As creative as they are, many artist still think in boxes...the page, the canvas, and the CD case. It is becoming harder and harder for artist to make a living doing what they love and the myth of the starving artists is becoming more real...if we only embrace old business models.

Today, consumers of art (music, books, paintings, poetry, sculptures, etc) are more interested in the actual creation process than they are the creation itself. Therefore the CD has become a promotional tool rather than a product and the real value is in performances.

For instance despite a dying industry and only having the 50th best selling CD in the country, Madonna earned more than any artist ever has because of her amazing tour which made up a bulk of her $242M last year. It's all about experience creation through shows, courses, and other events.

Secondly, sell direct. There is no reason Amazon should manage your relationship with you customer. 1 million CDs sold with 1 million email address through your website is better than 3 million CDs sold and no email address. It's about building long-term relationships with fans and customers.

Lastly, artist need to re-purpose their art. Many artist have a whole bunch of great work on their hard drives that they aren't sharing with the world. One day that hard drive is going to crash and then what. Musicians need to be thinking about scores for movie, elevator music, commercials, etc in addition to selling CDs. If we don't share what we've created, then the creative energy will stop flowing through us. The very song, beat, writing, painting we hate may be the one the world is waiting for.