Our Music Census™ collects key data points to better understand music people and their economic activity within a specific geography. It provides a baseline for policymakers and the larger community to understand and take action.

Any strategy to support and grow a music ecosystem begins with a basic understanding of its population. While local music scenes are social in nature, they are also increasingly understood as important drivers of creative economies and civic well-being. They are complex ecosystems that appear different to different individuals. If we want to learn about them – and how we can support them through policy and funding – we need data.

Federal data does not capture the reality of music scenes, partly because work in the music sector typically is not reflected in existing labor codes. Most music professionals across dozens of occupations provide vital services that are invisible using current industry and occupational data. A local music census solves this long-standing data gap by directly surveying individuals to enumerate what is really going on within a local music ecosystem.

The value of the Music Census™ goes well beyond the data itself. Such initiatives ignite a range of activities conducive to more strategic and sustainable support for local music scenes over the long term, beginning with validating this economically marginalized group, sharing new learning, activating civic and community resources, and ultimately empowering music people to take ownership of change initiatives.

We offer two approaches to our Music Census™: the Music Census™ + Action Plan (independent) approach and the cohort approach.