Back in the 90’s, when I made my living as a singer-songwriter, having a website was primarily a place to keep existing fans up-to-date with my touring schedule. It was a vehicle for advertising, not a vehicle for distribution and discovery. Now, with the evolution of Web 2.0 and user-driven websites like myspace and youtube, all that has changed. Careers are being made entirely online, and the days of being able to build an audience without a savvy internet presence are gone.
This weekend’s insightful New York Times article about songwriter Jonathan Coulton’s internet success, forwarded on to me by the great indie-distributor folks at CDBaby, and also featured on Slashdot and BoingBoing, is a great meta-example of the whole process. An article about a musician building a career through his website and online interaction with his fans, is passed along relationally through e-mail and other websites, creating new fans for Jonathan Coulton… (Do check out his songs — I nearly spit coffee all over my desk listening to First of May…)
In some small way, we here at Resident Media Pundit hope to help this leveling of the playing field for independent artists. Maybe by reading some of our music reviews of lesser-known indie artists (like me!), you’ll become a fan, purchase a song or two online, and continue to make it possible for musicians to make a living without the support of traditional major labels, brick-and-mortar CD distribution, and large marketing budgets.
