a yearly basis… 100k a year doesn’t do it for you?