"Niche" does not mean "Small"

When I tell people what SongBox does they often don't get it.

• It's a good idea but quite niche, is it not?

• Quite a niche market, can you make money?

My target customer is a songwriter or musician who is actively pursuing a career in the music industry. This is not your neighbours kids band or your nephew who puts covers up on youtube (although it may very well be, but in most cases not).

I'm targeting songwriters who are ACTUALLY trying to get their songs recorded by major artists. I'm targeting bands and performers who have songs that they ACTUALLY want to sell and make a living from.

This sector of the market is niche, yes. However it is far from small.

In 2017, global revenue for recorded music only was nearly $20billion. That's JUST recorded music. So not touring, ticket sales, t-shirt sales, public appearance money etc etc. When you take that into account it will be many many multiples of the recorded music figure. There are a LOT of people trying to break into this market.

So no, "niche" does not mean small. I think of "niche" as meaning "specialised", and there is huge opportunity in people who are specialising in their career.

Moral of the story: don't be put off if your business idea is deemed as "niche". If you have high domain knowledge and you can see the opportunity where others can't, then go for it!