Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 5045180


As many readers probably already know, I'll be doing an interview with KasondraK of the Succeed in the Music Business podcast at 8 p.m. EST Sunday on the topic of bootstrapping in the music business.

I hope you will tune in and tell a friend about the show.

In advance of the program, though, I thought I'd give a brief overview of why I believe music may be the perfect bootstrap business given the digital music revolution:

• Music is viral. As we all know the catchy tune on the radio can be infectious and so too can the downloaded audio file. The questions in the music industry today have more to do with how to make money in the new business model if not simply from record sales. Bootstrappers can blaze a trail here!

• Music is a service. In his famous post on "The Art of Bootstrapping", Guy Kawasaki suggests starting with a service business, especially in the field of software, explaining, "This has two advantages: immediate revenue and true customer testing of your software. Once the software is field-tested and battle-hardened, flip the switch and become a product company." Free of the need for manufactured records, music in the digital realm is no different. Build a fan base first then worry about selling CD copies.

• Music is universal. Unlike other forms of content, most notably blog posts in English or any other language, music can and does cross cultural and language divides. On line video may also hold this potential if its content is primarily visual as opposed to talking heads, but music remains the ultimate universal communicator.

• Music is individual. Unlike software that can be copied and pirated, music remains the property of the individual creator. While an individual track may certainly be copied the ability to recreate other music of similar style and quality remains with the creator of the music, a strong argument for a shift in the business model of a new music industry from record companies with financial backing to bootstrapping artists growing their individual businesses virally and organically without large investment.

For more great bootstrapping music links check out our Saturday post (the last of the month) before Sunday's podcast.