Another 'Exception'? Jonathan Coulton Making Half A Million A Year With No Record Label (original) (raw)

from the and-on-and-on-and-on dept

We’ve mentioned musician Jonathan Coulton a bunch of times in the past when talking about musicians and embracing new business models. He’s definitely a great example of someone who charted his own path and was able to make a living doing so. However, the only dollar figure we’d seen was that, soon after he’d committed to music, he was making $5,000 per month. That was four or five years ago, if I remember correctly. However, the Planet Money team over at NPR caught up with him recently, and he noted that in 2010 he brought in about half a million dollars. Of course, defenders of the old system will insist that he’s an “exception,” but, really, just how many exceptions do we need until people realize that the market is changing rapidly, and those who embrace new models and new methods of distribution are finding that they can make a lot more money than they did in the past.

Coulton is an interesting case for a variety of reasons. He tried to become a professional musician 20 years ago, but was unable to make it work. It’s only through the power of the internet that he was able to become a success this time around. This is a point that gets missed quite frequently in these discussions. Part of what’s so exciting to many of us about the world today is that those who wouldn’t have been able to become professional musicians at all in the past now have an opportunity to do so. Yes, plenty will fail, but under the old system, almost everyone failed. Today, a much larger percentage of people wishing to be musicians can find their community, can find their niche and they can make pretty good money doing so. As Coulton notes:

Coulton says sure, he’s niche. But there are a lot of niches out there for others to find, with more forming all the time. After all, he says, that’s what the Internet is.

Filed Under: business model, jonathan coulton