MOTM

> very interesting essay from Robert Rich, about the realities of
> being a musician at the "low end of the long tail", here:
> http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/04/the_reality_of.php
>
> besides offering a lot of insight into the realities of this
> approach for Robert, i couldn't help but see parrallels to other
> niche productions... like, say, modular synths...  for instance:
>

Very well-written article about Robert's 'struggles' with being a 
"microcelebrity".

And, yes, there are parallels (at least for MOTM) about hanging on to the 
Long Tail.
I suppose that my view is different than most other folks in this business 
because:

a) this is not my main source of income (more like 20% of it)
b) it is a part-time hobby

Now, what is ironic, for both me & Robert is that if the "buying model" 
*today* continued
for our peak times (for me, the year 2000 and for Robert, the CD 'Rain 
Forest' that sold
over 65,000 copies) both of us would be doing this full time with 6-figure 
incomes.

The reality is that the retention rate has turned out to be much lower than 
expected. If I sell
100 modules of a new thing, that is a rousing success. If Robert sells 2,500 
copies of a new CD
he considers that a success. But then again, neither of us are 
*complaining*, we are just *observing*.

Certainly, I sit here and daydream "what would be" if I could sell a new 
module to even *half* of the
total MOTM customer database (which would be around 350 modules). I would 
guess that if I could
sell 450 modules for every 'release' (about 70% 'penetration rate') I could 
quit my day job and do
MOTM full time. But for whatever reason, this will never happen. Even if I 
hit a "home run" like the ZO
that alone is still not enough (just providing equivalent medical/life 
insurance for my family to what I
currently carry with my day job would require selling about 80 new modules).

In 2003/2004 I was laid off and out of work for 14 months. I did MOTM "full 
time" shipping the
existing kits and designing the '650. During this period, I went *negative* 
$56,000. Hmmm........

So, what this means for me is that is plan to sell 100 modules the first 
year of the new releases, and
make a "decent" profit on those 100 assuming that even if I never sell #101, 
it was 'worth it'. Sometimes,
like the MOTM-480, they turn into a pleasant surprise (sold around 200 of 
those). I am hoping the
Cloud Generator will turn out this way.

Circumstances have prevented me from getting away from the Long Tail (I'm my 
own worse enemy) but
I'm happy just to be able to play in the game :)

Paul S.