We often touch base with other people in the Music industry, sharing knowledge in trying to help new artists, recently we engaged with Mark from RightChord Music to highlight their Musicians Census, the official findings and report can be seen here.
Press Release
The Musician’s Census 2024
2nd October 2024 – For Immediate Release
It’s Becoming Harder to Be an Independent Artist – Finds New Research from Right Chord Music and Musosoup.
New music blog, Right Chord Music, joined Musosoup, the leading platform for independent musician promotion to conduct the Musician’s Census 2024. The online study was completed by 300 artists across 64 countries in one of the most comprehensive studies of grassroots musicians and their challenges.
These challenges are immediately put into sharp focus with 40% of respondents admitting, “I honestly don’t know if I get paid the money I’m owed.” A further 22% report “I definitely don’t get paid what I’m owed.” It’s hard to imagine many other categories of work where fair payment is such a challenge.
Beyond payment ‘Getting music heard’ remains the most significant challenge for most respondents (54%).Meanwhile over two-thirds (68%) of respondents believe it’s becoming harder to be an independent musician. When asked why three major themes emerge:
- Oversaturation of the market: The sheer volume of new music being released daily makes it difficult to get noticed.
- AI-generated music: The rise of AI-generated music is contributing to the difficulty for independent artists. The presence of low-quality acts or AI-generated content is diluting the music landscape.
- Challenges in building a fanbase: The continued difficulty of gaining a loyal following and leveraging social media effectively.
The census research highlights the lengths independent artists go to, to promote their music. It’s a time-consuming, multi-channel process. On average artists report using five different social media platforms. Instagram dominates as the primary promotional channel.
Beyond social media, artists typically use five additional services. A music distribution service was the most frequently mentioned, followed by a Link Page provider and a Press / promotion service. DistroKid was the most recognised distribution service, but also the most polarising, reported as both the most liked and disliked service.
In return for completing the census survey, artists were entered into a competition to win Free promotion across both Musosoup, Right Chord Music and Major Labl Artist Club. Congratulations to US dream-pop band Waltzerr who scooped the prize.
Read and download the full Census report here.
About Right Chord Music: Right Chord Music (RCM) is a music blog founded by Mark Knight in 2010, dedicated to showcasing incredible unsigned and independent artists. Ranked among Feedspot’s Top 3 independent music blogs, our mission is to get great music heard by more people, more often.
About Musosoup: Musosoup is a music promotion platform designed to help independent artists gain exposure and connect with media outlets, blogs, and playlists. It simplifies the process of pitching music to reviewers by offering artists a centralised system where they can submit their music.
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Best wishes
Mark
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