Singer, pianist, and former computer programmer Vienna Teng was on the 404 yesterday. (Her segment starts 6 minute 45 seconds into the program after the PS3 Slim discussion.) If you are a musician, you should definite;y listen to the interview. You’ll learn a lot about how the business side works.

Vienna Teng is a San Francisco Bay Area native, who graduated with a computer science degree from Stanford University. After school, she became a computer programmer for Cisco before switching to a music career. The guys from the 404 delve into the how Asian parents react when their kids decide to be artists. The acceptance by parents is slowly changing, but there are still struggles.

Programmer by day, aspiring singer by night. Vienna talks about how her music career started from open mics to coffeehouses. She is signed to a label. However, being signed to a label doesn’t mean the same thing it once did. These days there are a growing group of “middle class” musicians with a fan following in the thousands. Artists can make a “middle class” living selling music to their fans. Although 1 in 4 songs are sold on itunes, most sales for Vienna Teng is from playing live on her tours, but the percentage from digital music continues to grows.

In the interview, you can hear cuts from “Gravity” off her “Waking Hour” album as well as “Radio” and “Augustine” from her current album “Inland Territory.” You can buy her latest album on or Amazon. If you want to see her live, Vienna Teng is now on tour now. Check the schedule here.

Vienna Teng on the 404