Amanda Palmer Sells $15,000 Worth Of Music & Merch In Three Minutes http://bit.ly/aSX730
Amanda Palmer, recently dropped by her record label to her great pleasure, has been experimenting with different revenue models to fund her music. (Note I didn’t say “selling her music”.) She’s a big believer in the Techdirt formula of Connect with Fans and give them a Reason to Buy (something) and you have profit. Or at least a decent income for the work of making music.
From our view here at Bandcamp HQ, yesterday’s launch of Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele less resembled a record release than a coordinated strike of ravenous piranha. In one three minute period, her fanbase snapped up $15,000 in music and merch. It didn’t let up much from there: 4,000 digital EPs were sold, the vinyl sold out, most of the high end packages disappeared in minutes, and at the time of this writing, it looks like every other package will be gone in a matter of days
Different options giving fans different places to connect, including a “pay what you like” option. The money is there but artists have to “think different”. Remember, if you have 1000 real fans, who can be provided with something of $10 value a month (on average) in music, merchandise, tickets or participation, then that’s a comfortable $120K a year.