Don't Cater to Average: Your Fans Will Support You

It's easy to get depressed when you see research numbers like this, as reported by Billboard several weeks ago:

According to data released this week by Nielsen, recorded music has a 3.7% share of U.S. household entertainment expenses.

Recorded music gets less of a household's entertainment spending than video games, movies, sports and reading material. Each year for the last decade, music spending has dropped as consumers spend less on CDs.

Many artists and music companies respond to this news by slashing prices, giving away even more of their creative output, and catering to the lowest common denominator.

My advice: Remember, these figures are averages. They include people who never spend money on music, people who spend a little, and music enthusiasts who spend thousands of dollars a year on CDs, music downloads, and concert tickets.

If you create a business model that caters only to the average, you're doing a disservice to yourself and your fans!

Sure, there are plenty of music consumers out there looking mainly for freebies and bargain prices. But there are also plenty of people who spend way more than 3.7% of their entertainment budget on music.

There are people who love to support the indie acts they enjoy. There are lots of people who aren't squeamish about spending a good chunk of change on stuff that will add pleasure to their lives.

And I'll bet some of those people are on your mailing list or in your audience right now.

Give them an opportunity to support you! Don't play small by catering to averages.

You're not an average musician, are you? And neither are the people who make up your fanbase.

-Bob

P.S. This rant was inspired by this post from Seth Godin.