Well let me just say thank you for the replies! To NeedleinA, I'd like to make a modest living. I'm not looking to strike it totally rich or get famous, but I'd like to earn enough to quit the day job and be my own boss. I'd primarily like to write music for film, and I already have a couple things going for me in that direction. But it's important that I do whatever possible to get my name out there, which also means selling myself as a songwriter/producer and marketing my albums. My music is good for movies along with being good album material. The larger audience I gain, the more chance of success I will have. I'm definitely not spreading the gospel with my music. But many of the songs have a good down-to-earth message about admitting faults and overcoming weaknesses. I have lots of middle aged and older people from church that are in love with my music.
To Vort, that's a good insight. Thank you. But heck, 50,000 albums would be absolutely incredible! And actually that's still an extremely high number. People stream more nowadays than buy albums. It's the reality I have to face. So I have to play the whole streaming game. So going by what you said, perhaps advertising myself as a Mormon is kind of a win/lose? I'd be going for the niche, which is often successful, but I'd be leaving less room for much growth. That's definitely a good point to think about.