Direct-2-fan business model in music business

Music business has undergone a tremendous change during the last fifteen years. The technological innovations and development of internet based distribution, both illegal and legal, has diminished the conventional revenue streams while the new and growing digital services have not generated revenue at the same pace. This has caused music companies to start looking for compensating incomes and made them to branch out to new businesses. These changes have tied the artist closer to the music company and in some degree limited the artists possibilities to explore other business opportunities. The same technological innovations have also opened up opportunity to step out from the conventional music business model and start developing a relationship directly between the artist and the fans in a global scale. This new approach invites the entrepreneurial artist to manage their own career and benefit of the freedom to seize the possibilities and receive not only financial but also professional and personal rewards. The purpose of this study is to examine the direct-2-fan business model and research the possibilities and threats of it and what is needed to successfully manage a career using this business model. The research focused on how to create a meaningful and profitable relationship with the fan and what are the necessary steps and partnerships to reach this goal and what are the most important aspects in a artist career that benefit from this approach