Kevin Kelley has got me thinking. While he’s blogging away in California, I’m having the exact same thoughts and discussions with people here in North Carolina. Wild!
Consider this article written in March: 1,000 True Fans. It quantifies what life in the long tail is like if an artist has a number of “true fans” who would basically buy anything at a given price level year-in and year-out. And it concludes that with 1,000 true fans, art is sustainable at a very reasonable cost.
But then in April, he argues against himself in The Case Against 1,000 True Fans. His argument is that while the math is valid, there simply are not any musicians who have 1,000 true fans (other than those who benefited from the legacy of the old-world music biz). And he’s asked his (substantial) readership to either help him find three (3) such people, or concede his case to Jaron Lanier.
Do you know of any such people? I’d love to meet them!