Key Of Grey

Photo courtesy of Tom Oliver

December 23rd, 2009 – With all the media coverage of Vancouver lately, you’d think it was a big city. The truth of the matter is that Vancouver is tiny with only just over 550,000 residents. As an artist, it’s very hard to find patrons, and the kind of success that you can enjoy as an independent artist in larger North American cities like New York or LA, just isn’t possible. After all, LA’s population alone is roughly equal to the entire population of Canada.

There are a couple ways to achieve commercial success in music: sign to a major record label who can push you worldwide, or stay independent in a market big enough to support you. In a big city, an independent artist can earn a very good living with careful marketed and planning.

Last week, I came across an online presentation by Timothy Ferris, the author of one of my favorite books, The Four Hour Workweek. In the talk, he referenced an online article by Kevin Kelly called 1000 True Fans. In that article, Kevin Kelly theorizes that it’s possible to make a very good living with only 1000 true fans. He defines true fans as someone who loves what you do and will support you by buying whatever you release.

If each true fan annually spends a hundred dollars each on t-shirts, CD’s, or concert tickets, that potentially earns you $100,000 in revenue per year. That’s a very decent living by most people’s standards. By focusing on those 1000 people, you can target your marketing dollars and energy more effectively. Of course, those 1000 true fans will bring in their friends which means potentially more revenue, and a chance to increase your total true fans.

Mr. Kelly was not the first one to come up with this idea, but his article sums up what many have pondered wonderfully. He also asked his readers if there were any real world examples of this theory in play. There are two separate posts dealing with what he found out.

This gives me hope that artists in small cities can also make a living, if they focus on marketing and personalizing the experience for their fans. For example, a musician might charge $1000 to play a house party. If there are at least 10 fans at that house party, they are getting a personal experience with their favorite band that they couldn’t get in a club or venue for $100 each. I don’t know about you, but I’d love the chance to have my favorite artist play a personal concert in my living room for a $100. The artist gets the satisfaction of a live and intimate show, really connects with his fans, and makes some decent money at the same time. The fans get the opportunity to really connect with the artist. Win-win.

1000 True Fans