The UK’s first ever live music census has been officially launched.
It’s been set up to asses the cultural and economic value of live music across the UK, with the study hoping to uncover the challenges facing artists and venues – and encourage those in power to do more to see it flourish.
A statement from UK Live Music Census says: “With project partners UK Music, the Musicians’ Union and the Music Venue Trust, we will be surveying musicians, venues, promoters and audience members nationwide to provide the most comprehensive dataset yet of live music across the spectrum in the country.
“Alongside industry personnel and policymakers, our team are developing a toolkit for conducting a snapshot census of live music in Glasgow, Newcastle and Oxford and are sharing it with other institutions so they can conduct parallel snapshots in Leeds, Southampton and Brighton.”
The initial census runs across today and tomorrow, with volunteers charting everything from “lone buskers to massed choirs, from pub gigs to stadium concerts” with a nationwide online survey running until May 8.
Explaining the need for the project, UK Live Music Census add: “Our previous research shows that the way that different local councils deal with live music and venue licensing can have a profound effect on live music provision, but also that it is difficult for them to make informed decisions given the variety of approaches used in previous reports.
“By bringing together representatives of the music industry, policymakers and academics to help to design the surveys and promote them nationwide, this project will assist all of us by providing a method and framework we can all agree on for assessing the scope and value of live music in the UK.”
For further information and to get involved, visit the UK Live Music Census website.
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