Organised by Right Chord Music and MusoSoup, the Musician’s Census 2024 gives us an insight into what the modern world is like for independent artists.
By Graeme Smith
An online study completed by 300 independent artists across 64 countries, the census is one of the most comprehensive studies of grassroots musicians and their challenges.
Overall, it doesn’t paint a rosy picture, with a majority reporting they’re not confident that they’ll get paid money owned to them for the music they create. 54% of musicians surveyed reported “getting music heard” as their most significant challenge while 68% believe it is becoming harder to be an independent musician.
Three major themes emerged from the study: oversaturation of the market; AI-generated music; and challenges in building a fanbase.
Artists are pouring a lot of time into social media too, on average reporting that they use five different platforms to promote their music, with Instagram being the primary promotional channel. As well as social media, artists make use of distribution services, Link Pages, and press and promotion services.
In return for completing the survey, artists were entered into a competition to win free promotion across independent musician promotion platform MusoSoup, Right Chord Music and Major Labl Artist Club. Congratulations to US dream-pop band Waltzerr who scooped the prize.
