1000 true fans? Bullshit

This blog is bullshit. Having 1000 true fans or around that many for a musician like Robert Rich(link), lets him earn about as much as a local garbage man. The writer of the case against 1000 true fans writes about specific situations where artists earn a certain amount from their true fans. The numbers are dauntingly small and prove that the case against 1000 fans and the problems with theories on surviving with 1000 fans are all true. There is not a way to survive on just having 1000 fans. Even major label pop artists end up in deals where they have no money and don’t break even. Are you that much better than the best? Your probably full of shit.

Robert Rich writes an article that pretty much goes exactly along the lines that I would expect. I feel very badly a person as smart as this man seems makes what he does and I believe he probably deserves more and would get more if people weren't thieves, but as he says that is almost a completely different argument since there is nothing to be done about that. What can be done in the case of 1000 is either getting more fans to support your art full time or not do your art full time. Everyone would define true fan as something different. The artist pulling 150000 a year defines a true fan as someone who give 150 a year, but the author in the table from, “the case against,” considers a true fan someone who gives 10$. Why is that. Does the author have a lower cost within his craft? Im pretty sure expenses would be similar for both arts if i were to argue them. If a painter has at least 1000 people paying at least 150 a year for their work, they probably are a very well known artist. This is an unfair comparison on the same chart as other types of art.

Musicians who are within some part of the old system, whether it be loans from investors, record label contracts or any of the other million contracts there are, are always having a hard time making money. You have to be so lucky, you have to make really good music, and you have to have people like you, alot of people. No record label exec. knows what the fuck is going on anymore, they want you to prove that you will sell your music and make them money on their record label first.

John Scalzi is also write. He writes for a blog and talks about how he has an audience on his website of about 30-40 thousand a day. He has spent many years doing many different things to become such a self made man.(ie:over ten years), as well as writing and selling of course many many books, over 100000 books in 2007 alone. One of his points that sticks out the most to me is when he talks about not getting the money that fans actually shell out. Especially in music if 100 dollars was given to an artist in the old system which is still much of the new system, because of debts, commissions, and costs, the actually cash ever seen may be as much as $20 or as little as less than nothing. Most musicians lose money every time.

I think most people agree with me. 1000 true fans is not enough. You need 1000 true fans to get you more than 1000 more good fans and more than 2000 good fans to get you another 10000 people to be well interested and that 10000 people to mention you to 200000 more of their friends, and so on. Good luck. If youre an artist like me, were all fucked.