Matt Walters is a Melbourne based singer/songwriter and also the founder of the brilliant Parlour Gigs, the Air BnB of live music. I sat down with him a while back over a cup of tea on a chilly Melbourne day and had an excellent yarn about all things music business. If you don't know of Matt, here's a handy snippet from his wikipedia entry:

While studying film at university in Melbourne, Matt began recording demos in his bedroom for a debut album. The demo recordings were passed around and eventually found their way to A&R representatives in the Australian music industry. In a chance meeting with A&R rep Peter Karpin of Mercury records, Matt pulled out his guitar and played Conversation (on 2011 release Farewell Youth) and was offered a recording contract on the spot.

In 2008, he left university and signed to Mercury Records (Universal Music) where he released two EP's, Echo On, in 2009 and Talking in My Sleep in 2010. His debut album, Farewell Youth was released by Mercury records in May 2011.

Soon after, Walters found an international online audience numbering in the millions when his song I Would Die For You, a 6 and a half-minute ballad that features Australian singer/songwriter Megan Washington, was posted on YouTube by a fan alongside a portrait of a young French man. The song was streamed over 7 million times (as of August 2014) through sheer word of mouth before it was taken down for copyright infringement.

Inspired by the grassroots response online, Walters re-released his debut album Farewell Youth through CD Baby. The album has sold several thousand copies online and I Would Die For You has been downloaded over 20,000 times.