Indi Artists and 1,000 True Fans

We all have felt it. We all know it's there. We feel it in the way our habits have changed and the doors opened or closed.

For most the impact is in how we get our news and entertainment or approach shopping. You no longer head to your local music store, whether it be a small independent shop or a monster Best Buy. You don't get the New York Times delivered because you can read it on-line. If you need final proof, it's in how many of my friends no longer have cable. Why pay for it when I can get it for free on Hulu?

We all are listening to the old model of producing entertainment take its last rasping breaths. Just because analysts have been saying it for years doesn't mean that they're wrong. When's the last time you bought a CD? Compare the number of books you bought in 2002 to 2009. The blockbuster, Top 40, Brittney-Spears-mega-seller business model is on its way out. The time of the independent artist is rising.

But in the vacuum being left how is the independent artist to breath? The path used to be laid before us, even if it wasn't simple: Get agent, write proposal, struggle, try to make enough money to support all those that have failed. Rinse. Repeat.

Now we are faced with a world of uncertainty. Should I take this risk. Can I still feed my family if I do. What if no one buys it? What if no one is listening? What if I'm not a NYTimes Best Seller? Add to the mix that most artists have no idea what it means to be business savvy and we're facing a scary cocktail.

Kevin Kelly's 1,000 True Fans Theory has been making the rounds and it makes a lot of sense. It's how I comfort myself in the cold, wet, dark of the night when my teddy has rolled beneath the bed and I've convinced myself that I'll never amount to anything.

Best described in his own words:

A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

Kelly continues by elaborating on the concentric circles of supporting fans that may not buy everything but still support your work. (Every indi artist should read this. Hell! Everyone should read this. As a consumer of indi work you should understand how your artist survives).

The “1,000” number is really an X value. X = The Number of Fans Needed to Keep Your Work Alive. I (and many others) believe that this is the new business model we're all fitting into. Using the tools of technology to keep close to our fans ~ Twitter, Facebook, iLike, and (thank god) Kickstarter. We connect to you directly and you tell us what you think. The feedback loop is strong and supportive. The best example of this are Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day. Watch how they play with their fans on Twitter and you'll see what I mean.

But how do we get to our X number? Starting with our families and friends, how do we push beyond? The theory leaves us with a model but few techniques. The artist is left screaming into the static of the web looking for a way to be heard. Hoping that everyone they spam that YouTube link to will forward or repost it. An artist can't go viral without their help.

The artist is still found to be hoping that their work and their fans are strong enough to bring in more. The anxiety of the mass market is still there, still very real. We talk about not living in the shadow of Blockbuster production; but we're also living without it's shield.

With the direct link to the artist now available, Fans have more power than they ever have. They can tell an artist exactly what they think and feel the ripples of the opinion. But, as we know from Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Without the viral effect, without art pushing beyond the original audience, it eventually dies. The artist can not sustain production. No fan wants to feel put-upon, so what is the artist to do?

Keep producing. Keep Twittering. Keep clutching the bear in the night and dreaming of new ways to reach out into the static.