We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alan Voss a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
As an Independent Music Artist, I think the biggest challenge to profitability is the Music Streaming Ecosystem that Independent Artists are forced to accept. Technology has advanced to the point where I could record my dog snoring and within hours upload it to a streaming service. Anyone and everyone can create music in their bedroom and upload it.
While this is an amazing opportunity for Independent Artists, it also creates an echo chamber, making it difficult to get your music heard.
The other aspect is the ridiculously low income that Artists make when their songs are streamed. It is a double edged sword where on one side you are not taken seriously if your music is not available to stream and on the other side artists are basically giving their music away for free.
If an artist is interested in putting out whatever fits the mold with the goal of getting the most streams while constantly putting out content in order to get attention the odds are more likely that they will have some success. As for me and artists that are interested in making art for art’s sake, profitability more difficult.
I’m a firm believer that society works best when people are operating in their strengths. A minority of artists are able to focus only on making art and not on trying to be like a used car salesman in a gorilla suit making commercials for attention.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
From a very young age I was attracted to music. By age 9 or 10 I new that I wanted to be. A professional musician. I have always been self-motivated, often practicing an instrument while my friends played games outside as a child for example.
A life in music has always gotten me through rough spots in life. It has always been a source of hope and dreams.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
If there is something that I feel passionate about, I figure out a way to accomplish it. I can remember when I started as a drummer I would pick up a guitar at band practice and plink around. People would say “please don’t !” or “Stick to drums!” My passion for guitar grew however so I started taking lessons and began music school two years later.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice
I don’t fully understand NFT’s but it seems to me that they are a great way for musical artists to generate income outside of relying on profits from streaming. A way to offer unique content or products for listeners while offering another income stream.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alanvossmusic.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/alanvossmusicdotcom?igshid=MzMyNGUyNmU2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alanvossmusicdotcom?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@subv7?si=3oTzAaCAz3nZzSK3
- Spotify: https://spotify.link/MbTZQFruXCb
Image Credits
@mfphotographykc