Internet Rock Star Tells All

[Westorbust7]

 

Jonathan Coulton's songs almost never get played on the radio. He doesn't have a contract with a music label. Yet he's a one man counterargument to the idea that musicians can't make money making music. In 2010, Coulton's music brought in about $500,000 in revenue. And since his overhead costs are very low, most of that money went straight to him. Read More: How Coulton went from computer programmer to Internet rock star Did he ever expect to make that kind of money as a musician? "Of course not," he says. "This is absurd."

 

Internet Rock Star Tells All

 

Well, shiver me timbers. That could give a person hope.

[tim_7string]

 

Internet Rock Star Tells All Well, shiver me timbers. That could give a person hope.

 

 

Hmmm...

 

"So is Coulton a beacon that other musicians can follow? Or is he an anomaly, a niche musician who, through a lucky fluke, found an equally niche audience."

 

I'm going with the latter. This definitely won't work for someone like me. I'm not wacky. I'm not funny. I'm not nerdy (well, I am but not in my music, haha).

[Westorbust7]

nothing ever works for everyone. The answer here is niche and having the will to explore. There's no easy track, that's for sure. Just an example of someone that is doing well, found a niche that works and is raking in the cash. kudos to him.

[Westorbust7]

http://www.jonathancoulton.com/

 

and just looking at his website, the idea that you need some kind of pro-flash monstrosity goes down in flames, something I've always felt was true. There's nothing more annoying than wading through layers of flash animations, drop down menus, auto-play songs, and semi-pro photo shoot galleries for an artist I've never heard of, but that's just my opinion. Give me the goods, plain and simple.

[Grubgoat]

He says at the end - "Twenty years ago, I moved to New York City to make a living as a musician, and instead I got a software job," Coulton says. "So the answer is no."

 

I tend to believe that part of his success is that he's paid some dues. If he's been writing songs for 20 years, its possible he's "found his voice" and is adept at songwriting, which is itself a rare thing, and that might have just as much to do with his "sudden success" as any clever marketing niche, etc.

[Poker99]

I agree Grubgoat. He also probably made enough money with his job to invest in his artistic carreer.

[richardmac]

 

nothing ever works for everyone. The answer here is niche and having the will to explore. There's no easy track, that's for sure. Just an example of someone that is doing well, found a niche that works and is raking in the cash. kudos to him.

 

 

Perfect summary. There's a market out there for almost anything. Some markets are huge and others microscopic. He did not prove that there's a clear path to success for everyone. But he did prove that success is still possible.

[Westorbust7]

 

He says at the end - "Twenty years ago, I moved to New York City to make a living as a musician, and instead I got a software job," Coulton says. "So the answer is no." I tend to believe that part of his success is that he's paid some dues. If he's been writing songs for 20 years, its possible he's "found his voice" and is adept at songwriting, which is itself a rare thing, and that might have just as much to do with his "sudden success" as any clever marketing niche, etc.

 

 

well, the barrier to creating and recording music is pretty small financially these days, not so much 20 years ago. Unless your born rich or a 1 in a million success, everyone has to have another job until/if they can make their dreams work. Like I said, there isn't a magic bullet for everyone, and not everyone is cut out to make 500k selling their music independently. I find it interesting that when you post a positive story on how a person has found success doing music people have to find a way to crap all over it. We all make excuses for our short comings and why other people are successful when your not, god knows I do.

[richardmac]

Well, I believe it's 50-50. I think that we DO want to say "Oh, artist X has so-so talent, they got lucky, that won't work for me." But I also think that we are trying to find a map through the jungle, so when we find one and it says "get in a plane and fly over it," we get annoyed because we don't have a plane, so it's not useful. I'm not saying that his experience isn't useful - there will be some who will do what he did and succeed, and many more who will fail. People want answers and there are none and that's frustrating. That pretty much sums up this entire forum.

 

The trick is to not get discouraged. The vast majority of us will never make a living at this and that's not a huge tragedy - it's just the way it is. Therefore we have to make sure that our greed for fame or money (or even making a living) does not kill our love of music.

[Westorbust7]

good points richard. Many more have to fail than succeed, it's why good artists are good. It's easier to "rise to the top" if you are really talented, but a lot can be said for sticking to it and being creative to find a niche. Not everyone can be famous. Look at the zillions of people that sign up here to chat about guitar or whatever.

 

Don't give up, be creative, stick your neck out, and make sure you have a way to support yourself either way.

