A nice piece outlining how some small musicians are making a reasonable living off live performance, direct album sales, and merchandise [via winterspeak.com].

It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few years. A few months ago, I wrote that Music costs too much and that’s all right with me. Because the obscene profit margins on CD sales are what let these small artists make a decent living. I think that online music sales will take a good sized bite out of those margins. I just hope that the small artist still finds a way to prosper.

PS: While Zimran hasn’t heard of any of the artists profiled in the article, Ellis Paul has been a favorite of mine since seeing him at at Camp California house concert. A house concert is just about the best way to hear music ever invented – 20-40 people listening in a small, intimate venue.