niche
a specialized market; a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted; a habitat supplying the factors necessary for the existence of an organism or species
In the new music industry, success begins in the niche. Start where you are wanted. Use that base to build a bigger and broader audience. Then repeat the process.
Whether its Irish partiers, thoughtful thirty-somethings, redneck blues loving punks or you're church in South Florida, begin you're efforts wherever and with whomever you're most likely to find a receptive audience. If they like what they see and hear, they'll tell their friends. Their friends have friends and some of them are bloggers or DJ's; or at least they have other friends.
It can take longer to become successful this way and your definition of success may need to be adjusted. But the good news is that success built from the niches lasts a longer than the mass media, big hype, big hit success that barely exists any more.
Your niche is the foundation upon which your house is built; and if you're any good at maintenance, you can live there happily for a long time.
