Indie Artist Makes $4.2 Million in 2008
In a recent Lefsetz recent post, Corey Smith, an underground folk/country/rock artist, was the topic of discussion.
Why?
He and his manager will be grossing $4.2 million this year! That’s pretty impressive as an indie, but here’s the kicker: It was all built on giving away the music.
Smith is your every day Southern American guy who sings about drinking, the plight of the American soldier, his friends, and his youth. You check out the lyrics, you learn a little about him, and you understand how he’s building his own tribe. His myspace top friends are mainly all soldiers, he has beer koozies as part of merch aresnal, he has a direct relationship with his fans (he’ll email you the free tracks you want), and he’s selling $5 tickets for upcoming shows to make it easy for people to take a chance on him.
One of the most interesting parts of Lefsetz’ post was Corey’s Itunes Sales went down at the same time they stopped giving away the music.
Giving away the music actually helped his Itunes sales!
There’s hope. Make sure you have solid music, make it easy for people to become potential fans, stay in constant contact with the converted, and make it easy for the converted to spread the word about you.
Take Control of Your Music,
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Category: Digital Music, Music Business Commentary, Music Career, Music Industry News, Music Marketing
[...] just posted about Corey Smith. This man gives away his music and people flock to him. He realizes that the idea of piracy is [...]
[...] fees go up, if concert prices go up, if the customers keep getting screwed they will simply turn to other artists. Artists who are not working with the dinosaurs. Artists who are creating real connections and real [...]
[...] In December I wrote about Corey Smith, the indie artist who grossed $4.2 million last year. Lefsetz pointed out how Corey and his manager are doing it via free music. [...]
This is bull. The numbers do not add up. I wish well for Corey, but the manager has to show paper on this claim and he can’t. This is a hype job gone South. Not all publicity is good publicity either.