A nationwide survey was conducted as part of Oxfams month long music festival Oxjam, where more than 1000 live music events have been organised by members of the public.
The new survey revealed that:
- There are around 5 million musicians in the UK, currently performing in 1.25 million bands.
- One in four Britons are either currently or were once in a band.
- 37% of us now attend at least one gig every month, compared with 21% five years ago. Just 20% of Britons rarely or never attend gigs (in 2001, this figure stood at 39%).
- 31% of us prefer watching live music to listening to recorded music in any form.
- 39% of us say that we attend more gigs than five years ago due to the ease with which we can find out about music these days. A third believe there are simply better bands than five years ago, and 10% say that the quality of music venues has risen accordingly.
- 7% of people say they have already written a potential smash hit, representing a total of 3.5 million people (enough to fill the top 40 for more than 20 generations).
- 52% of bands are born from the simple love of music, 4% believe they will be able to make a full-time living out of playing music and only 1% form with the intention of becoming famous.
For more information on Oxjam visit here.
published: 19/10/2006 00:24