By Jordyn Taylor
Ahead of the DMV’s festival season, the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities (CAH) is working with Sound Music Cities to relaunch the D.C. Area Music Census, a survey casting a wide net on professionals working in the area’s music industry.
The census gathers data ranging from demographics to job specifications, focusing on the industry’s current state of diversity, equity, and sense of belonging amongst professionals. The census expands to the D.C. metro, including areas in northern Virginia and southern Maryland.
Besides D.C., targeted Maryland counties include Montgomery, Prince George’s, Anne Arundel, Howard, Frederick and Charles For Virginia, Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon and Prince William in Virginia.
The commission is keen on updating the pivotal report presented in 2019 by Georgetown University and the D.C. Office of Cable, Television, Film, Music and Entertainment prior to the pandemic, according to a statement on the D.C. Music Census website.
Monte James, a D.C.-based guitarist and performer, is planning on taking the census a second time. As a longtime musician in the area, he urges other musicians to take the survey, believing that this time around, it will have an even greater impact on the city.
“The survey is short, sweet, and to the point, but the scope that it gives us is so much more than the numbers…As an artist, especially if you’re vocal about pay and stuff, it’s counterproductive if you don’t take it,” James expressed.
A. Mez, Executive Director of Shayvon Studios and a member of the Wammie Award-nominated group Determine 2 Crack, shares the same sentiments and became a partner with the organization because he was eager to spread the word about the census and help the organization succeed in its data collection efforts.
“For our company to be a part of such a huge movement is beyond incredible. Because it not only helps us to connect with more musicians, entertainers, etc. It is also a great opportunity for others to obtain the funding and resources that many need to stay above water,” A. Mez stated.
In 2023 alone, the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities invested over $26.6 million in grants to individuals and nonprofit organizations, made possible through data collected in the first census.
The DMV Music Alliance, a nonprofit organization geared towards fulfilling technology and opportunity needs for those in the industry, has held its own DMV Music Industry Needs Assessment on a smaller, targeted scale.
The organization uses both sets of data to develop programming, from mentorship and experience opportunities to funding and performance opportunities.
Dani Weymouth, Executive Director of the DMV Music Alliance, says that the data collected by the D.C. Music Census helps create a bigger picture of the needs of the local music economy, allowing smaller organizations to pinpoint and tackle the gaps.
“I mean, without things like the DC Music Census, it’s kind of like you’re driving in the dark. You need lights on the road to be able to figure out where exactly you’re going. So, the census is a tool that can help us as a music community,” said Weymouth.
The census opened up on April 10 and will run through early June 2024. For more information, click here.
