Hoan Kiem Lake By Matthew Wilkinson

Hoan Kiem Lake by Matthew Wilkinson

The Challenges Facing Musicians In 2013. Free Research Report.

Back in June Right Chord Music launched The Big Survey in association with  Farida Guitars.  Our aim was to better understand the realities of being a musician in 2013. The online survey was completed by 200 musicians, of which three-quarters were unsigned or independent. Two-thirds of the respondents reported they had released at least one single.  The vast majority of respondents came from three countries: UK, Australia, and the USA.

Results highlight the increasing number of sites and services used by artists to promote their music. It’s no surprise that Facebook dominates, but it’s interesting to see the growing importance of Soundcloud and Bandcamp and the much heralded fall from grace of Myspace.

Just over one-half of the respondents reported paid live shows were the primary source of their monthly income. Digital download sales (13%) and CD sales (12%) were second and third respectively. Over six different incomes streams were reported. Although average incomes from live shows were not captured in this survey Right Chord Music would expect income from live shows at this level to be between £20-£50 per show, and a band to be playing a maximum of three paid shows within an average month. It’s clear once income is divided up between 3-4 band members and petrol, parking, hire, and rehearsal costs are factored in, income does not necessarily mean profit.

Bedroom and DIY culture is very much alive and kicking, with just under one-half (49%) of respondents reporting they record all of their music at home. Twenty-eight percent (28%) reported they record demos at home before heading to a professional studio to add a professional touch to their work.

To professionally promote music costs money, Right Chord Music estimates between £300-500 for online PR, and £600-£850 for radio plugging for a minimum of two months. Then there is press and TV, the cost continues to rise. Based on these costs, and their unsigned status, it is no surprise that the vast majority (87%) of respondents in this survey reported they have to promote their music themselves.

Respondents reported over seven different ways they sell their music, with selling CDs at live shows remaining the most popular sales channel. Bandcamp’s growing influence among the unsigned community is clear with as many respondents reporting they use Bandcamp as iTunes to sell their music. Ten percent (10%) of respondents reported they sell their music directly from Facebook.

When respondents were asked to highlight the biggest challenges they face as musicians two dominated: ‘Getting our music heard’ and ‘Making enough money.’ But equally noticeable is the large number of challenges they recognise and struggle to overcome. It is certainly not easy to be a musician in 2013.

To download your FREE copy of the full report visit: http://www.rightchordmusic.co.uk/faridaguitarresults

How The Hot 100 Became America's Hit Barometer

Hear that? On the radio? That slick, dreamy crooner dude, singing about how he's going out of his mind over that girl? Well, she's an animal — baby, it's in her nature. He used to play around with hearts that hastened at his call. But when he met that little girl, he knew that he would fall.

Wait a sec ... what song is this? Which dreamy dude is this? What year is this?

Perhaps it's the first week of August, 1958, when the top song in America was Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool" — the first No. 1 song ever on the Billboard Hot 100. The week Billboardlaunched what would become the premier singles chart in America, the list was led by the smooth-as-milk Nelson, acting the part of a player who'd met his match—bewitched by a woman who, it turns out, is even faster than he is.

Fifty-five years later, to the week, we find the Hot 100 topped by "Blurred Lines," a ditty from the smooth-as-milk Robin Thicke. It's about a player who's ... bewitched by a woman who's faster than he is.

So, yeah, gender politics in pop music have scarcely evolved in a half-century—plus ça changeand all that. (Trust: 28-year-old Ricky Nelson had swag. If he'd known in 1958 what a music video was, he'd have shot one with ladies in various states of undress, too.)

The better question is this: How is it that, half a century later, we still follow a chart called the Hot 100 to measure which songs are dominating our earbuds, our streets, our beaches, our dancefloors, our American lives? We don't listen to transistor radios anymore, or buy seven-inch 45-RPM vinyl (not in quantity, anyway). Why is this chart still around?

The Hot 100 was designed to adapt. It's a voracious creature, built to absorb whatever medium is delivering music to the masses at any given time. It's not perfect — any chart where Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Missy Elliott peak only at No. 2 can't be — but this chart, designed for the music business and followed by pop nerds like me worldwide, is still the best benchmark we have to measure the bigness of hits.

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