Yeah, we all know she doesn't care much about sales and numbers, but realistically she has to make enough profit from this to be comftorable. We know She still has a tidy income from ATM, but how regular or how much that is we don't know. Especially since she paid to make this album herself. Will that cash pool dry up? What then?
She has said before how she gets disheartened by the industry and questions continuing. Whether this is due to money/success or not we don't know but she doesn't seek fame. I think theres a pretty obvious pattern emerging now that each of her albums sell a humble amount and her fanbase stick by her, she has trouble penetrating into radio/mainstream/the public conciousness. Is this enough for her? We don't know. I doubt it will come as a surprise, she knows her place in the industry by now. Obviously we as fans want to see her do well because we feel she deserves it and to incite her to continue. However many artists do make a career on a small solid fanbase. Most of the money in music these days comes from touring. You gotta tour, tour tour! and it looks like that's what she plans to do.
Although this is a new chapter for V, I hope she wasnt pinning too much on a "comeback". I read earlier how she's "exploring my own purpose and why I exist". Figuring out her place in the world. I just hope she thinks it's with us and thats good enough for her. It's not even a case of "If at first you dont succeed, try and try again" because that comes back to sales defining success. She hasn't failed, we are her success. She's reached people, influenced people, meant something to people. She's an artist, not a business woman. That's all well and good to say, but if she can't financially afford to do it all again, that's another story. See it's a viscious circle. A Carousel! lol.
Basically it's a tricky tentative situation, this industry. We probably won't know her next move for at least a year or two. Lets not worry about sales and chart positions and just enjoy the music and this era. Never be deterred Vanessa, you're still carrying the torch like Stevie told you. It will always shine brightly to us.
PS. sorry for the long rant to reach a simple point. I'm just enjoying typing and being on the boards today lol.