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Frankly, the article itself has about the level of authority and coherence of an internet forum post - he just happens to work at CD Baby and posted it there. I think he makes a few good points: 1) That skilled musicians who "deserve to be pros" are subject to the law of supply and demand. 2) That "brilliantly creative bands should stay in the business longer to practice their great ideas until we don't have to guess the intent". Let's start on the second one, because at first glance it might sound like he's being an ass. I think it's totally healthy for musicians and bands to develop their talents in public - through live shows, locally-released CDs and web releases (on the band's page or a bandcamp page). However, there are some dangers to releasing music to wide internet distribution (Itunes, IODA, allmusic.com, etc.). The problem with the latter is that if a few years down the road, you feel that the album represents an amateur version of yourself, it's not easy to remove that album from the world wide web. Also, the first splash you make in the wide internet might be the one in which many of the internet reviewers (such as allmusic.com) form their opinion about what kind of musician you are. Once that opinion is formed, it's very hard to shake. I sometimes feel I made that mistake in releasing "Music at 1/2 Speed" to the www as my first release. Now on many music websites, my "similar bands" and "music styles" are based on that cd rather than my current work. Back on the supply and demand thing, there are very very few musicians who can make a living doing a style of music with a niche appeal (as opposed to a mass appeal). Tom Waits and Bjork are two of them, though both started out doing music that was more mass appeal. Others can pull it off by spending as much time promoting their music to new audiences as making music. Most of my close musical friends have musical day jobs that sustain them - they teach music at a college, or they work in the audio department for a software/video game company. Lastly, even some musicians who are able to go pro find that their niche remains in mass appeal for only a few years, then they need to get a day job again. For example, in the early 2000s, some members of the Anticon hip hop collective were able to go pro, but I imagine many of them are in day jobs now. So are many of the rock singers and musicians who had pretty big hits in the 80s. -- Matt Davignon mattdavignon@gmail.com www.ribosomemusic.com Rigs! www.youtube.com/user/ribosomematt