CACHE releases NWA musician survey results

Springdale nonprofit Creative Arkansas Community Hub & Exchange (CACHE) recently released a report that shows the music industry generates $10 million in income annually in Northwest Arkansas.

NWA Music Census is a community-led initiative to better understand the current needs of the region’s music ecosystem. Data for the report was collected via a 10-minute survey between May and June. Despite the May storms, 387 responses were collected in Benton and Washington counties.

Participants were asked questions about music and live entertainment workers, including information about demographics, occupation types, and perspectives on the area’s culture and belonging.

Following are some of the report’s findings.
• Music generates $10 million in income annually across all respondents.
• Venue/presenters, on average, host 91 live events annually, totaling 3,107 events across all respondents.
• Regarding bookings per month, 21% of venues book area talent as headliners for all events, and 14% do not book area talent as headliners at all.
• 70% of respondents have traveled to Tulsa for music-related work in the past year, making it the most frequented city within a five-hour radius. Little Rock follows closely, with 65% of respondents traveling there for work. Kansas City, Mo., was visited by 38% of respondents, while Oklahoma City and Dallas were visited by 29% and 26%, respectively.
• 61% of respondents want a place to connect and collaborate musically, and 51% want a place to connect with music services.
• Financial assistance has been received by 31% of respondents, with the most common types being scholarships (51%) and support from friends, family and crowdfunding (47%).

“The music industry has seen unprecedented changes in post-pandemic years,” said Preston Poindexter, music ecosystem consultant. “Having this data gives us a more accurate depiction of our ecosystem’s health compared to what we once deemed ‘normal’ in NWA.”

The report is available at this link.