Larry's Confidence Game CD
For years, now, I have been trying to re-enter the music business in a way that supports me…and I don’t need much in the way of support these days.
There was a time when I was worth about 12 million dollars. I’m not worth that anymore, nor do I need that.
There was also a time when I owed about $800,000 more than I actually had. I certainly don’t need that anymore.
There was a time when I performed in front of huge crowds, the biggest of which was 400,000 in Austin TX. I don’t need that anymore, either.
I began my musical life as a teenager with an acoustic guitar, an interesting voice and songs in my head. As I aged a bit, I would perform for small gatherings in small clubs (Cellar Door, DC; Main Point, PA; etc) full of folks that seemed to listen. I liked that. So, it seemed, did the audiences.
I don’t represent myself well in terms of the music business. I find it hard to self-promote. It’s embarrassing. I need folks to speak (promote) for me…managers, booking agents, etc.
So, over these past few years, I have talked with dozens of these types of characters, big and small in stature, in an effort to resurrect a career, but at a different level than before…a return to the solo, acoustic personae that I began with and am most comfortable with.
There is, just under the music business radar, a huge circuit of small acoustic audiences and venues out there for a host of newer acoustic characters that have emerged…Greg Brown, Ellis Paul, Matt Duke, Amos Lee…even some older guys like me…Steve Forbert, John Prine.
If nothing else, it seems to me that sheer numbers should pique someone’s interest.
It goes like this:
- Firefall has sold, to date, about10-12 million units (albums/CDs). We released 6 albums. That’s about 2 million units of each item.
- We can assume that 12 million different individuals each bought one, or we can assume that the same 2 million folks bought one of each of the six…or we can assume something else. I like the second assumption.
- So, there’s an assumed Firefall fan base of 2 million people, worldwide.
- Let’s further assume that some percentage of those 2 million actually were more drawn to my songwriting than to the hits that Rick Roberts wrote and we became famous for. Let’s say that that percentage is 10% (see how modest I am?)…200,000 sets of ears.
- Let’s assume they are all still alive and interested in what I’m doing and that 75% of them live in the United States…that’s 150,000.
- Divide that by 50 (number of states)…3,000.
- This suggests that if there are 10 300-seat venues in each state (more in some, less in others) I should be able to sell out a properly promoted show in each of the venues.
- Let’s assume a ticket price of $20. That’s $6000 with, say, 80% to the Artist ($4800) and $720 of that to the Agent…times 250 shows a year. That’s $180,000 a year to the agent.
First of all, check my math.
Then tell me, why would one not be interested in such a thing?
If you are, get in touch.
LB
www.larryburnett.com