Musician makes 26.3% of his net income from just 40 hard- core fans | Hacker News Reader

Musician makes 26.3% of his net income from just 40 hard- core fans

musicthinktank.com

38 pointsdan_sim12 comments

Imagine what it will be like for him when he gets to 1,000?

And imagine what happens if he loses just ten. That sword cuts both ways.

As a musician, it's much harder to lose fans than it is to gain.

Really?

I would assume that's true for the best ones (survivorship bias), but on average, there are probably more musicians who just fizzle out and disappear after a few years...

In related news, Botticelli made ~100% of his net income from the Medicis.

Which is to say, what role does/can patronage play in the modern world?

That is a great point & one that has been floating around in my head. What is the qualitative difference between a fan & a patron? It doesn't seem like you would expect the same kinds of people in these categories.

Patrons get to directly tell you what to create, where a fan is get's to tell you if they liked what you created.

Yes, this was a big deal in the evolution from music from the Renaissance to post-Renaissance. Normally musicians were employed by the wealthy, often church and royalty. This rather limited the variety of music coming out. The French Revolution, and related social change rather downgraded the importance and wealth of royalty. Some of this related social change was the Industrial Revolution, which helped create more of a middle class and spread the wealth around, also consolidating people more in cities.

So then, you had sorta the same problems any entrepreneur has. You go from having a boss...to having thousands. So they could and did compose different stuff, but the composers who ate well were the ones who could write popular stuff. Obviously they could push the envelope a bit as there's always those who appreciate novelty. So they went after the folks who now had disposable income, in the places where they were conveniently lumped together (as the geographic distribution wasn't quite as favorable before then, and the working classes didn't really have the spare money anyway).

There is a lot to dissect from this interview for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The goal is not to get big fast (although that is so sweet), but to engage with your "brand" advocates to help make your living and expand your reach.

I personally don't like it when everything that is extended to entrepreneurs.

I posted it for independant musicians (and there seems to be a lot among us) that want to make a living from music. I don't think it really applies for entrepreneurs in general.

Independent musicians trying to make a living from their music are entrepreneurs, and most of what I saw in the article definitely applies to someone bootstrapping a startup.

In this case though it seems applicable to at least some sub-set of startups.

Our company, admittedly B2B focused, would not be where it is today if we hadn't engaged strongly with a large customer right off and made them impressed and happy with our service. Not only did that secure a solid revenue stream, but it gave us a great referencable client, and people who were bring our name up in conversations just because they liked what we did for them.

You don't get to choose what ideas apply to. It's a matter of logic, not taste.

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