A claim like “Live Music Capital of the World” is bound to run into some problems with the changes that the music industry is going through these days. I had a feeling it would happen but not this bad.
It seems that the problems the music industry in Austin is facing are mostly related to money and the fast growth rate of the Austin music scene. With most musicians making less than $25,000 a year, the problem becomes very clear. Austin has been labeled as sort of a haven for musicians but now musicians can’t afford to live there. As the Texas Monthly Article said “Whether or not musicians love Austin and want to stay, they may not be able to.”
The Census report touched on how changing consumer trends are also affecting the Austin music scene by not wanting to pay cover charges. That is definitely a problem but I would label it as “Loyalty.” Today’s music consumers (especially the younger ones) aren’t very loyal to musicians. It seems more quantity than quality. Music comes and goes so fast and people are on to then next musician before they can truly appreciate (buy albums, go to concerts, etc.) one musician or group. I’d like to see data on that.
Other than that, there is so much data and more out there. I’m not sure about how I would represent all this data differently. I think it’s a good idea that people are finally taking a good look at it now though because the music industry/scene is just going to keep changing and Austin really has no choice but to keep up.