Are you a U.S. based musician or composer, over the age of 18? If your answer is “yes,” then the Future of Music Coalition is asking for help! From September 6, 2011 until October 28th, the coalition will be conducting an online survey called the Artists Revenue Streams project, with the hopes of better understanding the way in which composers and musicians earn their living in today’s economic climate.
They are looking for anyone who is involved in the music industry as a: Teacher, Freelancer, Session Singer, Session Musician, Salaried Player, Performer, Recording Artist, Songwriter, or Composer. The survey is open musicians and singers from any genre of music. I personally completed the survey, and was impressed to find Bluegrass listed as a genre, and when asked “What music associations you are affiliated with?”, the IBMA was on the list!
You can take your choice of one of three versions of the survey. The questions in each of the versions become more detailed, and therefore take more time to complete. According to their website the “short path” of the survey takes about 10 minutes to complete. The “medium path” takes around 20 minutes, and the “long path” is about 30 minutes. I chose the “long path” and it actually took me only about 20 minutes to complete.
The questions are pretty straightforward, and the survey is totally voluntary, and anonymous. It asks about what roles you play in the music industry, and if you don’t participate in a certain area of the industry, you can automatically skip questions associated with those areas. And depending on which “path” you choose, you can be entered into a drawing for a $10 Amazon or Guitar Center gift card, or even an Apple iPad!
The Future of Music Coalition’s goal with this survey is to get a better overall view of the financial health of the music industry. They are also looking to see how musician’s revenue streams have changed over the past 5 years. They will use the data collected to create a report, which will the be shared with musicians, organizations, and advocates for the music industry. According to their website the coalition works to enlighten policymakers as to issues that are affecting musicians. It’s a quick and painless way to help ourselves and other musicians, by letting the world know how musicians really make a living.
The url for the survey is www.futureofmusic.org/ars.
You can also go to their homepage (www.futureofmusic.org) for more information about the organization.