What’s the standard for being a successful artist?

[OnlyOneBoss]

Convo on X the Everything App








Let’s just take 5,000 followers (cause streams aren’t really a good metric)

If you sell out one 400 seat venue for a SOLO show that’s almost 10% of your fanbase…at one show

After you split with the venue, after selling merch and doing whatever else, that’s an easy 10 racks minimum in one night.

You do 10 shows with that same volume and that’s 100k. And if you’re pulling in 10% of your fanbase at one show it’s safe to assume you have real life motion and word of mouth on your side, so 10 shows ain’t even a problem to get.

That’s 100k a year purely off shows for your music. Not even including festivals which you’re probably getting with that kinda pull.

And any artist that can consistently get 10% of their fanbase to come out is getting 6 figure deals put in front of them…


If that’s not being successful as an artist then what is? all you gotta do is make music.

And assuming you’re an indie artist with nobody else to break off. 400k streams a month is like $1500 just from Spotify.

Folks gotta be realistic man, everyone can’t be Drake


There are artists nobody on this site has ever heard of, that get like 60k streams a month on average and are living good lives.

 

[010101]

the community/culture only acknowledges excess & wastefulness*

 

[Cloutius Maximus]

I think I read somewhere that if you can get 50k people to consistently financially support you as artist (even sending you $10 via Bandcamp for your new mixtape), you can eat off that in perpetuity. You won't be rich necessarily, but you are essentially making low 6 figures a year as an artist which is a pretty good deal.

Getting 50 thousand people to actually PAY for your art is easier said than done. Building a base that will follow you throughout your career means earning their trust. For example, you may think Earl Sweatshirt is boring but he has 50k people who will buy anything he puts out.

 

[OnlyOneBoss]

I think I read somewhere that if you can get 50k people to consistently financially support you as artist (even sending you $10 via Bandcamp for your new mixtape), you can eat off that in perpetuity. You won't be rich necessarily, but you are essentially making low 6 figures a year as an artist which is a pretty good deal.

Getting 50 thousand people to actually PAY for your art is easier said than done. Building a base that will follow you throughout your career means earning their trust. For example, you may think Earl Sweatshirt is boring but he has 50k people who will buy anything he puts out.

Absolutely

Personally i’d go even lower, and say that 10k good, consistent fans, can carry you for years. Think about dudes like Oddisee, Navy Blue, etc. Dudes with their niche fanbase. Even Asher Roth still booked and busy all throughout Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California..

10k people willing to spend $10 a year on you is already 100k. Not rich at all, But still better off than most people.

Earl hasn’t even sniffed the mainstream in like a decade but i’m positive he’s still pulling in like high 6 figures-low 7(on a good year)…yearly.

Doing that purely off music is amazing fr

 

[skyrunner1]

I think I read somewhere that if you can get 50k people to consistently financially support you as artist (even sending you $10 via Bandcamp for your new mixtape), you can eat off that in perpetuity. You won't be rich necessarily, but you are essentially making low 6 figures a year as an artist which is a pretty good deal.

Getting 50 thousand people to actually PAY for your art is easier said than done. Building a base that will follow you throughout your career means earning their trust. For example, you may think Earl Sweatshirt is boring but he has 50k people who will buy anything he puts out.

I remember reading Tribes in '08 and Seth Godin spoke on this, such a mind shift at the time (I think the app store opened same year but people werent using apps like that or carrying their social media everywhere yet).. Talked about just having I think 1k or 10k people being able to build around that.. Ive seen it happen multiple times and now people are a decade plus building their social media brands/following.. Most dont know how to monetize but those that do.. sheesh..

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

Owning your output

 

[skyrunner1]

Absolutely

Personally i’d go even lower, and say that 10k good, consistent fans, can carry you for years. Think about dudes like Oddisee, Navy Blue, etc. Dudes with their niche fanbase. Even Asher Roth still booked and busy all throughout Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California..

10k people willing to spend $10 a year on you is already 100k. Not rich at all, But still better off than most people.

Earl hasn’t even sniffed the mainstream in like a decade but i’m positive he’s still pulling in like high 6 figures-low 7(on a good year)…yearly.

Doing that purely off music is amazing fr

Exactly my thought.. I was like 50k is huge numbers.. a good solid 10k with a tight loyal following and identity/message, artist like Curren$y comes to mind.. Curren$y is like the epitome of the tribes book, its like he read it and based his career on it fr. Russ is another. Saba. I feel like alot of artist in late aughts into early '10s followed that formula to mainstream success also..

 

[Cryptocurrency Scarface]

I don’t know why only 5,000 IG followers matters if you have 400,000 monthly listeners

Monthly listeners > IG followers who might be following you for other bs and not music

An even better metric is your Spotify and Band camp followers

Like everyone is saying 400 people going to every show is all that matters

 

[OnlyOneBoss]

I don’t know why only 5,000 IG followers matters if you have 400,000 monthly listeners

Monthly listeners > IG followers who might be following you for other bs and not music

An even better metric is your Spotify and Band camp followers

Like everyone is saying 400 people going to every show is all that matters

to be fair, you could be featured on one or two songs by bigger artists and that would inflate your monthly streams

 

[⠀X ⠀]

If you can consistently make $150k (give or take) from your art, I’d say you’re successful.

 

[WIA20XX]

I saw a Hieroglyphics a couple weeks back at a relatively small venue - 500? - that sold out on Tuesday night. 40-60 bucks ahead for souls, del, casual, pep Love, and Agallah.

Zero merch left.

They were never massive, just on the college radio/underground tip.

They been eating off the same albums from 93-94 for 30+ years, on to of putting out be joints.

I'd call that success.

If I could have made money doing the same stuff I was doing 93 into 2026.....

 

[OnlyOneBoss]

I saw a Hieroglyphics a couple weeks back at a relatively small venue - 500? - that sold out on Tuesday night. 40-60 bucks ahead for souls, del, casual, pep Love, and Agallah.

Zero merch left.

They were never massive, just on the college radio/underground tip.

They been eating off the same albums from 93-94 for 30+ years, on to of putting out be joints.

I'd call that success.

If I could have made money doing the same stuff I was doing 93 into 2026.....

Breh this reminded me, I saw GZA a couple years ago at a random venue. They announced it the day before and the shyt was SOLD OUT day.

Nobody else, just GZA. Packed venue of about 300 people going word for word with him.

Not even a big city, it was a lil suburb like 2 hours outside Portland.