I found a link to an old story in the New York Times magazine called “Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog.” It was published last year, but in web time, that’s old.
The gist of the well-written and appealing story is this: new and/or struggling musicians can make a decent living without record labels and big marketing machines if they harness the power of the web by starting blogs, running discussion boards, and interacting with fans, who want to feel connected.
Musicmakers and Blogupdaters
Heavily featured in the piece is a musician named Jonathan Coulton, who quit the 9 to 5 to write and perform music. He posts a new tune on his blog every week. Coulton’s earning a decent income selling his music online, and he’s managed to build quite a fan community.
One fan creates illustrations (for free) for each of his songs. Other fans make videos for his songs and post them on YouTube, which promotes his music and creates even more fans. Yet another fan built a web site to archive fan-made videos.
Coulton makes (and saves) money when traveling by doing what I call “target touring.” He polls readers to find where they live and schedules a concert if there are more than 100 fans in a given area. That way, he knows a show will sell well, and he endears himself to fans even more by hitting smaller towns where other acts rarely tread.
Coulton says he makes between $3,000 to $5,000 a month selling his music, and a few thousand people visit his blog every day. What’s the “secret” behind his success? Connecting with fans. His fan devotion quotient runs high because he spends up to six hours a day responding to blog comments and e-mail.
“‘People always think that when you’re a musician you’re sitting around strumming your guitar, and that’s your job,’ he said. ‘But this’ — he clicked his keyboard theatrically — ‘this is my job.’”
Interacting with fans and readers is a sometimes tedious, oftentimes joyful task, but it’s necessary for new and struggling artists of any kind in the digital age. For those who want to make money, at any rate.
Long Tale About the Long Tail
The article is almost 5,000 words and contains what I consider fascinating information on how bands like The Hold Steady became successful posting music and videos online and through online word-of-mouth. The band has generated a legion of fans who volunteer their services, making concert posters and helping organize other fans.
(Side note: If you’ve never heard of The Hold Steady, it doesn’t matter. Thousands have, and that’s more than enough to garner a band some measure of success.)
Bands who manage to connect with fans in a sincere way have, in essence, created a promotion department. The “employees” don’t want money; they want to be part of the band’s world, to feel connected. I know I do. 
An independent band called OK Go ended up finding mainstream success and winning a Grammy for best video after they posted a low budget, homemade video of the band dancing on treadmills to one of their songs. (Sounds weird to me, but I’m not part of their demographic.) Naturally, the video went viral, and the rest is history. Yes, musicians can survive and even thrive in the long tail, if they persist. And a little creativity and originality doesn’t hurt.
Unshrouded and Unguarded
Bands without a label or on independent labels trying to make it can’t afford not to interact with fans. And the ground is fresh for mining! Where else but online can you create an instant connection to thousands of people, most of whom only want to adore you and listen to your music?
But there’s a trade-off. The Hold Steady’s lead singer Tad Kubler waxes nostalgic about days when rock stars were mysterious. Fans knew little about their day-to-day lives. The mystery was part of the draw, because you could only imagine what their lives were like.
The era of the elusive hermit-like rocker is over, unless the rocker is already signed to a major label or very successful independent label with a powerful marketing machine.
What about bands who like to party hard with fans? Ah, the good old days! In the digital age, drunk and rowdy musicians can and do end up being talked about on blogs. With photos and videos! As the article notes, journalists aren’t the only people musicians have to watch out for these days. As a result, some musicians may be more guarded when interacting publicly with fans.
Elusive or otherwise, bands should add discussion boards to their main web sites, at the very least. Blogs are better; however, blogs are like open confessionals, and there’s the temptation (compulsion?) of getting too personal with strangers (I face it, too). Kubler says he gets around the too-much-information problem by keeping his home life offline.
Here’s another problem: If you’re any good, you will attract the attention of nuts and stalkers (a bigger concern for bands who can’t afford to hire security people) and other cowards. 
I have so much more to say about this, but the post would be five blog pages long. Note to self: Must turn these ideas into salable articles…get paid and have fun writing about bands and fans.
Once again, I urge you to read the entire article.
(Top photo credit: Jennifer Karady for The New York Times)
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