I read The Long Tail a couple months ago, and that among various other sources on the internet led me to this conclusion: in order to be a “successful” artist in this day and age, you really don’t need to have more than a few thousand heavy fans.
This would be high unlikely, if not impossible 10-15 years ago. Why? Without the internet to leverage a fan base and the methods of monetization that go along with it, as a band you were hopeless unless a label decides to pick you up and market you.
When I say the word “successful,” I don’t mean packing away millions of dollars. What I’m saying is that with a few thousand fans, any group with knowledge of, understanding of, and proper utilization of new media is in place to bring home a few hundred thousand dollars. Per year. This conclusion was based on the idea of niche markets, and the idea that a distribution mechanism (the internet) is what was needed to make these niche markets viable alternatives to popular markets.
I kind of came to this conclusion privately. Then I read this*:
http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php
and felt really really smart.
The fact that I came to the same conclusion is not really clever as it is indicative of a larger phenomenon – the world is changing, along with the old assumptions of old media. The groundwork is changing, and if you’re a smart artist, you’ll learn and adapt to these new changes. The cool part is that this is all so new, so the rules have a chance to be endlessly and creatively modified quickly before the dust settles, if it ever does.
*Kevin Kelly is brilliant. Read all of his Technium page
