1,000 fans = £100,000 a year.

You’re being lied to! Identity Music has uncovered the vital secret in securing music success. As it turns out, you don’t actually need millions of fans in order to be a successful musician. In fact, you can actually earn a living with just 1000 fans, possibly even less!

All this time, people have had you thinking you need to be an international sensation with ten million streams to make a living. But that’s not the case! With just 1000 fans, you could make the big bucks you need to quit the day job.

But hold on a second, to be clear, these aren’t just any fans. This isn’t someone who streams your music once and follows you on Instagram. No, what we are talking about are true fans. The difference between the two is that a true fan will be dedicated to you and your sound. For instance, a true fan will stream your music regularly, attend any live events and buy all your cool merch.

In brief, there is a simple formula for success. According to the 1,000 True Fan Theory by Kevin Kelly, you could be earning £100,000 a year from a network of 1000 fans. In order to do this, you would need to create enough content to make £100 profit from each true fan in a year. Then, you will need to sustain a network of 1000 true fans. Now, getting a thousand customers seems a lot easier than a million followers, right?

Importantly, the £100 profit or 1000 fans count is not an absolute. These values would be adjusted to specifically suit your income needs. For example, the average UK Salary in 2019 was £30,350. By that figure, in order to make the average UK Salary, you would need your 1000 true fans to bring in £30.35 each. Now when you think about that, suddenly it seems within your grip. All you need to do is find 304 fans who are willing to invest £100 each year on your products.

While the support of your 1000 true fans will make you a living, there is no harm in having followers who engage and make occasional purchases. These infrequent fans will still expand your income further than that 1000 by boosting up your sales and your streaming numbers.

Just because it seems more obtainable, doesn’t mean that it’s gonna be easy though. The reality is that building and sustaining a network of true fans will likely be very time consuming. It can be a full time job in itself. But, technology has provided an easier way to create and maintain these relationships. It has never been easier to gather 1000 people and keep them close.

The 1000 true fans theory offers a different path. Trying to crack the top 1% and be a global phenomenon can be exciting and pull some artists into success. For others, that mountain is just too daunting to climb. This way, you’ll be surrounded by a small network who truly appreciate you work. It’s a destination you’re more likely to arrive it and one that you can thrive in.

But every artist is different, and it’s not suited to some artist’s goals. So, spend some time and work out what you want. Do you want to put music out that has a small and dedicated fan base, which enables you to quit the day job? Or would you rather play to sold-out stadiums with thousands of fans screaming your name? If you work out what you need, you can start to steer the car in the right direction. Just remember, you don’t need to go platinum to make a killing.

Check out our recent blog about Free Music Promotion Strategies to start building the 1,000. Or, see what music promotion support Identity Music can offer here.