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 independent artists across 64 countries in one of the most comprehensive studies of grassroots musicians and their challenges.
The Musician’s Census 2024 – Key Findings
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 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.
In addition to social media, artists typically use five more 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 the most liked and disliked service.
In return for completing the survey, artists were entered into a competition to win Free promotion across Musosoup, Right Chord Music and Major Labl Artist Club. Congratulations to US dream-pop band Waltzerr who scooped the prize. Discover them on our Explorer, new music playlist.
Read the Musician’s Census
Listen to the Podcast of the report
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Words Mark Knight
