Late last week, I achieved a milestone a long time in the making…Here’s a bit of my story:
I stumbled upon Audiojungle in January 2014. Until then, I had been completely unaware of online stock music. Sure, I kind of knew it existed, but only superficially. But the idea really appealed to me. So I signed up. And then, for reasons I can’t quite explain (laziness? fear? perfectionism?), I dragged my feet for almost 3 months before uploading anything. I finally decided to plow ahead and upload my first track. And then…it sold a grand total of…zero. But surprisingly, my next track did manage to sell a few. What a great feeling!
Moving forward, like most new AJ authors, I listened to the top sellers and tried to bring some of my own aesthetic to what was basically a brand new world to me. (“Corporate” is a genre?!?) In November of 2014, I managed to reach the weekly sales chart with a track that remains my biggest seller to date. Things were looking good! Between the gigs that I played (I’m a saxophonist by night) and AJ, my musical income was decent. Throughout 2015, my sales remained solid. Onward and upward! Or so I thought…
Then, in early 2016, something changed. My sales and income dropped significantly, and stayed in a steady but unimpressive holding pattern for about a year and a half. My “inspiration” and “motivation” took a real beating. 
In late 2017, having grown accustomed to a much lower monthly average, I decided - again, for reasons I can’t quite explain - to submit some jazz tracks. To be completely honest, it’s harder to explain why I waited so long to do so. Over the course of my musical career, I had probably written, recorded and performed more jazz tracks than any other genre. And yet, inexplicably NONE of them - with the exception perhaps of a smooth jazz track or two - were ever uploaded to Audiojungle.
Until this one . And its success came as a really pleasant surprise! Then shortly thereafter, this Christmas track did surprisingly well, and all of a sudden my sales and earnings began climbing. Another great feeling!
Since then, I decided to focus my efforts on the jazzier side of things. And thankfully, that strategy has been working out pretty well. Sure, jazz is more of a niche genre, and the sales numbers are but a fraction of those routinely racked up by the Corporates and Epics - - - but it is the one closest to my heart and aesthetic and skill set. And I’m mighty grateful to have an opportunity to earn doing what I love.
Thanks to Envato for the platform, thanks to my fellow authors who have been so supportive along the way (you know who you are 
) and thanks to the buyers who have given me not only their hard-earned dollars, but also their musical validation and encouragement - which we as artists know can be so rare, and abstract, and elusive - especially in the crowded and confusing digital world of 2018.
I wish you all the best! 
