PRESS RELEASE: ALASKA MUSIC CENSUS

Contact:
AKIMI (Alaska Independent Musicians Initiative)
Marian Call, program director
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The first Alaska Music Census is underway, a statewide survey open through September 2nd. All Alaskans who make music — or support music making — are invited to stand up and be counted over the next few weeks.

The survey can be found at AlaskaMusicCensus.com. It’s anonymous, and takes 5-15 minutes to complete. All Alaskans who play, write, teach, record, or otherwise make music should take it — that includes all ages, all skill levels, all styles and genres, professionals and amateurs alike. There’s also a business survey for technicians, retailers, venues, and other professional music support jobs, such as booking and promoting.

The Alaska Music Census is a project of AKIMI, the Alaska Independent Musicians Initiative (host of the Alaska Music Summit), with major support from the Alaska State Council for the Arts and the Atwood Foundation.

Why hold a music census?

“We need to know who’s out there, and we need to tell the story of how hard they’re working,” says AKIMI program director Marian Call. “We have exceptional musicians here, incredible festivals, wonderful teachers and instrument makers, brilliant bands and solo artists and ensembles. But our labor is practically invisible to economists and decisionmakers. We want that to change.”

AKIMI holds that music makers are key to Alaska’s culture and economy, and that music makers’ work deserves appreciation, documentation, fair pay, and institutional support. “The journey to each of those goals starts with getting a clear picture of how many people work in music and what they do,” says Call.

Alaska’s rich music ecosystem is relatively unstudied, and the size of music’s economic footprint here is unknown. Because musicians are usually independent, often holding multiple jobs or playing multiple roles, much of their labor is not captured in traditional economic data collection — musicians’ earnings usually vanish into revenues for sectors like bars and restaurants, weddings, conventions, hospitality, education, or a broad “arts and entertainment” category.

Without tax data or any other existing resource to study, a direct survey of individuals and businesses is the only way to know how big the Alaska music ecosystem really is.

A census like this has been the recommendation of many industry experts for Alaska. Over the years, AKIMI has been meeting with and listening to leaders in music from across the US and around the world, including MusicPortland, King County Creative, the Texas Music Office, Music Iceland, Music Norway, Music Greenland, Music Faroe Islands, and more. The Alaska Music Census arises directly from advice and best practices by these music offices, and was developed in partnership with MusicPortland and MusicOregon, in conjunction with the Oregon Music Census. This survey is new for Alaska, but it’s normal in many other places.

The resulting data will be useful for musicians to engage with Alaska policymakers, as well as with the business community, non-profits, civic organizations, and tourism. This study will also document the effects of COVID-19-related venue closures and other impacts on the music sector and individual music makers.

“That’s why it’s important to get everybody counted,” says Call. “If you sing in your community choir, if you play open mics, if you tour with a band, if you compose for the symphony, if you make beats in your bedroom or film music videos with your friends, if you play fiddle around the campfire — we want to hear from you. The folks play with, too. We want to shout proudly about what you’re doing. Every voice counts.”

The Alaska Music Census is open until September 2nd at AlaskaMusicCensus.com. Any Alaskan can take the anonymous survey for individuals, and music-related businesses are invited to take a survey as well. Assistance with translation or taking the survey over the phone is available; just ask at AlaskaMusicCensus.com/contact.