WASHINGTON -- Starting this week, musicians in the D.C. area can fill out a new survey as part of the District of Columbia’s first-ever music census.
The idea is that the results of the census will help the city understand the DC music industry and economy - which will then give them the data to make more informed choices to help grow the District's "music ecosystem."
The census is essentially an elective survey that will be open for three weeks. Anyone can fill it out, as long as you are working creatively in music as a musician or something related to it - like products, services or venues.
The data will then be released in September during Mayor Muriel Bowser's 202Creates, a monthlong celebration of the creative economy.
Chris Naoum, a co-founder of Listen Local First, a local music initiative that aims to raise D.C.'s profile as a music city, said the new survey is much needed. He explained previous data the city is working with only comes from federal tax income data. He said that data indicates there are only a few hundred full time musicians in D.C. - mainly, because most musicians have other jobs that they make a living doing. Those other jobs or side-hustles are their main source of income, and subsequently what shows up on the federal data reports.
“I know there there’s thousands of people involved in the music scene," Naoum said. "The city has said they are interested in really supporting the arts and music and doing things to make DC a music city [so] it’s important to have the real data on the music community."
He explained the survey results could be used to really get a sense for how big the community is.
"That data can then be used to extrapolate the economic impact of the music scene," Naoum said. "And the economic impact is huge."
The project stems from a group that was looking into the jazz scene in Washington D.C. two years ago, Anna Celenza said. She is a professor of music at Georgetown University and initially applied for a grant from the school to study the jazz scene.
"The desire that came out of that was just that the city doesn't understand what's going on," she said of her meetings with the jazz community and Aaron Myers - a local jazz musician. "A lot of what they were doing was aimed at theater and visual arts. The response was that there just aren't that many musicians."
After talking with city officials, they realized the project could be bigger and expanded it to the entire music scene - with the District footing some of the bill.
"The big hope is that the city is very interested in supporting the arts and putting money toward the arts, but you have to know where the problems are, Celenza said. "And in the past when we're just dependent on anecdotal evidence, its just the squeaky wheel getting the grease ... but with this data we'll be able to look at the big picture and say where are these funds needed? What can we do to keep musicians living in D.C. if they're getting pushed out?"
She said their anecdotal evidence shows many musicians are not able to afford to live in the District, but still often perform there and are part of the scene.
"When a neighborhood is transitioning...if it’s a neighborhood that has a very strong music identity, we need to make sure it's not destroyed with gentrification," she said.
The census, despite two years in the making, comes at an interesting moment in D.C. history. Recently, there has been a renewed city-wide interest in go-go, another style of music with deep roots in Washington.
As Shaw was revitalized in the 2000s from the 1960s riots and 1990s crack epidemic, newcomers changed the historic neighborhood;s racial make up and had little idea of its history or music.
In March, a Metro PCS store that had long played go-go music from its speakers outside was asked to "tone it down" by a resident, according to the Washington Post.
That request sparked a movement - Don't Mute D.C. - that eventually got the music to turn back on, and led to several street celebrations of D.C. music and culture.
"The fact that the Don’t Mute D.C. movement is happening right now - and I hope that this gets captured in the census - because you know, go-go and jazz are the most important music genres for D.C.," Naoum said.
He said he hopes the data will lead the city to make policies that help musicians in the area.
"Look at how big, how popular, the go-go music scene is and put things in place," he said. "Where other organizations can realize things they can do to really help the music community."
The survey is completely anonymous and open to anyone who works in the music industry. It closes June 25 and the mayor's office plans to unveil some of the results in September at Mayor Muriel Bowser's 202Creates, a monthlong celebration of the creative economy.
"The Bowser Administration is focused on developing innovative tools and programs that help strengthen DC's creative community," Angie M. Gates, the director of DC Office of Cable Television, Film Music and Entertainment said in a statement Wednesday. "The music census will generate key data that will be essential to developing city and community partnerships and advancing the music scene in Washington, D.C."
Celenza said they will present their findings at the 2019 Music Policy Forum Summit at Georgetown in October.