Monday, May 11, 2009

The Fingertips Q&A: Jill Sobule

Every month, the Fingertips Q&A sends five questions about the state of music in the digital age to one actual, working musician. I've gotten to where I'd much rather find out what someone who's out there trying to earn a living wage in the music industry thinks about all this stuff than read the bloviations of one more blogger or technology expert.

This month I'm delighted to get some perspective from singer/songwriter Jill Sobule. Although she started recording albums long before anyone was even dreaming of a digital music scene (her first record came out in 1990), Sobule emerged this year at the cutting edge of music industry innovation when she released an album, California Years, that was funded entirely through fan donations. Aiming for $75,000, she ended up with $89,000. The very music industry honchos who would traditionally ignore an artist as witty and idiosyncratic as Sobule might now learn a thing or two from her.

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