If you have a habit of following music industry news, then you don’t need me to tell you that "DIY" is the new black. In fact, as far as abbreviations go, it may be the industry’s equivalent of texting teenager favorites: LOL and IMHO. Keeping this in mind, it is increasingly important to view yourself as an entrepreneur, and the music/merch you create as your unique contribution to the marketplace. In a seemingly oversaturated market, perhaps even trumping nail salons, coffee shops, and fast food joints, selling your music goods to consumers should be your #1 obsession…behind, of course, making music.

Ultimately, you, the artist, are creating products (CDs, merch, etc) and selling them to your customers, or fans. In other words, you’re running a Business to Consumer (B2C) operation. Let’s make up a fun "business sounding" term just for you: Artist to Fan (A2F). As any bright, hustling, go-getting entrepreneur would, once in a while you need to stop and look at the numbers and consider what is actually selling and what isn’t. The key to actually monetizing your music career, other than creating quality music and establishing a fan base, is knowing what actually sells.

According to the Huffington Post, physical album sales dropped 20% last year while digital album sales rose 32%. Digital track sales, on the other hand, were up by 27% from the previous year. So clearly it’s a digital age. The gap between the artist and fan is much narrower and it’s becoming increasingly easier to build the A2F relationship directly through social networks and media. You can use this to your advantage by selling directly to your fans and then providing them with something unique (i.e. a personal thank you via email along with a special offer). And get this, indie artists were the most successful in CD sales last year so this is truly your time to shine.

Unfortunately, with the digital age comes piracy. However, rather than discourage you, this should be an opportunity for you to expand your "business" into other venues … namely, venues themselves. The concert business has actually seen an increase in sales (7% just in North America) according to an article in the New York Times. The experience of a concert is unlike anything for a fan and many will pay an arm and a leg to see their favorite musicians perform … even if they’re one of the first to be illegally downloading that same artist’s music. Luckily for you, you have to play shows if you want to make it in the music industry because that is how you get your name out there and build your fan base.

Besides creating an emotional (and necessary) connection with consumers, who are most likely your current and perhaps potential fans, playing concerts has many added benefits. Take merch sales for instance. For many musicians, merch sales are their bread and butter. Similar to concerts, merch cannot be downloaded for free. And we all know how much fans love to represent artists they love by rocking their shirts, stickers, pins, etc. Unfortunately, this often requires upfront costs. Fortunately, shameless plug aside, the Audiolife platform was designed specifically to offer artists cost-effective options for designing and selling merch on-demand directly to fans while also giving them the option to buy merch for gigs with no minimum order requirements.

Now of course every artist is different. Some sell more CDs than merch and vice versa. As noted previously, this is why looking at what is actually selling is a huge component of generating consistent revenue streams. It’s also important to stay on top of trends (i.e. digital albums v. physical albums) to see where the market is going so you can anticipate how to "grow" your music business. The A2F relationship, because it is becoming increasingly easier for you to sell directly to your fans, is the nucleus of your business. Without figuring out what your fan base is responding to, what they want, and what they demand, your music business will most likely go the way of so many businesses before it. Entrepreneurship is the driving force behind the economy, so in a time where every industry from medicine to music is changing, you have the unique opportunity to ride the DIY tide. Is A2F 2G2BT? We think not.