On Art, Professional and Hobbyist ... and Taxes

Minnesota targets artists for audits

"The tax guy said that by this point in my career I needed to be signed by a major label, that I should have been signed to a major label by now, that I needed to be signed to a major label to establish myself. [He said that] there was no evidence that I was actively sending my records to major record labels, so therefore I must not be interested in profit, and not running a for-profit business. I told him that as an independent artist I get 100 percent of all records sold, and that I intend to run my own label, and stay independent. Now he says I have not promoted myself in any way that is appropriate enough to result in any substantial sales as an artist, and that there is no documentation that I ever self-promoted myself."

via Neil Gaiman.