Surfing To The Top Of The Business

Jack Johnson, a surfer-turned-songwriter, has carved out an unusually lucrative niche in the music business.

The singer, known for his catchy acoustic guitar songs, has already sold 10 million albums in the U.S., according to SoundScan. Fellow musicians envy Mr. Johnson for the high degree of control he has maintained over his career and the favorable financial terms he enjoys.

Now, as the music industry looks to touring revenues to offset waning profits from record sales, Mr. Johnson is going in the other direction. Mr. Johnson played to an average of 15,000 people a night in amphitheaters around the country while touring for his 2010 album, "To the Sea," according to Pollstar. When he takes to the road to promote his sixth album "From Here to Now to You," (out Tuesday) he will be playing theaters that seat closer to 3,000 people. Fans had to enter a lottery to buy tickets for the tour, which has sold out. Mr. Johnson's team said he wrote the album with smaller venues in mind, plus he wanted to play in some historic venues like the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.