[BlackBelt]

I think that "success" is measured in different terms by almost everyone. There are a lot of great artists with great songs that aren't going to make it. If they measure their life by how much money they are making with their music, they are probably going to be very disappointed. However, what it boils down to for most of us is this: yes, we will have to work other jobs to fund our creative outlet. And yes, we will probably have to at some point accept that we might not be a commercial success musically. However, if we write what we believe in, and whats in our hearts, we can measure a lifetime with a body of work that is truly a personal testament to what and who we were. And at the end of your life you can look back and say, "well, at least I did THAT".

 

That, and really, seriously, most (but certainly not all) of the unsigned original artists that I hear have something in most of their songs that doesn't click. And success in any business is first about having a great product or service, and knowing how to sell that great product or service. Its a very subjective thing, but almost every musician knows when they hear something that isn't quite right in someone else's song. I've recently had publishers tell me "Yeah, something about this song isn't working, and I can't put my finger on what it is exactly, but....".

When I hear that from 3 or more publishers, I woodshed that song again and re-work it or trash it and never listen to it again. It's hard to be objective about your own music, but it's easy to get advice from people that you trust. Sometimes you've gotta take their advice to heart, and not keep beating a dead horse (or pitching/playing a broken song).

 

Good songs and unique talent will sell, but maybe not a lot. You might not be living in the lap of luxury, and you might not be able to quit your job as the guy that cleans the returned rental bowling shoes. But if just selling a few songs can satisfy you, then that's an achievable goal for anyone....unless you totally suck.

[richardmac]

^ YUP. Great summary.

[uab9253]

 

I think that "success" is measured in different terms by almost everyone. There are a lot of great artists with great songs that aren't going to make it. If they measure their life by how much money they are making with their music, they are probably going to be very disappointed. However, what it boils down to for most of us is this: yes, we will have to work other jobs to fund our creative outlet. And yes, we will probably have to at some point accept that we might not be a commercial success musically. However, if we write what we believe in, and whats in our hearts, we can measure a lifetime with a body of work that is truly a personal testament to what and who we were. And at the end of your life you can look back and say, "well, at least I did THAT". That, and really, seriously, most (but certainly not all) of the unsigned original artists that I hear have something in most of their songs that doesn't click. And success in any business is first about having a great product or service, and knowing how to sell that great product or service. Its a very subjective thing, but almost every musician knows when they hear something that isn't quite right in someone else's song. I've recently had publishers tell me "Yeah, something about this song isn't working, and I can't put my finger on what it is exactly, but....". When I hear that from 3 or more publishers, I woodshed that song again and re-work it or trash it and never listen to it again. It's hard to be objective about your own music, but it's easy to get advice from people that you trust. Sometimes you've gotta take their advice to heart, and not keep beating a dead horse (or pitching/playing a broken song). Good songs and unique talent will sell, but maybe not a lot. You might not be living in the lap of luxury, and you might not be able to quit your job as the guy that cleans the returned rental bowling shoes. But if just selling a few songs can satisfy you, then that's an achievable goal for anyone....unless you totally suck.

 

 

Agreed - but many more have not just a small problem with their music that "doesn't" click - much if it is flat out Gawd-Awful.

[richardmac]

 

Agreed - but many more have not just a small problem with their music that "doesn't" click - much if it is flat out Gawd-Awful.

 

 

Well... yeah. But the majority of the really bad stuff is ignored. Sadly, a lot of really good stuff is ignored, too.

[Matximus]

I think a lot of people miss the point when they point to this guy as an example of modern music success. He came up with an entertaining act; he's is a tireless self-promotor; and he found a niche and went after it. He's in comedy and he sells himself first as the product - which is how comedians go about things. Lotta wannabe music stars think the product is recorded copies of their material, which is why they never get anywhere. Coming up with kinda funny/goofy material is only 1/3 of what he does well. The other 2/3 is marketing and entreprenuarial stuff.

[daddymack]

I think a lot of people miss the point when they point to this guy as an example of modern music success. He came up with an entertaining act; he's is a tireless self-promotor; and he found a niche and went after it. He's in comedy and he sells himself first as the product - which is how comedians go about things. Lotta wannabe music stars think the product is recorded copies of their material, which is why they never get anywhere. Coming up with kinda funny/goofy material is only 1/3 of what he does well. The other 2/3 is marketing and entreprenuarial stuff.

An astute analysis.

He is, indeed, his product, as any entertainer should know.